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ELCA Advocacy presents our public policy priorities for 2018. This policy action agenda focuses the work of the Washington, D.C., advocacy office on current issues central to God’s vision of a just world where all are fed.

ELCA Advocacy invites you to live out your baptismal identity through participation in opportunities to learn and act with and on behalf of your neighbor with the ELCA Advocacy network. The agenda outlines our primary areas of focus and is flexible enough to accommodate responses to emerging legislation that address disaster response or immediate circumstances.

How do we determine advocacy priorities?

Issue selection is based on many factors, starting with prayerful consideration of God’s vision for a more just world. Issue agendas are based on concerns that the ELCA has identified and spoken about through social statements, churchwide assembly memorials or other authoritative documents. Priorities reflect issues on which the ELCA can have a unique and decisive impact with the federal government.

Advocacy priorities carry forth the vision of ELCA World Hunger to support transformative, integrated and wholistic ministry where barriers are broken down and inequalities decreased and where relationships and communities are whole and flourishing – a just world.

• Integrated – advocacy priorities connect with and reinforce other ELCA churchwide priorities and initiatives.
• Wholistic – advocacy action is informed by ministry experience of congregations and ministries in the ELCA, with particular attention to the concerns of ethnic-specific ministries, global-ministry partners and goals of racial and gender justice.
• Transformative – advocacy initiatives provide engagement opportunities to inform and transform individuals, ministries and congregations in their walk of faith by embracing charity and justice.

Advocacy priorities are shaped, when possible, by the joint commitment to action with faith partners or coalitions. Priorities also build on the available opportunity created by Congress’ agenda. Lastly, there must be sufficient support from the ELCA Advocacy network so that this vital work is amplified through local faith-leader advocacy in districts and local communities.

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2018 ELCA ADVOCACY PRIORITIES

 

FARM BILL:

From rural America to developing countries, many of our nation’s food and farm policies, as embodied in the farm bill, impact our communities. Programs and policies that curb hunger and malnutrition, support vibrant agricultural economies in rural communities, and promote the sustainable use of natural resources must be prioritized.

MIGRATION:

Thousands of children and families from Central America continue to flee their communities due to violence, lacking protections in their home country, hunger and poverty, and environmental degradation. As a church, we envision a world in which children and families are never forced leave their homes to live a safe and a sufficient life. To do this, we advocate for policies that address the root causes of migration. At the same time, we call for the immediate protection of displaced people, including those who have been members of our communities for years but lack legal status.

CARE FOR CREATION:

Environmental degradation disproportionately impacts the marginalized and the vulnerable, exacerbating issues of poverty and hunger. These issues manifest themselves in social areas such as gender, racial, economic and environmental injustices. ELCA Advocacy will raise awareness of the impact of environmental degradation, support environmental and energy literacy, and help congregations and church leadership understand what can be done to steward God’s creation.

JUST TRANSITION TO RENEWABLE ENERGY:

The transition away from fossil fuels will mean changes in the economic livelihood of individuals, families and communities directly and indirectly dependent upon this industry. This transition must include comprehensive planning that incorporates methodologies on how we get from where we are today to where we need to be.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING/HOMELESSNESS:

Homelessness and the lack of affordable housing continue to be systemic issues that affect many people in our communities. Investments in affordable housing and rental assistance provide stability that can help families overcome serious barriers, such as affording better health care and education, reducing food insecurity, and recovering after natural disasters.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM:

The United States has the largest prison population in the world. Many incarcerated men and women who commit non-violent drug offenses are sentenced to harsh and unjustly long prison terms. These policies result in considerably high prison populations and disparities in sentencing for drug offenses, disproportionately affecting communities of color. Legislation that reforms sentencing and provides resources for returning citizens will directly reduce recidivism rates and prison populations.

MEDICAID, MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY:

Congress and the administration may embark on efforts to dismantle three critical safety-net programs that have existed for over 50 years. Medicaid is the largest health insurance program in the U.S. that serves the poorest families and individuals. Medicare was created in 1965 to provide health care coverage for individuals aged 65 and older. Social Security provides monthly cash benefits to retired or disabled workers and their family members, and to the family members of deceased spouses or parents.

CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS:

In 2016 the law that makes possible many child nutrition programs like the School Breakfast, National School Lunch, Summer Food Service, and the Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) expired.  While these programs continue to receive annual funding, the opportunity to expand and innovate these hunger programs awaits congressional action.

FOREIGN ASSISTANCE:

U.S. foreign assistance plays a critical role in the fight against extreme poverty. Due to federal budget constraints and internal program realignments within our government, international development and humanitarian programs are increasingly in danger of being defunded or eliminated. For many families around the world, such steps would leave them without the support they desperately need. We must continue to raise our voices to ensure that all God’s children are cared for.

GENDER JUSTICE:

Every year, 1 in 3 women experiences gender-based violence globally. The U.S. government can play a leading role in addressing this issue, given its footprint in many parts of the world.

INTERNATIONAL PEACEBUILDING:

Many countries continue to experience civil conflicts, and prevention of mass atrocities remains a big challenge around the world. The U.S. government can play an important role in peace processes, conflict prevention and the promotion of human rights. The ELCA’s new social message on human rights gives us new ways of speaking about these issues and will help us promote equal rights of all people through advocacy and other ministries.

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Your ELCA Advocacy Washington, D.C. staff

Your ELCA Advocacy staff in Washington, D.C. works on these priorities throughout the year. They are issue experts and recognized leaders in the faith advocacy community. They attend briefings, research issues, strategize with coalitions, consult with ELCA members, engage ELCA leaders, visit congressional offices, and create platforms for the voices of our communities to be heard.

The Rev. Amy Reumann, director, advocacy

Jackie Maddox, office manager

Patricia Kisare, program director, international policy

Ruth Ivory-Moore, program director, environment and energy policy

Alaide Vilchis Ibarra, program director, migration policy

John Johnson, program director, domestic policy

Tia Freelove Kirk, program director, advocacy engagement

Andrew Fuller, advocacy coordinator

Elena Robles, ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow

To contact these staff members directly, please email washingtonoffice@elca.org.

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– Sarah Mayer-Flatt

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made!”  proclaims the psalmist in the 139th chapter. That proclamation is the truth to which all participants of the tAble 2018 will come to know as their truth, too. Because God made us—putting us together piece by piece from within the bodies that held us before birth—we are ALL wonderfully made.

Sometimes other worldly voices try to tell us that those who live with a disability are an inconvenience, inspirational, or any number of things that do not speak to the truth that we are promised in the equalizing waters of our baptisms: we ALL belong to God.

Each day at the tAble, we’ll answer those questions that get stirred up by other voices in our lives and yet answered by God. Who do you belong to? Why do you belong? How do you belong? And finally: Who belongs with you?

At any table that is made holy by God, ALL are welcome.

You Belong: these two words are words that many never hear enough within their lives, and youth who will attend rhe tAble may struggle to believe them even more. Belonging means the community welcomes you as you are, and that accommodations are second nature and not uncomfortable. Belonging means the community of faith sees gifts within you just as they do in so many others, and upholds those gifts as valuable.

Belonging means the community of faith walks or rolls with you and goes into the hard places, where the truth of belonging still needs to be proclaimed—by and to the very ones who DO BELONG—to each other, and to God.

 

Sarah Mayer-Flatt is a person with a disability who serves as the Team Leader for the tAble 2018. Sarah is also Associate Pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Omaha, NE, where she lives with her husband Randy, their two cats, and their new puppy.

17 As (Jesus) was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.

19 You know the commandments:

‘You shall not murder;

You shall not commit adultery;

You shall not steal;

You shall not bear false witness;

You shall not defraud;

Honor your father and mother.’”

20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.”  21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. (Mark 10:17-22 NRSV)

 

This rich man in Mark’s story could be my neighbor from the suburbs. He’s a good person insofar as he obeys the commandments on an individual level. He has not murdered, raped, stolen, lied in court, or ripped off anyone personally, and he is an obedient son, both to his parents and to his cultural heritage based on his diligence in abiding by the commandments. He could also be me. I may know the Lutheran tradition well enough to intellectually concede that I am not ‘good’ but I live scrupulously and frugally. I support the right causes that empower more people and include more people in what it means to be the church. I am pro-women, pro-LGBTQ, pro-people of color, pro new ways of being church, pro-differently abled people, pro-multi-tradition dialogue. I am pretty good!

And I could be all this things with never having to address a central part of who I am that I have always been and will continue to be as long as I live. I am white.

When Jesus encounters this man, he identifies one central thing that keeps him from the Kingdom. As a reader who is white I am beginning to inhabit this text by finding there my whiteness.

This ‘one thing,’ whiteness, confers on me many possessions. (See Peggy McIntosh’s Invisible Knapsack article for an outstanding, quick resource.) I receive many gifts from looking white and being received as a white person. For example, I worked at a Halloween City in a suburb for an October and on a busy day my coworker asked if people were putting the money right into my hand. I said, always. I watched them do that, he said, and I put my hand out and still they slide the money on the table. When people engaged me as a person in a white body they conferred trust upon me, and my coworker, in a black body, was degraded by the refusal to place money directly in his hand.  A small example from a myriad.

My experience of discovering myself to be white carries a disappointment akin to the man in Mark’s Gospel. When I began to discover more elements of ‘white privilege’ in my own reflection and narrative, I felt angry, lied to, ashamed, guilty, a broad range of things. Discovering myself to be white has been a process of loss, dismay, and, as I grow, horror. I remember distinctly a moment when I felt this loss, a ‘rich, white man come to Jesus’ moment like Mark 10. I was driving listening to Ta-Nehisi Coates read Between the World and Me on my CD player when he expressed and demolished with his words a sense of being onto which I’d continued to cling.

I am convinced that the Dreamers, at least the Dreamers of today, would rather live white than live free. In the Dream they are Buck Rogers, Prince Aragorn, an entire race of Skywalkers. To awaken them is to reveal that they are an empire of humans and, like all empires of humans, are built on the destruction of the body. It is to stain their nobility, to make them vulnerable, breakable humans. (143, Between the World and Me, New York: Spiegel and Grau 2015.)

I have been brought up all my life to believe I am a or the protagonist in some story, and the revelation is that, no. Insofar as I am white, I am not a protagonist. To use another movie/pop-culture analogy like Coates, I cannot be Neo. Insofar as I believe myself to be white I am in a warm bath in the Matrix by which life is sucked out of black bodies to power a world that is safe and happy for white people.

The temptation at this point would be to walk away disappointed: to discover what is true and real and then to select stay in the dream, to take the blue pill, keeping with analogies from the Matrix.  If I, as many white people do, take this option of enjoying whiteness and holding onto its Dream and its possessions, then I, like the man in the story, walk away disappointed from true community and discipleship. Like the rich, young man who encountered a Rabbi who could teach him to inherit life eternal, I could hold tightly to my goodness, my protagonism, and my many possessions which come from being white. Then, like him, I would rather live in the Dream than free.

But what did the man do next? With the Gospel’s characteristic reticence, Mark does not tell us. The story moves onto Jesus and his disciples, who are alarmed by this encounter. Perhaps the man sulked about this and forgot all about Jesus. On the other hand, perhaps he went home and inventoried all his things and had a hard conversation about what he truly needed and what he could let go of.

Obviously whiteness cannot be sold or let go of, but its effects can be noticed and addressed, if it is defined not as a color of skin but as a hoard of possessions. Whiteness can be inventoried and a white person can go through the painful process of awakening from the Dream. My encounter with Coates’ text left me disappointed, but it also urged me to continue an on-going inventory of what it means for me to be white, recording my possessions. My Grandpa would always say that the GI Bill was very good to him. I later learned that this incredible government handout was administered locally so that many black World War II veterans were kept from this benefit by Jim Crow-inspired government workers. My block was safe because my community would mobilize against the ‘wrong kind of people’ moving in. I can remember hearing someone proudly announce they ‘got rid of’ the group home on our block. I go back through these stories not to shame the people involved, like my grandpa, but to note the places where I inherited wealth and power that was denied and, as Coates reminds us, plundered from other people. Slowly, I am beginning to find new ways that I can relate to my possessions and to the version of reality and history I have inherited.

Even so, this process feels shameful. Encountering the riches of my whiteness has had a stifling effect on my voice and at other times has induced me to speak defensively. I have caught myself speaking ‘prophetically’ to other white people as a means of justifying my own righteousness over theirs and as a way to avoid the shame of believing I am white. Jesus, however, does not shame or vilify the rich, young man. He looks at him and he loves him immediately with no further qualification. Holding him in loving regard, Jesus identifies the ‘one thing’ that keeps this man from the freedom he seeks and he asks for him to let it go. As a white interpreter of Scripture, I find forgiveness in this moment. Jesus loves this man whether or not he can follow through. The only thing keeping him from freedom is his willingness to live inside the prison of his own making because it feels easier and more beneficial.  He can be forgiven, literally ‘let go’ from trying to be rich, an identity built on other people’s backs.

In the same way, can I be forgiven from believing I am white? Can I undergo the process, extended by Jesus, of letting go of my shame along with my many possessions so that I might relax into a love that I do not deserve? As a white follower of Jesus and a white theologian, the teaching and the experience of the forgiveness of sins is something I need more than ever. Can this ancient symbol, so central to the Lutheran tradition, be renewed once more with the particularity of its implications for people of European descent who believe they are white? And if we truly ask for and accept such letting go, what possessions of ‘whiteness’ will be let go each year as seek the Kingdom? This may sound like or even be an impossible task for us white folks, but Jesus anticipates this fear too. “For God, all things are possible.”

Bio

Chris Hanley is the pastor of Glenwood Lutheran Church in Toledo, Ohio. He first received Anti-Racism training from Crossroads at a Lutheran Volunteer Corps Orientation in Washington DC prior to an LVC year in Wilmington Delaware (09-10). He received an MDiv from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School while cross-registering for classes at LSTC, and he interned at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bradenton, Florida. Following this internship, he completed a chaplain residency at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. In each of these communities, he has attempted to find a self-consciously white and Christian voice through stumbling, writing, listening, and being mentored.

 

Brian Hiortdahl, Overland Park, KS

 Warm-up Question

What is the one thing you have received that changed your life the most?

New and Amazing

Allan Peterson will soon receive the Argus Two, a bionic eye.  Currently blind from retinitis pigmentosa, Allan will become the eighth person to have this breakthrough technology which he explains will allow him to experience “a new way of seeing.”  His vision will not be the way it was before he began losing it 25 years ago, but this revolutionary surgery offers possibilities which would have been unimaginable until recently. A camera on a pair of glasses sends video to a computer chip.  Signals are then transmitted to a retinal implant.  When the retina is stimulated, the signal is carried by the optic nerve to the brain and the patient “sees.” Peterson says he looks forward to seeing his grandchildren, rather than just hearing them.

Discussion Questions

• What have you lost in life that you wish you had back?
• What blessings and abilities do you have that you take for granted?
• Can you think of a time when you learned something new that was like a bionic eye—something that made you see the world in a completely new way?

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

	Isaiah 40:21-31 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 Mark 1:29-39

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

This passage builds on the story immediately before it (see last week’s Faith Lens) in which Jesus expels a demon from a man in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  The crowd marvels in amazement:  “A new teaching—with authority!”  In the biblical world’s hierarchy, Jesus demonstrates that his cosmic power and status (“authority”) are higher than that of demons, which are known to be higher than that of human beings.

Next he moves to Simon’s house, and cures his mother-in-law’s fever.  He thus restores her to her place of honor in the household as the chief hospitality authority, just as he restored the honor and social standing of the man in the synagogue.  Read together, these stories reveal that Jesus heals in public and in private; a man and a woman; supernatural and natural illness.  The kingdom of God that he proclaims is for everyone, as the next scenes illustrate.  After the whole town crowded around him at sundown, Jesus tells his disciples that God is sending them to other towns too, beyond the edges of the little world they currently see.

Notice that it is before sundown that Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law—a second healing on the Sabbath.  This will soon get Jesus in trouble.  It is one of many religious rules he breaks:  working on Sabbath, touching a woman he does not know, touching the unclean, engaging Gentiles and tax collectors and demoniacs and other “sinners” assumed to be beyond the edges of God’s favor.

Jesus’ behavior suggests that the God no one can see cares more about people’s wellbeing than about their social position or obedience to religious rules.  This is completely revolutionary.  This is a brand new breakthrough.  This is cutting edge, space age religion and lifestyle.  This is a whole new way of seeing.

Discussion Questions

• In what ways does the church of Jesus showcase the amazing kingdom he announces and demonstrates in his words and deeds?  How does the church obscure or hide it?
• What about Jesus excites you?  What about him scares you?
• Who are the people we don’t see?
• Who are the people who need their dignity and social standing restored?  What we can do in Jesus’ name to help and heal them?

Activity Suggestions

• Begin your study with participants blindfolded.  (Please be nice—don’t rearrange the furniture!)  How does that change the experience?  What is it like being in the world without sight?
• Learn about the health ministry in your congregation or another church, or interview a medical professional.  What inspires them in their work?  What frustrates them?  How do they understand the stories of Jesus’ healings?
• Organize a blood drive or a collection of eyeglasses for those in need.  Intentionally reach out to include the wider community.

Closing Prayer

Open our eyes, Lord God, to see your amazing kingdom at work near us, and open our hands and hearts to join Jesus in spreading your healing love to all the world.  Amen

– Molly Beck Dean

There is some curiosity about my job, so our fabulous blog editors thought it would be fun to do a “day in the life of the Gathering Director” post. I’m on the road five to fifteen days a month, but when I’m not out meeting with fabulous folks promoting and planning the Gathering, I’m hanging out in a cubicle on the 9th floor of Higgins Road in Chicago. This particular day in January felt especially ordinary so we thought it would be fun to share!

8:25am: Arrive to the office, general chit chat, and hot beverage getting with colleagues.

8:40am: Open the email inbox and be pleasantly surprised when there are only 20 new messages since 10pm last night. Time to reply!

9:15am: Done enough with emails for now. On to contract writing! Today’s checklist includes Service Learning lunches, a Mass Gathering speaker, and a MYLE worship leader.

10am: Check-in meeting with the fabulous Chicago-based Gathering staff. #blessed

12pm: Lunch at my desk (a bad habit), sign some new hotel contracts, then book flights for the ELCA Youth Core Leadership Team members for their March meeting.

12:45pm: More emails, check social media.

1pm: Off to meet with a representative from the Network of ELCA Colleges & Universities!

1:30pm: More emails.

2pm: Finalize details and the news release for our Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands fundraiser.

2:15pm: Eat some Sour Patch Kids.

2:17pm: More emails.

3pm: Meet with colleagues from Mission Investment Fund to finalize plans for their presence at the Gathering.

3:30pm: Work with colleagues on the Gathering’s plans for being at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s Extravaganza.

4pm: More emails, more social media, more Sour Patch Kids.

4:17pm: Phone call with the Convention & Visitors’ Bureau in our 2021 Gathering host city!

4:25pm: Back to emails!

4:45pm: Finish up 2017 staff evaluations.

5:10pm: Pretend to straighten up my desk and pack up to go home.

5:12pm: Someone stops by the cube with a question and some friendly chat.

5:20pm: Putting my coat on, really leaving this time.  Remember I was supposed to print something for a meeting this weekend so I fire my computer back up.

5:25pm: Grab a few more Sour Patch Kids and hit the road.

Another full and wonderful day as Director of the ELCA Youth Gathering!

David Dodson, Ft. Walton Beach, FL

Warm-up Question

What traditions does your family practice on a regular basis?

Tradition!

Hear ye, hear ye! The date has been set for the royal wedding between Prince Harry of the United Kingdom and his fiancé, Meghan Markle!  Many of you may already be aware of the upcoming royal marriage of Prince Harry, the younger brother of Prince William and grandson of the Queen of England, Elizabeth II.  And if you are an aficionado of news about the British royalty, you might be aware that there are a few unique things about this upcoming wedding.

First of all, Harry’s bride-to-be isn’t a British citizen.  Meghan Markle is an American actress and humanitarian.  But this isn’t the only non-traditional aspect of the upcoming nuptials. The happy couple will be married on May 19^th – a Saturday.  This is, believe it or not, a significant break from tradition.  For decades, royal weddings have taken place on a weekday.  The day is typically declared a bank holiday, and many British citizens are given the day off to celebrate the wedding.  With the wedding taking place on a Saturday, this may not be the case this time.

Another break with tradition came this past Christmas.  Normally, the royal family celebrates at the Queen’s private residence at Sandringham House in Norfolk.  Traditionally, only members of royal families and their spouses are invited; fiancés are not.  This time, however, Prince Harry asked for and received the Queen’s permission to bring Miss Markle to the family holiday.

It’s likely, though, that several traditions about royal weddings will stay intact this year.  One of those traditions includes the wedding rings to be created for the couple.  Since 1923, members of the British royal family have all had their wedding rings made from the gold of the Clogau St. David gold mine in Wales.  It’s a particularly rare gold, especially now that the mine is closed, but the royal family has enough gold to make the rings for the upcoming wedding.  In just a few months, Prince Harry might slip onto his new bride’s finger a ring made of the same gold that graced the finger of his mother, his grandmother, and his great-grandmother.

Discussion Questions

• What is special about traditions that your family observes?
• In the story above, what are your thoughts about the breaks from tradition?
• Would you like a traditional wedding if and when you get married, or would you prefer something non-traditional?

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

	Deuteronomy 18:15-20 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Mark 1:21-28

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

This week’s reading from Mark tells the dramatic story of a possessed man shouting out in the synagogue as Jesus taught, followed by the exorcism of this “unclean spirit” by Jesus.  That story, though, only highlights the real recurring theme of the passage: the authority of Jesus as something “new”.

Twice in this passage, the people of Capernaum marvel to one another that Jesus is offering “a new teaching” which is taught “with authority”.  That isn’t particularly surprising, of course.  We know that Jesus is teaching with the authority of God, after all.  But it might be surprising if we look a little bit deeper.  In verse 22, the people note that Jesus “taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes”.

Now that is strange indeed!  The term “scribes” refers to a specific and very powerful group in Jewish society.  The scribes were a group who intensely studied the Hebrew scriptures and other writings.  They were experts in the law, and their services were used to prepare all sorts of legal documents – from marriage contracts to mortgages.  The scribes were also some of the most influential interpreters of Jewish law, and some well-known scribes even had their own disciples!  Scribes often formed a core of the Jewish council.  It’s possible, then, that the scribes exercised more power than even the Pharisees.  Why, then, do the people say that when Jesus teaches with authority, he does so in a way unlike the scribes?

To a first-century Jew, like the author of today’s Gospel, it would make no sense to claim that the scribes lacked authority.  It would, however, be perfectly correct to say that Jesus displayed a very different form of authority.

The power of the scribes was based on their ability to interpret and apply Mosaic Law.  Scribes were experts in the law that had been handed down for generations of Judaism.  The scribes considered themselves guardians of the laws that God laid down after rescuing his people from Egypt and promising them a land and a nation.  In this way, the scribes operated under the authority of God.    What made Jesus stand out was simple: He spoke and acted with an authority that belonged to him.  He spoke as God himself, not merely as an interpreter of the Law.

Certainly, this would have been shocking!  It also affected different people in different ways.  Some were prepared to recognize God in these new words and this new voice.  They responded to the teachings of Jesus and were receptive to his words.  Others, however, were appalled at the break from the traditional authority of the scribes.  To them, it didn’t matter what Jesus had to say.  They would not have accepted his authority.  They let their traditions become more important than God’s good news.

Discussion Questions

• What traditions are important in your youth group and in your church?
• How can we tell the difference between a tradition that makes us more receptive to God’s word and a tradition that distracts us from God’s word?
• Is it possible for a good, meaningful tradition to turn into a distracting tradition?

Activity Suggestions

Write a “travel guide” for a visitor to your church, helping them understand the traditions and practices of your church.  Assume this visitor had never attended a Christian church service before.  Could you prepare a brochure to help them understand what to expect?

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for your guidance and your loving care in all that we do.  Thank you especially for your Word, given to us through your Son Jesus.  Help us always to recognize those words and deeds that help us grow in our faith, and teach us to find new ways to grow in our love for you and for one another.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

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In the wake of the current impasse that has caused a shutdown of the federal government, ELCA Advocacy calls on Congress and Administration to do their jobs by passing and enacting legislation that resolves critical issues. Failing to fund our U.S. government, re-authorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and find a permanent solution for Dreamers who are losing protection affects the lives of Americans in every community across this land.

Political posturing by elected leaders on both sides of the aisle at the expense of the lives of real people is inexcusable. We call on our nation’s lawmakers to find a way forward to care for the health of children, grant young Dreamers a pathway to citizenship and keep the federal government open and funded to perform its vital functions.

As Lutherans, we believe that “God works through the family, education, the economy, the state, and other structures necessary for life in the present age. God institutes governing authorities, for example, to serve the good of society. This church respects the God-given integrity and tasks of governing authorities and other worldly structures, while holding them accountable to God” (ELCA Social Statement, The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective).

We urge our elected representatives to come together to pass legislation that serves all our communities. We must leave no one behind.

 

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ELCA advocacy works for change in public policy based on the experience of Lutheran ministries, programs and projects around the world and in communities across the United States. We work through political channels on behalf of the following biblical values: peacemaking, hospitality to our neighbors, care for creation, and concern for our brothers and sisters living in poverty and struggling with hunger and disease. Learn more at ELCA.org/Advocacy.

 

Saleem Moussa Anfous is a member of the Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.  In September 2017 he participated in the Lutheran World Federation’s first interfaith “Peace Messengers Training”.  The participants gained skills and tools on advocacy, negotiation and mediation. They also learned how to combine such capacity with individual experiences, faith and cultural traditions.

Read his blog post here about the vocation of being a peacemaker in the multi religious context of the Holy Land.

In Jerusalem on January 12, 2018 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land consecrated and installed The Rev. Sani Ibrahim Charlie “Barhoum” Azar as its fourth Bishop in the church’s history. Under the guidance of the Scripture, “You did not choose me, but I chose you,” John 15:16 Bishop Azar addressed the congregation and honored guests.

“It seems the Lord has called me today to follow in a new way, and to bear new fruit. Today, the six congregations of the ELCJHL are under my care. I am humbled and honored to take up this new responsibility, and promise to continue our relationship based on love companionship and respect,” Bishop Azar.

For more information, including a biography of Bishop Azar, Bishop Azar’s sermon, a Q&A with Bishop Azar and photos go here.

On January 13 Bishop Azar addressed the international partner churches in attendance for the installation. The international partners of the ELCJHL include organizations, churches and councils that have entered into mutual companionship and accompaniment for the betterment of both.

Representatives from all of the 29 ecumenical partners, member organizations and companion churches attended the first address to them from the newly consecrated, Bishop Azar.

In a gentle and measured manner,  Bishop Azar thanked partners for decades of missional work in the region. Peppered with humor, Bishop Azar told the partners that he would implement a new strategic plan for the next five years that would include: Spiritual care for the people of the church, financial sustainability projects, Diakonia to the community, and efforts to continue gender justice.

“Our pastors and laypeople will go where the people are, we will not sit by idly in our churches waiting for the people to come to us,” Bishop Azar said.

More info at the ELCJHL blog

 

– Jessica Noonan

This past August as the summer was winding down and a new year of school was beginning, life along the Gulf Coast came to a standstill.  It was like time froze. Everything was a blur.  No one knew what day it was or what the next day would bring. When you come to Houston this summer, you will learn quickly that everyone has their “Harvey story.”  Living through it and seeing the devastation that followed Hurricane Harvey it still seems unimaginable—the rain that kept coming, rising waters, tornadoes… and the waiting.  My neighborhood had no physical damage.  It was pure luck that our house was just a little higher in elevation than the neighborhood one mile way with lots of flooding, or the neighborhood four miles away that was completely obliterated. There is a lot of guilt when your home is fine and your neighbor down the road has no home. Everyone has a story.

You might be wondering how has the hurricane changed our approach to how we walk alongside our Service Learning partners in Houston?  It hasn’t.  One of our values has always been accompaniment.  We are in relationship with our partners.  We listen to their needs. We still want to focus on the needs of our partners whatever they might be come June 2018.

Jessica Silverio is part of the Service Learning Team; she is helping to secure service learning projects for the Gathering.  She said, “Many people are still out of their schools or homes and some lost it all. Getting to see 30,000 youth come out to the streets and help in whatever way they can will be a great sight to see. It’s important to give people a chance to talk about their lives and how its changed since Harvey.”

We are a people of story—Jesus teaches us through story, the Bible is filled with the stories of our faith—we are a people of story.

When Gathering participants go to project sites our hope is that the partner shares the story of their organization, mission, and why this work matters.  We hope that Gathering participants share their story with partners.

We hope that participants go home and create new stories in their communities.

 

Jessica Noonan is the Service Learning Team Leader for the 2018 Gathering.