Category: Protestant

*Editor’s Note: Due to a family emergency, our originally scheduled author for today needed to postpone their writing to a later date. Fortunately, Faith Lens has a long history of relevant content. The devotion below, originally shared in May 2018, is one of many that reflect on the assigned lectionary texts. You can always use the search bar at the top right of this page to look through our catalogue for content based on specific scriptures or specific topics. Kris Litman-Koon, Mt. Pleasant, SC Warm-up Question Think of someone who is not a member of your immediate family yet who…

“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here.   Prayer prompts: For justice and peace among nations where war and violence rage, especially Palestine and Israel, Iran, Myanmar,…

May 5 is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s (MMIW) Awareness Day. In 2021, as a follow-up to the 2016 Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery, the ELCA Church council adopted the Declaration to American Indian and Alaska Native People by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It reads, in part: “…We commit to advocacy for and being in solidarity with Tribal Nations, MMIWGR organizations, families, and friends who have gone missing or who have been murdered. “Indigenous women and girls go missing at a much higher rate than any other group in the United States. Indigenous men also disappear at…

Following are updates shared from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices (sppos) in the ELCA Advocacy Network last month. Full list and map of sppos available. U.N. | CALIFORNIA| COLORADO | MINNESOTA | PENNSYLVANIA| WASHINGTON |WISCONSIN New York Lutheran Office for World Community (LOWC), U.N. – ELCA.org/lowc Christine Mangale, Director   Lutheran Advocacy during CSW68: At the sixty-eighth session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), 37 clergy, lay-leaders, staff and expert delegates joined the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in New York from Mar. 8-22, especially for the first week. Delegates came from 20 countries on five continents….

“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here.   Prayer prompts: For justice and peace among nations where war and violence rage, especially Palestine and Israel, Iran, Myanmar,…

Moriah Reichert, Bloomington, IN Warm-up Question Have you seen little kids trying to do grown up things? Does your family have any stories of you trying to do something before you understood what you were doing? Before We Understand When we’re little, we often try to model our siblings, parents, or other grown-ups around us. One of my favorite pictures from toddler years is a photo of my dad and I on the couch. My dad is reading a Star Trek book, and I’m “reading” Sandra Bonyton’s Doggies: A Counting and Barking Book. Last week, a friend showed me a…

Samantha DiBiaso, Rockville MD  Warm-up Questions  What is one of your first memories of Jesus? Caution! Red Letter Bible!   When I was a kid, I didn’t really go to church. But I had a Bible that my grandparents gave me at my baptism that sparked my curiosity. I would open that Bible up from time to time when I played pretend “librarian” with all my stuffed animals. Every time I opened it up, I was startled by the words printed in red. It was one of those red letter edition Bibles that printed all of Jesus’ words in red. As…

“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here.   Prayer prompts: For justice and peace among nations where war and violence rage, especially Palestine and Israel, Iran, Myanmar,…

Rita Argus (Denver, CO) Warm-up Question What signs of spring have you noticed this week? The Good Shepherd I love going for hikes, especially in the springtime. Even before I moved to Denver, I would go for long walks in nature and soak in God’s creation. There was just something about the budding of trees, the smell of the soil, the rustling of birds or squirrels, and the warmth of the sunshine that would calm my brain and ground me in the moment. On one particular hiking adventure, the trail led us through a valley dotted with yellows, oranges, pinks,…

In observance of Arab American Heritage Month, ELCA Racial Justice Ministries invited Rev. Dr. Niveen Ibrahim Sarras to share her thoughts on this topic with our readers.   People in the West often assume that Arab Christians were converted from Islam to Christianity by Western missionaries. However, Arab Christians have always existed in the Middle East and have enjoyed significant influence in the Arabian Peninsula. To understand Arab Christians, it helps to know the geography of the peninsula. Arabia, known as Jazīrat Al-ʿArab (“Island of the Arabs”) in Arabic, extends beyond present-day Saudi Arabia, encompassing the Arabian Peninsula (bordered by…