Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: 1/22/2023
Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: 1/22/2023

  • For the safety of women and children kidnapped in Burkina Faso…

  • For those killed by gang violence in Goshen, California and all whose lives are affected by gangs…

  • For people of Asian descent who continue to face anti-Asian hate crimes…

  • For the families of those killed in a plane crash in Nepal …

  • For flooding in California, Western Australia, and all places with too much water …

  • For transgender people who fight for their right to live around the world and especially in Scotland …

  • For chicken farmers battling avian flu in their flocks …

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ELCA, PrayersBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, For What Shall We PrayComment
Repairing homes and spirits
Repairing homes and spirits

From helping those in need to team-building to deepening people’s faith to improving a congregation’s self-esteem, Resurrection’s disaster-relief ministry is a robust and holistic one. For this Cincinnati congregation, disaster relief is a passion. The 400-member congregation has made 19 trips to help rebuild homes after disasters, including several visits to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardLiving Lutheran, Lutheran Disaster ResponseComment
ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellows Devotional: Breathing Out Justice
ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellows Devotional: Breathing Out Justice

A specific song came to mind when I began reflecting on Micah 6:8. I often find that when I’m searching for the words to express my thoughts and feelings about something, music is my source of guidance.

These words from the opening of the song Spark by The City Harmonic join breath and justice: When I breathe in hope, And breathe in grace, And breathe in God, Then I’ll breathe out peace, Breathe out justice, Breathe out love, Oh, this little light’s gonna shine With just a spark light a fire…

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ELCA, Worship ResourcesBrian FlatgardAdvocacy, ELCA AdvocacyComment
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins January 18, 2023
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins January 18, 2023

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins today, bridging the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul. This year, the resources jointly published by the Commission on Faith and Order of World Council of Churches and the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, have been prepared by the Minnesota Council of Churches. Rev. Dr. Kelly Sherman Conroy, the ELCA’s first Indigenous (Lakota) woman PhD, and Rev. Antonio Machado, were involved in the process.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardEcumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, 2023 Week of Prayer for Christian UnityComment
Prayers for the Fulfillment of King’s Dream by Rev. Dr. Andrea L. Walker
Prayers for the Fulfillment of King’s Dream by Rev. Dr. Andrea L. Walker

I was 4 years old when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. I was too young to understand the import of his words while he lived. Yet I remember the importance of those words, his struggles and his assassination to the Black community as I grew up in Chester, Penn. The community felt he was one of theirs. Not only was he a marvelous young African American preacher and civil rights leader, but he was also educated at Crozer Theological Seminary, just up the road in Upland, Penn.

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ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardRacial Justice Ministries, ELCA Racial Justice Ministries, Racial JusticeComment
Faith Lens: The Moment Your Life Changes
Faith Lens: The Moment Your Life Changes

Nelly Chiboi grew up in Mogotio, Kenya in an impoverished village. “I know the pain of poverty,” says Cheboi, now 29.  “I never forgot what it was like with my stomach churning because of hunger at night.” Her mom ensured that despite their poverty Nelly received an education. Nelly worked hard in school and received a full scholarship to attend college. She graduated from the ELCA’s Augustana College in 2012.

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Worship Resources, ELCA, ResourcesBrian FlatgardYouth and Young Adult, Faith LensComment
Training Opportunity: Revitalizing your congregation's preaching ministry
Training Opportunity: Revitalizing your congregation's preaching ministry

If your congregation is open to a more collaborative preaching model (perhaps even developing a cadre of lay preachers), consider this opportunity with the Rev. Dr. Shauna Hannan (preaching professor at PLTS in Berkeley, CA). Congregational teams consisting of 4-5 lay people and a rostered minister who will journey through the program together, which runs April through June of 2023.

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Grand Canyon Synod, News, Region 2, ResourcesBrian FlatgardPacific Lutheran Theological SeminaryComment
Season 2 of Talks at the Desk continues February, 2023
Season 2 of Talks at the Desk continues February, 2023

African Descent Ministries of the ELCA celebrates Black History Month with “Talks at the Desk,” a four-part video series that will explore diverse expressions of the church. Watch the trailer here or in this post.

A new video will premiere each Wednesday in February at 6:30pm MST, 5:30 PST. Watch them live on Facebook, stream them on YouTube or download them at https://ELCA.org/ADM.

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ELCA, NewsBrian Flatgard2023 Black History Month, African Descent Ministries, Racial JusticeComment
National Fund for Sacred Places is now accepting applications
National Fund for Sacred Places is now accepting applications

The National Fund for Sacred Places is a grant-making program that provides capital grants ranging from $50,000 to $250,000+ as well as wrap-around support services to congregations undertaking once-in-a-generation preservation projects. To learn more, visit undforsacredplaces.org.

View an introductory webinar on Wednesday, February 1st, 2023 at 12:00 PM EST to learn more about the National Fund for Sacred Places and whether your sacred place (or the sacred places in your community or judicatory) may qualify. Register here!

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Grand Canyon Synod, News, ResourcesBrian FlatgardNational Fund for Sacred PlacesComment
40 Days of Giving Lent Resources available
40 Days of Giving Lent Resources available

The 40 days of Lent are a season to reflect and remember, to look forward and ahead. We invite you to continue your work by connecting your congregation to the church’s global work to end hunger and poverty during ELCA World Hunger’s 40 Days of Giving, which begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22.

To prepare, visit ELCA.org/40Days and download or order resources from ELCA World Hunger today.

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ELCA, Resources, Worship ResourcesBrian FlatgardHunger, ELCA World Hunger, 2023 LentComment