ELCA Blogs

from the ELCA Advocacy office in Washington, D.C. – the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, director

Partial expanded content from Advocacy Connections: April 2021

INFRASTRUCTURE PROPOSAL | CHILD NUTRITION | MIXED REACTIONS TO REFUGEE ANNOUNCEMENT | UIGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS | FAITH GROUPS AND CLIMATE CRISIS

INFRASTRUCTURE PROPOSAL: The White House announced the first of two infrastructure proposals to Congress in late March. The $2.2 trillion “American Jobs Plan” would make largescale investments in the U.S. and pay for most provisions by raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% and closing tax loopholes. Faith advocates in the coming weeks will be critical in ensuring that investments prioritize those of us in the greatest need and are equitably shared among groups who often fail to see the impacts of largescale investments.

Among the proposed investments, The plan includes: $621 billion for transportation and resilience, aimed at constructing infrastructure that can withstand climate change-related weather events; $400 billion toward expanding access to care for the aging and those with disabilities; $100 billion to expand high-speed broadband; $213 billion to build, retrofit and preserve more than two million affordable homes; $100 billion to upgrade and build new public schools; $25 billion to upgrade child care facilities and increase child care in high-need areas; $115 billion to modernize highways, roads and bridges; $111 billion to help rebuild the nation’s water infrastructure. A second infrastructure proposal, “American Families Plan,” is anticipated to be released later this month. As these proposals are deliberated by lawmakers in Congress, ELCA staff will advance actionable items for Lutheran advocates.

CHILD NUTRITION: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) extended free summer meals through September 2021, providing nutrition for up to 12 million children. Additionally, USDA has extended critical waivers through the 2021–22 school year, facilitating delivery to children nutrition they need through schools and childcare providers.

During the pandemic, food insecurity has increased significantly as families have lost jobs and wages. We applaud these USDA actions, as children in every community in our nation will face less hunger as a result. As shared last month, the Biden Administration has announced it will stop enforcing the public charge rule. This measure also encourages children in the U.S. have access to nutrition they needs, since public charge rule enforcement discouraged accessing public benefits, including SNAP and school meals, for possible threat to the status of legal immigrants.

MIXED REACTIONS TO REFUGEE ANNOUNCEMENT: The revised Presidential Determination (PD) of 62,500 that was announced as a goal for FY21 by the Biden Administration has still not been finalized. After a disappointing announcement Apr. 16 of retention of the standing record-low admissions cap of 15,000, the administration clarified the intent to set a final raised cap by May 15.

While the memorandum issued on the 16th aims to speed up resettlement and return to regional allocations, keeping the lowest refugee admissions ceiling in history raised concern among many in the resettlement community. The anticipated new PD would expand the categories of eligibility for refugee status numbering up to 62,500 from the earlier 15,000. Letters signed by Presiding Bishop Eaton as well as the ELCA with ecumenical and interfaith partners to the administration urge finalization to prevent further resettlement delays.

UIGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS: Last month the U.S., E.U., Canada, and Britain announced targeted sanctions against certain Chinese leaders and entities over human rights abuses against Uighurs and other minority groups in the northwestern Chinese region of the country. There are about 12 million Uighurs, mostly Muslim, living in north-western China.

The sanctions take aim at four senior Chinese officials involved in designing and implementing of the policy being used to abuse Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, and a public security bureau connected to that policy implementation. The sanctions invoke travel bans and asset freezes for these individuals and their families. The U.S. is among several countries to have accused China of committing genocide and crimes against humanity through its repression of the Uighurs.

FAITH GROUPS AND CLIMATE CRISIS: Ahead of the Leaders’ Summit hosted by President Biden, the ELCA played a key role gathering global interfaith leaders for a US Climate Action Week Side Event. “Faith and Frontline Call to Action: Good Trouble for Justice” called for inclusion of voices, ideas, and expertise of frontline and faith communities alongside career politicians toward climate solutions.

Coalition presenters accented climate-induced migration and displacement, food security, and just transition. People of faith and frontline communities hope to work with the administration in repairing inequities and wealth divide locally, nationally, and globally in connecting climate, economic and racial justice to reimagining resilient, inclusive communities void of poverty and leaving no one behind.

Receive monthly Advocacy Connections directly by becoming part of the ELCA Advocacy network – http://elca.org/advocacy/signup , and learn more from elca.org/advocacy .

Following are updates shared from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices.
Find a map and full list of ELCA affiliated SPPOs using our state office map.

U.N.

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

Holy Land Bishop Azar discusses inequitable COVID-19 vaccine availability in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Bishop Ibrahim Azar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land shared a video message recently about the inequitable vaccine distribution situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a briefing on March 25 to the UN Security Council, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process said “COVID-19 continues to have a devastating effect on Palestinians. In addition to the brutal impact on public health, the recurrent lockdowns, school closures, and reduction of commercial activity have severely undermined living conditions.” He added, “Support to the Palestinian COVID-19 response should be significantly enhanced to ensure that Palestinians throughout the OPT receive a fair and timely share of the distribution of vaccines.” Peace Not Walls has appealed for advocacy with Members of Congress to call upon the Biden administration to urge the Israeli government to ensure free and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines based on its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Promoting Gender Justice at UN CSW65: The United Nations’ sixty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) took place from 15-26 March 2021. The priority theme was women’s full and effective participation and decision making in public life. This was the first-ever the session of the Commission held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to UN Women reporting, speakers included a Prime Minister, 3 Vice-Presidents and 93 ministers. Nearly 70 ministers represented their countries in the ministerial round tables. Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the US official remarks to CSW65.

The Lutheran World Federation, including the ELCA, participated in the two-week event with a delegation of over seventy members from more than 30 countries. They joined more than 10,000 other civil society members online to advocate on the priority theme as well as call for an end to gender-based violence (GBV). LOWC coordinates the presence of Lutherans at CSW.

In addition to attending the official sessions, Lutherans organized and as co-sponsored panel events with ecumenical and interfaith partners, namely, Women of Power: Leading Together for a Better Future, Challenge and Change a Social Norm: Sexual and Gender Based Violence, Masculinities, and Leadership, and Faith Forward – Women Brokering Peace in Conflict & Crisis, Girls on Fire part I & part II: An Intergenerational conversation and call to action to end GBV. We also co-sponsored a side event, “In search of a Round Table: Gender, Religion & Decision-making in Public Life”. Lutherans joined Ecumenical Women at the UN orientation day and led one daily morning worship service.

CSW65 ended with the adoption of Agreed Conclusions which contain good recommendations for countries to implement. However, there was opposition and push back by few countries that objected to terms such as gender, sexual and reproductive health and rights, among others. Discussions on gender equality and women’s empowerment continue through the next important forum – the Generation Equality Forum, convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the Governments of Mexico and France.

Impact of financial and economic sanctions on humanitarian assistance and its delivery: The ELCA recently signed on to a letter to President Biden asking him to consider the effects of sanctions on humanitarian assistance and its delivery as part of a review of existing United States and multilateral financial and economic sanctions. The groups which joined the letter said they “have long considered a review of the impact of sanctions on the global pandemic response and humanitarian situations overdue.” They said that “existing sanctions exemptions for humanitarian work are ‘wholly inadequate’ and that current regulations fail to “provide the necessary reassurances to financial institutions that working with humanitarian actors is safe and lawful.” They asked the President “to take immediate emergency measures and consider long-term measures as well, that would allow the peoples of sanctioned countries and locations to respond to the devastating human and economic fallout of COVID-19.”

Colorado

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado https://www.rmselca.org/advocacy – Peter Severson, Director

The Colorado Legislature continues their session, and LAM-CO has been participating with partners in advancing important bills on our agenda. Our latest bill sheet can be found online.

Housing: We are working on three bills to enhance renters’ protections, balance responsibility between renters and landlords, cap late fees, and allow local governments to promote affordable housing.

Environment: We support bills to prohibit single-use plastic products & reduce waste and to enhance the power of the Air Quality Control Commission.

Immigration: The Immigration Legal Defense Fund would be created by HB 1194, supporting nonprofits who help provide representation to immigrants undergoing legal proceedings.

Criminal Justice: We support a bill to promote record sealing and another to largely end cash bail in Colorado while increasing the use of summonses versus arrest warrants.

Hunger: Part of a just food system is protections for the workers who grow, harvest, and process food, and so we support SB 087 to add agricultural workers to standard labor protections already on the books in Colorado, enhancing rights to rest breaks, overtime, and other benefits.

Minnesota

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

The legislative session is down to the final five weeks – unless we end up with special sessions each month like last year. The budget omnibus bills were introduced and marked up the week after Easter.

Clean Energy: We have been working to prevent garbage incineration from being re-classified as clean energy, but opponents to renewable energy focused most of their committee amendments on labeling wind and solar as dirty energy. Thankfully, those amendments failed in the House Energy Committee, but it will be much harder in the next few weeks to prevent legislation damaging to a transition to renewables and a clean energy economy. The current House Energy committee bill could move our state in very positive directions if the Senate could be moved to adopt it. That is unlikely this year, but as people of faith we believe transformations can happen.

Affordable Housing: We remain hopeful that our efforts for more housing stock, and eviction prevention (related to pandemic economic hardship) will make progress. Several Action Alerts have helped to bolster bipartisan support, but Senate leadership is not yet on board. Much more action will be needed in the next few weeks, so continue to watch for alerts and talking points.

Partisan Divisions: Extreme partisanship continues to be the biggest obstacle at the legislature. While various house and senate members are attempting to find paths to work together, some party leaders keep looking for ways to exacerbate differences. Without changes in these partisan attitudes and divisions, Minnesota’s legislature runs of the risk of becoming increasing dysfunctional and ineffective.

Pennsylvania

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry- Pennsylvania (LAMPa) https://www.lutheranadvocacypa.org/ – Tracey DePasquale, Director

LAMPa staff are preparing a statewide marking of rogation in coordination with United Lutheran Seminary’s spring convocation, around the theme “Theology of Gathering.” Staff have been gathering soil samples from Pennsylvania’s seven synods, as well as both seminary campuses. These soils are accompanied by photographs of their origins, stories, and prayer requests. We will be helping to facilitate rogation and eco-justice services throughout the spring and equipping Lutherans to advocate on the behalf of creation, for those who “tend the garden,” and for all who depend upon the fruits of their labor.

Hunger Advocacy Fellow Larry Herrold continues developing our database of service and justice-related ministries. His work has connected congregational volunteers to a new Senior Express food box delivery system that takes the nutritional assistance for which we advocate the last mile – getting it safely into the hands of seniors.

LAMPa advocates are reaching out to their lawmakers to urge an increase in the state’s hunger funding.

Director Tracey DePasquale participated in the quarterly state Emergency Food Assistance Advisory Meeting, attended meetings of the state emergency feeding and sheltering task forces and worked with the SWPA Synod hunger team to plan their fall event.

DePasquale and seminarian Margaret Folkemer-Leonard met with representatives of Open Table in preparation for equipping congregations in various models for accompaniment that will deepen their advocacy. Folkemer-Leonard attended the first meeting of advocates around language-access policies and continues to lead weekly compline with a focus on justice.

Texas

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

The Texas Legislature convened their biennial Legislative Session in January, and Texas Impact immediately began resourcing Texans of faith to engage in the process.

In March, Texas Impact hosted the second annual Texas Interfaith Advocacy Days March 6-9, the largest interfaith advocacy gathering in the state This year, the conference was online and highlighted speakers and advocacy opportunities related to three priority areas: Health Insurance, Climate Resilience, and Elections. The 200 event participants met with over 30 legislative offices to discuss priority issues.

Texas Impact also released three sign-on letters for Texans of faith:

Texas Impact continues to recruit Rapid Response Team members to make time-sensitive calls and Legislative Engagement Group members who commit to meeting and partnering with other advocates in their Texas House district to plan and prepare for monthly meetings with their representative and/or staff.

The Weekly Witness podcast during the Legislative Session features a Texas faith leader providing a “Weekly Word,” a guest advocate discussing the “issue of the week” and Texas Impact staff providing a legislative update and action alert. The March 15 episode featured ELCA pastor, Rev. Jessica Cain from Living Word Lutheran in Buda.

In addition, Texas Impact staff have been invited to present to several congregational events as they increase capacity for online programming. Texans of faith are mobilizing in exciting ways to participate with their representatives during this important season of democracy.

Washington

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

Legislative Successes: The 2021 WA Legislative session has just passed the cutoff date for bills to be voted out of the opposite chamber and onto the Governor’s desk. We are excited that so many important bills are moving forward from FAN’s legislative agenda, including:

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Emergency cash and food assistance
Equity and funding for community and technical colleges
Prohibiting certain police tactics
Decertification and licensing standards for police officers and Criminal Justice Training Commission reforms
Eviction reform
Just Cause Eviction law
Clean Fuel Standards
Voting Rights Restoration for people exiting prison
Post-secondary education in prisons
Removing the exemption in the Office of Civil and Legal Aid for undocumented workers
Banning private prisons
Banning Native American mascots
Juneteenth paid holiday
Establishing the Universal Health Care Commission

2021 Spring Summits: Each Spring, FAN hosts Summit meetings around WA State to gather faith communities in our networks. We reflect on the past legislative session, strategize on upcoming local actions, and discuss the issue topics that matter most to our advocates. This year we are hosting two virtual Summits – one in May and one in June. We look forward to connecting across the state and envisioning the year ahead!

Wisconsin

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

Wednesday Noon Live & Juvenile Justice: We discussed our budget priorities with a focus on returning 17-year-old youth to the juvenile justice system. Ramiah Whiteside, who was directly impacted by being tried and sentenced in an adult court offered his personal testimony. We also interviewed Hunger Advocacy Fellow Kyle Minden, who is leading efforts on Raise the Age. View the program here.

Kyle was also a part of a Justice for Emerging Adults Panel, sponsored by Race to Equity, LOPPW, and Youth Justice Milwaukee.

Care for God’s Creation: Our Faith Advocacy for Climate Justice event on March 18^th drew 88 participants. Most people stayed for our post event with the Wisconsin 7, who fasted for climate justice for 22 days. Our planning group included ELCA members from each of our six synods and three interfaith groups. The focus was on preparing to advocate on the Wisconsin State Budget with an advocacy action included in during the event.

Event Video: https://www.facebook.com/LOPPW/videos/298535565005324

Event News Coverage: https://wkow.com/2021/03/18/bob-lindmeier-talks-climate-change-during-panel-discussion-with-faith-leaders/

Immigration: LOPPW co-sponsored and event with the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin – Standing with our Neighbors – Conversations on Immigration with Immigration Attorney Erin Barbato.

Hunger: LOPPW is part of the Better Choices Coalition examining issues related to hunger in the Governor’s Budget and strategizing responses.

Human Trafficking: LOPPW has been meeting regularly with the Wisconsin Human Trafficking Consortium and its legislative subcommittee preparing to advocate on the Governor’s Budget and upcoming bills.

Maggie Falenschek, Saint Peter, MN

Warm-up Question

What are two or three things you are really good at?
Describe your personality: Are you funny? Kind? Compassionate? Assertive? Quiet? If you’re having trouble thinking of this on your own, ask a family member or a friend to help describe you!
What is an issue of injustice that you are passionate about?

Sacred Vocations

Have you ever heard the word vocation before? Sometimes when we hear this word we think of someone’s particular job or career, but it’s really much bigger than that! Sometimes it helps to think about vocation as your unique calling. God has created each of us with strengths and gifts— things that we are good at. In the same way, we each have different things we are passionate or care deeply about. Maybe it’s an issue of injustice that you see in your community. Perhaps it is something that you just love to do! When we combine our gifts and skills with the things we are passionate about, we may find our calling, our vocation.

We each have multiple vocations. We have vocations in our families: to be a child, parent, family friend, or guardian. In our daily lives we might have a have vocation to be a student, scientist, athlete, or grounds keeper. These vocations may change throughout our lives, but all Christians share a special baptismal vocation to use our gifts and passions in service to our neighbor and world. When we live into our vocations, we receive a greater sense of meaning and purpose for our lives.

Discussion Questions

What gives you a sense of meaning and purpose?
Think back to our warm-up discussion. How can you combine the things that you’re passionate about with your gifts and skills in order serve your neighbor?

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:5-12

1 John 3:16-24

John 10:11-18

(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

Like us, Jesus had many vocations. He was a son, friend, and teacher. Jesus used the gifts of God and the movement of the Holy Spirit in his life for the betterment of the world. He brought those cast aside into community, healed the sick and hurt, and, ultimately, brought new life from death.

In our gospel reading for today, we hear about Jesus’ vocation as the Good Shepherd. There are things that any “good” shepherd does: tending to the sheep, keeping them safe from danger, bringing them to better pastures to eat. But this story speaks of Jesus as a shepherd who does more than just care for his flock’s basic needs. Jesus knows each of his flock by name; he seeks out those on the margins of the pasture and brings them back. Jesus lays down his life, risking everything for his flock. Even a “good” shepherd wouldn’t take that risk, but Jesus did. God did.

Jesus’ vocation as the Good Shepherd helps us to better understand God’s deep love and care for us, God’s flock. Through Jesus, God went through the depths of human life for us. Through Jesus, God was vulnerable. Because the thought of even one beloved child being lost or alone was too much to bear, God risked everything so that we experience healing, togetherness, and new life. God loves us too much to leave us behind.

It is sometimes intimidating to think of our vocation, or calling, as followers of Jesus. The invitation to care for our hurting world is overwhelming and we may feel utterly un-equipped to do so. There will be times when we surely do not live up to this vocation or the other callings in our lives. We may stumble, feel lost, or fail. But remember this: There is no failure, mistake, hurt, regret, or burden which can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Good Shepherd.

Discussion Questions

Can you think of other stories or words that describe Jesus’ vocation?
How do you react when you feel intimidated or overwhelmed? How can Jesus shepherd you through those times?
Divide a sheet of paper down the middle. On one side, list all of your strengths, skills, gifts, and resources. On the other side, list needs you see in your church or community. Is there a way that your skills, passions, and resources could meet a need in your community?

Activity Suggestions

Listen to the song “You Were Born” by Cloud Cult. Print out the lyrics and highlight the lines that stick out to you or connect to what you’ve learned about vocation.
Take the Via Character Strengths survey online. Did any of the strengths in your report surprise you? How do they fit into your vocations?
Read through the Holy Baptism (page 227) or Affirmation of Baptism (page 234) liturgies in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Circle all of the parts that are vocations or callings for us as followers of Jesus.

Closing Prayer

God, you call us into many sacred vocations. Guide us as we use our gifts and skills to make our community and world a more kind, just, and loving place. When we get overwhelmed or feel intimidated by this great call, remind us that you are our Good Shepherd and that there is nothing that could separate us from your love. Amen.

St. Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church’s Lunchtime Ministry offers a warm meal, hospitality and community to neighbors in Hoboken, New Jersey. This important work is supported in part by a Domestic Hunger Grant from ELCA World Hunger. Stanley Enzweiler is the Program Manager of St. Matthew Trinity’s Lunchtime Ministry and has worked with the ministry since 2016. In this post, Stanley reflects on the uncertainty and stress the community faced in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic – and on the hope, hard work and perseverance that has kept Lunchtime Ministry going. You can read a previous post from Stanley here.

March 16th, 2020, I didn’t want to open the door. The guests, I knew, were crowded outside, ready to rush in, grab a seat, and line up for coffee. They were expecting a long, leisurely morning with steaming cups of soup served to their tables by volunteers who knew their names. At Lunchtime Ministry (LTM), a soup kitchen/drop-in center in the heart of Hoboken, New Jersey, everything is free: the coffee, the wifi, the laughter, and the community. Today, all that was about to change.

I unlocked the door. “Hang on, everyone,” I said. “You have to come in one at a time. Wash your hands, and then I will give you a bagged lunch. We’re serving everything to go.”

For years, LTM had been a pillar of stability in people’s lives. We were open every Monday to Thursday, holidays and blizzards be darned. Some of our guests had gone through the same routine every day for years.

But that weekend in March 2020, the country had shut down around us. A new world had arrived. The virus could be anywhere. Masks were not yet required, and people argued about whether gloves did any good. Instead of saying “Goodbye,” we told each other to “Stay safe.”

LTM was shutting down too. Our priority was keeping each other healthy—but avoiding COVID was just part of the picture. It was cold outside, and our guests had nowhere to go. Some of them stopped coming to LTM, and I still don’t know where they ended up. One woman sat down on the floor in front of the coffee machine and refused to leave.

We worked with the Hoboken Shelter and the local welfare office to lodge some of our older and less healthy guests in hotel rooms. As much as this helped space out our homeless population, several of our hotel guests continued to come to LTM every morning. That’s how much our community mattered.

As the summer went by, we borrowed an idea pioneered by some restaurants in Hoboken and opened up our own strEATery: outdoor tables and chairs where guests could sit together and enjoy to-go food. This gave us back a taste of the community we had missed so much. In Autumn, we began reopening for volunteers and asking our community to donate hot dishes, which we served in to-go cups. And when temperatures dropped, we opened back up inside. We have limited our capacity in accordance with statewide regulations, and we have continued to enforce hand-washing, masks, and social distancing. Of course, it is much more work serving people inside than providing food to go, but having our community back has been worth it.

We have worked closely with other local services, including the Hoboken Shelter, the city’s food pantries, and the county’s clinics. We have provided our guests, volunteers, and community members with onsite flu shots, health screenings, and, this spring, over 150 COVID-19 vaccines. Individuals, schools, restaurants and spas from across the country have overwhelmed us with their support, donating food, hygiene items and money; spreading the word about LTM; and providing moral support. At least once a week, I hear from a former volunteer who wants to say hello and see how they can help.

This has been a year like no other. We are not used to thinking on our feet and changing things up at LTM, especially not when lives hang in the balance. But everyone has had to adapt this year, and through it all, LTM has continued to be there for our guests. We have provided as many services as we can while keeping our population healthy.

Who knows what the next steps will be? Regardless, we’ll take them.

God’s work through the guests, volunteers and community members at LTM still continues – and continues to thrive! As of April 2021, over 500 vaccines have been distributed through LTM and its partners. With more community members protected, LTM has been able to offer more events at its site, including screenings for HIV, blood pressure, and glucose levels, haircuts for guests, assistance signing up for health insurance and housing, and fundraisers to keep the ministry going.

***By Rev.* Protopresbyter *Nicolas Kazarian***

The Department of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical, and Interfaith Relations of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America welcomes the opportunity to share its Greening the Parish Resource Page with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Designed for both the parish and home, this page provides resource material for navigating and fulfilling our vocation as stewards of creation and working towards greening our churches together on a personal level.

Especially featured are the ecological initiatives and activities of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, renowned as “The Green Patriarch” for his proclamation of “the primacy of spiritual values in determining environmental ethics and action.” Included are the September 1st Encyclicals for the Feast of the Indiction (beginning of the ecclesiastical new year) and Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Natural Environment, along with His All-Holiness’s works in global environment advocacy and action such as the Halki Summits.

Exploring a variety of practical and theological perspectives regarding environmentalism, the Creation Care Toolkit consists of Creation Care resources along with the Greening the Parish webinar series and manuals. Additionally, a variety of Orthodox perspectives are featured on the webpage including youth initiatives, books, and films along with a diverse resource section featuring the works of various Christian traditions, organizations, environmentalists, and academics.

“Defining environmentalism as a spiritual responsibility,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has explained “Our sin toward the world, or the spiritual root of all our pollution, lies in our refusal to view life and the world as a sacrament of thanksgiving, and as a gift of constant communion with God on a global scale.”

As we continue to cultivate this green ministry, the Department will begin publishing its “How-To” video series featuring lessons and practical guides on creation care and sustainability on Earth Day (April 22). We welcome this opportunity to partake in the protection of the natural environment as a chance to bear witness to our ecumenical desire to be one.

The webpage and additional information may be found here.

Rev. Protopresbyter Nicolas Kazarian serves as Ecumenical Officer and Director of the Department on Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations. He is also the parish priest of St. Eleftherios Greek Orthodox Church in Manhattan.

We know that ending hunger will take more than food. Addressing climate change is a critical step in this work. That’s why ELCA World Hunger is excited to share a new opportunity from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary’s Center for Climate Justice and Faith. The Center’s work focuses on helping leaders learn about sustainability, caring for creation and working for justice so that all can enjoy the abundance of God’s creation.

This Center’s new Certificate in Climate Justice and Faith offers a cohort-based, online trans-continental curriculum which empowers participants to cultivate moral, spiritual, and practical power for leadership in the work of climate justice in communities of faith and in collaboration with others. Topics covered include theology, ethics, and spirituality; climate change knowledge; and social change practices that connect ecological well-being with racial, economic, and gender justice.

Lay and rostered leaders throughout the Lutheran World Federation communion and from other faith traditions are invited to complete an interest form if you are curious to know more about this inaugural, non-degree learning program scheduled for September 2021 – May 2022. Long-term collaboration and networking are expected to endure well beyond certificate completion date.

Applications are now open and will be accepted until June 15, 2021. To apply or to learn more, visit https://www.plts.edu/programs/certificates/certificate-in-climate-justice-and-faith.html.

by guest blogger Thomas Cunniff, ELCA General Counsel

Legislative moment

Congress is currently considering two competing bills which would codify civil rights for LGBTQ+ individuals in the United States, the Equality Act (H.R. 5) and the Fairness for All Act (H.R. 5331). The Equality Act has passed the House of Representatives and is now being considered by the Senate. One of the most significant points of dispute is how the two bills would treat religious objections. The Fairness for All Act would provide robust protection for religious objections, at the potential expense of weakening the civil rights of LGBTQ+ individuals. In contrast, the Equality Act would reduce protection for religious objections by exempting the Equality Act from the provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The debate between these bills has set up a false choice between equal rights and religious freedom.

ELCA Priorities

The ELCA supports equal rights for our LGBTQ+ siblings. The ELCA’s social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust (2009) states that the “dignity of the human being reflects God’s deep love and stands against all forms of violence, discrimination, and injustice” [page 5]. As a result, the ELCA “opposes all forms of verbal or physical harassment and assault based on sexual orientation. It supports legislation and policies to protect civil rights and to prohibit discrimination in housing, employment, and public services” [page 19].

At the same time, the ELCA supports the religious freedom and independence acknowledged in both the free exercise clause and the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. These clauses work together, not at cross-purposes, to protect the freedom of believers and non-believers alike from oppression and forced indoctrination. As stated in the ELCA social message on “Human Rights” (2017), the ELCA will “advocate for the U.S. government to protect and promote the equal rights of all people, as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights” [page 12]. When the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment did not protect the rights of Indigenous citizens to use peyote sacramentally, the ELCA joined with its full communion partners and many others across the political spectrum to support the adoption of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). RFRA requires that federal laws which substantially burden religious freedom be narrowly tailored to a compelling governmental interest.

Equal rights and religious freedom must coexist. Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust both expressly endorsed the extension of civil rights laws to our LGBTQ+ siblings [page 19] and recognized that people could disagree about Scripture and come to one of four different conclusions regarding same-gender marriage with conviction and integrity [pages 19-21]. Accordingly, it encouraged “all people to live out their faith in the local and global community of the baptized with profound respect for the conscience-bound belief of the neighbor” [page 21].

Ongoing commitment to a fair solution

We urge the adoption of legislation that ensures the full rights of LGBTQ+ persons without infringing on religious liberty or permitting improper government interference in the ecclesiastical activities of religious organizations. Blanket exemptions for anyone claiming a religious motive are too broad and would eviscerate necessary civil rights protections for historically marginalized groups. Not providing space in which dissenting religious groups can practice their beliefs free from government interference, however, would gravely damage freedom of conscience. Moreover, fully exempting statutes from RFRA sets a dangerous precedent of permitting the government to forcibly impose the views of the majority on minority religions, a precedent which could easily be weaponized by a future Congress and President. For these reasons, the ELCA is committed to continue working with others, including full communion partners, to find a solution that fully protects the civil rights of our LGBTQ+ siblings while at the same time protecting the free exercise and conscience rights of religious objectors.

Bob Chell, Sioux Falls, SD

Warm-up Questions

Do you believe in demons? ghosts?
Have you seen or experienced an encounter with a demon or a ghost?
Is there a world we cannot see?

Seeing the Other

First, some of their names: John Williams, Michael Brown, Elijah McClain, Robert Long, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Dylann Roof, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Hyun Jung Grant, Darren Wilson. They were police officers and emergency room techs, artists and business owners, hard working and hardly working. Though DNA would almost certainly reveal all as multiracial they identified as African American, White, Native American and Asian American. Shooters and victims. Law breakers and law enforcement. Their stories unique, yet eerily similar.

We are weary of their stories, their sameness, their sadness. We want to celebrate Easter but looking for Jesus in our broken world seems futile. The gospel challenges us to look harder.

Discussion Questions

Each time a person of color is shot by a police officer, it’s a unique, one time situation, yet they are weirdly similar, and happen again and again. Why?
Who or what is responsible for shootings which seem unjustified? The officer who shoots? Systematic racism? Irrational fear? Poor judgement? Lack of training for those charged with a very difficult job? What other possible causes can you come up with?
Is the underlying cause unique or part of a troubling pattern?

Third Sunday of Easter

Acts 3:12-19

1 John 3:1-7

Luke 24:36b-48

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

Gospel Reflection

The disciples think they are seeing a ghost, a supernatural being of some kind. To ease their anxiety Jesus asks for food so that, seeing him eat, they will see him as their friend and not an apparition.

“The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon.” Those were the words of Darren Wilson, the police officer in Ferguson, Missouri who shot a young African American man, Michael Brown. “It looked like a demon,. So, Wilson said, “I shoot a series of shots. I don’t know how many I shot, I just know I shot it.” Not “him”, not “Michael”, not “a man”, a “person”, a “teen”, Darren, the man. Wilson said he shot “it.”

Set aside the question of guilt and innocence, right and wrong for a moment to consider the nature of what transpired. For some reason—denial, racism, PTSD, training, or lack of training— police officer Darren Wilson did not see Michael Brown. He did not a person, but a demon, not Michael, but an “it.”

I spent the last four years of my career as a pastor working with ghosts, some would say demons. Like Michael Brown, they are each “other” or “it,”something unlike you and I. Some were called monsters or demons. They were all inmate, prisoner, or con. Ghosts in khaki who walked the tiers of the South Dakota State Penitentiary. They were stripped of their humanity by the system which knew them only by their inmate number or their crime. In becoming inmates they ceased to be men and became “other.” Other than human, like Michael Brown, they became other than like me.

The disciples are“startled and terrified”, “disbelieving and …wondering.” They watch as ghost becomes man, becomes human, becomes Jesus, the friend and brother they lost only days before.

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It’s a mystery. I watched every Thursday night for four years as 12-15 visitors joined 100 inmates in the chapel of the penitentiary. It is jarring and anxiety producing to enter a prison, to be asked over and over again about cell phones and pocket knifes, tobacco and watches, chewing gum and shooting guns. Then the door to the sally port opens so you can enter. As the electronic gate slides shut behind you, you know what a sally port is without being told, a gate closed behind you, another closed in front of you. Then the same questions.

The gate before you slides open…through the lobby…up two flights of steps…another gate…more stairs and doors…and finally into the upper room, the chapel. You enter a world unlike that which you just transversed. The smiling men, some bearded or tattooed, some your own age or younger. Others are your dad’s age, or your grandfather’s. You remember, some came to this place at age 14. Which ones?

The men join in the opening hymn, “I saw the light.” They are all singing, not only singing but singing the way you do in a car on the way to the lake with friends, full volume and deep feeling.

The service is much the same as in your congregation, other than that singing, of course. At least until the Passing of the Peace. Then it’s pandemonium, everyone on their feet, moving around the room and greeting visitors and inmates alike. You realize, at some point, you have forgotten to be scared and are having fun, as the inmates greet you and thank you for remembering them.

Why do they thank you for remember them? “It’s because most are not remembered,” the pastor tells you. Most of the men won’t have a conversation with someone from outside the walls who isn’t paid to be there until next week’s worship. It is a different world. Prisons are full of ghosts, ghosts in khaki …until they walk through the door to the chapel. Then 34816 is transformed into Robert who you saw baptized. 74869 is David, a beloved child of God. 28482 is John, he’s in the choir.

One of the miracles and mysteries of St. Dysmas* (The ELCA congregations located behind the walls of the South Dakota State Penitentiary) is a first time visitor’s realization, “they’re just like us!” They ARE us. We are ‘us.’ There is only one us, one kind of people, lots of variety but we are all alike when it’s all said and done. None of us is defined by the worst thing we’ve ever done. Everyone who comes through the sally port the first time, inmates and officers, visitors and pastors, imagine they are different from them. Whoever they imagine the them to be.

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In the seven Sundays of Easter Jesus repeatedly appears to disciples who fail to recognize him, who are filled with fear and confusion, with joy and disbelieving. What can you glean from Jesus’ appearance to his disciples?

You are not a ghost, a child of a broken home, an irritant to your family, or a hopeless case. You are a beloved child of God. God has had an eye on you from before the beginning. God loves you and will never stop loving you—even if you dress in khaki one day.

God knows and God loves you, period. You may not feel lovable, and the truth is that sometimes we aren’t very loving to each other, or even to ourselves. But God sees through all that. God knows us and God loves us.

Jesus came to forgive. Jesus came to heal. Jesus came to raise us up from the deadness of our battered and broken lives, to breathe life into our despair. Just as Jesus gathered broken people to become his disciples, God calls to you and speaks the same blessing, “Peace be with you.”

Discussion Questions

When have you been seen as “other.” How did it feel? Has anyone first seen you as other and come to know you as a person?
Have you heard or seen people acting or implying as if other people we somehow “less than” or “other?” Did you say or do anything? Why or why not? Do you wish you had responded differently?

Activity Suggestions

This week watch for times of “othering”—in your home, at school, in church and with your friends. How Does Jesus appearance to his disciples encourage you to respond?

Closing Prayer

Jesus, help us to recognize those unlike ourselves as sisters and brothers. Break down our hesitancy and awkwardness in unfamiliar situations. Inspire us to make connections and build bridges when your people are divided. Amen.

In the Easter season our “Alleluias” are bold. Many of the hymns and songs chosen for Easter have a majestic and joyful quality to them. Bells, brass, and drums often enhance organ, piano, or guitar. Yet we know that even though we are a resurrection people, we can’t always shout our praise or exude joy. “Christ has risen while earth slumbers,” a new hymn in All Creation Sings, announces the promise of resurrection while acknowledging the complexity of human experience. In the words of stanza three:

Christ has risen to companion former friends who fear the night,
sensing loss and limitation where their faith had once burned bright.
They bemoan what is no longer, they expect no hopeful sign
till Christ ends their conversation, breaking bread and sharing wine. (ACS #938)

Drawing on imagery from the Emmaus story in Luke’s gospel, Christ comes among us as he did to those confused, fearful, and grieving disciples. This hymn’s author, John Bell of the Iona Community, is a Scottish Presbyterian pastor who writes and leads songs that often challenge our understanding and experience. He has written several books and articles about why and how we sing in community and how song shapes our witness in the world. You might enjoy listening to this 2019 interview with Bell in which he talks about some other songs of his in both ELW and ACS as well as core beliefs that shape his ministry.

Bell’s text written in the late 1980s is paired in All Creation Sings with the tune ST.HELENA. The tune by Calvin Hampton (1938–1984) was published in 1977 without a text. It was first associated with “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy” (ELW #587). The Advent hymn “Unexpected and mysterious” was written by Jeannette Lindholm especially for this tune (ELW #258). Like both of those texts, the editors of ACS sensed that the melodic spaciousness of ST.HELENA paired well with the sense of breadth and transformation in Bell’s text.

In the 2019 interview noted above, John Bell remarked: “The church at its best has a pastoral song which relates the pain of people as well as the joy of people.” “Christ has risen” includes the words “Christ has risen and forever lives to challenge and to change all whose lives are messed or mangled, all who find religion strange” (st. 4). Perhaps this is the only hymn we’ll encounter with the word “mangled,” but it is an honest, direct descriptor of so much of what we experience.

Into both our joy and our pain, into our messes and challenges, Christ’s new life flows. Especially in this Easter when the pain, grief, and isolation of this year are ever palpable, this new hymn can renew our trust in the One whose Spirit dwells among us always.

Christ is risen, Christ is present making us what he has been:
evidence of transformation in which God is known and seen. (st. 4)

To learn more about All Creation sings, visit www.augsburgfortress.org/AllCreationSings.

Christ Has Risen While Earth Slumbers
Text: John L. Bell, b. 1949
Music: Calvin Hampton, 1938–1984
Text © 1988 WGRG, Iona Community, admin. GIA Publications, Inc.
Music © 1977 GIA Publications, Inc.
Permission required for further use.

Image: Sundays and Seasons

CeCee Mills, Greensboro, NC

Warm-up Questions

What is your greatest motivation?
What gets you going in the morning or through a challenge?
What gives you the greatest energy?

Finding Hope

A year ago, we were all adjusting to an interruption. We expected that things would soon go back to normal. None of us imagined the loss of so many big milestones in the lives of students across the country. In-person school went away. Spring break went away. Proms went away. Graduations went away. Sports went away. So much that was a part of everyday life just went away.

The pandemic hit us so fast and so hard, we were initially just waiting for it to go away. But it did not go away. It still has not gone away.

The way we will get through the rest of the pandemic is by looking for the glimpses of hope. I search for evidence of God’s resilience and love. It helps me. Hearing about acts of kindness, seeing God’s creation, noticing small miracles, and marking progress of any kind are beacons of hope and light for me. Sometimes it is a random picture of a puppy or a powerful scripture. Maybe it’s an inspiring quote or the voice of a friend. I thank God for these daily reminders of God’s wonderful abiding presence.

Discussion Questions

What new habits have you or your friends began to help deal with life in a pandemic?
How can you create new habits to help you see God’s presence every day?

Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:32-35

1 John 1:1—2:2

John 20:19-31

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

Gospel Reflection

In the Gospel reading, we see the new reality the disciples face with Jesus’ absence. They are afraid and in hiding. The life that took them to strange lands with a teacher who performed miracles and spoke with true authority is over. Like us in this pandemic, they hope this scary time will end. The disciples hope that those who killed Jesus are not looking for them anymore. They want to stop feeling anxious everyday and worried about dying. They want their Rabbi back.

Then Jesus comes into their midst and lets them explore his wounds. Jesus relates to his disciples through the evidence of his suffering – it is their confirmation that he is the risen Christ. He breathes on them and gives them a new dose of hope. They do not return to the life they had with Jesus or the life they had before following him – they enter a new season. It is a post-resurrection season where they continue God’s mission without Jesus’ physical presence.

They have to let go of the yearning to go backwards and look at what lies ahead. It must have been amazingly hard to let go. It must have been amazingly wonderful to see Jesus again and witness the signs. It must have felt like confirmation of their call to be disciples. Jesus gives them the hope they need to complete their journey.

Jesus still does that for us. He fully recognizes the likelihood that we will hide our faith if we think it will offend or attract unwanted attention. He knows this and allows us seasons like Lent to focus on the wounds of Christ, so that we understand the cost. Yet that season is followed by the resurrection joy of Easter, which reminds us that by those stripes we were healed for a new day. We journey into the future, fully aware of the shadows, but expecting the illuminating light. We know God knows our questions and doubts.

Jesus acknowledges the disciples fears as he accommodates Thomas’ need to touch the wound. And God knows your questions and doubts. They do not surprise God because God knows the full story. God knows the hope you need to keep you on your journey.

Discussion Questions

How does God confirm who God is with you? Is it a song? Or a feeling? Is it by words or images?
Once you get that confirmation, how can you share that experience with others?
How can you help others to see how God provides confirmation for them?

Activity Suggestion

Pay attention to how you experience, witness, or feel hope during this pandemic in the next week. Share that hope with two people who are close to you and one who is not so close. Begin to imagine why God keeps you hopeful. How do you see God using you at this time to share the hope of Christ? Create a tangible object or picture that can be a reminder of the hope God provides. Put it in a place that is most helpful for you to see it and be reminded.

Closing Prayer

Dear God, you are so patient with us, even when we have lost patience ourselves. Thank you for abiding with us at all times and giving us hope in you. Help us be aware of the ways you reveal yourself and the ways you are present with us. Help us to share that with others. Amen

April Update: Advocacy Connections

Partial expanded content from Advocacy Connections: April 2021