ELCA mission developer Margaret Kelly sees her ministry bringing “new life” to those living with poverty and homelessness. | more »
Outreach
Thanks to ELCA World Hunger, Sentongo Abdul says, “My future and that of my siblings is surely brighter.” | more »
A creative idea at an ELCA congregation in Port Jervis, N.Y., is helping the community one pet at a time. | more »
Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Seattle gives away the sky above their heads. | more »
ELCA World Hunger helps an ELCA congregation in O’Fallon, Ill., reach out to its neighbors. | more »
A new ELCA ministry in Durham, N.C., invites the community to get creative about expressing their faith. | 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 »
A small ELCA congregation in Jacksonville, Fla., helps make a big difference through their donation to the ELCA Malaria Campaign. | more »
The ELCA homeless ministry network helps ministries like Central City Lutheran Mission in San Bernardino, Calif., provide a welcoming home. | more »
An ELCA ministry at the Nebraska State Penitentiary rallies around prisoners to help them “find their place in the world upon their release.” | more »
Hurricanes Isaac and Sandy complicate recovery in Haiti, but the effort to improve life there presses on. | more »
At Bread of Healing in Milwaukee, members are offered a hot meal, free health care and a powerful community. | more »
For an ELCA worshiping community, the cross necklaces they wear have become more than just jewelry — they have become a part of who they are. | more »
An ELCA congregation in Chicago connects with their artistic, urban community. | 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 »
Camp Victor Ministries in Mississippi transitions from responding to disaster to being prepared for it. | 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 »
For Molly Cook, faith hasn't been that "gut-wrenching, heart-pounding, never-ceasing" experience. Serving in Malaysia, however, seems to be changing that. | more »
Mother of the Savior Lutheran Church in Dearborn, Mich., joins with its neighbors to fight intolerance. | 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 »
Cathedral in the Night welcomes everyone who worships, “rain, sun, snow or shine.” | more »
St. Stephen Lutheran Church in South Plainfield, N.J., opens its doors to neighbors after Hurricane Sandy. | more »
Volunteers from the South-Central Wisconsin Synod get creative when it comes to spreading the word about ELCA World Hunger. | more »
A Wisconsin congregation raises over $17,000 for the ELCA campaign to help contain the disease in Africa. | more »
For the second time in its history, Atonement Lutheran Church in Chicago will become home to a growing, invigorated community of members. | 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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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 »
When you're far from home, a hand-made card at Thanksgiving makes all the difference — especially if you're an ELCA missionary. | 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 »
Megan Ross, an ELCA deaconess, discovers what it means to live the diaconal life half-way around the world. | 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 »
The ELCA's 100th new congregation reflects on 16 years together in Christ. | 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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Jensen Seyenkulo, the new Liberian bishop, is working to strengthen unity among members of his church and to make the central office financially self-sustaining. | more »
The ELCA works with the Protestant church in China to train leaders in Sichuan province. | more »
Over the past year, Lutheran volunteers from several states have worked on Misty Weed’s flood-damaged home in Minot, N.D. | more »
An ELCA congregation in Manhattan opens its doors, helping residents move forward with their lives. | 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 »
A new ELCA congregation in Farmington, Minn., builds community over coffee. | 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 »
“God has called me in many ways. But it’s been a process of discovering who I am in order to understand what God has called me to do," says Kristina Diaz.
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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 »
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 later years of life can be good at Beth-Anne Place, a community for seniors started by an ELCA congregation on Chicago's West Side. | more »
There's something about the immigration experience that opens us up to God. | more »
The vision is to create a place where kids are welcomed and accepted. | 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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The youth of Trinity Lutheran in Princeton, Minn., practice discipleship and service in Mississippi before arriving at the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering. | more »
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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Miriam Schmidt says Bratislava International Church, her new congregation, successfully serves a diverse group of people “from more countries than you can count.” | 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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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 »
A clear and compelling call is driving the Leiseths to accept a new journey overseas. | more »
Podiatrists, medical students and pastors will be among those ministering to the people who live on the streets of Philadelphia. | more »
For Ron Glusenkamp, senior pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church in Denver, reading is fun, as long as it doesn't involve Thing 1 and Thing 2. | 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 »
Five hundred trees from around the world will be planted at the Wittenberg Center to honor the Reformation's 500th anniversary and the worldwide Lutheran communion.
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An ELCA new start congregation in Maricopa, Ariz., is filled with an energy that flows from all the members. | more »
Pauline Lindquist's aim in life is to preach the word, wherever she is. That pursuit has taken her to serve in some unexpected parts of the world. | more »
"Anybody who sounded as smart as he was ... and had the name Martin Luther, I had to get to know him better," says Robert Graetz of Martin Luther King Jr. | more »
Lindsey Bulger believes "we are able to catch glimpses of God in our relationships to one another."
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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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The crew of the M/C Christian is on a mission as they navigate the waters of Alaska: spearheading a ministry of hospitality among Alaskan residents. | more »
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 »
Cristina Kinz has learned that God is “suffering, living, dancing, hoping, crying and walking with and among us in each moment of our lives."
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Meeting American Jeanne Mueller in Chuzhou, China, eventually helped Nicole (Xiao) Zhang decide to be baptized. | more »
In a neighborhood some call “blighted,” an ELCA congregation sees rich soil and opportunity to plant the seeds for change. | more »
Using a studio run by James Kasperson, Deena Shupe made 35 sets of communion ware for use at the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. | more »
College students learn daily to love one another and place their own needs and wants aside for the sake of the other. | more »
Members of Renton Lutheran Church near Seattle planned for a future that did not necessarily involve them. | more »
Working with Habitat for Humanity through Lutheran Volunteer Corps has been a good fit for Chris Schei. | 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 »
In sparsely populated Montana, 50 congregations join together to reach out to the state's inmates.
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Not having a church building doesn't keep a group of ELCA members from worshiping. | more »
Candid conversations about HIV and AIDS change and protect lives in Tanzania.
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Vacation Bible schools bring the gospel stories alive, often for children who have not heard them before. | more »
How does 5-year-old Peanut Jones know that God loves him? Because his family and his congregation love him. | more »
Movie posters? A popcorn machine? What do they have to do with Sunday worship? Everything, if you’re at GPS Faith Community in Machesney Park, Ill. | more »
Two ELCA congregations have figured out a way to keep the flock from going astray in the summer. | more »
When the earthquake hit Japan, their World War II view that the Japanese were the enemy fell away. | more »
Pastor Richard Young, a physician and ELCA missionary serving in Guyana, is struck by the fact that prayer is requested first, medical care second.
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Meet Jim and Karen Noss, who represent the new face of missionaries in the ELCA. What hasn’t changed is the passion for ministry. | more »
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