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Dorothy C. Bass: On the playground, grace steps in

Dorothy C. Bass: On the playground, grace steps in

When I met Mark, his first marriage had failed, as had mine, but his love and commitment toward his young daughter, Kristen, were unshakable. When we married, she became a full-fledged member of our new family, and I became a stepmother.

The time and increasing closeness Kristen and I shared brought me immense joy. Even so, I often felt insecure as she came and went on a schedule beyond my control, always returning to the care of a woman whose claim and closeness far outweighed my own.

ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardNovember 11, 2022Living LutheranComment

Why “Created to Be?”

Why “Created to Be?”

A message from the Director of the ELCA Youth Gathering, Deacon Tammy Jones West, on how the upcoming ELCA Youth Gathering theme was chosen.

ELCA, Letters, NewsBrian FlatgardNovember 9, 20222024 ELCA Youth Gathering, ELCA Youth Gathering, Youth and Young AdultComment

Erik Olson: Known and seen

Erik Olson: Known and seen

One of my favorite Sunday school songs is “Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man” (“And a wee little man was he”). I love teaching the actions to kids and watching them light up at the seeming silliness of the story—from pretending to climb the tree to peering down at Jesus as Zacchaeus to looking up at Zacchaeus as Jesus.

ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardNovember 9, 2022Living LutheranComment

Bishop Eaton’s Election Day message and prayer

Bishop Eaton’s Election Day message and prayer

As you vote early or make your plan to vote, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton offers this message in advance of Election Day. Thank you for making informed and faithful decisions for your community, and congratulations to the first-time voters!

Bishop Eaton, ELCA, Letters, PrayersBrian FlatgardNovember 7, 2022Elections and Voting RightsComment

Bishop Eaton: Christians against Christian Nationalism

Bishop Eaton: Christians against Christian Nationalism

Christian Nationalism identifies human-made governments as lockstep with God’s will and seeks to privilege Christians, typically only white Christians. This type of ideology is not only dangerous but distorts the difference between holding government accountable to God as opposed to identified strictly with God’s will. We must stand against Christian Nationalism and as that you join us in signing the petition and sharing your stance by visiting the Christians Against Christian Nationalism site.

ELCA, Bishop Eaton, News, LettersBrian FlatgardNovember 2, 2022Christian Nationalism, Christians Against Christian Nationalism, Church and Society Comments

Bishop Hutterer: A synod of many cultures

Bishop Hutterer: A synod of many cultures

Our synod is blessed with a rich tapestry of people, land, and history. How do we move forward as church together, honoring and including so many cultures?

This is what we set out to explore at our latest retreat of the synod council, conference deans, and Office of the Bishop staff.

Bishop Hutterer, Letters, Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardNovember 2, 2022Comment

Bishop Eaton: Happy Reformation Day!

Bishop Eaton: Happy Reformation Day!

On Reformation Day and in this video from Bishop Eaton, we celebrate the five hundred and fifth anniversary of the Reformation! Over five hundred years later, the Lutheran movement is alive and well, as the good news is proclaimed in languages and places Martin Luther never knew existed.

Bishop Eaton, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardNovember 1, 2022Martin Luther, Reformation SundayComment

Rev. Lisa Heffernan: Spina bifida awareness month

Rev. Lisa Heffernan: Spina bifida awareness month

For me, this awareness month/s isn’t about simply learning what spina bifida is or saying how “inspiring” disabled people are. (Just don’t say that…seriously. We’re human. Just as faulted, sinful, loving, and capable as you.) It’s about making we who follow Christ aware of the beauty in this diverse community.

ELCA, News, LettersBrian FlatgardOctober 28, 2022Disability Ministries, ELCA Disability MinistriesComment

Bishop Eaton: Get vaccinated and boosted

Bishop Eaton: Get vaccinated and boosted

The pandemic is not over, and we encourage you to get vaccinated and boosted (and to encourage your neighbors to do the same), not just for you, but for your family, your community, and your faith.

Bishop Eaton, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardOctober 20, 2022CoronavirusComment

I’m a Lutheran: Cheryl Sandrock

I’m a Lutheran: Cheryl Sandrock

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oak Harbor, Ohio: Elementary general music teacher

“Attending church with my mom and grandparents is one of my earliest memories. My grandmother would hold me on her lap and rock me during the church service. Today I still hold this memory close to my heart, as I always felt safe and loved in her arms.”

ELCA, News, LettersBrian FlatgardOctober 13, 2022Living LutheranComment

Vance Blackfox: Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Vance Blackfox: Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day

It is my prayer that each of you had a wonderful Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and that as you looked around you saw more and more non-Indigenous people observing this holiday in ways that lifted up the gifts and beauty of the Indigenous people in what is presently known as the United States.

ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardOctober 12, 2022American Indian and Alaska NativeComment

Bishop Eaton: Indigenous People's Day 2022

Bishop Eaton: Indigenous People's Day 2022

Monday, October 10, 2022, we observe Indigenous Peoples' Day, an opportunity to honor Indigenous Peoples and celebrate all the vital gifts that they offer to Creation from their cultures, traditions, theology, wisdom, creativity, ingenuity and so much more.

Bishop Eaton, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardOctober 12, 2022American Indian and Alaska NativeComment

A Cup of Generosity: October, 2022

A Cup of Generosity: October, 2022

“We should look to see what God is doing in our lives but with the knowledge that God isn't out to get us but God is there to guide us, comfort us, perhaps sometimes to challenge us but always to be leading us in the right direction and caring for us along the way.”

View this month’s Cup of Generosity in this post or in this PDF.

Letters, Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardSeptember 29, 2022Stewardship, A Cup of Generosity, GCS Stewardship TeamComment

Peace Not Walls: Christian Presence in Jerusalem

Peace Not Walls: Christian Presence in Jerusalem

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem issued a statement in support of HM King Abdullah II following his speech at the UN Assembly in NY on September 20, 2022. The speech raised concerns about threats to the Christian presence in Jerusalem.

ELCA, News, LettersBrian FlatgardSeptember 27, 2022Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, SumudComment

AMMPARO response to recent arrivals of migrants by bus

AMMPARO response to recent arrivals of migrants by bus

Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities (AMMPARO) responds to recent arrivals of migrants by bus.

“Those who cross through our country to get to a better place to live are human beings with needs who eat, who drink and who need to rest. Let us not allow rejection and xenophobia to be more visible than God’s great acts of justice and love” —Moises Perez Espino, Biblical Studies; Old Testament and Migration

ELCA, News, LettersBrian FlatgardSeptember 27, 2022AMMPARO, Immigration and Refugees, AdvocacyComment

Bishop Hutterer: Not giving up meeting together

Bishop Hutterer: Not giving up meeting together

Again, we are gathering.

For those of us who are blessed with the health to gather in-person, we are increasingly finding ourselves grouped up again: in meeting rooms, around altars, in schools and universities, and around dinner tables. We look ahead to busy seasons of Thanksgiving and Advent with familiar feelings of hope and sometimes dread, along with some new emotions.

Bishop Hutterer, Letters, Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardSeptember 21, 2022Comment

Bishop Eaton: We are woven together

Bishop Eaton: We are woven together

In her September, 2022 column for Living Lutheran, Bishop Eaton writes: “In Christ we are individually members one of another. Sometimes we might feel like we are stuck with each other. This is the great mystery and beauty of the wounded body of Christ—we are woven together.” Read in English at https://bit.ly/3RUS2a5 and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/3f1BfDT.

Bishop Eaton, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardSeptember 20, 2022Living LutheranComment

I’m a Lutheran: Emma Kasiga

I’m a Lutheran: Emma Kasiga

I moved to Minnesota in July 1998 after graduating from Waldorf University, Forest City, Iowa (then the ELCA’s Waldorf College). I’d heard there was a congregation in Minneapolis that had a Swahili service in the afternoon. The day I visited, I knew right away that I’d found my church.

ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardSeptember 20, 2022Living LutheranComment

Emmy Kegler: Question the norm

Emmy Kegler: Question the norm

This September brings with it a heavy joy. Every year the calendar’s turn to Labor Day and the weather’s switch to rain and chill bring us back from the fun of summer.

But years in the shadow of a global pandemic have called our attention to the same questions that Jesus poses in this month’s Gospel readings.

ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardSeptember 19, 2022Living LutheranComment

Kristina Diaz: The Beauty and Tragedy of the Mestizaje Mindset

Kristina Diaz: The Beauty and Tragedy of the Mestizaje Mindset

Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month! As we celebrate, I can’t help reflecting on what is being celebrated: independence, legacy and identity. As far as my own identity, I grew up, like many Puerto Ricans, hearing the poems and songs that claim we all have a Black grandma hidden away somewhere. There was this shared idea among the people in my life that, no matter how hard we try to hide it, somewhere in our DNA we are all Black.

ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardSeptember 15, 2022Racial Justice Ministries, Racial Justice, ELCA Racial Justice MinistriesComment