Lutherans are taking action across the country! Below you will find our monthly State Advocacy Newsletter. Share with your friends!

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ELCA Advocacy Office, Washington, D.C.

The Rev. Amy Reumann, director

ELCA.org/advocacy

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS: PRAYER, FASTING AND ACTION (#PrayFastAct): The next “For Such a Time” day of prayer, fasting and action with the Episcopal Church is Friday, July 21. This month, the presiding bishops of both churches urge action to protect funding for the U.S. International Affairs budget. Our country has a rich history of fighting extreme poverty and responding to humanitarian crises around the world. Although it’s less than 1 percent of the federal budget, foreign assistance has saved millions of lives and continues to do so today. With more than 20 million people at risk of starvation globally, and millions more displaced, the need for foreign assistance is as great as it has ever been.

As a church together, we ask our members of Congress to protect funding for international programs that provide relief and support livelihood for the poorest among us. Visit elca.org/PrayFastAct for resources and to learn how to take action.

HEALTH CARE IN CONGRESS: Senate leaders released their draft reform of the Affordable Care Act in late June. The Congressional Budget Office reported that under the current Senate proposal, 22 million people would lose their health coverage over 10 years – many from families who would choose to opt-out of health care after massive deductible increases. Like the House bill, the Senate version would also reduce Medicaid spending for low-income households, increase costs for people with pre-existing conditions in certain states, and roll back important improvements made for women, veterans and seniors.

Following announced opposition from other GOP senators, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed back the voting timeline until after the Fourth of July recess. Lawmakers will likely discuss the best way to proceed on health care as they go back to their home districts. ELCA Advocacy posted an action alert after the Senate bill was released, with over 1,000 Lutherans responding. With the members of Congress back in their districts, now is a critical time to contact them on health care.

IMMIGRATION: On June 16, Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly took back the Deferred Action for Parental Arrivals (DAPA) policy. DAPA, which was signed by President Obama and was never implemented, would have provided deportation relief for undocumented parents of U.S. citizens children. DAPA, signed by the Obama administration, was never implemented. Kelly also signaled that the original Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides relief from deportation to thousands of young people who grew up in the U.S., will remain for the foreseeable future. At the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review rulings from lower courts that blocked the implementation of President Trump’s executive order on refugees. In addition, the court granted the Trump administration’s request to allow a part of the travel ban that prevents citizens from six countries without ties to the U.S. to be denied entry into the U.S. ELCA Advocacy is coordinating with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) to ensure our full support for the refugee resettlement program. You can read the full LIRS statement and action alert on the issue here.

WOMEN AND PEACE: On June 20, the House of Representatives passed the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 (H.R. 2484), a bill requiring the U.S. government to promote meaningful participation of women in mediation and negotiation processes that seek to prevent, mitigate or resolve violent conflict. The bill will now go to the Senate for consideration. ELCA Advocacy is monitoring the bill and continues to support women’s inclusion in peace processes worldwide.

For more on critical international issues, from the ongoing UN Climate Action Plan to the debate on why Foreign Assistance matters, visit the ELCA Advocacy Blog.

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Lutheran Office for World Community, United Nations, New York, N.Y.

Dennis Frado, director

PLAN OF ACTION FOR RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND ACTORS TO PREVENT AND COUNTER INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE THAT COULD LEAD TO ATROCITY CRIMES: On June 12, the World Council of Churches held a formal briefing with the U.N. Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect on the Global Plan of Action for Religious Leaders and Actors to Prevent and Counter Incitement to Violence that Could Lead to Atrocity Crimes.

The briefing focused on the role of faith-based organizations, religious entities, and religious actors in anticipation of the July 14 release of the Global Plan of Action, the first of its kind that addresses the role of religious leaders on prevention.

Simona Cruciani, the political affairs officer at the U.N. Office on Genocide Prevention, previewed and outlined the five regional consultations that have occurred since 2015 in which over 250 religious leaders in 80 countries participated in the creation of regional plans of actions.

There will be a half-session on implementation strategies for faith-based organizations on July 17  following the launch of Global Plan of Action on July 14.

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California

Mark Carlson, Lutheran Office of Public Policy

loppca.org

WESTERN STATES YOUTH GATHERING, Dream Big, was held at California Lutheran University at the end of June. LOPP-CA’s director, Mark Carlson, partnered for a couple of care for creation and climate-change workshops with a Ventura County-based AmeriCorps volunteer serving with CivicSpark, an initiative of Gov. Jerry Brown and the Local Government Commission, which places energy and water fellows with local governments, working on a diverse array of projects.  Carlson also initiated invitations to presenters to do other workshops on youth and climate change (California Interfaith Power & Light), immigration and refugees (the Rev. Alexia Salvatierra), and gun violence (Joint Episcopal-Lutheran Gun Violence Prevention Task Force of Southern California), each offered twice. Several sessions drew standing and sitting-on-the- classroom-floor crowds of interested youth and adults.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: SB 54, the California Values Act, which seeks to separate state and local law enforcement from immigration enforcement in most circumstances, passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee and continues a path to the Assembly floor, where the outcome is uncertain. Over 15 faith leaders and advocates (see photo right), including Carlson, the Rev. Jason Bense, and Sierra Pacific Synod Bishop Mark Holmerud and his wife, Debbi, (a retired high school principal), met with two of Gov. Brown’s policy staff. The values of due process, hospitality and the safety and dignity of all were shared. A few shared their stories, including a couple accompanied by the Holmeruds. Gov. Brown has not yet indicated a position on SB 54.

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Colorado

Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry–Colorado

Lam-co.org

SENATE HEALTH CARE BILL: Lutherans were out in force to respond to the released draft of the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act. Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner was one of the lawmakers who worked on the bill behind closed doors, and Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado helped facilitate visits to the senator’s offices around the state to respond to the proposed deep cuts in Medicaid and other critical health care services.

In Denver, Director Peter Severson joined Rocky Mountain Synod intern Kaari von Bernuth (photo below) to speak to staffers about the people who benefit from Medicaid and to advocate against lifetime per capita caps.

In Gardner’s home town of Yuma, Col., staff from Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center in Brush (50 miles to the west) drove to visit the senator’s office, including CEO. Shelly Griffith, Deacon Ro Fesser, and the Rev. Dan Hays. They shared stories of the nearly 130 people living at Eben Ezer who benefit from Medicaid, people who would be severely hurt by the proposed cuts and lifetime caps. Eben Ezer also serves an additional 130 Medicaid clients through home-health services in a seven-county region.

We will continue to join our Colorado-based and national partners in advocating for health care reform that doesn’t cut off services for poor and vulnerable people in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. Stay tuned!

For more on this story and others like it, visit the Rocky Mountain Synod blog, RMS in the Neighborhood.

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Minnesota

Tammy Walhof, Lutheran Advocacy–Minnesota

lutheranadvocacymn.org

CONTINUING CHAOS: The session is over – everything is settled. Right? Wrong! The tax bill included a provision to defund the Department of Revenue if the bill was vetoed. Even some key negotiators seemed blindsided that it ended up in the final bill. So, seeking leverage to bring the Legislature back to the negotiating table on a few items, Gov. Mark Dayton line-item vetoed Legislature funding. Was that unconstitutional? Some say it violates the balance of power, but the statute doesn’t prohibit it. Was it unconstitutional for the Legislature to defund the Revenue Department if the tax bill was vetoed? Now the courts are involved. Let’s see what happens!

THANKS FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR/WORK AND PRAY FOR BETTER: Despite new lows for extreme partisanship and sneaky deals in the dark, some legislators maintained respect and civility throughout. Thank Majority Leader Paul Gazelka for his respect of everyone and for negotiating in good faith (regardless of policy positions). Encourage him to help limit incivility and posturing, and to take a lead facilitator role in future negotiations. Thank Gov. Dayton and his commissioners for negotiations that prevented some of the worst cuts and excesses, even if some provisions still hurt vulnerable people and God’s creation. Urge House Speaker Kurt Daudt to work for better civility, to let legislative action be more transparent, and to consider de-escalation training for the House and its leaders. Confrontation and posturing aren’t helpful; neither is adding provisions that weren’t part of negotiations.

FEDERAL ISSUES: The president’s budget proposal would cut and change many programs in very harmful ways for vulnerable people and God’s creation! Watch for coming action alerts!

Like and follow us on Facebook; follow us on Twitter, and check for updates regularly on our website.

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New Mexico

Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry–New Mexico

lutheranadvocacynm.org/

INTERIM LEGISLATIVE WORK BEGINS: Delayed by a special session and by legal challenges coming out of the special session, the important work of legislative interim committees has now begun. Interim committees meet from June until December and are committees that include members of both the state Senate and state House of Representatives. The committees, which usually meet monthly, study and hear testimony about various subjects and issues of concern to the state. LAM-NM monitors, attends and provides comment or testimony for several of these committees that relate to issues included on our advocacy agenda. Of primary interest are the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, the Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee, the Mortgage Finance Authority Oversight Committee, the Legislative Finance Committee, and the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee. LAM-NM has already encouraged the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee to consider agenda items that pertain to the many people living in poverty and experiencing hunger in our state.

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Pennsylvania

Tracey DePasquale, Lutheran Advocacy–Pennsylvania

Lutheranadvocacypa.org

The 2017-2018 spending plan adopted by Pennsylvania lawmakers by the June 30 deadline includes some good news for Pennsylvania children, including increases in basic education, special education and early childhood funding, plus $2 million to incentivize improvements in school breakfast delivery, for which LAMPa advocated. (Photo below: Lancaster County Lutherans rally in the Capitol for a budget that puts people first.)

After last year’s long-awaited increase, the state Food Purchase Program, which supports community food pantries, including many run by congregations, will remain funded at the same level. The final bill avoided or reduced some of the cuts to human services in the earlier House version. However, environmental protections did not fare as well. The Department of Environmental Protection’s operational budget, which supports water programs, was cut another 3.85 percent from last year, down 34 percent since 2002-2003. Funding for the Susquehanna and Delaware river basins commissions was slashed by 50 percent. (Photo below left: LAMPa interns Ron Costen and Travis Woodfield deliver letters urging lawmakers to support funding for anti-hunger programs.)

The $32 billion spending plan was passed with bipartisan support. Gov. Tom Wolf has voiced support but will likely not sign until after a revenue agreement is reached.  To balance the budget, lawmakers must find revenues to cover a $2 billion-plus projected shortfall.

In addition to engaging Lutherans around budget issues in June, Director Tracey DePasquale led advocacy workshops at the Upper Susquehanna Synod Assembly, and intern Ron Costen led poverty and advocacy workshops at the Southwestern Synod Assembly.  They also attended the first statewide food alliance convening with other hunger leaders. Intern Travis Woodfield continued developing an advocacy team around mental health and addictions as well as delivering letters to lawmakers. Read his blog here. (Photo right: LAMPa Director Tracey DePasquale speaks at a Capitol news conference for fair education funding.)

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Washington

Paul Benz, Faith Acton Network

fanwa.org

STATE POLICY: Our Legislature is in its third special session, and budget negotiators from both parties are trying to avoid the June 30 fiscal cliff. FAN has joined the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and key faith leaders in Washington to sign a letter asking for funding for safety-net programs. There are three bills we are still fighting for this session: Breakfast after the Bell, Paid Family and Medical Leave, and a solar incentive program for businesses and households.

FEDERAL POLICY: FAN is working with our D.C. allies to resurrect and advance the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act in Congress. FAN’s main congressional issue is monitoring and advocating for a less egregious federal budget, e.g. securing more support for SNAP funding (HB 1276).

LOCAL POLICY: FAN testified in favor of an income tax ordinance in Seattle. Washington has the most regressive tax structure in the country, but the ordinance passed unanimously out of the City Council committee. Many efforts at tax reform have failed in our Legislature because of a 1930s state Supreme Court case that essentially disallows tax on income, so this ordinance will become a new test case.

STAFFING: FAN’s Governing Board has decided to raise additional money to fund a full-time organizer position to begin sometime in September. Click here to view the job description and posting.

(Photo right: Over 185 advocates attended FAN’s four regional summits in Yakima, Spokane, Seattle and Vancouver to discuss the critical issues facing our state and local areas.)

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Wisconsin

Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin                                    

Loppw.org

CARE FOR GOD’S CREATION: LOPPW’s director helped organize the annual Wisconsin Climate Table all-day annual retreat. Although we focus on climate change, we have decided to add water issues to our efforts. Recently a bill to deregulate some of the protections of water affected by high capacity wells in Wisconsin was passed.

LOPPW supports a bill to facilitate utilities to help low-income residents get lead out of their pipes, but it was put on hold. A coalition of secular and faith-based groups is meeting over the summer to discuss a compromise made on the bill and possible next steps.

LOPPW created a Vimeo video of one of meteorologist and ELCA member Bob Lindmeier’s presentations on climate change. More than 120 people attended his presentation at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Madison.

GOVERNANCE: The director visited four senators about the resolution to call a constitutional convention to amend the constitution. The Rev. Matt Kruse of Wauwatosa wrote a blog for LOPPW, “Convening a Constitutional Convention – Who and what would be at risk?” 

FEDERAL: LOPPW continues to support our D.C. office’s efforts on health care and immigration. In June, we led one presentation on the farm bill.

SYNOD ASSEMBLIES: Bishop Paul Erickson was with Bishop Elias Kitoi Nasari of Tanzania at the Greater Milwaukee Synod Assembly. (Photo below, left) (Photo below, right: LOPPW’s display at the La Crosse Area Synod Assembly.)

Before being elected bishop, Nasari was part of the hunger team LOPPW’s director assisted organizing in the synod.

 

“Isn’t that kind of…over?”

It is a surprisingly common reaction to my telling people what I do.

My name is Savanna Sullivan, and I am the Program Associate for the ELCA Strategy on HIV & AIDS. The Strategy on HIV & AIDS is a document the ELCA adopted in 2009 to direct the church’s engagement with communities living with and affected by HIV, and to outline our commitment to addressing HIV in the United States and the world. My work focuses on helping the ELCA live into the key commitments of the Strategy – like our commitment to theological reflection on our response to HIV and our inclusion of people living with HIV, our commitment to education and to effective prevention, treatment, and care of HIV, etc. And so, when I get a variation on that question, “Isn’t HIV over?” or comments like “It’s not as bad as it WAS,” I am frustrated, and then saddened, and then I get angry.

Because HIV isn’t over, but it could be.

What a simple thought, right? The reality is that there are STILL people being infected with HIV every day – 5,763 people every day, actually. That is 240 people an hour who are contracting a life-threatening illness. We know, too, that HIV doesn’t just affect people far away from us, in countries distant from our own. People in our own communities and congregations and fellow Lutherans in our companion churches are living with HIV.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes, “If one member (of the Body of Christ) suffers, all suffer together” (I Cor. 12:26). Friends, members of Our body are suffering unnecessarily.

Unnecessarily—because HIV is NOT what it was 30 years ago. Now, HIV is preventable.

Did you know there are prophylactic drugs available to reduce the likelihood of HIV infection during high-risk behavior (unprotected sex/drug use) to less than 30%? Or that there are medications that can prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV to less than 1%? Did you know there are drugs that can reduce an HIV positive individual’s viral load (amount of virus in their blood) to the extent that they are very unlikely to pass it to anyone else? Here are some other basic statistics about the HIV epidemic.

So why do people still get HIV?

The answer is complicated and wrapped up in problems surrounding access to education about HIV, testing availability, and access to prophylactic drugs or to HIV treatment. The answer is chained to systems of oppression that keep this information and access from marginalized populations – from communities of color, low-income communities and the LGBTQ+ community, among others. The answer is entangled with issues like availability of resources and gender inequality in developing countries around the world. So largely, the answer is colored – still – by stigma.

HIV isn’t over, in part, because we are still afraid to talk about it. And that “we” includes us, the Church.

These issues need to be tackled, and that may feel like quite the undertaking for us as the Body of Christ. So where do we start? Well, as I begin my work helping the church to implement the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS, I invite you to start by walking with me. I invite you to start by TALKING with me. It is high time we start conversations in our congregations and homes about HIV if we have not already. I invite you to pray with me for people whose lives have been affected by HIV. I invite you to repent with me for the ways the church has failed to include people living with HIV. Then, I invite you to act.

We in the churchwide office will be working hard to connect you all with resources for theological reflection in the coming months so you can check out ELCA.org/hiv for those resources, but you can also educate yourself about the HIV epidemic in the United States and around the world at CDC.gov/hiv. You can act with ELCA Advocacy to fight for healthcare for people living with HIV. You can start talking.

Because we are the Body of Christ – when one of us suffers from HIV, we all suffer together.

And because HIV and AIDS isn’t over, but it could be.

Here are some other links that you can check out:

• HIV Basics from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/index.html
• Interactive map depicting HIV and AIDS in specific states/regions: https://aidsvu.org/
• HIV Initiatives from the World Council of Churches: https://www.oikoumene.org/en/what-we-do/ehaia
• ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS: http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/ELCA_Strategy_on_HIV_and_AIDS.pdf
• Hear from leaders across the ELCA who participated in National HIV Testing Day June 27, 2017: https://www.livinglutheran.org/2017/06/working-erase-stigma-national-hiv-testing-day/

 

Savanna Sullivan is the program associate for the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS. She can be reached at Savanna.Sullivan@ELCA.org.

By Ruth Ivory-Moore

^“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”  (Galatians 3:28 NSRV)

Without justification or rationality, we have injected gender bias and inequality into our mode of operation and thinking. This rejects the created goodness and dignity God gives to every human creature and violates the reconciliation accomplished through Jesus Christ. Biases not only prevent those most qualified from working but deny and attack gifts (given by the Holy Spirit) of all on the basis of gender.

Gender inequality is especially prominent in the climate change arena.  Climate change has the greatest impact upon people who are vulnerable, marginalized and the poor. They are often the least equipped to deal with natural hazards, like extreme weather, droughts, floods, and hurricanes, which often result from climate change. For populations that depend on natural resources, like firewood for cooking, the situation can become grave. This plight describes the situation that many women face. Additionally, women often are shut out from participating in decision-making processes and labor markets which compounds inequalities.

But in 2015 the global community took significant steps to address gender disparity by adopting the Climate Action Plan (henceforth Plan) and the 2030 Agenda (henceforth Agenda). The Plan is an outgrowth of the December 2015 Paris Agreement, which embedded gender equality and empowerment of women. The Agenda was adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. Both were highlighted during the first week of the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Bonn, which took place from May 8-18.

Gender Climate Action Plan: The Climate Action Plan includes five key areas: capacity building; knowledge sharing and communication; gender balance and participation; coherence within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other UN agencies; gender-responsive implementation and means of Implementation; and monitoring and reporting. Each are critical to integrating gender into the climate discussion. (Photo right: Intergovernmental Negotiation Process at work on Gender Action Plan)     

 

(Photo left: The opening session of the Gender workshop featured encouraging words from Patricia Espinosa (Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)) shown at the far right)

Gender Equality, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the 2030 Agenda: The conference also featured a  panel presentation on the 2030 Agenda  which among other things identifies impediments to women’s participation in climate change policy development processes. The 2030 Agenda consists of 17 goals that includes zero hunger, no poverty and gender equality. To better understand gender equality the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) developed an analysis of the status of gender equality in national climate policy in light of the Paris Agreement. In implementing the Paris Agreement countries submit their plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Each country commits to reducing emissions by what is termed their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The UNDP analysis presents a framework for integrating gender equality into NDC planning and implementation.  Women, because of their responsibilities in many societies have firsthand knowledge of the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions.  Women must be included in all phases of solution development and implementation.

But as identified by the UNDP there are impediments/gaps that limit participation. The gaps include: how to implement developed policies for results; capacity development at all governmental levels; inadequate coordination on gender issues; and processes that promote participation of women.

Besides the need for gender equity, because it is the right thing to do, women are valuable in negotiations. According to the United Nations women’s participation at the political level tend to yield greater negotiated results, often increasing cooperation across party and ethnic lines and delivering more sustainable peace.

Photo right: Gender Equality in National Climate Action:  Planning for Gender-Responsive Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) panel discussion. Pictured from left to right are the panelists:  Barbara Schaefer (German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety); Stephen Gold (Head, Climate Change, UNDP); Fleur Newman (Gender Focal Point, UNFCCC); Felope Osses (Senior Climate Change Negotiator for  the Ministry of  Environment, Government of Chile); Sandee Recabar (Chief, Implementation Oversight Division, Philippines Climate Change Commission; and Stephen King’uyu (Deputy Director Mitigation, Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources of Kenya)

Women are still not equal participants in the processes to address climate change. However, it appears that internationally we are finally moving in the right direction. ELCA Advocacy is playing a role as a member of the ACT Alliance Climate Change Group.  ACT Alliance is a coalition of 144 churches and church-related organizations working together in over 100 countries. ELCA Advocacy will lead an ACT Alliance Climate Change Principles subgroup that will cover gender issues.  This subgroup is tasked with developing concise policy briefings (plus lobby points) well in advance of COP23.  It is important that we all work together to remedy gender disparity while seeking God’s guidance.

“Direct us, Lord God, in all our doings with your most gracious favor, and extend to us    your continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your holy name; and finally, by your mercy, bring us to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.”  (See Evangelical Lutheran Worship.)

 

Today’s post is from Ellen Acconcia, staff at Christ the King in Great Falls, VA.

 

Pastor Hank Langknecht, of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Great Falls Virginia, recently asked his congregation the following questions:

How does a tree praise? How does a tick praise? A raccoon? The south wind?

The questions came during his sermon delivered on June 11 at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, Virginia as the congregation worshiped in the outdoors. Not simply, “moving the indoor worship outdoors,” as Pastor Hank noted, the service focused on the group’s natural surroundings, the moving waters of Colvin Run; the listening for a bird call, the organic elements used in the preparation for the service.

 

 

Langknecht noted that worshiping along the run allowed him to reflect on the fact that the waterway is currently being remediated by a wetlands conservation engineering firm. “It was an interesting (though unspoken) background symbol for how humankind interacts with natur,” said Langknecht, “Problems arise (human generated or not) and we try to fix them … do we always make things better in the process?”

 

Pastor Hank concluded his sermon,

The fulfillment of God’s mission occurs

when all of creation gathers at the river

the crystal tide forever…

… that flows by the throne of God

… and flows out to bring life and healing

to everything …

Shall we gather at the river?

We shall!

 

 

 

The group then gathered for fellowship and a picnic lunch at the service’s conclusion.

 

 

 

Photo Information: With a focus on their natural surroundings, Christ the King Lutheran Church, Great Falls, Virginia gathered on Sunday, June 11 to worship. Images courtesy Christ the King Lutheran Church, Great Falls, 2017. www.gflutheran.org

 

 

Let’s talk about HIV.

Maybe you’re thinking “What? HIV? I thought this blog was about racial justice.” or “Isn’t that issue over now?”

But consider this: as of July 2015, African Americans made up 13.3% of the US Population.¹ Yet African Americans made up 48% of HIV infections in 2015.² Latino folks made up 17% of the US population and 24% of HIV infections. Similar statistical trends hold true for other minority communities in the US.

This, siblings in Christ, is an injustice.

It is an injustice that black and brown communities do not have equal access to education about HIV, HIV testing, or sustained healthcare. It is an injustice that black Americans are over eight times more likely to test positive for HIV than white Americans. It is an injustice that this reality means that many people in this country get to believe that “HIV is over” when it is clearly not.

Not only is HIV not over, friends, and it is threatening resurgence now more than ever before. The US government is rescinding aid to those suffering from HIV both domestically and abroad. The new budget proposed by the current administration outlines cuts to Medicaid and the CDC that would be devastating for HIV patients in the U.S. along with cuts to the Global AIDS Fund and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Initiative (the latter enacted by President W. Bush) that would leave communities around the world without HIV education or treatment.³

The risk is again growing, especially among communities of color. The U.S. government’s commitment to care for HIV-positive citizens is waning. Our church must step up.

The ELCA outlines its own call to fight the HIV epidemic in the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS, adopted by the Churchwide Assembly in 2009⁴. This Strategy acknowledges the realities of HIV in the U.S. and around the world, the church’s shortcomings in addressing these realities in the past, and our renewed commitment to walking alongside all who are affected by HIV – including disproportionately affected communities of color. The Strategy calls us to act through education, theological reflection, worship, and advocacy to ensure access to HIV resources for all.

I work as the Program Associate for this Strategy, and want to offer myself and the ELCA as a resource for you and your communities of faith as you wrestle with issues of healthcare, racial justice, and faith. Over the coming weeks and months I look forward to working with the ELCA Racial Justice program and with you all, communities across the ELCA, to tackle these issues together.

So how can you get involved?

1. Be sure to check our Facebook page for updated resources and information: https://www.facebook.com/ELCAHIVandAIDS/
2. Join us!

_{This year, our church will intentionally reflect on the call we accepted in the Strategy on HIV/AIDS on three separate days:}

• _{On June 27th, National HIV Testing Day – we encourage all ELCA members to lead by example in their communities and get tested for HIV, and to talk about HIV with their families and congregations.}
• _{On September 10th, “God’s Work, Our Hands” Sunday, we encourage ELCA congregations to spend this intentional day of service reaching out to organizations that serve People Living with HIV.}
• On December 1, World AIDS Day, we encourage all ELCA congregations to take time to learn more about the HIV epidemic in the US and around the world, and to incorporate HIV-specific language into their Sunday worship services.

3. Contact the ELCA Strategy Team with any questions, ideas, or for additional resources: sullivan@elca.org

The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:26 that “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

Our HIV-positive friends in Christ are suffering. Disproportionately they are poor or black or brown or LGBTQ+ or women. Our church will not be silent about this injustice. We will pray for healing and we will get to work to advocate with and for People Living with HIV/AIDS together.

 

Join us.

Savanna Sullivan
Program Associate, Strategy on HIV/AIDS

 

 

¹ https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/

² https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/racialethnic/africanamericans/index.html

³ http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/05/25/529873431/trumps-proposed-budget-would-cut-2-2-billion-from-global-health-spending

⁴ http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/ELCA_Strategy_on_HIV_and_AIDS.pdf

 

There is a Time for Everything, and a Season for Every Activity Under Heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Pointing Forward:

So let’s consider the 5 P’s of gardening:

Planning

Planting

Perspiring

Picking, and

Putting to bed.

We’ve planned, we’ve planted, and if we haven’t already, now is the time to Perspire!

Once you have planted your garden, there are no two ways about it—keeping a garden in good shape is hard work! But gardening can also help keep you in good shape! One way to work through the toil of hoeing and pulling weeds is to think of it as part of your daily workout. Yes, you can count working in the garden as part of your regular exercise routine! In fact, it can be part of a weight loss plan if you are so inclined. It is estimated that most people will use about 230 calories per hour while gardening. Of course, that varies from person to person and depends on how hard you are working. If you’d like to get more specific for your body weight, height and gender, the following website might be helpful: https://www.fitday.com/webfit/burned/calories_burned_Gardening_general.html.

Of course, most of us may not use gardening as a weight loss plan. Another way to approach the work of gardening is to use your time in the garden as a time of meditation. Some may choose to meditate on scripture during their gardening time. One verse you might use as a source of contemplation is Psalm 128:2 which states:

“You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours” (NIV).

The often sweaty work of maintaining gardens and fields has been part of the spiritual discipline of men and women religious in monasteries and convents for centuries. St. Benedict, for example, believed that they should rejoice in this labor, “for then are they monks in truth, if they live by the work of their hands, as did also our forefathers and the Apostles” (Rule of St. Benedict, #48). Martin Luther was no fan of monasteries, but he, too, believed that tending to fields and gardens was work that was “pleasing to God [and] instituted by God” (Luther, Lectures on Genesis.) For both monastics and Luther, digging, planting, and harvesting provided an opportunity to reflect on God’s good creation—and to participate in it.

If you are planning to donate some of your harvest to the local food bank, you might consider meditating on Acts 20:35: “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive” (NIV).

I also think that gardening is part of a commonsense approach to life that gives us all tools to help God help us through the production of our own food supply. So, when I am in that mode, I contemplate Proverbs 12:11: “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense” (NIV). Sort of a bit of humor thrown in at the end of that verse!

What is involved in keeping your garden in good shape?

There are four basic steps in keeping a garden in good shape once it is planted:

1. Watering;
2. Fertilizing;
3. Weed control; and
4. Pest control.

For watering the general rule of thumb for most gardens is that you need the equivalent of about 1 inch of rain per week. If you are in a dry climate, this amount may be a bit higher. One deep watering that gets to the roots of the plants is more efficient and has a better hydrating effect than does several light waterings. Consider using a soaker hose that you might leave on the garden for an extended time. Some gardeners have developed an automated drip system that can be place in ground to help direct the water to the plant’s root system.

Linking Back

Remember when we discussed composting in the second blog in this series? The second step in keeping your garden in good shape is fertilizing. If you have been composting all Winter and Spring, you may have a great source of fertilizer in your compost bin. You will need to apply compost or fertilizer every 3-4 weeks during the growing season. There are also several very good fertilizers on the market. One that my sister-in-law uses is Happy Frog (http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/category/happy-frog.html). It really is an asset with vegetables. We have had good success using this with tomatoes.

Weed control can be taxing. One good way to stay ahead of weeds is by using mulch, such as leaves, bark, or hay. We used an old rug several years to cover big spaces. These mulching methods cover the areas where weeds might grow and make it difficult for weeds to find sunlight to nourish their development.

But we are almost always forced to weed. One good way is to wait until you’ve watered, then pull the weeds by hand when the soil is still moist and the weed is more likely to come out by the root. If you get the entire root, that weed will not be able grow back.

Pest control may be an issue. Hand picking small insect invasions is helpful but does not always solve the problem. Trying biological methods such as ladybugs may help offset some insect infestations, such as aphids. For more ways of dealing with specific pests, the following website may be useful: http://eartheasy.com/grow_nat_pest_cntrl.htm.

For more information about these steps you might want to access the following website: http://www.gardenguides.com/68971-basic-vegetable-gardening.html.

Now let’s consider a recipe using this year’s early harvest. If you planted your potatoes early, by July you may have some small potato tubers ready to harvest. If your peas are doing well, you may have some pea pods ready to pick. One of our family favorites is creamed new potatoes and peas with the early season harvest that was a delicious addition to our Fourth of July celebration meal. You may substitute the milk and cream in the recipe below with vegetable stock and/or a non-dairy milk such as almond milk to provide a vegan option. You may also substitute margarine for butter. To make this a gluten-free option, you can use cornstarch as a thickener instead of flour. Make sure you mix the cornstarch with cold water before stirring the cornstarch mixture into the liquid ingredients.

Until next time, remember,

There is a Time for Everything, and a Season for Every Activity Under Heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Blessings to you!

Creamed Garden Potatoes and Peas

TOTAL TIME: Prep/Total Time: 25 min.

MAKES: 12 servings

Ingredients

• 2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered
• 3 cups fresh or frozen peas
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons butter (margarine may be substituted)
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups 2% milk (non-fat milk, vegetable stock, or non-dairy milk may be substituted)
• 1 cup half-and-half cream (non-fat milk, vegetable stock, or non-dairy milk may be substituted)

Directions

1. Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-12 minutes or until tender. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, place peas and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Drain.
3. In a large saucepan, sauté onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until blended; gradually add milk and cream. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in potatoes and peas; heat through. Yield: 12 servings.

 

Nutritional Information (per 2/3 cup serving)

Calories: 156

Fat: 5g (3g saturated fat)

Cholesterol: 18mg

Sodium: 345mg

Carbohydrates: 22g (6g sugars, 3g fiber)

Protein: 6g

Diabetic exchanges: 1½ starch, 1 fat

In this series by guest writer Ethan Bergman, we will consider the 5 P’s of gardening – planning, planting, perspiring, picking, and putting to bed – over the course of the next few months. Ethan is a Master of Divinity student in the Distributive Learning program at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn. Bergman is also the associate dean in the College of Education and Professional Studies and professor of food science and nutrition at Central Washington University, Ellensburg. He was named CWU Distinguished University Professor in 2001-2002 and was named by the Washington State Dietetic Association as Outstanding Registered Dietitian of the Year in 2000. He is a past delegate and past President of the American Dietetic Association as well as speaker of the Academy’s House of Delegates. He has served on the Academy’s Educator’s Task Force on Education Reform in Dietetics Education and on the Evidence-Based Practice Committee. Bergman earned his doctorate from Washington State University.

 

Photo by Tori Soper, a Chicago Commercial photographer specializing in corporate and editorial photography as well as event coverage for meetings and conventions.

 

At the 2016 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, ELCA World Hunger staff fielded questions and gathered feedback from the folks packing a room in the New Orleans’ Ernest Morial Convention Center. For an hour, we shared updates, heard comments about our resources and programs, and listened to stories of congregations responding to hunger and poverty in communities across the ELCA. At the very end of our time, amidst the ruffling of papers and gathering of bags as people prepared to leave for the next session, an energetic man approached the microphone. In a few short words, he silenced the room with his story.

“I have sat here and listened as everyone has talked,” he began, a thin smile on his face. “Now, I decided, I want to talk.” We sat riveted as he described how the violence of civil war came to his hometown in Sudan and how it claimed the lives of so many of his friends and neighbors. He told us how he chased after his brother, both of them running alongside other young boys, toward a truck that promised safety and an escape from the conflict. The truck bore the letters “LWF,” an acronym he didn’t know at the time stood for Lutheran World Federation. His older brother pushed him on the truck, and he began a years-long journey, first to a refugee camp and then to Michigan, where he settled and started a family.

“L. W. F. Before I even knew what those letters meant,” he said, “they saved my life.”

Today marks the 17^th annual World Refugee Day, a day set aside by the United Nations to draw attention to the challenges faced by people around the world who have fled their homes – by choice or compulsion – seeking safety, opportunity, and a place to call home. It is a chance to celebrate the individuals and families who have built new lives in new places, to mourn those who have lost their lives while on the move, and, for Lutherans, to remember our own history as migrants and refugees.

The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that more than 65 million people are displaced from their homes around the world, with more than 22 million fleeing violence, poverty, and persecution as refugees. This is an almost-unprecedented number of people on the move, and the work of nonprofit organizations, churches and community partners accompanying refugees and migrants has rarely been so important.

Through ELCA World Hunger and Lutheran Disaster Response, our church accompanies our neighbors in their home communities, in transit and temporary shelters, in refugee camps, and in their new homes. The intersection between conflict, migration and food insecurity is complex but undeniable. In a study released earlier this year, the World Food Programme (WFP) found that for every percentage increase in food insecurity, refugee outflows from a country increase by 1.9 percent, demonstrating the significant role food insecurity plays in forcing people from their homes. Moreover, the WFP found that food insecurity also plays a role in increasing the intensity and duration of armed conflict, another significant factor that pushes people to seek safety in other regions and countries.

Working through companions and partners, ELCA World Hunger supports projects aimed at sustainably bolstering food security, making it possible for people to feed themselves and their families in their own hometowns. For those who cannot stay in their homes, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) administers refugee camps like Kakuma and Dadaab in Kenya. Kakuma, located in northwestern Kenya, was established by the UN in 1992 with a capacity for 125,000 refugees, most of whom were fleeing Sudan. Today, more than 160,000 refugees live in the camp. While it was never intended to be a permanent home, many refugees spend upwards of ten years living in Kakuma, waiting to return to their homes or to resettle in a new place.

Adapting to life in Kakuma is not easy, but many residents, with the support of LWF programs, find ways to use their talents and skills while in the camp. Programs that focus on education and improved livelihoods, supported in part by ELCA World Hunger, address some of the critical barriers residents face. One key opportunity for economic empowerment for residents is through village savings and loan programs (VSLAs). In a VSLA, community members pool their savings and provide small loans to individuals to start or grow a business. Once the business turns a profit, the money is repaid and loaned out to another VSLA member. This gives folks in Kakuma the resources they need to support themselves and their families. Moreover, much of the work administered by LWF, including efforts toward education, economic empowerment, and human rights, is done with the participation of both refugees in the camp and members of the local host community, many of whom face their own challenges related to poverty and hunger.

KTN News in Kenya recently featured a story of a thriving bakery that started through a loan from a VSLA:

 

 

Programs like this are important ways our church accompanies our neighbors as they build lives for themselves far from home. As the number of displaced people around the world increases, accompaniment of internally displaced persons, refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers continues to meet a critical need.

At the churchwide assembly, we were reminded of that need and the role that the ELCA and our companions can play in a world facing a refugee crisis. But we were also reminded of how much our communities stand to gain from the gifts refugees and migrants have to offer. The former “lost boy of Sudan” who didn’t know what “LWF” meant when he first saw the letters is now in the TEEM program of the ELCA, developing his skills of leadership to offer his talents within the church he now calls his own.

 

Today’s post is from Savanna Sullivan, Program Associate for the Strategy on HIV/AIDS with the ELCA.

 

As Lutherans, we believe in the power of prayer. We believe in the power of song, of the gospel, of community. We believe in the power of worship.

There is power in calling upon God to touch the lives of people or groups who society has stigmatized or ignored by name. There is power in asking forgiveness for the ways we as the church have contributed to the perpetuation of that stigmatization and marginalization. There is power in reaching out to God for health and wholeness and healing; and all of this is exactly what the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS has tasked our church to do.

This Strategy was adopted by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 2009, and has since served as a guide to outline the ways we, in ministry, walk alongside all whose lives have been touched by HIV. Worship is a huge part of that ministry, and so we call upon ELCA congregations to be intentional in their inclusion of language that lifts up People Living with HIV specifically in worship services.

This year, our church will intentionally reflect on the call we accepted in the Strategy on HIV/AIDS on three separate days:

• On June 27th, National HIV Testing Day – we encourage all ELCA members to lead by example in their communities and get tested for HIV, and to talk about HIV with their families and congregations.
• On September 10th, “God’s Work, Our Hands” Sunday, we encourage ELCA congregations to spend this intentional day of service reaching out to organizations that serve People Living with HIV.
• On December 1, World AIDS Day, we encourage all ELCA congregations to take time to learn more about the HIV epidemic in the US and around the world, and to incorporate HIV-specific language into their Sunday worship services.

Join us! Below, you will find suggested petitions for prayers of the church that might be included in such a worship. (You will also find hymn suggestions and a World AIDS Day liturgy linked at the end of the post.) These petitions were written by different members of the ELCA churchwide staff, state public policy offices, and partner organizations – and identify many of the communities who disproportionally bear the burden of the HIV epidemic in the United States and around the world.

 

 Suggested Prayer Petitions:

 

Abundant God, You gave us a beautiful world with enough for all, but we have selfishly squandered your gifts and erected walls that prevent others from enjoying these gifts.
By your grace, turn our hearts toward one another, so that we may walk together and work together, accompanying each other toward a world without hunger or disease, without HIV. We pray that the systemic barriers that keep us and our neighbors from health, from sustenance, and from one another may one day crumble; so that we may all break bread together as one body and be made full in your Holy name.
Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

• Phil LaDeur, ELCA World Hunger

 

We give thanks for the progress reached in understanding, reducing and treating HIV/AIDS. We also acknowledge that the pandemic of HIV/AIDS continues to be one of the most serious health concerns in the world.

We pray for individuals, families, and communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by this pandemic—both globally and domestically.

We pray for the silence, shame and stereotypes associated with HIV/AIDS to be broken. We pray that greater access in health care, treatment, testing, and education be provided.

We ask for a greater commitment from our church to educate, equip, and implement strategies to eliminate HIV/AIDS. We pray that our congregation be a house of hope and healing.

Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

• Judith Roberts, ELCA Racial Justice

 

We pray for those in the LGBTQIA community who have been affected by HIV. Hold in your gentle embrace those who have to hide their identity or their status out of fear and stigma. Shower with compassion and love those who face a new diagnosis, dating rejection, health issues, or long-term survivor’s guilt.  Guide our hearts, O God of Healing, to work to remove barriers in our hearts and our communities for all those seeking care and understanding.  In your Holy Name, we pray.

Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

• Leo Bancroft, ReconcilingWorks Board Member

 

You are a God of love, justice and compassion.

We pray for women who live with HIV/AIDS– especially those who feel overlooked. We pray for women who fight for the control of their own bodies, and women who have been victims of violence. Let their stories be heard with compassion and love. Grant us the love and compassion to create a space to listen and support each other.

Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

• Marit Johnson, ELCA Justice for Women and Lutheran Volunteer Corps

 

Additional Resource:

Includes World AIDS Day liturgy, hymn suggestions, scriptural suggestions, and links to ecumenical resources.

 

http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/World_AIDS_Day.pdf

 

 

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The ELCA welcomes our new additions-Haley Toresdahl, Caitlin Sellnow, and Phillip LaDeur to the ELCA World Hunger staff!
Learn more about them and their passions here!
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Haley Toresdahl
Hello! My name is Haley Toresdahl. I am originally from West Des Moines, IA and called Windsor Heights Lutheran Church my home congregation before moving to Chicago. I am a graduate of Roanoke College in Salem, VA where I studied Political Science. I then had internship experience with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Office and Feed the Children public policy office in Washington, D.C. as well as local community engagement that shaped my studies and understanding of domestic hunger and poverty.

I have had the incredible opportunity to serve as a Young Adult in Global Mission in the inaugural Cambodia country program following college. I also lived and served with Life With Dignity, a Cambodian organization focused on integrated rural development supported by gifts to ELCA World Hunger, and additionally taught English in the community. I am very excited to share these stories and experiences in my work with ELCA World Hunger and I’m grateful to be part of the ways ELCA World Hunger is working toward a world where all are fed.

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Caitlin Sellnow
Hi! My name is Caitlin Sellnow, and I joined the World Hunger team about a month ago as a Development Assistant. I’ll be helping mostly with congregational support. Before I joined the ELCA churchwide staff, I worked at the front desk of the Department of Molecular Biosciences at Northwestern University. (I learned a little bit about Molecular Biosciences there, but a lot more about making coffee for Molecular Bioscientists.) I am also still a student at Northwestern, working on a degree in creative nonfiction writing.

Before I moved to Chicago, I was a member of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps in Baltimore, where I worked as a Community Builder in a neighborhood called Remington. I helped with a lot of community dinners, homework clubs, vegetable giveaways and health fairs. I also tried to help low-income neighborhood residents access government resources, from housing grants to state IDs.

I don’t know how important my presence was to Remington, but I know that Remington was important to me. My work there connected me with people far outside of the Minnesota bubble where I grew up. That exposure made me uncomfortable at first, but it became crucial to the way I understand God and live out my own faith. Now, I’m excited to be part of a team that helps to connect other people in Lutheran Congregations with the wider world.

Outside of work and school, I spend time singing in choir, trying to de-stress my neurotic foster cat, and undertaking elaborate baking projects that never turn out quite like the pictures on Pinterest, but are delicious anyway. I am so honored to walk this road with all of you!

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Phillip LaDeur

Hello! I’m Phillip LaDeur and I am the new Program Assistant for World Hunger Education.  I am incredibly excited to be in this role and hope I can use my background in education to continue and grow the tremendous work my team has been engaged in.  Prior to this position, I was a special education teacher for a school district in Carol Stream.  Education has always been one of my greatest passions.  As an educator, I believe that education is a lifelong, intrinsic process that is chosen and driven by the learner.  I have been a public school teacher for the past three years, but have been involved in recreational and academic program development for the past seven years total.

In addition to my teaching career, I have been blessed to have a very involved volunteer life at Saint Andrew Lutheran Church in West Chicago.  I have been the volunteer youth pastor and have helped lead music worship there for the past four years and continue to enjoy spending as much time as I can in helping our congregation grow together.  Saint Andrew is involved in an amazing mission in trying to bring two communities together as one congregation. If you are ever interested in seeing a bilingual service in action, or are just in the area, let me know!

I love to share music and have been a part of the ELCA Glocal Musicians for the past two years.  I am currently trying to teach myself the banjo and ukulele with very little consistency and enjoy spending time with my fiancé in our home in Aurora. She is not so crazy about me not having summers off anymore, but despite that adjustment, I truly could not be more excited about having the opportunity to play a small role in this inspiring mission.