For What Shall We Pray? 2/23/2023
For What Shall We Pray? 2/23/2023

  • For continued relief and recovery efforts in Turkey and Syria…

  • For continued clean-up efforts following the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment…

  • For all who are digging out and warming up following winter storms in the Midwest…

  • For the families and loved ones of the Orlando shooting victims…

  • For an end to gun violence across our nation and our world…

  • For the loved ones of those killed in a plane crash near Little Rock, Arkansas…

  • For those injured and killed during violent raids in the West Bank…

  • For peace in our world, especially at the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine…

  • For recovery efforts after an open pit mine collapse in China’s northern Inner Mongolia region…

  • For all facing unemployment, job insecurity, or financial instability…

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ELCA, PrayersBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, For What Shall We PrayComment
This Far By Faith: Talks at the Desk, Episode 4 - Season 2 (2023)
This Far By Faith: Talks at the Desk, Episode 4 - Season 2 (2023)

Welcome to Episode 4 of Talks at the Desk, season 2. We travel to Ghana and hear from students attending the All Africa Youth Congress. We visit a slave castle and hear about the what enslaved ancestors endured. Also, Pastor Nicolette Penaranda sits down with three legends of Black Lutheran theology.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardTalks At the Desk, Racial Justice, 2023 Black History Month, African Descent MinistriesComment
Office of the Bishop Updates: 2/24/2023
Office of the Bishop Updates: 2/24/2023

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.

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News, Bishop Hutterer, Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardOffice of the BishopComment
SOFIA: A Kin*dom for Everyone
SOFIA: A Kin*dom for Everyone

As 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.

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ELCA, News, Global ChurchBrian FlatgardStories of Faith in Action (SOFIA), 2022-2023 Sofia, LGBTQIA+, Ecumenical and Inter-Religious RelationsComment
Double your congregation’s impact for International Women’s Day
Double your congregation’s impact for International Women’s Day

International 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.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardInternational Women Leaders (IWL) programComment
Observing Ash Wednesday in Unexpected Circumstances
Observing Ash Wednesday in Unexpected Circumstances

After 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.

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ELCA, News, Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, 2023 LentComment