Advent & Christmas

What happens to LGBTQIA2S+ families if marriage equality is overturned? Join Central Lutheran Church on January 4, 2025, at 2:00 PM for Planning for Your Future in Uneasy Times. Estate Attorney Aaron Fransua, Esq., will share essential steps to safeguard your family and rights in uncertain times. This vital event is open to all—come and learn how to protect what matters most.

In our December 2024 Mission Support Memo hear from Bishop Laurie Larson Caesar of our Oregon Synod, telling her story of joyful and important accompaniment with the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland. Explore the eight enlightening things she learned about Poland and Polish Lutherans.

We are grateful how Mission Support connects us globally. You can also find out about an exciting series on aligning your pocketbook with your values, so learn how to join January 13th to explore “6 Weeks on Money.”

AFN would like to thank the many people who made the 2024 Annual Gathering a success. We'd especially like to thank the generous sponsors and exhibitors who made the event possible and enabled people to connect with many important organizations and resources.

If you weren't able to attend, here's a link to the Annual Gathering Program and here's a YouTube recording of the program portion of the event (here's a link starting at the beginning of the keynote address from Rev. Eugene Cho).

Faith communities across the U.S. are embracing solar power to care for God’s creation and reduce energy costs. Federated Community Church in Flagstaff has cut its energy bills by 96%, while Lutheran congregations nationwide are becoming leaders in climate justice through solar adoption. Supported by incentives like the Inflation Reduction Act, congregations are proving that collective faith can inspire real change. Explore how solar energy helps churches live out stewardship and care for future generations.

Alicia Granholm, Dwight Zscheile, and Terri Elton address listener-submitted questions about navigating resistance, fostering trust, and discerning God's will in church leadership today. Listen to the latest Pivot podcast from faith+lead here.

Living Lutheran is returning to print! After hearing from many of you, the ELCA is relaunching the beloved magazine with four print issues per year beginning in 2025. Individual subscriptions are $19.95 annually, with group plans available for congregations. Sign up today at livinglutheran.org/subscribe to stay connected to our shared stories of faith. Read the article in Living Lutheran here.

The Grand Canyon Synod will host the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Phoenix from July 28–August 2, 2025. We’ll need up to 100 volunteers to assist with this significant event, held at the Phoenix Convention Center. More details and sign-up forms will be available soon. For early inquiries, contact Mary Beth Baron at mbbaron@gcsynod.org. Save the date and help us welcome the wider ELCA church to Phoenix!

In times of heightened uncertainty, our immigrant neighbors need support and accompaniment. The ELCA’s AMMPARO ministry offers critical tools to understand and assert rights during encounters with law enforcement or ICE. This guide includes Red Cards, family preparedness plans, and multilingual resources to help families stay informed and safe. Access the full list of tools and share them with your community as we walk together in faith and advocacy. Read more at ELCA.org.

Rick Steves, a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Seattle, has shared a beautiful 2-minute video of the Christmas story from Luke, illustrated with stunning European art. Offered as a free gift to the ELCA, the video can be used in worship services, concerts, or celebrations with no need for attribution. Watch the video on YouTube here or download it here and enrich your community’s celebration of this holy season.

Join beloved 1960s TV icons Davey and Goliath for their 1965 Christmas special. Davey learns the real meaning of Christmas when he gives his part in a Christmas play to another boy.

View the message on YouTube here or download the video here We invite you to pause with us during this holy season to celebrate the miracle of Emmanuel: God with us. From all of us at the ELCA Foundation, thank you for your generosity and partnership. Merry Christmas.

Martin Luther’s Christmas sermon challenges us to look at our own lives this season. While Bethlehem had “no room” for Christ, we are asked: Do we make room for our neighbors in need today? God entered the world in love, and Luther calls us to respond with that same love for those around us.

This Advent season, as we wait in hopeful anticipation for the gift of Christ’s birth, I find myself reflecting deeply on gifts and generosity. Not just the kind we wrap in paper and ribbons, but the kind we experience through the Spirit—the gifts of love, grace, and community that bind us together as one church, one body of Christ.

In the past months, I’ve been blessed to witness firsthand how the Holy Spirit moves through our shared ministry, both within our synod and across the globe. During recent visits to two of our companion churches—the Lutheran Church of Senegal (LCS) and Iglesia Luterana Mexicana (ILM)—I saw acts of generosity that have left me humbled and inspired.

The Office of the Bishop will be closed December 24-26, and the staff will be enjoying Christmas with friends and family. We share photos from our visit to Faith/La Fe and the pastoral role changes of Rev. Veronica Alvarez and Rev. Jonathan Linman.

This week we celebrate the ordination anniversaries of:

• Rev. Bjorn Pedersen, who celebrates 37 years on December 20.

• Rev. Rodney Hutton, who celebrates 47 years on December 26.

The 2025 Grand Canyon Synod Assembly will be held June 12-13, 2025, at Community Lutheran Church in Las Vegas, NV. To ensure equitable participation across our vast synod, the assembly location rotates between Tucson, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. This year, costs are minimized by avoiding Friday hotel stays and hosting the event in a church instead of a hotel. Congregations are encouraged to elect voting members at their annual meetings, including one youth or young adult and one person of color or whose primary language is not English, to reflect the diversity of God’s people.