Eventually it came out that this is a big issue for our students who are struggling with what it means to be a “witness” for Jesus in a diverse world. | more »
Social issues
“We're going to send them [the police] as soon as we get a car open,” said the dispatcher. Amanda Berry replied, “No, I need them now before he gets back.” | more »
Thanks to ELCA World Hunger, Sentongo Abdul says, “My future and that of my siblings is surely brighter.” | more »
Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Seattle gives away the sky above their heads. | more »
Children engaging in new activities, meeting new friends, and sharing living quarters with other campers present challenges to even the most well-adjusted child. | more »
With some help from ELCA Missionary Sponsorship, youth groups in Decorah, Iowa, lead their community to help refugees in Syria. | more »
Young adults in Alaska join with an ELCA congregation to fight hunger. | more »
Members of Spirit of Truth, an ELCA congregation under development, fight for workers' rights in the St. Paul, Minn., area. | more »
If we do not forgive and let go of our anger and grievances, they continues to hurt us.
| more »
Being accused of being the bully can be difficult to accept. You may believe your actions were unintentional or were provoked. | more »
The ELCA homeless ministry network helps ministries like Central City Lutheran Mission in San Bernardino, Calif., provide a welcoming home. | more »
When things were difficult, my mother would say, "Son, remember that God is always with you; learn to trust him and trust him even more when you are faced with ugliness." | more »
It is not important that we get the world to come to the church. Our calling is to bring the thirsty and the water of life together. | more »
Here are a series of questions that can help a pastor or other worker in the church determine whether a person or family is facing a situational crisis. | more »
“No one is speaking up for women here, and this is America!” | more »
Water is the most abundant resource on the planet, yet getting access to clean water remains a dangerous problem in much of the world. | more »
ELCA World Hunger helps people and organizations in Cambodia begin to live sustainably. | more »
When anger is left unresolved, it intensifies and may be projected inward or outward to find an expression beyond reason. | more »
“Those who are still afraid of men have no fear of God and those who have fear of God have ceased to be afraid of men.” | more »
It encourages you to adopt tactics that don’t work. Forgiveness, for instance, doesn’t work. It doesn’t automatically repair relationships. | more »
Kristina Johnson, 17 years old, mobilizes the youth of Hosanna Lutheran Church in Rochester, Minn., to fight hunger. | more »
They are leaving the crowded camps where they took refuge and, with the help of ELCA World Hunger, are returning to rebuild their villages and lives. | more »
We knew this morning was different, dreadfully different, but we dared to gather together anyway. | more »
We are left with a God who seems to love both saints and sinners, which means we are both comforted and confronted in the aftermath of tragedy in Boston. | more »
Students at Augsburg College's Center for Global Education get a different view of Central America. | more »
She wanted to give her testimony on Easter because she feels that she has been brought back from the dead. | more »
With help from ELCA World Hunger, the people of Malawi are improving their quality of life. | more »
I am grateful that our family has had conversations about the years when nobody (including me) was able to see the others clearly and compassionately. | more »
I’m a Lutheran pastor. My wife is Jewish. This time of year brings both beauty and tension in sharp relief for us. | more »
Here are ideas for volunteering this summer and at other times during the year. | more »
Potlucks can combat world hunger! | more »
The Catacomb Churches in western Washington want to "to engage as saints and sinners, not as people with all the answers." | more »
You don’t have to be Lutheran to believe that all children are worthy of food, but it is beautifully Lutheran to see all people as children of God. | more »
Well, not being Catholic maybe I don't get to say "we" have a pope. But still it was all very exciting. Social media makes these events so much more fun. | more »
It’s like the loaves and fishes. For so little, so much is done. | more »
Mother of the Savior Lutheran Church in Dearborn, Mich., joins with its neighbors to fight intolerance. | more »
Every November, Peace Lutheran Church in Tacoma, Wash., hosts a holiday bazaar for those who need it most. | more »
My mom said, "There are no mistakes. No accidents. Each of your children is who they are meant to be, and God didn't make a mistake when he created them." | more »
It is a chance to come together to hear God’s promises and to take comfort that “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” | more »
There are a couple of reasons for the stunned reaction on the part of the group, one that is spoken of in the text and one that is not. | more »
The Reformation and Vatican II breakthroughs provided radical new possibilities for all kinds of people to serve within the church and to make significant vocational contributions to society. | more »
The ELCA Malaria Campaign gets creative to change attitudes about malaria prevention in southern Africa. | more »
Every day of the week, Jim Freeman can count on a warm meal delivered to his home, thanks to ELCA World Hunger. | more »
The Holy Spirit is at work in ways we may never see, using our gifts to make a real change in another person. | more »
It is clear that "The Bible" is not trying to let the biblical stories speak for themselves; it is trying to make a case for one narrow vision of Christianity. | more »
The staff members of La Obra explained that this was not OK and gave the kids a quick overview of their rights so they would be prepared for the next time. | more »
Each of us has been given gifts by God for service to others in the name of Christ by all we do with our daily lives. | more »
Sexual images and explicit word references have become increasingly common among groups that are younger by the year. | more »
With the help of ELCA World Hunger, young people in a refugee camp in Kenya are dreaming big. | more »
Loving me through all of my failures and screw-ups. I can barely comprehend that someone loves me that much — let alone that I should love other people like that. | more »
By no means do we have it figured out. But at least for the time being we’ve decided that Lenten devotions and worship are a non-negotiable. | more »
We care about ELCA members who are in the military, but what about their families and friends waiting at home?
| more »
Attitudes that non-adoptive families have can play an important role in the support, or lack thereof, that adoptive families experience. | more »
It was all enough to make me wonder whether we, as Christians, should eschew going to movies at all. But, in the end, I think not. | more »
I thought about what words I would prefer to have read at my funeral; I realized that they had nothing to do with what might be listed as my “accomplishments.” | more »
Volunteers from the South-Central Wisconsin Synod get creative when it comes to spreading the word about ELCA World Hunger. | more »
For all of you lamenting Valentine’s Day — take heart, we’ve got Lent. | more »
I’ve been thinking, “Where is God’s place in all of this?” This is certainly not an easy question. | more »
When it comes to our money, the reality is that everything we have is to be used for God. | more »
As he concluded his story he said these words: "In order to be a man you've got to take off your masks and humble yourself." | more »
We all know that to feel that “I matter” is important throughout our life, regardless of our means of evaluating such things as “success” and love. | more »
Here is a closer look at the contributions of three African American Lutheran leaders — Will Herzfeld, Rudolph Featherstone and Nelson Trout. | more »
Members of Leaven Project in Portland, Ore., make a commitment to serve their changing neighborhood. | more »
Death and life are issues that Christ calls us to care about. Christ’s death and resurrection free us to be agents of life in a death-denying, death-defying culture. | more »
Its effect can be as minor as an irritating hangover — or as traumatic as living with auto fatalities, job loss and domestic abuse. | more »
That evening, Dr. King reminded our family and other families of the hope that is present for all God’s people. | more »
It was a small price to pay to break through barriers, establish relationships, and enter into a place of trust as we were connected through our relationship in Christ. | more »
Please allow me a moment to wallow in the bleak midwinter and to offer one potential antidote to the melancholy. | more »
The United States is unique in its practice of allowing clergy to preside at legal wedding ceremonies. In much of the world couples first go to a judge. | more »
As we prepare to celebrate once again Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of racial reconciliation, we must consider replacing “convenient” and “inconvenient” truths with the truth that will set us all free. | more »
One person’s trash is another’s opportunity to serve their neighbors.
| more »
The 1960s and early ‘70s was a time when Lutherans in America met with a cross section of American Indians and formed a national board.
| more »
I am home surrounded by the living stones that speak stories and breathe life into this holy and broken land, with the same stars that shine in the North Woods of Minnesota. | more »
It is, if you think about it, one of the starkest pictures of poverty — other people eking out a living by sorting through the things we have thrown away.
| more »
Martin Luther King Jr. was speaking a truth, an ugly truth that did not match the dream. | more »
Congregations need to reassure their members who are affected by the difficulties of unemployment or job transition. | more »
I have walked on deeply rutted trails, which were carved out by generations upon generations of faithful Lutherans who yearned together for justice and peace. | more »
The unchained gospel is as scary to us as an unchained Django was to virtually everyone he came across. | more »
When making resolutions we typically focus on “what” we want to do without considering “why” or “how.” | more »
If you decide to live a better story in the coming year, you might also have better success with those resolutions you usually fail to keep. What will your story be? You might also want to read: Resolve to live... | more »
You need only look at interpersonal relationships in the family or in the office to see that most of us have an inner Herod whom it is hard to ignore. | more »
How will 2012 be for you a year to build upon for a better 2013? You might also want to read: What’s new? The end of the year Resolving my resolutions... | more »
The fourth day of Christmas is not a day many preachers want to fall on a Sunday so they can avoid preaching on the Slaughter of the Innocents. | more »
For people affected by Hurricane Sandy, Jesus didn't come at Christmas, he's been there all along, both in the pain and in the coming together of communities to serve. | more »
The gift given to this grieving father was far greater than money. | more »
For many, it’s a reminder of lost loved ones, personal disappointments and dreams left unfulfilled. | more »
God doesn’t need more angels in heaven and those who were killed were not “taken” from us by God. They were taken by the evil actions of one man. | more »
At times like this, we need to remember that we do not wait alone. We are in this together, as a community, as a nation, and as a family of faith. | more »
Here are tips to prevent the valuable metal from being stolen from your church. | more »
We aren’t just a loose federation of churches. We are a communion of churches. | more »
When have you been moved to be an advocate for, in Jesus’ words, “the least of these”? You might also want to read: The least of these A moral voice Called into community... | more »
How does your congregation reach out to the people in the neighborhood and their needs? Are there areas in which the outreach could be even more effective? You might also want to read: Holy ground Built into the fabric of... | more »
St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church assists families and individuals in the area through its Community Resource Center. | more »
Open Mike Night is one way Grace in Action, a new ELCA congregation, works to build a community in the Southwest neighborhood of Detroit. | more »
In real terms many people shed innocent blood to gain the political freedom that I enjoy today. | more »
What, in fact, does it mean to say that Jesus is King? How important is it that he was both fully divine and fully human? | more »
On this Thanksgiving Day, I think of all the housed and homeless families, the fights and grateful feasts happening around the country. | more »
ELCA missionary Mark Jacobson, the director of a Lutheran medical school in Tanzania, says that through its graduates we become the healing hands of Christ. | more »
If you happen to see a kid — ear buds pounding out of the head and death mask images on the T-shirt, don't worry, the kid is probably harmless. | more »
We are called to look past the daily to see the eternal; to stare into the face of the truly human to perceive there the image of the truly divine. | more »
Recent Comments
Charles Oberkehr: “This year, we got 7 foot shimmering red streamers and” | more »
Charles Oberkehr: “Thanks for the reminder. Great piece.” | more »
Charles Oberkehr: “Love it! Great story, thanks!” | more »
Peter: “When I hear lawns in a religious context, I tend” | more »
Peter: “I think cemeteries and other places generally have quite pragmatic” | more »