This week, a good number of the Office of the Bishop attends the Spring Gathering for Cactus, Capital, Fiesta, Northeast Valley & Rio Salado Conferences, Feb 26, 2023, 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM and travels the synod and US.
We also share photos of Bishop Hutterer in Carson City with Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada (LEAN), as well as from our first Spring Gathering for Cactus, Capital, Fiesta, Northeast Valley & Rio Salado Conferences.
Read MoreThis week we celebrate the following ordination anniversaries:
Rev. Paul Block, New Song, Henderson, who celebrates 22 years on February 24.
Rev. Christopher Heller, Mountain View, Phoenix, who celebrates 13 years on February 28.
Deaths remain persistently high. On average, around 3,000 people are dying of Covid in the U.S. each week.
Note: our updates can be a week behind due to our news cycle overlapping with Thursday updates. View the latest CDC and NYTimes updates here.
Read More“Ok, time to get honest. Does the church ever start to feel like a burden? Or do you sometimes feel like being part of a congregation isn’t so different from being part of another organization that has finger-pointing or bad-mouthing?”
Read MoreThe February, 2023 edition of Go and Do News, a newsletter from ELCA World Hunger, is available. This edition features 40 Days of Giving, a new vacation Bible school program, The Dwelling, The Legacy of Martin Lutheran King Jr. event, partner spotlight Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), and featured resources.
Read MoreFounded less than 150 years after Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, Frederick Lutheran Church has witnessed more change, growth and conversation on the lives of African descendants than any other church in the Western Hemisphere.
Read MoreWe share updates from the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices (sppos) in the ELCA Advocacy Network for February, 2023.
Read MoreIncrease your confidence and peace of mind by learning more about developing a withdrawal strategy, utilize Social Security, plan for health care costs, and more. Watch the recordings of the Retirement Readiness workshops whenever it works for you. Learn more, or sign up to participate, on myPortico.
Read MoreAs part of the latest Stories of Faith in Action, we share a story about the “kin∙dom community,” an ecumenical partnership between the ELCA Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod and the Presbyterian Church (USA) (view online or as PDF). When Pepa Paniagua felt called to a job that didn’t exist, she set about creating it. What resulted was the “kin∙dom community,” a new approach to a term adopted nearly 40 years ago.
View all the Stories of Faith in Action here, and how your offering becomes mission support.
Read MoreInternational Women’s Day is March 8, 2023. The ELCA celebrates this day by uplifting the International Women Leaders (IWL) program.
On the following Sunday, March 12, we encourage your congregation to take a special offering for IWL. In honor of International Women’s Day, all gifts to IWL will be matched dollar for dollar until we reach $50,000 — your gifts will go twice as far! Read more here.
Read MoreRostered ministers are heading to Phoenix in July, 2023! If you like to welcome people, help with registration, or have the gift of hospitality, please connect with Pastor Doug Dill: pastordoug@centrallutheranaz.org or 402-235-6969. Click here to register as a volunteer at elca.org.
Learn more about the gathering at elca.org/rmg.
Read MoreAfter perhaps a year or more of not gathering on-site for Ash Wednesday services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, worshiping communities across a large swath of the US are dealing with or expecting severe weather that would prevent gathering on-site.
Conversations on social media have begun, as fellow worship planners ask one another what they are doing when assembling for worship on-site will not be possible.
Read More“Even when ashes are imposed while standing on street corners or reaching through car windows the words resonate, a vibration pulsing with the reality we all do our best to avoid: everything and everyone dies.”
Read MoreWe pray for Rev. Mateo Chavez and the people of San Juan Bautista Lutheran Church in Tucson, part of the Kino Conference. Visit their site at sjblc.org, and their Facebook page.
Read MoreThe February, 2023 edition of Seeds Monthly is available here, featuring articles, events, and resources.
Read MoreELCA Worship shares their news for January, 2023.
Don't forget to visit ELCA.org/worship and click on "Worship Resources" for a library of liturgical and formational resources for use in your context. You might find something new (or new to you) and share it with others who help plan worship in your context. Blessings as we approach Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent.
Read MoreLutherans Restoring Creation shares their February 2023 Good Green News, featuring lead-free superheroes, Earth Day virtual service, and more.
Read MoreThe Fuller Church Leadership Institute shares their Crucible newsletter for February, 2023.
“This month's newsletter offers you a link to an article that for Fuller Magazine #24, Renewing the Church. Admittedly, it starts with a troubling question, but it takes us to a familiar and faithful place. How do you lead when you cannot understand the present moment, let alone predict the future? Read the whole article and all of the rest in this issue of Fuller Magazine.
Read MoreLutheran Disaster Response is contributing to ACT Alliance to address the devastation from the earthquakes. There are several ACT Alliance members already active in the region that are providing immediate aid. These organizations are supplying blankets, mattresses, hot meals and hygiene kits to earthquake survivors. As needs are assessed, the organizations will establish further actions.
Read More
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