It has been a while since I wrote about in-person gathering for worship. I was waiting for certainty before I grabbed my pen. I was waiting for clarity from the federal government and the CDC, from health scientists, and from our state health departments and governors. I waited for a common-sense consensus amongst the citizens of our nation. I turned to the books of wisdom in the Old Testament, hoping for a revelation.
I am still waiting.
Read MoreLutheran Campus Ministry, which was a life preserver for me. I saw first-hand how students were hungry for a place to be heard and ask questions about life and faith. I saw students blossom and grow—they are leaders in the church today.
Read MoreWe all want to go back to in-person worship. We also want to be safe. We want our neighbors to be safe. Many have asked me when we can gather for in-person worship.
In a time of so many unknowns with so much at risk, I feel it would be ill-advised to project yet another date. As we decide when to proceed, I suggest we wait for the CDC guideline of a “downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period.”
Read MoreMany of us think of Easter as one day—a day of colorful clothes, full churches, and glorious music as we celebrate the Risen Christ. This year, we did not receive that glorious Sunday we expected.
As we swim through the Eastertide of this year, perhaps we can see we are being gifted with an Easter season rather than just one day, an Easter that continues to expand.
Read MoreAs we journey through this Easter season, we are beginning to hear the question: when can we gather again?
In the midst of changing restriction policies across the three states of our synod, when and how will we worship in person as church? Some ask with concern, hoping that we not gather in person too soon. Others ask with excitement, because they miss the face-to-face community.
Read MoreOn April 28, 2020, the Nevada judicatory leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, and The Episcopal Church jointly sent the following letter to Governor Steve Sisolak.
Read MoreRev. Miguel Gomez-Acosta, Director for Evangelical Mission and Bishop’s Associate for Congregational Vitality with the Grand Canyon Synod, brings greetings, the Gospel, and a sermon for the second Sunday after Easter.
The Gospel, Luke 24:13-35, The Walk to Emmaus, can be found at the beginning of the video. The greetings and sermon starts at 2:54.
Read MoreRecently I heard a story about a Lutheran woman from the United States traveling through eastern Europe years ago. As she talked with a group of locals, it came up that she was Lutheran. One woman in the group told the American, “I know who you are.”
The European woman went into her house and came out with a quilt. She showed the American woman a label sewn onto the quilt which gave the name of an ELCA church who had made and donated it. "I was once in a refugee camp and had nothing,” the woman said. “You gave this quilt to me.”
Read MoreThe Arizona judicatory leaders of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, and The Episcopal Church jointly sent the following letter to Governor Doug Ducey.
Read MoreBishop Deborah K. Hutterer of the Grand Canyon Synod brings greetings, the Gospel, and a sermon for the first Sunday after Easter. The Bishop's greetings can be found at the beginning of the video. The Gospel starts at the 1:45 mark, and the sermon starts at 3:50.
Read MoreThe leaders of the Union for Reform Judaism, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Islamic Society of North America come together at the outset of their respective holy days in solidarity and in hope.
Read MoreThis Holy Week, we are tired.
We know an Easter is coming—an Easter of hugs and alleluias—but for the first time for some of us, we are not sure on what day this Easter dawn shall burst forth.
Read MoreDear church, how quickly our world has changed.
Two weeks ago, I sent a letter urging our congregations to suspend in-person worship until early April. And now, I write to urge you to suspend in-person worship until early May, possibly longer.
As we near the end of Lent, what about Holy Week and Easter?
Read MoreMy how things have changed in just one week and how they will continue to change in the coming days.
For today, please remember that we are church together for the sake of the world. We are better together. We get to model a different kind of community than one that is motivated by fear and hoarding.
Read MoreThis Lenten season we live in a time of pandemic. We also live in a time of rapid change. Coronavirus—ignoring the human boundaries of nation-states, class, culture, race, and religion—spreads with the exponential inevitability of a mathematical formula.
As we struggle to understand the virus and its effect on our daily lives, we also wonder how best to be church together. We are a church whose practices literally go hand-in-hand with sharing the virus.
Read MoreWhen the 500th anniversary of The Lutheran Reformation took place in 2017, the Vatican and The Lutheran World Federation issued a joint statement and study document, “From Conflict to Communion.” (View online or as PDF.)
A series of Lenten dialogs is our local participation in that endeavor to build ecumenical understanding and cooperation. Three Wednesday morning sessions, from 10:30 am to noon, will take place in March, with Bishop Hutterer and Bishop Weisenburger attending some of the dialogs.
March 11, 2020 @ Lutheran Church of the Foothills
March 18, 2020 @ St Cyril of Alexandria Catholic Church, featuring Bishop Weisenburger
March 25 @ Dove of Peace Lutheran Church, featuring Bishop Hutterer
Refugees and their supporters, including Bishop Deborah Hutterer, went to the Arizona Capitol on Monday to urge the state Legislature to pass a resolution welcoming those who escape violence and persecution.
Among them was Jolie Nabigondo from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She explained at a news conference that she was imprisoned in the late 1990s and tortured. Nabigondo later fled to Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya before coming to the United States.
Read MoreComfort crosses donated by the Mount Olive Lutheran Church Woodshop in Lake Havasu City—gifts for our Senegalese brothers and sisters to be delivered by Bishop Hutterer—also made their way to the Holy Landand were given by Bishop Hutterer as she made her way with other bishops through Palestine and Israel.
Read MoreBishop Deborah K. Hutterer and Pastor Jacqui Pagel took part in vespers during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Bishop Hutterer gave the meditation at the opening service at Desert Cross on Sunday, 1/19/20, while Pastor Pagel helped preside at the main worship on Thursday, 1/23/20.
View photos and more info in this article from the Catholic Sun, or view photos from the Episcopal Diocese further in this article.
Read MoreBishop Deborah K. Hutterer and her husband, Pastor Alan Field, visited Senegal at the turn of the year, and was hosted by Rev. Adama Faye, President of the Lutheran Church of Senegal. President Faye (rhymes with fly) will attend the Grand Canyon Synod Assembly in Las Vegas on June 11 and 12, 2020.
Read on to view photos and more»
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