Large, multinational corporations controlling prices and driving down wages, masses of people too poor to afford basic goods, an economy that favors the wealthy, politicians and church leaders at the mercy of banks….1517 was quite a year!  So much has changed, so much remains the same.

Many people remember Martin Luther’s sharp critique of the abusive practices of the church, but few of us are as familiar with Luther’s equally sharp critique of the abusive economy of his day, an economy that made a few people wealthy and a lot of people poor.

At the 2015 “Forgotten Luther” conference in Washington, DC, theologians and historians shared this little-known side of Luther’s teachings.  The presenters described Luther’s critique of monopolies, price gouging, and greed. They showed the clear economic teachings in Luther’s Catechisms and the political side of his theology. They also shared Luther’s insistence that the church be part of the solution to injustice, a heritage that can still be seen today in the many ways Lutherans respond to poverty and hunger 500 years later.

ELCA World Hunger is proud to offer for free videos of each presentation from this important conference, as well as video interviews with each of the presenters. You can find all of the videos on the ELCA’s Vimeo channel at https://vimeo.com/album/4043021. The presentations were also collected into a short book, complete with discussion questions and other contributions from the conference organizers. You can purchase the book from Lutheran University Press at http://www.lutheranupress.org/Books/Forgotten_Luther.

Here on the ELCA World Hunger blog, we will feature some highlights from this collection of resources.

This week, Dr. Carter Lindberg talks about the relationship between charity and justice and how congregations can start to engage questions about the economy. Dr. Lindberg challenges congregations to enrich their charity with justice. See the full interview at https://vimeo.com/album/4043021.

CHICAGO (July 18, 2016) – In a July 15 letter addressed to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), joined more than 90 national Christian leaders with the Circle of Protection asking to meet with the candidates to discuss “plans for offering help and opportunity to hungry and poor people in the United States and around the world.”

“We are leaders of Christian communions, organizations and schools who care deeply about hunger and poverty, and we are praying for a president who shares that concern,” the letter reads.

The leaders emphasized that steps toward ending hunger and poverty “will require action by all sectors of society and by all the nations of the world.”

The Circle of Protection is a coalition of diverse Christian leaders that advocates for hungry and poor people in the United States and around the world.

The letter is available at http://bit.ly/2agyixy.

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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with more than 3.7 million members in more than 9,300 congregations across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of “God’s work. Our hands,” the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA’s roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.

-Deaconess Kristen Baltrum

There is nothing quite like watching the face of a teenager light up in wonder, especially when that face is lighting up because they have just walked into a stadium full of people, who like them have gathered together for five days of service, learning, and worship – the ELCA Youth Gathering.

That look is why I ride the bus for three days to get there. That look gives me the opportunity to say, “See? I told you; you aren’t alone.” And then together we spend five days unpacking that look – what it means, why it matters, and are assured of our place in this church, both the young person and myself.

It is the power of Christ present in the larger church that lights up the faces of the teens who experience the Gathering. While I absolutely believe that Christ is present where only two or three are gathered, or even if we are alone, there is something exhilarating for me to witness this power of the present Christ when it is seeping into the pores of youth in mass quantity.

But I am not a bystander at the Gathering, simply gleaning off the young people’s energy, only watching the Spirit work. I too am infused with the power of the present Christ. My call to walk alongside young people and “figure it out” is affirmed at each Gathering. It is an exhausting week that leaves me utterly spent and utterly filled at the same time.

And there is no better feeling than that: the feeling of simultaneously being spent and filled, giving and receiving so much. The Gathering is indeed holy ground where relationships are deepened through Christ, and the church, the Body of Christ, is pulsing with renewed energy. This is why I love the Gathering.

Deaconess Kristen Baltrum serves as Director of Faith Formation at Bethlehem Lutheran in Longmont, CO