Emily Edenfield, Irmo, SC

Warm-up Questions

• Who do you consider to be an enemy? 
• For whom do you usually pray?

Across the Divides

Open any news website and you’ll see a world divided into groups. Some people have what they need and others don’t. There are wars and political parties. Some live in cities while others are in the country. There are generational, racial, and religious divides. 

Some divides are natural.  Some are made or exaggerated by those who use conflict to gain power or money. In an election season, we see parties and candidates sharpening the divides among voters, trying to gain as much support as they can for their cause. 

I’ve lived in both cities and in the country–and in a few different states. There are commonalities among people everywhere I’ve lived. Most people want the best for themselves, their families, and the world.  But we disagree on what that looks like and how we can bring it about. 

Discussion Questions

• What different groups do you experience in your life? 
• Where do you see people agreeing, despite other differences?
• What is worth disagreeing about? 
• What is worth dividing a group over?

All Saints Sunday

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18

Ephesians 1:11-23

Luke 6:20-31

(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 C at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

One of the hardest things that Jesus teaches about is the change that God’s kingdom brings about in this world. The ones who seem blessed will have a downturn. The ones who seem distressed will have good things come their way. And the ones that we least want to deal with are the same people that we’re supposed to pray for. 

The Beatitudes is one name for Jesus’ teaching about what it means to be blessed. In Luke, the Beatitudes are like a roller coaster ride: what goes up must come down and what goes down is bound to come back up. We don’t need to be too worried about where we are now, because we know that God is with us on every hillside and valley of the ride.

God knows that this world isn’t the way God made it to be. God loves all people and wants us to care for each other. And yet, we are divided in a hundred ways.  Sometimes it’s by culture or distance, sometimes by our own choice—or someone else’s choice to separate from us. Jesus calls us to resist efforts to divide us and  care for one another across the divides.

Discussion Questions

• When in your life has something bad led to something good?
• How did God work through or around the bad thing? 
• What did you learn from the situation?
• Have you ever had an enemy? How did that happen? What did you do about it?
• Resilience is the trait we develop by overcoming challenges. How does our faith in God help us be resilient?

Activity Suggestions

• Play a game where participants are divided up by different categories. Have everyone who likes sweets move to one side of the room and everyone who likes salty snacks move to the other. Or people with brothers and people with sisters move to opposite sides. See if you can find a category where everyone agrees. (People who are baptized, people who go to a certain church or school, people who like/don’t like the communion wine…)
• Brainstorm together times when we might expect change to be right around the corner. (Graduation, moves, breakups/new relationships…) How does our faith help ground us when everything seems up in the air?

Closing Prayer

God, you made all people in your image. Help us to see our common places with other people and to know that you are always with us. Amen. 

 

By Richard J. Mammana

The Episcopal Church’s 80th General Convention in Baltimore this summer was a watershed moment for relationships of Lutherans and Anglicans around the world. The triennial gathering was delayed by a year because of the global Covid pandemic, but the bicameral legislative process (one house for bishops and another for priests and lay deputies) has been in place since 1785. The General Convention makes decisions about the mission and governance of The Episcopal Church, the official name of which is the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton brought prerecorded video greetings to the assembly, wishing God’s blessing on its deliberations. She was joined by Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria and new communion partners the Rev. Susan C. Johnson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and Archbishop Antje Jackelén of the Church of Sweden.

While the video greetings were brief and represented an accommodation to health precautions, they were also a sign of increasing depth and breadth in international Anglican-Lutheran relations. (Previous conventions have had in-person ecumenical guests, observers, preachers, and participants from across the Christian spectrum in addition to the presence of representatives from other religious traditions.)

2022 marks two decades of full communion between the ELCA and The Episcopal Church—a pioneering decision for Christians in the United States that now bears fruit in about two hundred ministry sites including combined church plants, shared facilities, joint camping ministries and governmental advocacy, food pantries, campus ministries, archival work, very regular exchange of pastoral care and preaching, and collaboration in educational initiatives. Resolution A183 celebrated continued cooperation and shared ministries between the ELCA and The Episcopal Church.

Two memorial resolutions honored the contributions of Episcopal priest-ecumenists J. Robert Wright (1936-2022) and William Norgren (1927-2022) for their work in shepherding the dialogues that led to Called to Common Mission and the current full communion relationship. Another resolution continued the mandate for the Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee, which provides resources for implementation of the full communion between the churches: devotional and educational material, liturgical guides, historical documentation, and asset mapping, in addition to constituting a contact group for relations on the official denominational level.

This year also saw an expansion of Called to Common Mission in the United States and the Waterloo Declaration for Canadian Anglicans and Lutherans by creating a new ecumenical, transnational grouping called Churches Beyond Borders. This is a quadrilateral or four-way relationship among the ELCA, The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Drawing on a 2018 agreement at Niagara Falls, Ontario, this new full communion family affirms the integrity of the bilateral relationships while committing the four churches to ongoing work on the Doctrine of Discovery, climate change, racial reconciliation, gender justice, and other matters specific to North America. It will have important applications in the 13 American states that border Canada and the six Canadian provinces and one territory that border the United States, where First Nations communities and their life and work can both pre-date and transcend national boundaries.

The Episcopal Church also continued this summer to work toward deeper bonds with international Lutheran bodies—one looking back to 350 years of mutual contact in colonial North America and the other to the ongoing needs of the church for diakonia in refugee and asylee resettlement in modern Europe.

The 2022 General Convention’s acceptance of a relationship of full communion with the Church of Sweden completes proposals begun in the 1850s and contacts that began in the middle 1600s. Swedish colonial churches in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries offer early examples of shared ministry between Anglicans and Lutherans; most Swedish Lutheran churches of this period had joined The Episcopal Church by the 1840s. Great waves of Swedish immigration to the United States, sometimes without adequate ecclesiastical accompaniment, further intensified the coming-together of these communities and resulted in 45 Swedish-speaking missions of The Episcopal Church throughout the United States. Full communion will facilitate the sharing of clergy and the greater mutual integration of Americans into Swedish church life and vice versa, fulfilling three and a half centuries of life together. It will also give a deeper context for international disaster relief work done in common and with shared partners.

Still one more emerging connection moved forward in Baltimore this summer is The Episcopal Church’s commendation of a proposal entitled “Sharing the Gifts of Communion” (the Augsburg Agreement) with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. The background for this agreement is partnership in diaconal ministries in southern Germany by members of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe and the clergy and leaders of the major local Lutheran landeskirche (regional church). The urgency of this collaboration has intensified in the past five decades along with globalization and Germany’s acceptance of large numbers of refugees from regions of conflict or social oppression. A strong postwar presence of Americans in Germany is part of the explanation for the vitality of Episcopal churches here. The Augsburg Agreement, when accepted by both churches, will make for a new transnational Christian relationship in the further service of the Gospel, rooted in existing regional and international agreements extended to a fresh context in creative ways.

The persistence and proliferation of these Episcopal-Lutheran relationships is notable because of their responsiveness to changing religious and social landscapes in all of the places where they are emerging. Just as global Lutheranism marked a 500th anniversary of gospel freedom in 2017, Anglicans will look to a similar five centuries of our Lutheran-inspired reforms in 1534. The two communities have been in arrangements of mutual communication, occasionally antagonism, and often strong support of one another for all of this time, with a summer of new and renewed connections drawing a bright line under important trajectories of recognition and repair.

My long view of these new horizons in Episcopal-Lutheran relations is that something very good is afoot, and that it will not make headlines in the same way that the earliest movements toward ELCA-Episcopal full communion did. There is no more controversy; all of the General Convention resolutions passed without dissent in two houses famous for their canonical precision and (sometimes partisan) passion. In the short space of twenty years in the American case, strangers now are friends because of one Lord, and for the sake of one world. There has been little news coverage because the decisions generate all light and no heat.

For the other outgrowths of mutual love and recognition, the CCM experience of deep realization that we see ourselves in one another—and that in each other we must also see Jesus Christ—provides an impulse to seek other forms and opportunities of similar connection wherever they can strengthen the church for the healing of the nations. Denver has led us in its way to Waterloo and then to Niagara, and now to Uppsala and Frankfurt by way of Baltimore, and we are glad indeed.

 

Richard J. Mammana has served as Episcopal Church Associate for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations since 2014. A descendant of the founders of German Lutheranism in eastern Pennsylvania, he is a staff member of the Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee (lutheran-episcopal.org).

Today’s blog post comes from Rev. Lisa Heffernan, ELCA Disability Ministries coordinator

I’m just going to be honest here. All month I’ve been procrastinating on writing this blog post. Why? I’m not sure, I guess. Perhaps it’s because it asks for a bit of vulnerability on my part. You see, it’s October, and October is spina bifida awareness and disability awareness month. Spina bifida is the neural tube disorder I was born with, so I can tell you all that I am intimately “aware” of it every day. Do I hate it? No. Not at all. Are there challenges/frustrations that come along with it? Yep. Has spina bifida shaped how I live and move in a world that was not created with me and others like me in mind? Absolutely.

Before I get too far down a rabbit hole of rambling, here is a bit about this spina bifida that approximately 1,400 babies are born with each year. It comes in several different forms, some of which are occulta, meningocele, and myelomeningocele. On the whole it means that there’s an incomplete closing of the spine and the nerves of the spinal cord in the early development days and weeks of pregnancy. You can look up all kinds of information on the different forms, but I have myelomeningocele which is the most “severe” form. I was born with some nerves exposed on the lumbar part of my spine and had to have that patched up and a shunt put in right after I was born due to swelling of the brain. Oh, and I use a wheelchair full time too. My current one’s a bit worn and weathered, but I like it and the independence it gives me.

So, the question I’m not sure how to answer is this: Why does anyone, why does the church need to be “aware” of disabilities like spina bifida? I don’t want people to feel bad for me because I don’t (and I say “don’t” intentionally here) walk. What I want is dignity, respect, and an equal, equitable place in society and at the Table with my siblings in Christ. I want to encourage people to try and understand more about the things that make each of us who we are; spina bifida in so many ways has made me who I am. I want for the wider Church to be “aware” and repentant of the ways in which it has intentionally and unintentionally excluded disabled people and told us we don’t matter to anyone—not even to God.

I also pray that this body of Christ can come to understand that our world needs more reforming. That the time is more than past for attitudes and harmful theologies to be challenged, and for us to care more about our ministries to all of God’s people than what shortening a pew might do to the aesthetics of a sanctuary. That we can come to some collective understanding that a disability isn’t an obstacle to a person being a fine pastor or deacon. Instead, what is the or an obstacle? Attitudes of scarcity or lack of holy imagination, and a hesitancy to find out what it might take to make our churches and places of fellowship barrier free.

For me, this awareness month/s isn’t about simply learning what spina bifida is or saying how “inspiring” disabled people are. (Just don’t say that…seriously. We’re human. Just as faulted, sinful, loving, and capable as you.) It’s about making we who follow Christ aware of the beauty in this diverse community.  All so that we can strive together to share the love and grace of Christ with one another, seek justice and equity for one another, and live out what we mean when we say “all are welcome at the Table of our Lord”.

Josh Kestner, Clemson, SC

Warm-up Question

• Who are some people that you look up to in your life? What have they done to make you respect them?
• Tell about a time when your faith and values did not line up with your experience of reality. How did you feel? What did you do?

Resilient Women

I am in awe of the Muslim women involved in protests surrounding the wearing of the hijab. They are heroes who are showing strength and resilience in the midst of persistent pushback.

One of the things that has struck me is that there is no one, universal stance. Women are asking for the power to choose how to live out their faith. There are women in Iran who refuse to be forced to wear a hijab. And at the same time there are women in India who wear their hijabs despite being banned from doing so. While justice may look different in both of these societies, the message is clear: stand up for yourself and for others when change needs to happen. These women are putting their lives at risk to defy the way things are and the way things have always been. 

What gives these women the confidence and courage that they need to demand change in their communities?

I often wonder what motivates someone to join or lead a protest. Do they have a loved one in their life who has acted as a role model? Perhaps these women have mothers who have also shown strength in different ways. Or have they learned about heroes from other moments in history? They’re merely waiting for their own opportunities to act and fight. Whatever the answer, God bless these women and others who sacrifice their time and energy to make a difference in the world – not only for themselves but for many generations to come.

Discussion Questions

• What are some examples of big changes that have happened in the history of the world? What did people do to make them happen?
• Name a change that you’d like to see in the world? What is something that you’re passionate about – something that you’ve spent time educating yourself about and that you feel comfortable talking about with other people?
• Have you ever participated in a protest? Or have you ever known someone who has? What was it like?
• What are some ways besides a public protest that you might be able to make change happen in your own community?

Reformation Sunday

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Romans 3:19-28

John 8:31-36

(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 C at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

The gospel for this week is chosen to help celebrate the Reformation. The Reformation is the period of history when Martin Luther and many other people helped to work for change in the greater Church. The changes helped make it so people (ordinary people like you and me) could develop a more personal and relational sense of faith in their lives.

Because of its roots in the Reformation, I think that one of the most important traits of the Lutheran church is that it should always be open to change. Lutherans balance tradition and innovation fairly evenly. So, when there is a shift in the world they are ready to adapt. That doesn’t mean that pastors and bishops are always right. We are too often slow to move in the right direction. But when we are wrong, we are committed to holding ourselves accountable and following the Holy Spirit wherever it leads. (Take a look at the ELCA’s Declaration to People of African Descent from 2019 as an example of an act of reformation and reconciliation.)

It can be easy to get stuck in the flow of how things are and how they’ve always been. John 8:31-36 references descendants of Abraham who believe that their history and lineage has earned them some kind of future reward. They are not eager to do what Jesus is asking of them. 

Reading the gospel with the Reformation in mind encourages us to be proactive when it comes to change. While some of us may feel comfortable and affirmed in our current realities, there are countless others who are struggling with poverty, grief, violence, oppression, and other calamities in their lives. Our work is not done until all of God’s children are taken care of.

How do we do it? Like Martin Luther, and so many other people who have demanded change in the world, we have to listen. We have to listen to the people around us who are crying out for help. We have to listen to the voices of folks who are usually ignored. And we have to listen to the rustling of the wind of the Holy Spirit to see where God is already at work.

Discussion Questions

• What have you learned about the Reformation at church or in school?
• How has your own congregation changed in response to the pandemic in the last couple of years?
• What is one change that you would suggest to your pastor about your worship services?

Activity Suggestions

• Tell the story about how Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to a church door in Wittenberg Germany 500+ years ago. Read a few of the 95 Theses and talk about why Martin Luther did it. 
• Find a door (or a few doors) in the church building that is close to where your group is gathering. Give each individual a handful of Post-It notes (make sure you’ve got several different colors). Ask them to write down their hopes and dreams on the Post-It notes: changes they want to see in their own lives, changes they want to see in the church, changes they want to see in the world, etc. Stick each note on the door(s) and then have students spend some time reading what other folks have written (keep them anonymous if you’d like).

Closing Prayer

God of grace, we are always in awe of the ways that your love shows up in the world. We are especially grateful for the ways that your love shows up in our own lives. While your love continues to transform us and transform your whole creation, empower us to be a part of that change. Humble us. Give us courage. And send us out with your Spirit to do your work. Amen.

 

Following are updates shared from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices (sppos) in the ELCA Advocacy Network this month. Full list and map of sppos available.

 

U.N.  | CALIFORNIA | COLORADO  | FLORIDA | MINNESOTA | OHIO | PENNSYLVANIA | WASHINGTON

 

U.N.

Lutheran Office for World Community (LOWC), United Nations, New York, N.Y. – ELCA.org/lowc

Christine Mangale, Director

The Third Committee of the General Assembly

• The seventy-seventh session of Third Committee of the General Assembly, which deals with Social, Humanitarian and Cultural issues has been meeting since September 29th following the conclusion of UNGA77 high level meetings. This year’s session is chaired by His Excellency José Alfonso Blanco Conde of the Dominican Republic.

• The Committee has robust agenda items and like in previous sessions, is focusing on the examination of human rights questions, including reports of the special procedures of the Human Rights Council. Agenda items include the advancement of women, the protection of children, indigenous issues, the treatment of refugees, the promotion of fundamental freedoms through the elimination of racism and racial discrimination, and the right to self- determination.  The Committee also addresses social development issues related to youth, family, aging, persons with disabilities, crime prevention, criminal justice, and international drug control. 
• This October, the Committee is also interacting with special rapporteurs, independent experts, and chairs of working groups as mandated by the Human Rights Council. 
• The Committee will consider several draft resolutions per agenda item. Last year, 62  draft resolutions were adopted at end of the session. LOWC is following closely the sessions and coordinating with the LWF Action for Justice unit.  
• The formal meetings are webcast live on UN Web TV

 

CALIFORNIA

Lutheran Office of Public Policy – California (LOPP-CA) – lutheranpublicpolicyca.org

Regina Banks, Director

Several pieces of legislation signed into law at the end of September focused on the Lutheran Office of Public Policy – California’s key priority areas. One such bill the office has been following, Assembly Bill 2183, significantly improves the rights of farm workers. Specifically, the law will now allow farm workers to vote in union elections by mail and guarantee their protection in such elections. Additionally, Senate Bill 731 addresses the criminal justice pillar: the new law expands criminal record relief for all felonies if the individual is no longer on a probationary sentence, which also includes some specific exemptions to the relief depending on the crime. One critical bill our office was supporting and advocating for, Senate Bill 222, would have required the Department of Community Services and Development to provide water affordability assistance to low-income residents. This bill was unfortunately vetoed by the governor. Other priority bills, including Senate Bills 854 and 464 and Assembly Bills 2180, 2589, and 1615 remain in the committee process. 

Looking ahead: Our office’s 2022 voter guide for the upcoming November election has been published on our website and Facebook page as a resource for California voters as they prepare to vote on several propositions. 

 

COLORADO

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Colorado (LAM-CO) – lam-co.org

Peter Severson, Director

LAM-CO PUBLISHES 2022 VOTER GUIDE: The Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Colorado 2022 Voter Guide is here! We’re providing up to date info and thoughtful reflection on all eleven ballot measures that will face Colorado voters this fall. In addition, the LAM-CO Policy Committee has voted to take positions on four of the measures:  

• YES on Prop FF, Healthy School Meals. Creates and funds the Healthy School Meals for All program, providing free school meals to all public school students by capping income tax deductions for individuals earning $300,000 or more per year. 
• YES on Prop GG, Amount of Tax Owed Table for Initiatives. Requires ballot titles and fiscal impact summaries for initiatives affecting income tax to include information on how the change would affect different income levels.  
• YES on Prop 123, Dedicated Revenue to Affordable Housing Programs. Create the State Affordable Housing Fund and allocates 0.01% of existing income tax revenue to fund housing and homelessness programs through it.  
• NO on Prop 121, State Income Tax Reduction. Reduces the state income tax from 4.55% to 4.40%. 

HOUSING COLORADO CONFERENCE: Director Peter Severson represented LAM-CO at the Housing Colorado Conference in Breckenridge, a three-day event bringing together housing justice advocates, policy experts, builders, and government officials to discuss Colorado’s ever-present housing and affordability crisis, and to explore new opportunities and ideas together. 

 

FLORIDA

Florida Council of Churches – floridachurches.org

The Rev. Russell L. Meyer, Executive Director

The damage from Hurricane Ian stretched across Florida, and flooding is still possible along rivers as 20 inches or more of rain flows out to sea. Congregation damages from the storm on the west coast include:  

• St. Peter, Fort Myers Beach: Building mostly destroyed.
• Faith, Lehigh Acres: half of sanctuary roof lost.
• Living Waters, North Port: Water damage throughout facility and across campus.
• Hope, Port Charlotte: Facility walls and roofs breached.
• Emmanuel, Venice: Water intrusion damage through broken stained-glass window and tree damage to roof.  

Thousands of families, not displaced by lost homes, struggle with food access.  Please support Lutheran Disaster Response! Across Florida Ian has exasperated a housing crisis. Learn more about complex housing factors and public education strains in the Clergy Convening 11/14-15 in Orlando: https://floridachurches.org/how-are-the-children/ 

 

MINNESOTA

Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota (LA-MN) – lutheranadvocacymn.org

Tammy Walhof, Director

Coalition Work: This fall, several of our coalitions are reorganizing and rethinking structures. Many participant organizations have had a fair amount of turnover, and some of our longer-term leaders have moved on to other types of work. We are also debating whether to keep last years’ agendas, or reconsider policy options and strategies (Remember that little was accomplished last session due polarization and midterm election posturing.) 

Midterm Elections: As much as 40 percent (or more) of the state legislature could be new following November’s election. Redistricting pitted several incumbents against each other, not just those from opposing parties, but also within parties. Although a few legislators went head-to-head in the primaries, several incumbents retired or left to pursue other interests. Pandemic weariness also likely contributed to retirement decisions. Given this large turnover, the education needed with new legislators will be daunting. Even bills that were completely negotiated between Republicans and Democrats, House members and senators (but never brought to a final vote in last hours of the legislative session), will need to start the whole process again. Furthermore, several of the legislators that retired were those that had friendships across the aisle, were respectful of colleagues regardless of party/ideology, and were long-term experienced negotiators. Moderates of both major parties make up large numbers of those who have left. 

Polarization: Given widening gaps, Tammy Walhof is dusting off her Graceful Engagement workshop, and exploring techniques of Braver Angels to get people talking and relating despite differences and hopefully to work civilly with one another 

 

OHIO

Hunger Network Ohio (HNO) – hungernetwork.org

Deacon Nick Bates, Director

Join the fight for hunger free schools in Ohio!

The Hunger Network is collaborating with Children’s Defense Fund, the Ohio food banks and many others to fight for hunger-free schools in Ohio by providing free meals to all students. Universal meals mean: 

• Full bellies leading to full minds! This plan guarantees that kids have access to nutritious food each and every day.  
• Less paperwork – I would rather our shared public resources be used on filling plates instead of pushing paperwork. 
• Community building – The approach reduces stigma, judgement, and delays in graduation based on school lunch debt or the inability to pay.  

YOU CAN JOIN US BY CLICKING HERE! 

Advocacy in Advent!

Join us and the Ohio Council of Churches on November 29th for an in-person advocacy day at 9:30. We will begin the day at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus across the street from the Ohio Statehouse.  

REGISTER HERE! 

Thank You!

We are grateful for great partners across Ohio. Recently we joined the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church and the Ohio Council of Churches for their Black Theologian Day.   

We are also grateful to partner with the Columbus CROP Walk and the invitation to provide opening remarks and to cut the ribbon!  

 

PENNSYLVANIA

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – Pennsylvania (LAMPa) lutheranadvocacypa.org

Tracey DePasquale, Director

The Laurel Highlands served as a beautiful backdrop for LAMPa’s Policy Council retreat at Camp Sequanota in September.  The council received updates on legislative action and discussed possible policy priorities for the next term, based on what they are witnessing in their communities and synods.

The Policy Council began a preliminary examination of LAMPa’s ministry and advocates network survey to help guide their development of priorities for adoption in December. Members also heard from Lutherans Restoring Creation about the resources for supporting our growing network of green teams and the greenhouse gas memorial that was approved at August’s Churchwide Assembly. Continuing the focus on just transitions, the council learned about the implications of new federal infrastructure and environmental funding for Pennsylvania. 

Responding to requests for ways to stay in relationship in spite of disagreement, Policy Council also heard from Julie Boler, Director of Community Relations for Braver Angels.  A small team is exploring the possibilities for collaboration and training for congregations and communities. 

Also, in the past month, LAMPa equipped advocates with information on expanding eligibility for programs to address food insecurity, opportunities to act on homelessness though the Homeless Remembrance Blanket Project at the U.S. Capitol, and ways to help ensure a smooth, safe and accessible election in Pennsylvania. 

 

WASHINGTON

Faith Action Network (FAN) – fanwa.org

Elise DeGooyer, Director

FAN staff attended in-person and online the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September. We will work with our colleagues across the nation and with the Washington State Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition as the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act and Farm Bill take shape in Congress. We are promoting the release of the Washington Immigrant Relief Fund, which will support immigrants who were not eligible for other pandemic relief funds. And we look forward to promoting the Working Families Tax Credit in our faith communities to reach people who are eligible for this new state cash assistance program—a policy change we worked to enact for more than a decade.

During this interim time between legislative sessions, Policy Engagement Director Kristin Ang has put together some appointments for constituents with their legislators, in preparation for the 2023 legislative session. Our legislative agenda is beginning to take shape as coalition partners finalize their proposals and begin to find legislative champions for bills.

Supporting all this good work, we were able to hire a new full-time employee, Blake Alford, as Operations Coordinator. He has recently moved from Indiana and has a background in food justice, racial equity, as well as education advocacy.

Fall also brings the opportunity to gather for our Annual Dinner! This year it will be hybrid on Sunday evening, November 20, in Renton, Spokane, and online. With the theme of Pathways of Solidarity, you are welcome to join online from anywhere! Register at bit.ly/FANDinner2022. 

from the ELCA advocacy office in Washington, D.C. – the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, Senior Director

Partial expanded content from Advocacy Connections: October 2022

GLOBAL MALNUTRITION PREVENTION AND TREATMENT ACT PASSES!  |  DACA-RELATED DECISION STILL INDICATES NEED OF PERMANENT PROTECTIONS  |  INFLATION REDUCTION ACT AND CHURCH BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE  |  ACUTE AWARENESS OF DISASTER RESPONSE NEEDS  |  ELECTION DAY IS ALMOST HERE

GLOBAL MALNUTRITION PREVENTION AND TREATMENT ACT PASSES: We celebrate that the bipartisan Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act recently passed the Senate following spring passage by the House and thank the many Lutherans who used their voices to encourage this action!

The bill directs USAID to implement activities to prevent and treat malnutrition globally. The legislation provides better strategic vision and improves coordination and effectiveness of existing U.S. global nutrition programs. An Action Alert and other ELCA activity advocated for passage of this bill which doesn’t turn away from global malnutrition. #untilallarefed

 

DACA-RELATED DECISION STILL INDICATES NEED OF PERMANENT PROTECTIONS: On October 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit made a major decision impacting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Touching the lives of 600,000 current beneficiaries, the decision also impacts thousands of young adults who were locked out while litigation has played out.

The court sided with an earlier ruling by a judge finding that DACA violated the Administrative Procedure Act, but in light of a new regulation, which takes effect on October 31, they have returned the case to U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen for further consideration. The fifth circuit decision maintains the freeze on all new applications, but renewals can continue. “For the time being, this semblance of protection is significant to the hundreds of thousands who depend on it to maintain their jobs, carry on their studies, and support their families. But there’s more to this decision. This is unresolved, leaving Congress with an unmistakable call to action. Congress should heed the call of advocates, amplified by DACA recipients and supporters across the political spectrum, to pass permanent protections now,” said Giovana Oaxaca, ELCA Program Director for Migration Policy. Oaxaca will be among panelists at “Faith Voices Call: Citizenship For All,” a webinar hosted by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition on Thursday, October 27 at 8 p.m. ET. Learn more from www.facebook.com/events/1066432484071714/

 

INFLATION REDUCTION ACT AND CHURCH BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE:  Through the Inflation Reduction Act, faith-based and community-based organizations are eligible for new grant programs that the law will create to address pollution, incentivize the use of clean energy sources and mobilize certain places that commit to their communities to advance climate-benefitting solutions.

With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, non-profits and houses of worship now have easier access to clean energy funds and tax credits through a program called “direct pay.” Interfaith Power and Light wrote, “Before the IRA, only homeowners and commercial entities with some tax liability could claim tax credits when installing solar panels, wind turbines, or other eligible technologies on an eligible property. Now, the ‘direct pay’ option means non-taxable entities can also benefit from these credits.” Although incentives and monies will become available, reach and distribution specifics are unrolling. However, it is anticipated that churches will not experience up-front costs to participate in infrastructure updates; rather they will operate through participant agreements. Our ELCA advocacy staff will continue to monitor these aspects of the law and their interface with faith communities.

 

ACUTE AWARENESS OF DISASTER RESPONSE NEEDS Lawmakers in Congress, who are currently in their home state districts and not expected to return to Washington, D.C. until after Election Day, will be discussing what additional resources hurricane-impacted states will need in the coming days and weeks following Hurricane Ian.

Several members of the GOP Florida delegation have called on legislators to reconvene in D.C. to pass a “clean” supplemental relief bill before Election Day. ELCA advocacy staff will be working with affected synods and ministries to advocate for an adequate response to be procured in Congress. Use the Action Alert to give your input on disaster response needs in U.S. policy

 

ELECTION DAY IS ALMOST HERE As Lutherans, we live out our mutual responsibility for one another by guaranteeing our neighbor’s right to vote and supporting free and full participation in elections. As various election deadlines near in states across the country in the coming days, and Election Day arrives on Tuesday, November 8, encourage one another including with @ELCAadvocacy socials and #ELCAvotes resources. ELCA advocacy staff are monitoring mid-term election impacts.

Resources to explore what is on your local ballot include ballotready.org and vote411.org/. Consider congregation and other action like taking someone to the polls, setting up a booth to look up polling locations and other innovative ways to be there for our neighbors and neighborhoods. More from https://ELCA.org/civicengagement.

“Energy blackmail”

The European Union is a world leader when it comes to replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. The World Economic Forum reported early in 2022 that the EU had “passed another milestone in the race towards a zero-carbon future,” sourcing 22 percent of its energy from renewables in 2020 – ahead of the 20% target the bloc had set in 2009.

But that won’t be enough to keep Europe warm this winter, as a fuel crisis the likes of which hasn’t been seen since World War II grips the continent.

Officials have warned of potential rolling blackouts, manufacturing disruptions and economic fallout from the natural gas shortage, a direct consequence of the war in Ukraine. Prior to the war, Russia supplied around 40 percent of the natural gas used to heat European homes, businesses and houses of worship. In response to Western sanctions, Russia has severely slowed delivery of natural gas to the continent in a move some have called “energy blackmail.”

The Russian supply of natural gas to Europe has fallen nearly 90 percent since this time last year. The shortage, coupled with inflation, rising costs for electricity, and a shortage of hydroelectric power due to drought, creates something of a perfect storm as temperatures fall and demand rises. There have even been reports of people hoarding wood to burn for warmth.

 

The church prays for warmth

For churches and others hosting refugees from Ukraine – some 7 million have left the country to find safety elsewhere in Europe – the impact will be compounded. In Krakow, Poland, for example, a Lutheran congregation has had a dozen families living in its parish hall for more than six months. Their utilities costs had already increased significantly due to the additional use of water, electricity and natural gas. Pastor Lukasz Ostruszka says he’s praying for a warm winter.

“Our government says everything will be okay, we will have gas, we have a plan,” he says. He laughs a bit. “They don’t have gas. They don’t have a plan. Warm winter, that’s the only hope.” Pr. Lukasz says he tries not to worry about it, though, since he has so many other things to worry about. “I hope God will help us,” he says.

“It will be a big problem,” says the Rev. Marta Bolba, pastor of Mandak House, a Lutheran congregation in Budapest, Hungary. “They’re saying the bills for heating will be seven times higher than normal. It’s not a poor people’s problem, it’s really the whole society; how can we pay our own bills?”

 

A sustainable future

European leaders met in early October to begin discussing possible mitigation strategies and will meet again later this month.

The crisis, says the United Nations, “underscores the urgency of transitioning away from fossil fuels.”

“As long as energy security is tied to oil and gas, it will remain susceptible to market volatility and price shocks,” says a recent report from UN Women. “And the role of fossil fuels in agricultural production and distribution—for example, natural gas’s role in the production of nitrogen-based fertilizers—means that oil price shocks also drive increased volatility in food prices.” This means it’s not just the Europeans trying to stay warm through the winter months who are suffering the consequences of the shortage. Its effects are being felt around the world, most acutely in the poorest nations.

While this church would welcome an increased sense of urgency globally to break our collective reliance on fossil fuels, we also recognize that such a change won’t come quickly. As we pray for, and work toward, a more sustainable future, we walk alongside our partners in Europe as they face a difficult winter.

 

Emily Sollie is a freelance writer, editor and communications consultant. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and 4-year old son, and is a member of Lutheran Church of the Reformation. 

Steve Peterson, Saulk Rapids, MN

Warm-up Question

Has there been a time in your life when you longed for someone, or God, to have a little mercy on you?  

Lord Have Mercy

Sometimes we experience a tension in life.  We want to see ourselves in a position of superiority, thinking of ourselves as better than “other kinds of people”.  But we also feel a pull toward humility and a stance of shared humanity with all people.  Resentment may come into play.  We are tempted to dehumanize those we resent, maybe even punish them. We think ourselves justified in considering them “less than.” We want to punish them because of behavior we see as unacceptable.  Perhaps we simply put “bad people” out of our consciousness, relegating them to permanent insignificance and inferiority.  We do this as individuals and as a society.

For example, in a September 27 article in Scientific American  Sara Novak writes that 

dementia in prison is turning into an epidemic.  The number of older inmates has increased 200% in the last 20 years and will make up a third of the prison population in a decade.  Many of these older inmates will develop dementia, which makes them difficult to care for and more vulnerable to victimization in a number of ways.   

Prison staff often are ill-trained and equipped, or simply not inclined, to provide humane and appropriate care.  Only a small number of prisons are experimenting with humane and caring ways to address this need.  One way to address this growing crisis is compassionate release, sometimes called “geriatric parole” but this option is very much underutilized.    

Prison is a place where human beings live, yet it may be hard for us to look at a prison and the people who live there in that way.  Mass incarceration in the United States seems to indicate we want to lock up the people we consider bad and forget about them.  Even when some are released, we may permanently label theless than human beings who deserve to be given every opportunity to thrive.  Maybe we as a society could be a little more just and merciful in our approach to incarceration, rehabilitation, and end of life compassion for those in prison.

Discussion Questions

• We all have a tendency to think of  certain persons or kinds of people as less than fully human.   Are there people or groups of people whom you see being treated this way?
• What can you and people you know do to humanize people relegated to a lesser status and treated as less than God’s precious children?

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

Luke 18:9-14

(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 C at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

What I like about Jesus’ story of the Pharisee and the tax collector is that it gives me the chance to feel superior.   I may not be the best God follower, but at least I am a much better prayer than the Pharisee!  I am much better in my humility than he is. Or, at least now that I know that is what Jesus wants, I can try to be better than the Pharisee, so Jesus will approve of me more.  You see what I am doing here, right?  This story so easily becomes a trap for us.  

In feeling superior to the Pharisee who feels superior, we ourselves are like him..  We miss what Jesus really wants us to get out of this story, that God loves everyone. Everyone.  And that love is never dependent on how good we manage to be.  We share a common humanity; each of us is a treasure of God’s creation, even as we struggle to live as God intends,  in ways that are most life-giving for ourselves and others.   God loves us all, all the time, even when our behavior is less than we or God would wish.  God is full of grace and mercy and wants us to know the joy of being bathed in God’s love, no matter what.

Americana singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier in her book, Saved By A Song, The Art and Healing of Songwriting, writes about the process she went through in writing “A Little Mercy Now.”  It started out as a song about her father, as he lay fragile at the end of his troubled life, and ended up also being a song about her troubled brother and all people and a whole world in need of mercy.  A few lines from Mary Gauthier’s song “A Little Mercy Now”:

My father could use a little mercy now
The fruits of his labor fall and rot slowly on the ground
His work is almost over it won’t be long, he won’t be around
I love my father, he could use some mercy now

My brother could use a little mercy now
He’s a stranger to freedom, he’s shackled to his fear and his doubt
The pain that he lives in it’s almost more than living will allow
I love my brother, he could use a little mercy now

My church and my country could use a little mercy now…
Every living thing could use a little mercy now…
Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now
I know we don’t deserve it but we need it anyhow

And every single one of us could use a little mercy now…

In writing about how this song came to be created, Gauthier remembers an encounter with her AA sponsor.  She describes sharing with him her anger in response to a record label that was not treating her in a way she felt like she deserved to be treated.  Her sponsor’s response was to laugh and say with a smile in his voice, “Given some of the behaviors you’ve exhibited in your life, you should thank God each and every day for NOT getting what you truly deserve.”

That is true for us all.  It’s Jesus’s point in this story about the Pharisee and the tax collector.  What good news!  God’s mercy is big enough for us all.  May we embrace that relief and joy for ourselves and for all of humanity!

Discussion Questions

• Do you ever feel superior to others?  Do you every feel like you are at least not as bad as that person, those kinds of people?  Do you every thank God for that?  If so, how do you feel about that in light of this story about the Pharisee and the tax collector?
• Are there times you would like to put limits on God’s mercy?  What would those limits be?
• How does it make you feel to know that God looks upon you and all people with grace and mercy?  That God places no limits on God’s grace and mercy?

Activity Suggestions

• Make a list of people or situations in need of God’s mercy, trying to be as broad and deep in your list as you think God might be in light of this story told by Jesus.  Talk about this list with someone else.   Pray this list, imagining each of these people and situations bathed in the light and warmth of God’s mercy, God’s unbounded love.
• Now make a list of all the ways you are unworthy of God’s love.  Pray this prayer, “Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”.  Prayer it over and over with your breathing.  Feel God’s merciful response of mercy and love deep in your bones.

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, we thank you for your love and mercy for each one of us, for all of us.   Please give us the humility and courage to see ourselves and others honestly, warts and all, and then to see ourselves and others as you see us, with spectacular and unlimited favor and delight.  Help us to trust that this is true and to live humbly and boldly in your love.    Amen.

 

Situation:

Since June 2022, Pakistan has experienced historic monsoon weather, with rainfall leading to torrential flooding. The flooding is causing a widespread humanitarian crisis, with people losing homes, crops and livestock. Millions of people are displaced and in need of humanitarian assistance, such as food, temporary shelter, health services and other supplies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Response:

Lutheran Disaster Response is contributing to an appeal from ACT Alliance to address the monsoon flooding in Pakistan. The implementing partner, Community World Service Asia (CWSA) will provide cash assistance so impacted families can buy food and other needs. CWSA is also setting up mobile health clinics to address health needs and will help communities build the capacity to construct flood-resilient homes. The homes are being built by local laborers involved as part of a cash for work program.

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Be part of the response:

Pray
Please pray for people who have been affected by the flooding in Pakistan. May God’s healing presence give them peace and hope in their time of need.

Give
Thanks to generous donations, Lutheran Disaster Response is able to respond quickly and effectively to disasters around the globe. Your gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response (Lutheran Disaster Response-International) will be used to assist survivors of the flooding and other disasters around the world.

To learn more about the situation and the ELCA’s response:

• Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.
• Check the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.
• Like Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook, follow @ELCALDR on Twitter, and follow @ELCA_LDR on Instagram.
• Download the situation report and share as a PDF.

CeCee Mills, Greensboro, NC

Warm-up Questions

• What is the difference between being persistent and being annoying?
• How do you decide when to push harder and when to pull back?

Persistence

I keep thinking about the people’s determination in the Ukraine. It has been nearly eight months since the invasion began. Ukraine’s population is forty-four million compared to Russia’s one hundred forty-four million. I watch President Volodymyr Zelensky and I feel inspired. I am sure it was not a surprise that they were attacked – but I wonder what the citizens feel. I assume they feel displaced, angry, scared, and untethered. I imagine they also feel determined and proud. This giant has attacked them, and it has not been as easy as Russia had hoped. Russian reservists have had to be called up and draft age men are running for the border. What makes the Ukrainians continue to resist?

I imagine they are aware of the danger. From media reports, we clearly see that the threat is both tangible and imminent. Still, they have hope. They are convinced that they can stand. I imagine a lot of their confidence comes from the strength of their allies. They know that they have support beyond their borders from countries with plenty of resources and strong militaries. There is something noble in standing your ground and in standing with an ally.

 I wonder most about those who are displaced – especially those who had to leave family and friends behind. They know that their world will never be the same. I wonder how their tenacity helps them adapt. I imagine there are many brave steps that they have taken into an unfamiliar world. The images of the youth captured in these photos shows both the pain and possibility of their resilience . 

Discussion Questions

• What are the stories you have heard or seen about young people from the Ukraine? 
• What are there different opinions about refugees and migrants in your congregation and community? What do you perceive is the role of Christians in helping these neighbors?
• How have you seen or aided in welcoming refugees or migrants in your local area? 

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Genesis 32:22-31

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Luke 18:1-8

(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 C at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

This text focuses on the persistence of the widow. The writer invites us to see the power available through repeated asking. It’s not mystical or divine but simple human tenacity. God wants us to understand that persistent prayer is important. Jesus uses a determined widow and unwilling judge to show the possibilities with even unsympathetic listeners are high if you are persistent. To that point, Jesus recognizes that we are loved by a caring God, and if an unsympathetic listener will cave to persistent asking, how much more will God who loves us?

God desires a deep relationship with each of us. God knows that in that relationship we will have clarity on how-to walk-in righteousness. Jesus wants us to understand that God is with us and ready to give us what we need to accomplish God’s mission. We have the greatest, strongest, and the most loving ally in all of creation.

Discussion Questions

• When in your life have you experienced an abrupt permanent change? 
• What did you lose in the change? 
• How did the change draw out the best in who you were at the time? 
• How did you heal from the difficult parts of the change? 
• In what ways were you resilient and/or persistent? 
• How did God use what happened to help you mature in faith?

Activity Suggestions

• On a poster, using sticky notes, invite youth to write words that describes what it means to be a persistent disciple. Have a discussion about why a disciple needs to be persistent and what helps them be persistent. At the end of the time, invite youth to take a word with them that will help them be a persistent disciple.
• Invite the youth to imagine that they had to permanently leave their home and only could take three possessions with them. Have them discuss what they would choose and why in triads. Close with asking them how they can support youth who are new, immigrants, or refugees in a way that helped their feeling of loss.
• For seven days have the group offer the same prayer (two or three sentences) on an issue of their choosing, ten times a day, out loud and in the presence of at least one other person. Use the time in youth group to decide what should they be praying about over those seven days. The only requirement is that it is a prayer Jesus would be pleased to hear being prayed.

Closing Prayer

God, help us to be persistent disciples. Give us the passion, determination, and excitement to daily ask for all that we need to complete your mission. Amen.