Category: Protestant

Dave Delaney, Roanoke, VA Warm-up Question What are the most important qualities you look for in your friends? Sharing common interests or values? Sticking by you no matter what? Agreeing with almost everything you say? Keeping you honest by telling you when you’re being annoying or about to do something dumb?  A simple choice question with no right or wrong answer: Would you rather have just a few very close friends or a lot of casual friends? 3. Since the pandemic lockdown, some young people report that it has been more difficult to build good and reliable relationships that it…

Issue 93 of Administration Matters Victim of embezzlement? Do you know how to proceed? It is important to know what to do when your synod or congregation experiences embezzlement. Being prepared in some way will help you deal with a situation as difficult as this one. >More Billions of federal dollars available for churches and nonprofits to go green The Renew America’s Nonprofits grant aims to stimulate widespread energy improvements in the nonprofit sector to create a pipeline of energy- and cost-saving projects that will continue beyond the life of the grant. All applicants must have an active SAM.gov and…

Josh Kestner, Clemson, SC Warm Up Questions How often do you interact with someone who is different from you? For example, how often do you interact with someone from a different neighborhood? Someone from a different school? Someone with a different racial identity or whose primary language is one other than English? Have you ever entered into a new community? Maybe you moved to a new town or started going to a new school or joined a new sports team. How did you feel? What kinds of things made you feel comfortable and welcome? What kinds of things made you…

“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,…

CONTENT UPDATED: May 10, 2024 Civic engagement is happening this election year in many diverse communities and contexts—and being activated and led by congregations, rostered leaders, ELCA-affiliated state public policy offices and members. Here’s a sampling of INITIATIVES & TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES and RESOURCES & REFLECTIONS. Consider taking part or taking inspiration for your locality! Also check out: ELCA Civic Engagement Guide Guidance for churches and clergy participating in the electoral process Plus resources at ELCA.org/votes and ELCA.org/civicengagement   INITIATIVES & TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES Jun.-Oct. 2024 6-session, monthly ONLINE SERIES | What does it mean to be Lutheran in a crucial election…

Updated 5/8/2024 STATUS ON CAPITOL HILL | ACTION ALERTS | RESOURCES AND WEBINARS | OUR COLLECTIVE VOICE The Farm Bill, which guides much of U.S. agriculture, rural and food policy, is currently being debated in Congress. The ELCA urges Congress to pass a 2024 Farm Bill that promotes: food for hungry neighbors at home and abroad, healthy rural and farming communities, inclusion of people of all backgrounds, care of creation to feed future generations In a world of abundance, we strive for an end to hunger and poverty, and towards a just world where all are fed. Additionally, we are…

*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….