Supported in part by ELCA World Hunger, the Asian Rural Institute (ARI) in Japan is a nine-month service leadership training program that draws people from around the world, allowing them to live and work together as they learn agricultural skills they can take back to their home communities. ARI also invites guest lecturers from Japan and abroad to teach sustainable development, organic farming and more. 

Through this model, ARI empowers leaders from around the world to build community, embrace diversity, value rural life, see the dignity of labor, promote food sovereignty and live in harmony with nature. Graduates return to their home countries equipped to work in sustainable development, build relationships with local leaders and transform their communities. Participants also receive ongoing support from ARI in identifying funding and leadership opportunities.  

As the impact of COVID-19 began to ripple around the world this spring, countries closed their borders and airports and flights were changed or canceled. Out of 26 students who’d planned to participate in ARI this year, only seven arrived in Japan; the others encountered travel restrictions and other challenges.  

Four ARI participants from Sierra Leone were at the closest Japanese consulate — in Accra, Ghana — applying for visas to enter Japan when Sierra Leone closed its borders and the government in Ghana ordered a nationwide lockdown. The participants obtained their Japanese visas, but the airports and borders were closed, so they couldn’t leave the country.  

This is when ARI reached out to its graduates in Ghana for help. John Yeboah, a 2018 graduate, answered the call, providing safety, food and lodging for the travelers. He escorted them from Accra to Kumasi by bus and took care of their needs while they awaited travel news.

Modeling what he had experienced during his training in Japan, John even worked with ARI to start the participants’ training right where they were. He led them in morning exercise, time-management techniques, leadership training and coaching, and discussion and reflection sessions.  

For the first few weeks, COVID-19 restrictions prevented Ghanaians from traveling to their fields. Eventually, restrictions were loosened, allowing the group to begin the agricultural portion of their unexpected training program. Following the ARI curriculum, they practiced growing crops such as cabbage, beets, carrots, chili peppers, okra, lettuce, spring onion, mint, spinach and cucumber on John’s organic farm

ARI staff have called John’s work a testament to the impact of the ARI training program on a community. With his display of servant leadership and his ability to adjust in a time of crisis, John turned a challenging and stressful situation into an unexpected time of learning and bonding for the Sierra Leone participants. Despite the difficult year, John and people like him around the world are demonstrating adaptability, ingenuity and Christ’s love for the neighbor.

Because of the work of God bringing people together across borders and through challenges, a farmer from Ghana guided students from Sierra Leone in a training program established by an institute in Japan, with funding from congregations and individuals in the US. Truly, John’s story, made possible in part because of gifts to ELCA World Hunger, reflects ARI’s motto: “That they may live together,” no matter the distances that keep us apart.

This story was originally published in the Winter 2020 edition of Boundless. View the full publication here. 

Alyssa Kaplan, Baltimore, MD

Warm-up Questions

What does it mean to have power over something or someone? Who are the people who hold power in your day-to-day life? Who are the people who hold power in the world? What are they like?

Servant Power

In the past few years there has been a movement within the US American Catholic Church to recognize Dorothy Day as a saint within their tradition. While Lutherans and Catholics have different understandings of saints and sainthood, we too, can look to these people as exemplars of the faith. 

Dorothy Day was an incredible leader, activist, mother, and theologian.  Above all she was a fierce advocate for and faithful servant to the poor. She was deeply skeptical of hierarchies and institutional power. She operated on the fringes of her faith tradition.  Throughout her life and ministry, she unequivocally made those on the margins of society the center of her work. She was an exceptional leader because she was first and foremost a servant of all. 

Dorothy Day founded the Catholic Worker Movement, which largely operated out of Catholic Worker Houses. For decades these houses have provided respite and resources for the poor and served as gathering places for justice activists. At the time of her death there were 30 such houses around the United States; as of January 2020 there were over 250. 

Robert Ellsberg, who worked closely with Dorothy Day in the last years of her life, stated, “When many people think of saints, they think of people who are kind of removed from the world in some sacred way. She showed there can be a holiness of action, of engagement of the challenges of our time. She’s not someone from the past — she’s someone from the future. In some ways she’s the American counterpart of the vision Pope Francis has brought to the universal church. She isn’t encapsulated in institutionalism, not mired in clericalism. She just stands there and points the way.”

For further reading: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/13/dorothy-days-radical-faith

Discussion Questions

• Had you heard of Dorothy Day before? Can you think of other leaders who act like her?
• Day operated on the fringes of her tradition. How do you think that informed her actions?
• Have you worked with people who are unhoused or lack other basic needs? If so, how have those experiences impacted your faith?

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 53:4-12

Hebrews 5:1-10

Mark 10:35-45

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

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

Gospel Reflection

Throughout this section of Mark’s gospel, a pattern emerges as Jesus engages with his disciples about the hard truth of what is to come. The pattern essentially goes, 

• Step 1: Jesus tells the disciples something super hard, the reality of his coming death and suffering.
• Step 2: The disciples do not understand and respond in inappropriate ways.
• Step 3: Jesus corrects the disciples’ misunderstandings and teaches about  discipleship.

This text picks up at step 2.  Immediately before this section we read, ” [Jesus], taking the twelve aside again, began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’”

Oof. Heavy stuff! And yet, immediately following this discourse, John and James  beg Jesus to acquiesce to their demands. What demands? Just that when Jesus enters in to “glory” they be seated at his right and left hands. Could they be further from the point? Jesus repeatedly teaches how the reign of God disrupts the status quo. Jesus clearly describes how the Messiah will come as a suffering servant of all, not as a powerful warlord to vindicate his people. 

Yet, even after hearing this message over and over again, after traveling with Jesus and watching him heal the lowly and the outcasts, after listening to him preach about God’s radical justice for the poor and oppressed, James and John are still caught in their own world–a world  radically different from what Jesus describes as God’s vision for God’s people. John and James are stuck in a world of power and control, where prestige and favor create hierarchies, where some are first and others are last…and they want to be first! 

So, on to step #3. Jesus hears their misguided question and takes the opportunity to teach them what God is all about and what kind of leadership God values. Consistent with his preaching throughout the gospels, Jesus shows how God’s kin-dom of justice and mercy operates in a radically different way than the world in which they and we live. 

Roman leaders are assessed by the kind of power they exert–the more power, the better the ruler. Jesus says that among his followers the sign of true leadership is servanthood. The sign of true strength is humility through service. Within the beloved community, loving service is the ultimate sign of true leadership and holy power. 

Discussion Questions

• What does the repetition of the ‘three step’ pattern suggest about the disciples’ understanding of Jesus?
• What motivated the questions of John and James? How does Jesus’ response relate to the particular questions they were asking?
• What do you think happened next? How do you think this conversation changed how the disciples understood leadership and their political leaders?

Activity Suggestions

• Look up the nearest Catholic Worker House to your church. Read some of the information on their website. What kinds of programming do they offer? How could your church get involved? If possible, write letters to the servants at the Catholic Worker Houses nearest you to encourage them in their mission. 
• Brainstorm simple acts of service you could share with your church community, school community or family. Think particularly of acts of service you could share in moments or times when you are in a leadership role or in a position of power. Once you’ve brainstormed a list, write them onto a calendar, challenging yourself to complete on such act of service a week for the rest of the year.
• Are there leadership roles you hold within your youth group or school community? If so, take a look at those roles, especially if they come with written descriptions. How do these leadership roles relate to Jesus’ vision of servant leadership?

Closing Prayer

Dear God, it is hard to live in the world as you wish us to live. The sinful forces in our world have influenced our visions of power and turned them into visions of control and domination. Help us to have the spirit of service and humility of your son Jesus. Help us to only grasp for more love and more justice, not more power or prestige. Thank you for your loving grace which compels us to live for others. Amen.

 

This post is written by Rev. Aaron Fuller. Pastor Fuller serves multi-vocationally as a chaplain in the Navy Reserve and Pastor at Our Father’s Lutheran Church, Rockford, MN.  His views expressed here are his own and do not represent the Department of Defense, Navy or Navy Chaplain Corps in an official capacity.

On November 11th the nation will observe Veterans Day. It is a day set aside to recognize veterans’ service in the Armed Forces, past and present. In recent years the day has been marked by recognition in the news and social media, encouraging people to “thank a veteran” or “support the troops.” It has also been marked by businesses offering benefits such as discounts and free meals to veterans, in recognition for their service.

Similarly, congregations across the ELCA have chosen to recognize veterans in worship. Others have chosen not to. Both choices are faithful expressions of people’s deepest convictions. I want to offer why all congregations should consider acknowledging veterans in their worship services around Veterans Day this year.

This year, September 11th marked two important realities in our collective history. The first was the twentieth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that led to the tragic loss of life here in the United States, and subsequent twenty years of war in the Middle East. The second reality was the shocking withdrawal and evacuation of the United States from Afghanistan. Also shocking was the sudden rise of the Taliban taking back the country, creating a massive refugee crisis and wiping out two decades’ worth of progress made with the Afghan people on human rights.

For many veterans there has been a significant investment made in Afghanistan and the Middle East the past twenty years. That investment is shown in the toil it has taken on their bodies and minds. They also bear inner conflict between what they have experienced and their fundamental values, often rooted in their religious faith. That inner conflict leads to hard questions: “What was the point of what I experienced?” “Was it all worth it?” “Am I good?” Left unanswered, those questions can become a matter of life or death.

This response to traumatic events is known as moral injury. Moral injury is defined as “perpetrating, failing to prevent, bearing witness to, or learning about acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.”¹ While moral injury shares some of the same signs of trauma as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, it is not the same.  Moral injury is distinct; it is a violation of what is right. It is feelings of betrayal towards justice. It is an injury of the soul, where human goodness is diminished to where we no longer see God’s light in ourselves or others.

As I listen to God’s people in both contexts I serve in as Pastor and Navy Chaplain, it is apparent to me we are all suffering from a collective moral injury, a result of the past twenty years and made manifest through the nation’s withdrawal from Afghanistan this past summer.  That injury has caused the division and disconnect we all are experiencing right now as we struggle to live in a world that feels less safe, less compassionate, and less just.  We need healing – collectively reconnecting to what is right, what is true, and what is good.

That healing starts by acknowledging those who are struggling with that moral injury the most: veterans. I can think of no better way to begin that healing than in our regular worship. God heals through Word and Sacrament, confession and absolution, and gathering and sending.  That is so necessary for veterans right now, and so necessary for us all.

1. Litz, B. T., Stein, N., Delaney, E., Lebowitz, L., Nash, W. P., Silva, C., & Maguen, S. (2009). Moral injury and moral repair in war Veterans: A preliminary model and intervention strategy. Clinical Psychology Review, 29(8), 695-706. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.07.003

A worship resource for Veterans Day includes prayers, hymn suggestions, and other ideas. Both PDF and Word versions are available at https://elca.org/Resources/Worship#Liturgy.

Grace Heimerdinger-Baake, Elkhart, IA

Warm-up Question

How much money would you need to make you completely happy? 

Can You Really Buy Anything?

A 2010 study by psychologist Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton revealed that money did have an impact on how people evaluate their lives — people with more money feel better about their lives. The study showed when individuals reached an annual salary of $75,000, more money didn’t equate to more happiness. 

Matthew Killingsworth created an app to track individual happiness to investigate what makes life worth living. His research showed similar results from the 2010 study — both life satisfaction and experience well-being increased with income. However, the 2021 study concluded that high incomes have the potential to improve people’s day to day well being rather than reaching a potential. 

Discussion Questions

• Do you think money can buy real happiness? What about life satisfaction? What is the difference between happiness and satisfaction? 
• When it comes to your money and possessions, how do you make your decision about how much you give and to whom?
• Other than wealth and possessions, what are other things that make you truly happy?

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15

Hebrews 4:12-16

Mark 10:17-31

(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 B at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

In Mark 10, as Jesus makes his journey to Jerusalem, he encounters a rich, young, ruler. The rich man questions Jesus concerning what he must do to inherit eternal life, saying he has kept all the commandments. The writer of Mark indicates that Jesus truly loves the man.  Jesus tells the man he lacks one thing; he must go and sell everything he owns and give the money to the poor. When the man hears Jesus’ response, he goes away in shock and grief. 

The rich man truly believes he is morally and spiritually good. He is following the commandments, but when Jesus asks him to abandon his wealth and possession to fully follow Jesus, he can’t fathom that sacrifice. 

Every day, we encounter advertisements which try to persuade us to purchase the latest iPhone, sign up for the latest diet, and lease the newest car. The advertisements try to convince us that we need these things and that having them will make us happier. Jesus warns us about how wealth can separate us from God and tells the disciples, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” If you have threaded a needle you know how difficult it can be to get even thread to go through the eye of a needle. 

Although our wealth, possessions, and greed can separate us from God, Jesus says there is hope for us all. With God, all things are possible; nothing can separate us from God’s love.  

This reading from Mark challenges us to remember that Jesus wants to be at the center of our lives and calls us to share what we have with others. 

Discussion Questions

• What do you think the rich man did after Jesus told him to go sell everything and give the money to the poor? The text says he was shocked and went away grieving. Do you think he sold everything and gave the money to the poor? 

• Is Jesus really asking us to sell everything? What are ways you can use your wealth to serve others in your community and across the world? 

• Share a time when someone’s generosity has helped you. 

• How does wealth empower your faith community to share the good news? 

Activity Suggestions

• Using Play-Doh, create models of items that separate you or distract you from Jesus and serving others. Talk about how these items may distract or separate you from following Jesus, but also talk about how these items can help serve others.

• Have the group think of populations of people who may be easily forgotten. Brainstorm ways you could share your wealth. Suggestions could include children or adults at the hospital, residents at a nursing home or rehabilitation center.
• Separate your class into two separate groups and have a race to see what group can thread their needles the fastest.

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, there is so much that separates us from you: our actions, our stuff, our wealth. Forgive us for all the times we put ourselves and our needs about our neighbors near and far. Help us to be glad and generous with everything we have. Amen.  

 

When the church gathers, we pray for the needs of the world. Like preaching that is both rooted in
scripture shared across time and space and attentive to the local assembly at the present moment, the sense of “praying for the world” is expansive but also attentive to a particular context.

Evangelical Lutheran Worship encourages that “The prayers [of intercession] are prepared locally for each occasion” (ELW. p. 105). How can this be done? What practices are useful? What resources can help? Listed below are several resources from ELCA Worship or Augsburg Fortress.

Downloadable Resources on ELCA.org/worship

How Do We Craft the Prayers of Intercession?  This newly added FAQ summarizes the task of preparing intercessions. A list of further resources that dig deeper into the task are included.

Here Other Intercessions May Be Offered.  This Sundays and Seasons essay offered by permission of Augsburg Fortress gives practical tips on what it means to pray contextually and gives concrete examples.

A Template for the Prayers of Intercession. This  template prepared by Gail Ramshaw is an excerpt from Pray, Praise, and Give Thanks: A Collection of Litanies, Laments, and Thanksgivings at Font and Table. It is offered by permission to assist in the crafting of comprehensive intercessions.

For What Shall We Pray? This weekly post provided on the ELCA worship blog invites individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials.

Prayer Ventures. These petitions, one for each day of the month, are offered as guides to prayer for the global, social and outreach ministries of the ELCA, as well as for the needs and circumstances of our neighbors, communities and world. While helpful for personal devotion, they could also be a helpful resource when preparing intercessions.

Resources available from Augsburg Fortress

Sundays and Seasons.  This annual worship planning guide available both in print and via an online subscription provides crafted intercessions for each Sunday and festival in the church year. Worshiping asssemblies are encouraged to adapt as needed for local use. Sundays and Seasons also includes seasonal essays that included more general tips and suggestions.

Praying for the Whole World: A Handbook for Intercessors.  This concise handbook proposes seven steps, from Monday to Sunday, to assist in preparing the weekly intercessions.

The Sunday Assembly. This first supporting volume to Evangelical Lutheran Worship includes guidance on the role of intercessions in the Sunday assembly (pp. 167-172).

Leading Worship Matters: A Sourcebook for Preparing Worship Leaders.  A comprehensive guidebook, this resource devotes a chapter to preparing and leading intercessory prayer (pp. 69-94). Very practical helps such as a list of twelve tips for preparing the prayers and a sample letter of invitation to a training session for new intercessors,  among others, are included.

• Tips for Preparing the Prayers
• Sample Letter of Invitation

If you have not yet encouraged lay people to craft and lead prayer in your assembly, may these resources be an encouragement in that holy work. As noted in Leading Worship Matters, “The intercessions are best prayed in different voices, by a variety of people with divergent experiences of life, who not only can articulate their own perspectives on the needs of the world but can gather up the needs of those around them (p. 71).

Blessings on your work of encouraging, teaching, and most of all, praying.

“Mercy, we abide in you. Stir in us, we pray” (ACS 1077).

 

Tuhina Verma Rasche, San Carlos, CA

Warm-up Questions

• When you hear the words “All are welcome,” does that describe the faith space where you’re a part? How so? If you don’t feel a part, what makes you feel apart?
• Would you consider yourself to be an insider or an outsider? What are the situations that bring you to your answer?
• What makes a person and communities vulnerable?

Are All *Really* Welcome?

Ever since I’ve been a part of the church, I’ve often wondered, “Do I even belong here?” More often than not, I’m the only person of color in progressive church spaces. I’ve been told that my ideas of God in the world and how we are to be followers of Jesus are “too radical.” Even though many churches proclaim, “All are welcome,” I’ve wondered if there are unspoken exceptions.  Shouldn’t it say instead, “You’re welcome here if you look and behave a certain way that makes everyone else comfortable”? I feel hurt when a community says “all are welcome,” and it’s not actually true. I feel like I’m an outsider.

At our core as human beings, we’re created to be in community with one another. With that comes wanting to belong, which makes us keenly aware that there are “in” groups and “out” groups. The division between being an insider and an outsider is painful  when we want to be seen, acknowledged, and loved as God created us. It’s especially painful in friend groups and faith communities. 

Why are there insiders and outsiders? Who gets to determine who is included  or excluded in a community? Jesus calls the excluded “the least of these.” Those on the outside were welcome if they met certain requirements, like cleanliness, a change in social ranking, and access to power and popularity. Jesus accepts them as they are.  He includes “the least of these” in the greater community.  He proclaims that all (regardless of popularity, wealth, social status, cleanliness) are not just accepted, but also centered in God’s heart. 

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think Jesus wanted to include the excluded? What ways do you practice inclusion and exclusion in your friend groups?
• In what ways do you want to be recognized for the entirety of who God created you to be?   Are there parts of yourself you are not sure would be welcome in your social or religious community?
• Why do communities use the words “all are welcome,” if they don’t actually mean it?  How does that happen?

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Genesis 2:18-24

Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

Mark 10:2-16

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

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

Gospel Reflection

There are times where it would be easy to skip over a Bible passage and pretend it doesn’t exist. This is one of those times. Yet, if we were to skip over it, what would keep us from skipping over other parts of the Bible when we struggle with the message? Jesus often gives hard words to the disciples (and us). This week is no exception. 

The Gospel begins with a difficult conversation on divorce. For many people, divorce is still hard to talk about because it radically changes the lives of, not just those ending the marriage, but also family members, friends, and communities. 

We need to keep in mind that divorce in Jesus’ time and divorce in our time are very different. In Jesus’ time.  If a woman were divorced from her husband, she would be incredibly vulnerable. The world wasn’t (and still isn’t) built to protect vulnerable women and femmes. He answers the question from the religious authorities forcefully because vulnerable people are being hurt and it makes him mad. 

In asking them how a man may divorce his wife according to the Law, Jesus is talking about what people currently know and understand. There are structures in place to protect vulnerable populations.  Yet structures created by people with good intentions often don’t go far enough. Divorce, says Jesus, is an unfortunate concession to the fact that we do not always live with love and respect in marriage.  Instead of having people trapped in situations where they were powerless and unhappy, divorce may happen, but it not God’s intention for marriage. 

Jesus tells us to protect the most vulnerable among us. It seems that the disciples didn’t get the memo, because immediately after the conversation on divorce, they try to keep children from Jesus’s presence. Jesus speaks in support of both divorced women and the little children, people who don’t have power, both then and now. Jesus is all about being with and empowering the weakest and most vulnerable in society. The Beloved Community is for all people, especially those who are made vulnerable by the sometimes well-intentioned but always faulty power structures of this world. 

The disciples, as close as they are to Jesus, don’t understand him. In preventing people from bringing children to Jesus so that he may bless them, the disciples assume authority over who is in and who is out.  Jesus turns them around to a new way of being. 

Jesus welcomes those on the outside, those who are vulnerable. That welcome challenges our notions of who belongs in the realm of God and who is the greatest. Those whom world calls outsiders, Jesus calls insiders and welcomes them in the entirety of who they are. Jesus continually challenges our expectations and reminds us that inclusion is incredibly radical.

Discussion Questions

• Have you invited a friend to your faith community? Did they come with you? Has something prevented you from inviting others to come with you to your faith community? Have a conversation to how your faith community is and can be a more welcoming place. 
• Talk about a time where you felt like you belonged to a community and a time where you felt like you were on the outside of a community. How do these feelings feel similar? How do they contrast?
• How do you feel when another person notices a quality or attribute about you? What does it feel like to be fully recognized for who God created you to be? 

Activity Suggestions

• Martin Luther wrote in the Large Catechism, ‘But I am baptized! And if I have been baptized, I have the promise that I shall be saved and have eternal life, both in soul and body ….’ ” Baptism means inclusion in the body of Christ. When do you encounter water? Doing dishes, watering plants, washing your hands? Record how many times a day you encounter water. Anytime you encounter water, take a moment to remember that you are beloved by God and to think about God’s promises made in baptism. 
• There are many members of our community who are vulnerable and on the outside. If your faith community has a visitation ministry, a food pantry ministry, or a similar ministry, make cards with encouraging messages for these ministries.
• Find smooth rocks, markers, and acrylic paint. Draw words of encouragement on the rocks and leave them outside where people can find them for a source of surprise encouragement and acceptance.   

Closing Prayer

God of inclusion, you came to us in ways that were meant to be excluded. You came as a poor, Brown, Jewish Galilean man in the midst of an empire that thought it was all powerful. In the person of Jesus, you show us just how radical inclusion can be, and that you want to include all into your community. May we extend radical invitations so that those who feel on the outside are on the inside and that those who feel excluded are included for who God created them to be. Remind us that we are loved by you. Amen. 

 

Advocacy happens through resilience and relationships. The Hunger Advocacy Fellows program, currently in its fifth year, is made possible by ELCA World Hunger. It is a year-long transformative experience that combines leadership development, faith formation, and impactful advocacy that moves us toward an end to hunger and a just world where all are fed.

Hunger Advocacy Fellows are placed with different ELCA-affiliated state public policy offices across the country where they can engage on issues affecting both local and national policy. We are excited to introduce below our 2021-2022 Hunger Advocacy Fellows:

Hannah Peterson (she/her)

Hannah Peterson is currently serving with Lutherans Engaging in Advocacy Ministry New Jersey in Hamilton Square, New Jersey. She recently graduated from Columbia University with a master’s degree in History and Literature, following her undergraduate degree from St. John’s College. Peterson’s internships at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the National Museum of American History inspired her passion for identifying stories that have not yet been told and lifting up the voices of those in need. She hopes to continue her work building connections between people of different faiths, traditions, and backgrounds.

 

Isa Peterson (she/her or they/them)

Isa Peterson is currently serving with Texas Impact in Austin, Texas. She is a born and raised Texan from San Antonio and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Government and Sustainability Studies and a minor in Portuguese. Before joining Texas Impact, she spent her undergraduate years working for environmental nonprofits in Austin, such as Rainforest Partnership and the Shoal Creek Conservancy, advocating for environmental change and urban conversation. Peterson hopes to continue their career focused on the intersection of environmental and social policy during their time with Texas Impact and beyond.

 

Sandra Roper (she/her)

Sandra Roper is currently serving with the ELCA advocacy staff in Washington, D.C. She recently graduated from the University of Maryland (UMD) with degrees in English and Germanic Studies. Her interest in faith-based advocacy was shaped by Humble Walk, the Lutheran campus ministry at UMD. Roper has interned for the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod and Lutheran World Federation, and has volunteered with Lutheran Disaster Response, Puerto Rico. She hopes to continue building relationships and learning different ways to live her faith in action.

 

Rachel Wyffels (she/her)

Rachel Wyffels is currently serving with Lutheran Advocacy Minnesota in St Paul. She is a recent graduate of St. Olaf College where she majored in music and religion. While there, Wyffels was president of the St. Olaf Student Congregation Council and played violin in the St. Olaf Orchestra. She is excited for a year of building relationships to advocate for affordable housing, climate justice, and poverty reduction. Following this fellowship year, Wyffels anticipates beginning seminary.

Sami Johnson, Andalucia, Spain

Warm-up Questions

• Briefly describe a time you received help, kindness, or support from someone you didn’t expect.
• Have you ever had the chance to offer help, kindness, or support to someone who didn’t expect it from you? Why did you do it?
• How does our faith factor into your decision to serve others, especially when it involves people with whom you do not share a close or warm relationship?

Mission First

The stories about the evacuation of American citizens and allies from Afghanistan have been heart wrenching. My feeling of helplessness drove me to discover signs of hope. As Mister Rogers invites us to do in a crisis, I felt compelled to “look for the helpers.” I discovered that there were all kinds of people scrambling to arrange private flights to evacuate Afghan allies. Universities, faith-based groups, advocacy groups, veterans of the war in Afghanistan, just to name a few, were working together to try to arrange non-military flights out of Afghanistan. Their work was remarkable and courageous.

What caught me by surprise is that the people cooperating in this effort likely wouldn’t have agreed on much outside of this work they shared. Typically, they’d be divided by partisan politics.  Many would never be found in the same church (or any church) on a Sunday morning.  But they were willing to unite for the sake of this vital mission.

This mission hit home for me personally. The US and Spanish military community here at Naval Station Rota, Spain had the privilege of welcoming almost 3000 evacuees from Afghanistan. Evacuees arrived over the course of about two weeks and stayed here for about 5 days on their way to the US. The effort to welcome them, care for them, and protect them became an all-consuming task for service members and civilians alike. I got to witness firsthand unity and cooperation among the volunteers who came together to aid in Operation Allies Refuge. Neighbors, whether Spanish or American, military or civilian, friends or strangers, came together with hearts broken open for the sake of those who needed our help in the midst of this tragic situation.

Discussion Questions

• How has the news coming out of Afghanistan impacted you? What has helped you cope with what you’re feeling?
• Have you ever witnessed this kind of radical unity for the sake of a common goal?
• Have you ever seen a goal fail because people let their differences get in the way?

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29

James 5:13-20

Mark 9:38-50

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

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

Gospel Reflection

The reading begins with a critical misunderstanding by John, one of Jesus’s disciples. John thinks he is in the right when he catches someone casting out demons, pretending to be Jesus’ follower.  He tells this exorcist to stop. John doesn’t explain why he is doing this but we can imagine that he might be trying to preserve the integrity of Jesus’ ministry. Maybe he is worried that the imposter is trying to jump on the bandwagon of Jesus’ popularity for selfish gain. We cannot know.

We can be sure of the intent behind Jesus’ response. He corrects John’s misconception of Jesus’ priorities saying, “Do not stop him… Whoever is not against us is for us” (verses 39, 40). In this moment, Jesus models grace in the form of unity and cooperation against John’s fundamentalism, which has no place in Jesus’ world-changing mission.

The next section might get our attention, with all its gory dismemberment and threats of unquenchable flames, worms, and hell, but that is not the whole story. It would be a shame if the reader overlooks the fact that Jesus is also reminding John of the mission that guides everything Jesus is doing. This mission is to bring near the kingdom of God here and now. However this message gets shared, whatever gets the world one step closer to looking like God’s kingdom is a-okay with Jesus.  Whether or not the person doing the healing, proclaiming, or other neighbor-loving work is a card-carrying member of “Team Jesus” already, with all the proper training and credentials, seems unimportant to Jesus.

Jesus punctuates this teaching in plain language at the end of our reading, as if to make sure we do not miss the central message amid all the shocking hyperbole of verses 43-48. He finishes with this pleading command, “be at peace with one another” (verse 50). This sounds to me as much like a prayer and a blessing as it does a command. “Be at peace with one another.”

We need this command/ prayer/ blessing today as much as John and his fellow disciples needed it in the First Century. It is too easy to get caught up in cutting others down to build ourselves up. Divisive cliques, political parties, or religious factions drawing lines in the sand is not what Jesus calls us into. Most of all, it falls far short of what Jesus empowers us to do. Jesus’s way peace is both a gift and as a calling.

Discussion Questions

• What is an issue in your community that deserves a boundary-busting effort? What is the value or mission that could unite people from different backgrounds?
• How might you faithfully respond to someone who has a belief you think is wrong, especially if their faith is not as mature as yours?
• There is an old African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” How do you think this relates to the goal of Christian unity?

Activity Suggestions

Consider how you can demonstrate a warm welcome to evacuees from Afghanistan whether or not they are being resettled in your community. (You can find some ideas here at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.)

Closing Prayer

God of peace, you call all of us together, using our gifts to share the good news with the whole world. We pray for your grace to keep your mission first in our minds, over disagreements that would cause us to stumble along our way. In Jesus’s name we pray. 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. | Minnesota | Ohio | Texas | Washington | Wisconsin

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U.N.
Lutheran Office for World Community, United Nations, New York, N.Y. https://www.elca.org/lowc – Dennis Frado, Director

The 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 76) will open on Tuesday, 14 September 2021, followed by the high-level General Debate from 21-27 September. The President-elect of the 76th session is H.E. Abdulla Shahid, Foreign Minister of the Maldives. Once again, the UN is taking extraordinary measures to both meet but take pre-cautions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Heads of state and government are being encouraged to send video-taped messages for the general debate and the US Ambassador H.E. Linda Thomas-Greenfield took the usual step of saying that sending videos rather than attending personally “… would help prevent it [the General Debate] ‘from being a super-spreader event’”.

Alongside the General Debate two high-level meetings are planned:

• High-level meeting to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action: Wednesday, 22 September 2021; and
• High-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons: Tuesday, 28 September 2021.

A third High-level meeting, on the Global Plan of Action on Trafficking in Persons, will occur on Monday, 22 November and Tuesday, 23 November 2021.

 

On August 2nd, the UN General Assembly voted unanimously to create the United Nations Permanent Forum of People of African Descent. The Forum, a ten-member advisory body, will work with the UN Human Rights Council and “ … contribute to the elaboration of a UN declaration – a ‘first step towards a legally binding instrument’ on the promotion and full respect of the rights of people of African descent.”

“The move [by the General Assembly] comes just days after the Human Rights Council established a panel of experts to investigate systemic racism in policing against people of African descent, and on the heels of a report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), prompted by the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.” The first meeting of the Forum will take place in 2022.

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Minnesota
Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota (LAMN) http://www.lutheranadvocacymn.org/– Tammy Walhof, Director

Staffing Addition: We are excited to welcome Rachel Wyffels as our new ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow! Wyffels is a recent graduate of St. Olaf College, where she majored in religion and music, and served as president of the Student Congregation for two years. Hunger Advocacy Fellows are made possible through ELCA World Hunger and ELCA Advocacy.

MN Senate Leadership Changes: Both Sen. Paul Gazelka (R), Senate Majority Leader, and Sen. Susan Kent (DFL), Senate Minority Leader, resigned their leadership roles in the Minn. state senate. Sen. Kent stepped down to prioritize family. Sen. Melisa López Franzen (DFL) was elected as the new minority leader (and the first person of color to serve as senate minority leader). Sen. Jeremy Miller (R) was elected as the new majority leader to replace Sen. Gazelka, who announced his candidacy for governor. Sen. Gazelka joins a crowded Republican field, including Sen. Michelle Benson, Sen. Scott Jensen, Mayor Mike Murphy, Dr. Neil Shah, and Mike Marti. The Republican nominee will run against incumbent Gov. Tim Walz (DFL), who is expected to seek a second term.

MN Synod EcoFaith Retreat: We were pleased to join leaders from the Northeastern Minnesota (NEMN) Synod EcoFaith Network and other synod creation care efforts from across the state for a leadership retreat at Camp Hiawatha. It focused on addressing needs of congregations/church leaders in integrating creation care, and action addressing the climate crisis. We encourage you to follow Green Blades Rising to keep updated on the activities of the NEMN Synod EcoFaith Network.

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Ohio
Hunger Network in Ohio https://www.hungernetohio.com/ – Nick Bates, Director

As redistricting debates heats up, we are grateful for faith leaders who offer testimony to make sure our legislative districts represent our communities. HNO director Nick Bates offered testimony on Sept. 14 in Columbus about the divisions of the Hilltop community. Similarly, the Rev. Seth Bridger offered testimony in Cleveland the evening before.

Death Penalty: Please join us on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. for a conversation about the death penalty in Ohio with faith and legislative leaders. Register online for this virtual event. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMofu-przMoGdTMqvlphegAhpQ4YTf7dBza

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Texas
Texas Impact https://texasimpact.org/ – Scott Atnip, Outreach Director

The Texas Legislature completed their second called special session with a third scheduled to begin Sept. 20. Following a “Let My People Vote” rally at the Capitol featuring Bishop Sue Briner of the Southwestern Texas Synod and about 500 Texans of faith rallying for voting rights, Texas Impact continued to equip and mobilize Texans of faith around priority legislation in the second special session. The Legislature passed several bills monitored by Texans of faith, including on voter suppression, Critical Race Theory, border militarization, and more. The third special session will focus on redistricting, appropriating American Rescue Plan Act funds and bills, and discriminating against transgender children.

The work continues to equip and mobilize Texans of faith to help them understand what is happening in their Texas Legislature through ongoing programming, including the Weekly Witness podcast, Rapid Response Team, and Legislative Engagement Groups. Special opportunities are planned for September, including a Redistricting 101 webinar and a briefing with state budget experts on the process for appropriating Texas’ $16M in federal ARPA funds.

Finally, the Texas Impact team was excited to welcome Isabelle “Isa” Peterson as a Hunger Advocacy Fellow for the year! Peterson is a recent graduate of UT-Austin, and a member of Zion Lutheran Church in San Antonio.

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Washington
Faith Action Network https://www.fanwa.org/ – Paul Benz and Elise DeGooyer, Co-Directors

New Policy Engagement Director – Kristin Ang! We are delighted to announce our new Policy Engagement Director, Kristin Ang, who begins work with FAN on Oct.4. Ang brings policy leadership experience as a Port Commissioner for Tacoma, along with experiences as an immigrant, Filipina American, lawyer, and collaborator in interfaith circles in Pierce County. She will bring these gifts to FAN along with a spiritual grounding in compassion and justice. FAN advocates will get to meet Ang during the fall months as she learns about our network during cluster gatherings, as well as our coalition partners, alongside FAN staff.

Advocating for a Just Budget Resolution Package The House and Senate have passed the budget resolution which is the framework for the $3.5T social infrastructure bill/Build Back Better. Now the hard work begins in committees of jurisdiction to start building this enormous funding proposal. It is facing opposition by big business and corporations, coordinated by the US Chamber of Commerce, so FAN is urging our network to advocate for critical pieces of this package, including rental assistance, housing, the Expanded Child Tax Credit, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. See the letter FAN signed onto with national partners here: https://airtable.com/shrFCsyJdU5poVTtm.

Cluster Meetings FAN hosts Fall Cluster Meetings as a way to gather with advocates in their local areas, learn about the issues that matter in their region, and build momentum for our work together. Most Clusters will be hosted online due to COVID concerns.

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Wisconsin
Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin (LOPPW) https://www.loppw.org/ – Cindy Crane, Director

Wednesday Noon Live interview with Vance Blackfox, Desk Director for American Indian Alaska Native Tribal Nations.
Blackfox included important info on what congregations can do.

Medicaid and the Child Tax Credit
LOPPW interviewed Researcher and Health Policy Programs Director Donna Friedsam of the Institute for Research on Poverty at UW-Madison to explore both sides of the debate on Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin.
We encouraged members to contact their U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators while they were back in district. We focused the Medicaid Saves Lives Act BadgerCare and expanding the Child Tax Credit beyond 2021.
We also are advocating to make the 2021 Child Tax Credit known to people who qualify for the refundable credit but haven’t received it yet and need to fill out a non-filer form. People can use posters and handouts we created from our website.

Northwest Synod of Wisconsin Biblical Justice Forum: LOPPW’s director led a workshop on lifting our public voices rooted in our Christian and Lutheran tradition at Luther Park in Chetek.

Juvenile Justice
Our Raise the Age Coalition, with a focus on returning 17-year-old youth to the juvenile justice system, interviewed a new intern to continue some of the work that our former Hunger Advocacy Fellow, Kyle Minden, did. Keiko Engel, a senior in social work at UW-Madison, was hired by the Sentencing Project. Her direct supervisor is a coalition member from the Wisconsin Association of Family & Children’s Agencies. LOPPW is also helping Engel to get on board.

Issue 78 Of Administration Matters

Youth Gathering July 2022 – Registration opens Sept. 22

Every three years, 30,000 high school youth and their adult leaders from across the ELCA gather for a week of faith formation known as the ELCA Youth Gathering. Through days spent in interactive learning, worship, Bible study, service and fellowship, young people grow in faith and are challenged and inspired to live their faith in their daily lives.
The 2022 ELCA Youth Gathering will take place July 24-28 in Minneapolis, with our pre-events, MYLE (Multicultural Youth Leadership Event) and the tAble July 21-24. Registration opens Sept. 22 via the Gathering website. There are limited funds available to offset registration fees. Visit the Financial Assistance section of our website to learn more or apply. While on the website, we encourage you to sign up for the gNews, our monthly newsletter filled with tips, resources and reminders as we prepare for next summer. Also, be sure to visit the Key Dates section of our website to see what deadlines are approaching!

 

SBA launches a new portal to simplify the forgiveness process for PPP loans of $150,000 or less

The Small Business Administration’s new streamlined application portal will simplify forgiveness for many small congregations that obtained loans from the Paycheck Protection Program to survive the pandemic. The majority of borrowers waiting for forgiveness have loans under $150,000 and have been challenged by an overly complicated forgiveness process. The new portal will simplify the process and deliver forgiveness more efficiently. >More

 

Portico Benefit Services — three important 2022 annual enrollment details

Annual enrollment will be here before you know it, and Portico wants to ensure that you have the information needed to make the process go smoothly. 1) This year your organization’s enrollment window is earlier and shorter, Oct. 4-15. 2) Employers who don’t make a health benefit selection by the deadline will be assigned Silver+ paired with the Level A health savings account (HSA) employer contribution. 3) Several resources have been created to support a successful enrollment season.

 

ELCA Federal Credit Union issued 360 PPP loans to congregations and ministries

Last year, the ELCA Federal Credit Union quickly pivoted its operations to become an SBA-certified lender and offered special assistance to ELCA congregations and ministries that struggled to make payroll during the pandemic. Read about how this program had an impact on our church, our members and the ministry we share. >More

 

Public service loan forgiveness expanded for clergy and religious workers

Rostered ministers and other church employees with federal student loans may now be eligible for loan forgiveness. When religious workers apply for forgiveness, the form must be completed by their direct employer. Synods cannot complete forms for congregational staff, and the churchwide organization cannot complete forms for synod or congregation staff. >More

Severe weather safety

Do you know the difference between a watch and a warning? Do you have a designated place to gather during a severe storm? Severe weather may consist of hazardous conditions produced by thunderstorms, including damaging winds, tornadoes, large hail, flooding and flash flooding. >More