ELCA Blogs

Julie Rowe

Sixteen ELCA young adults from all over the US are in the Holy Land right now visiting holy sites, experiencing everyday realities and meeting their Palestinian sisters and brothers in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and others working for peace with justice in the Holy Land. They plan to go back to the US and plan similar trips when they return.

Follow the trip’s blog at http://peacenotwalls.wordpress.com/.

From the blog:

What do you get when you mix 16 ELCA young adults from all over the United States who have flown to Israel and Palestine (with a quick stop in Jordan for a dedication of a church), asking them to learn more about Israel and Palestine in the context of their shared Christian faith, to grow in their leadership skills, connect with other young adults engaged in social justice, get involved with the Peace Not Walls Campaign of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and blog about it?

You get us! (and a ridiculously long sentence).

The sweet 16 are in the midst of a two week experience of a lifetime and will be using this blog to share their reflections along the way.

Thanks for joining us along the journey! leave a comment, lift up a prayer, and spread the word! The opinions expressed are the opinions of the individuals writing them and not necessarily the opinions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Julie Rowe

ELCA missionary Kirsten Fryer serves St. Andrew’s International Congregation and the St. Andrew’s Refugee Services in Cairo. In her blog, Cairos, Kirsten describes Christmas Day worship in Cairo where Sudanese refugees from various tribes who are fighting in South Sudan came together to worship, sing and commune around the table of the Lord.

Christmas service_Cairo_1-7-14

From Kirsten’s blog:

If you’ve been following the news from South Sudan, you’ll understand why I will treasure Christmas Day 2013 for a very long time. Even while Nuer and Dinka in South Sudan fight and kill one another, the two communities in Cairo, as well as the Sudanese Lutheran congregation that worships at St. Andrew’s, and representatives from the Shilluk congregation that worships elsewhere in the city, came together for worship on Christmas Day. In Arabic and English, Nuer, Dinka, and Shilluk, we prayed and sang and came together at the Lord’s Table. For those 3½ hours, differences were set aside and prayers were lifted up, together, in thanksgiving and celebration. Prayers were lifted up for peace, in South Sudan and Syria and throughout the world.

There was lots of music. The song leader would begin to sing, and soon voices were raised throughout the sanctuary, not just by one group, but by the whole congregation. Even at the point when the different congregations sang a special song, everyone joined in. Women danced in the aisles and voices were raised throughout the old, dusty sanctuary, decorated in its Christmas finest. We were welcomed at the Lord’s Table and came forward with outstretched hands, each fed with the bread of life, regardless of where we came from or what marks might otherwise distinguish us.

The Spirit moved among us and did not distinguish us by tribe or language but called us together as brothers and sisters in Christ and made us witnesses of the good news of great joy for all the people. The good news of great joy that brought us together. The good news of great joy that takes strangers and enemies and calls them brothers and sisters.

On Christmas Day, I looked out over this congregation that the world news would lead us to believe shouldn’t be together. Couldn’t be together. And yet we were. In peace and joy and celebration. I was struck by the promise of incarnation. By the promise that we celebrate on Christmas — that God comes to us. That God comes, not as the mighty and powerful warrior, but as the humble and vulnerable child. And then continues to breathe life and hope and promise into the lives of people, even with all of the baggage that we bring. With all of the joys and sorrows that we bear. With all of the struggles we face. That God continues to come to us, God’s beloved people, is worth remembering and celebrating, not just on Christmas but always. It is indeed good news of great joy for all the people. And light that shines in the darkness.

Megan Brandsrud

On Oct. 4, Winter Storm Atlas hit western South Dakota after days of temperatures in the 70s. The storm delivered freezing rain followed by up to four feet of snow accumulation. Although South Dakota is no stranger to winter weather, this storm was unexpected and out of character for the time of the year.

More than 22,000 homes and business were without power for several days. Ranchers in the region were particularly impacted by the storm, as they emerged from the storm to find many of their cattle had not survived.

The cattle had not yet grown their winter coats and ranchers didn’t have enough warning to be able to move their herds to protected winter pastures. The freezing rain, heavy snow and 70-mile-per-hour winds proved deadly for tens of thousands of cattle. In the fall, ranchers sell their calves to market. Many of the ranchers had not yet sold their calves when the storm hit. The calves are gone, and so are the cows that were pregnant with next year’s calves. It can take a rancher up to 20 years to fully develop his or her herd. Winter Storm Atlas caused ranchers to lose the cows they had been raising for many years, and they suffered a severe financial loss.

Working with Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota, Lutheran Disaster Response – U. S. has committed $150,000 to assist in spiritual and emotional care for those impacted by Winter Storm Atlas, with a promise of more funds as needed. Thanks to your undesignated gifts, Lutheran Disaster Response – U.S. was able to respond when the need arose.

Several weeks have passed since Winter Storm Atlas hit western South Dakota. Below is a brief testimony and video from Janet Jorgensen, a rancher who was affected by the storm. Her story describes the impact of the storm and the generosity her community received afterward.

“People may wonder why this happened. No one will ever know the reason, but we must remember that God is in control and is our strength. The parishioners of Indian Creek Lutheran Church – Meadow, SD and the folks in “West River” South Dakota are the recipients of love in many forms, whether prayers, livestock or donations. People’s hearts are so generous. Indian Creek Lutheran Church is appreciative and is grateful to those who have given of themselves and their gifts.

This video was created to give the viewer insight to a ranch family’s life. The ranchers tend to their livestock to prevent illness and to provide good nutrition and shelter, which reflects good stewardship for the land and animals. It is with hopes that my journal and photos plus Kelly Hayworth’s artistic gift will enhance the viewers’ understanding.

Although the Mega Blizzard caused a large loss, we need to keep the proper perspective. We lost no family member and that is what counts. God was a part of our lives and will continue to be.”

Julie Brenton Rowe

Learn about the ELCJHL’s new pilgrimage center at Bethany beyond the Jordan, believed to be the site where Jesus was baptized.

Ecumenical and faith leaders from around the world are gathering with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land for the Jan. 6 dedication of the first Lutheran church built on a holy site: The Evangelical Lutheran Church at Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan.

This site on the Jordan River is believed to be the site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus and crowds of others, as related in John 1:29, which refers to “Bethany beyond the Jordan.”

The ELCJHL is one of 7 churches given land at this site by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Pilgrims visiting “the Holy Land” are encouraged to remember this and other Biblical sites in Jordan in their trip plans.

Rev. Rolf Pearson and his wife Kerstin will be caretakers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan, which consists of a church, pastor’s house and multipurpose hall. They will be developing worship services, baptismal renewals and spiritual practices as they develop the pilgrim center.

Find out more about how to support this site and other ministries of the ELCJHL.

“According to this passage [Matthew 25:41-46] we are bound to each other in such a way that no one may forsake the other in his distress but is obliged to assist and help him as he himself would like to be helped.”

-Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague (1527)

“Christians are to be taught that the one who sees a needy person and passes by, yet gives money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God’s wrath.”

-Ninety-five Theses (1517), #45

“Let us also be generous [as Abraham was], and let us open the door to poor brethren and receive them with a joyful countenance. If we are deceived now and then, well and good. In spite of this our good will is demonstrated to God, and the kind act…is not lost on Christ, in whose name we are generous. Hence just as we should not intentionally and knowingly support the idleness of slothful people, so, when we have been deceived, we should not give up this eagerness to do good to others.”

-Lecture on Genesis, Chapter 18

“Therefore, we should be guided in all our works by this one thought alone – that we may serve and benefit others in everything that is done, having nothing before our eyes except the need and advantage of the neighbor.”

-Freedom of a Christian (1520)

“But in times past, [Holy Communion] was so properly used, and the people were taught to understand this fellowship so well, that they even gathered food and material goods in the church, and there – as St. Paul writes in I Corinthians 11 – distributed among those in need.”

-The Blessed Sacrament of the Holy and True Body of Christ, and the Brotherhoods (1519)

“For this reason, true theology and recognition of God are in the crucified Christ…God can be found only in suffering and the cross.”

-Heidelberg Disputation (1518)

“Now there is no greater service of God than Christian love which helps and serves the needy, as Christ himself will judge and testify at the last day, Matthew 25.”

-Ordinance of a Common Chest, Preface (1523)

“The rule ought to be, not ‘I may sell my wares as dear as I can or will,’ but, ‘I may sell my wares as dear as I ought, or as is right and fair.’ Because your selling is an act performed toward your neighbor, it should rather be so governed by law and conscience that you do it without harm and injury to him, your concern being directed more toward doing him no injury than toward gaining profit for yourself.”

-Trade and Usury (1524)

“We do not serve others with an eye toward making them obligated to us. Nor do we distinguish between friends and enemies or anticipate their thankfulness or ingratitude.”

-Freedom of a Christian (1520)

“If your enemy needs you and you do not help him when you can it is the same as if you had stolen what belonged to him, for you owe him your help. St. Ambrose says, ‘Feed the hungry: if you do not feed him, then as far as you are concerned, you have killed him.’ ”

-Treatise on Good Works (1520), reflecting on the seventh commandment

Follow the ELCA Peace not Walls/Young Adult Leadership Trip to the Holy Land

Christmas Peace and Unity in Cairo

Winter Storm Atlas: A Rancher’s Perspective

ELCJHL Prepares for Dedication of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan

Martin Luther’s Top Ten Quotes about Ministry among People in Poverty