A creative idea at an ELCA congregation in Port Jervis, N.Y., is helping the community one pet at a time. | more »
Congregational life
Emanuel Lutheran Church in West Warwick, R.I. was the first ELCA congregation powered by renewable energy. | more »
Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Seattle gives away the sky above their heads. | more »
The Lakota Lutheran Center is proud to be "a community of American Indian people who are serving those in need." | more »
Young adults in Alaska join with an ELCA congregation to fight hunger. | more »
The ELCA's "Ventures in Growing Stewards" workshop is just one way David Kappus promotes stewardship in the ELCA Eastern Washington-Idaho Synod. | more »
A worshiping community in northwest Wisconsin reaches out to those who “aren’t interested in walking into a church building.” | more »
A small ELCA congregation in Jacksonville, Fla., helps make a big difference through their donation to the ELCA Malaria Campaign. | more »
At Bread of Healing in Milwaukee, members are offered a hot meal, free health care and a powerful community. | more »
A developing ELCA congregation in Brooklyn, N.Y., meets a hunger in the community. | more »
An ELCA congregation in Chicago connects with their artistic, urban community. | more »
Favorites are ones that “seem simple but are really effective.” | more »
Kristina Johnson, 17 years old, mobilizes the youth of Hosanna Lutheran Church in Rochester, Minn., to fight hunger. | more »
Peace Lutheran Church in Milwaukee gets creative about stewardship. | more »
Hope Lutheran Church in Rhodes, Mich., makes a point of sharing its blessings with neighbors. | more »
The Samaritans at Trinity Lutheran Church in Kissimmee, Fla., take on homelessness in Disney World’s backyard. | more »
The Catacomb Churches in western Washington want to "to engage as saints and sinners, not as people with all the answers." | more »
Ava Aigner, a 10-year-old, left vacation Bible school determined to make a difference. | more »
Salem Lutheran Church lives by the motto "In the city for good to do good in the city." | more »
Every November, Peace Lutheran Church in Tacoma, Wash., hosts a holiday bazaar for those who need it most. | more »
Members of St. James Lutheran Church in Grosse Pointe, Mich., commemorate St. Francis Day with some of God’s creatures. | more »
Placing thumbprints and signatures on their new charter was an important milestone for all members at River of Hope, an ELCA worshiping community in Hutchinson, Minn.
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“What gets me through?” asks ELCA member Herb Nellis. “That people care.” | more »
Elim Lutheran Church in Duluth, Minn., is saving money by saving the planet. | more »
St. Stephen Lutheran Church in South Plainfield, N.J., opens its doors to neighbors after Hurricane Sandy. | more »
A Wisconsin congregation raises over $17,000 for the ELCA campaign to help contain the disease in Africa. | more »
Members of Leaven Project in Portland, Ore., make a commitment to serve their changing neighborhood. | more »
In a “perfect storm of God’s goodness," a congregation in Milwaukee helps build a home for one of their own. | more »
For the second time in its history, Atonement Lutheran Church in Chicago will become home to a growing, invigorated community of members. | more »
The ELCA's first new-mission start celebrates its 25th anniversary by branching out. | more »
An ELCA congregation in Orlando celebrates Epiphany “Puerto Rican style.” | more »
Here’s a look back at 12 stories from the past year that inspired us, moved us and made us proud to call ourselves Lutherans. | more »
Parroquia Luterana San José in Beloit, Wis., remembers Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter. | more »
Hope Lutheran Church in Reading, Pa., prepares to show the world their hopeful spirit. | more »
For an ELCA congregation in Elgin, Ill., re-enacting a 400-year-old Mexican Christmas tradition is a way to welcome their Spanish-speaking neighbors.
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Members of Santa Maria de Guadalupe haven't needed to knock on doors to invite people to church — potential members just show up. | more »
You won't find holiday decorations or snow at this Kenyan congregation. But you will find children helping celebrate the birth of Jesus — just as in congregations everywhere. | more »
ELCA congregations in Seattle celebrate Thanksgiving as an interfaith community. | more »
American Evangelical Lutheran Church in Gibson City, Ill., gets creative for Thanksgiving. | more »
When you're far from home, a hand-made card at Thanksgiving makes all the difference — especially if you're an ELCA missionary. | more »
Congregations of Golden, Colo., and their parish nurses have come together to serve the community in a joint health ministry. | more »
Kaw Prairie Community Church in Lenexa, Kan., started because leaders in the community heard God's call to step out in faith, says Dan McKnight, its pastor. | more »
Members of Northlake Lutheran Church in Northlake, Ill., let their congregation "die a graceful death so that other ministries might live and thrive." | more »
The ELCA's 100th new congregation reflects on 16 years together in Christ. | more »
In 2000, the Finnish Lutheran Church of North Texas became the first official Finnish congregation of the ELCA. | more »
... and the courtyard, congregations like Zion Lutheran in Superior, Wis., consider how they can best use their gifts to meet the needs of their communities.
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In Africa, it only takes one bite from a mosquito to cause malaria, a disease that claims the life of a child every 45 seconds. | more »
A Medford, Wis., congregation has been infused with new energy and is focusing on the ELCA Malaria Campaign. | more »
An ELCA congregation in Manhattan opens its doors, helping residents move forward with their lives. | more »
ELCA youth groups around the nation are creatively raising money to help bring wells to areas of the world without safe drinking water. | more »
When Jesus Escamilla received the call to the ordained ministry, he didn't anticipate that it would involve learning to ride a horse. | more »
Attendees of the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering take the words of this year's speakers to heart. | more »
Every 45 seconds a child in Africa dies of malaria. To help save lives, ELCA congregations are supporting the ELCA Malaria Campaign in some creative ways. | more »
Adam Miller-Stubbendick, a pastor from upstate New York, takes a plunge to support the 100 Wells Challenge. | more »
For this congregation, "living Lutheran" means going public with their faith. | more »
Leaders of the ELCA and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church are charting a path for congregations to engage in ministry together. | more »
Anna-Kari Johnson, a pastor in Hawthorne, Calif., says she hung out with Jesus on Ash Wednesday at the intersection of El Segundo and Inglewood Avenue.
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Through ELCA World Hunger, members of this church can make a difference, ensuring that the most basic of human needs are met. | more »
The dirt road leading to the ELCA summer camp took Kwame Pitts on a journey she never thought she’d take. | more »
About 250 people from Ethiopia’s Oromia region have found a spiritual oasis in their Washington, D.C., congregation. | more »
Offering prayer and a cup of java on the street is how two ELCA congregations in Rochester, Minn., get to know their neighbors. | more »
Sarah Rossing is one of 19 Fund for Leaders scholarship recipients, thanks to the generosity of John and Mary Satter.
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An ELCA congregation in New York City, once in the dark days of empty pews, is enjoying a rebirth of vitality and mission.
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The vision is to create a place where kids are welcomed and accepted. | more »
Susie Delgado heard racial slurs as a teenager. When it continued with her sons and grandchildren at school, Susie's faith motivated her to end it. | more »
Mark Knutson, pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland, says members can see how their faith connects to the world.
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According to Pastor Ronald Koch, people looking for an ELCA congregation in Gilroy, Calif., will now have a place to call home.
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About 35,000 ELCA young people, "citizens with the saints," go to New Orleans for five days of learning and growing.
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Attending an ELCA Youth Gathering offers the opportunity for teenagers to share their faith. "And that's what brings them back to the church," says Elizabeth Fisher. | more »
ELCA congregations in Minot, N.D., partner to rebuild their buildings and lives. | more »
When faced with the choice between a career in medicine or art, ELCA member Chris Raschka followed his heart, even if that meant taking a risk. | more »
Members of First English Lutheran Church in Columbus, Ohio, are reducing the energy costs of maintaining their 100-year-old building. | more »
Although floodwaters have left behind pain, despair and stench in Minot, N.D., ELCA members see the healing power of God in their midst. | more »
Two ELCA congregations in Minnesota discover that door-to-door visits, blessing tractors and seeds are part of an effective evangelism strategy.
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For members of Holy Trinity in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., caring for God's creation can begin in small ways.
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Martin Luther said, "Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace." Watch three stories of faith in action. | more »
Global neighbors remind ELCA missionaries like Sam and Cindy Wolff that we all have much to be thankful for. | more »
The church on the inside is in relationship with congregations on the outside. | more »
Baptism is another profound picture of Easter Vigil, as water both drowns and saves as new life comes forth. | more »
Podiatrists, medical students and pastors will be among those ministering to the people who live on the streets of Philadelphia. | more »
A youth group spending a day helping with cleanup in Joplin, Mo., unexpectedly found hope and beauty in the ruins of Peace Lutheran Church. | more »
An ELCA new start congregation in Maricopa, Ariz., is filled with an energy that flows from all the members. | more »
A special children’s program helped pave the way for a new relationship between two ELCA and African Methodist Episcopal Zion congregations. | more »
Pueblo de Dios, an ELCA mission start in Compton, Calif., shares spiritual and material bread with its community. | more »
Darius Larsen, a pastor in Big Sky, Mont., describes outreach as "not getting people into the church, but getting church people out into the communities." | more »
Welcome, stranger! New people are walking through the doors of Epiphany Lutheran, Eagle Lake, Minn., thanks to their innovative outreach program. | more »
Larry is eager to ride his bicycle, especially if the mission supports Outreach for Hope — an organization that funds ELCA congregations that serve the poor.
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Taking piano lessons at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Oakland, Calif., took Dante Millet to a place he never thought he'd go — college. | more »
By working together, ELCA members are sustaining farming and ranching communities in drought-stricken Texas. | more »
A steel cross, made from a beam from one of the towers at the World Trade Center in New York City, was the centerpiece of a Sept. 11 worship service. | more »
In a neighborhood some call “blighted,” an ELCA congregation sees rich soil and opportunity to plant the seeds for change. | more »
Lighting prayer candles in a bowl of sand becomes a popular part of a traditional Halloween neighborhood party. | more »
In between fishing and working ivory, Alook Savetilik studied reports for the 2011 Churchwide Assembly that would help chart the future of this church.
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"Technology is about interacting with God and with one another in ways that were impossible before," believes Ben Sheets. | more »
Participating in the Churchwide Assembly as a voting member was unlike anything Beth Smaligo has ever experienced. | more »
Members of Renton Lutheran Church near Seattle planned for a future that did not necessarily involve them. | more »
Supporting Kevin Jacobson in his work with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Suriname is a mutually beneficial relationship for two ELCA congregations. | more »
Bible stories were written to be shared aloud, not read silently. Two ELCA members showed how it’s done at the 2011 Churchwide Assembly. | more »
“Once you combine an interest with a gift, serving can be very gratifying and rewarding,” says ELCA member Linden Olson, a farmer and pork producer. | more »
In sparsely populated Montana, 50 congregations join together to reach out to the state's inmates.
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