For what shall we pray?
“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 peace in our world… For all casualties of the conflict in Israel and Palestine and for…
Situation Report: Gaza Humanitarian Crisis
Situation: The Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives. Photo: Albin Hillert/Life on Earth Due to escalating conflict in Gaza and Israel, a severe humanitarian crisis is rapidly unfolding in the Holy Land. Response: Lutheran Disaster Response is providing support to Augusta Victoria Hospital to procure medical supplies and accommodations for patients and staff who are unable to return to their homes in Gaza between treatments. Be part of the response: Pray Please pray for those impacted by the humanitarian crisis in the Holy Land. May God’s healing presence give them peace and hope in their time of…
A Confession on Spiritual Doubt
Even as a Christian, nearly 30yrs ago, I went through a season of extreme spiritual and intellectual doubt. It was as if the heavens were bronze, as if closed. That in my attempt to think and talk with God, it felt as if my words and thoughts would only make it as high as this bronze ceiling; as if the God I was ostensibly worshipping was merely a projection of my own wants and wishes. But I came to realize—through God’s grace and persistence—that in fact the Heavens are always open; indeed, that the veil of the flesh of Christ’s…
October Updates – U.N. and State Edition
Following are updates shared from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices (sppos) in the ELCA Advocacy Network this month. Full list and map of sppos available. U.N. | ARIZONA | CALIFORNIA | COLORADO |KANSAS | MINNESOTA | WASHINGTON |WISCONSIN New York Lutheran Office for World Community (LOWC), U.N. – ELCA.org/lowc Christine Mangale, Director LWF Assembly: Lutheran Office for World Community (LOWC) director Christine Mangale joined more than a thousand participants from around the global Lutheran communion who gathered in Krakow, Poland for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Thirteenth Assembly. It took…
October 22, 2023–Taxing Question
Drew Tucker, Columbus, OH Warm-up Question Think of something that affects everyone, that’s often unpopular, and that’s necessary for living in a society. Share with a group or a trusted friend how you feel about that thing that you’ve named. Taxing Question Thanks to the recent threat of a government shutdown, averted by a last-minute stopgap funding bill that President Biden signed into law on September 30th, 2023, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how we fund living in our shared society. From infrastructure like roads and utilities to people like first responders and postal workers, our taxes…
No One But God is Good: And Its Implications for Modern People
Some people confuse the Enlightenment for the New Creation. To the point that the human spirit has come to a crossroads in its development, and become civilized, or good. But this is not what the Gospel says. The Gospel says that we are constantly being given over to the death of Jesus that His life might be made manifest through the mortal members of our bodies. This presupposes that as Martin Luther rightly emphasized, as Christians, we are simul iustus et peccator (simultaneously justified and sinner) while we continue to inhabit this in-between time within our bodies of death. The…
October Update: Advocacy Connections
from the ELCA advocacy office in Washington, D.C. – the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, Senior Director Partial expanded content from Advocacy Connections: October 2023 IN A TIME OF WAR | NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING REFORMS | COUNTERING GLOBAL CORRUPTION | YOUNG ADULT MIGRATION ADVOCACY | CLIMATE WEEK NYC IN A TIME OF WAR: The devastating loss of life in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories since Oct. 7 grieve us all. U.S. churches including the ELCA have spoken on the conflict several times (including 10/7/23 and 10/12/23); the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, ELCA presiding bishop, issued a statement on Israel-Hamas…
Situation Report: Hawai’i Wildfires
Situation: Supplies at the Kelawea Community Partnership Hub in Lahaina. On Aug. 8, multiple wildfires broke out on Maui. Exacerbated by strong winds, they destroyed homes, businesses, and lines of communication. The town of Lahaina was the most impacted, although there was also damage from smaller fires near Kihei and Kula. Response: Lutheran Disaster Response is providing support to Kihei Lutheran Church, which is working with the Kelawea Community Partnership Hub. The hub collects and distributes items including drinks, food, clothing, baby formula and diapers for families impacted by the wildfires. Be part of the response: Pray Please pray…
Jesus, the Israel of God
I was going to write a post on Jesus as the Israel of God; on Jesus as the new humanity of God, who in fact is the Son of David, in all the scandalous particularity that ought evoke. But as I began to index the various passages I might use to make this case I thought it more organic to simply lay them out, with the emboldened sections intended to highlight how I might make the case for Jesus as Israel. He is not some transcendent extra, some Gnostic ethereal demiurge, some link between heaven and earth (as merely an…
For What Shall We Pray?
“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 peace in our world… For all victims of war in Israel and Palestine, and for all…