Jason Fisher, Champaign, IL

Warm-up Questions

How do you decide what you will wear each day? Has this changed since COVID?
Would you wear something different if you knew you were getting your picture taken?

Who Are You–Really?

Photographer Libby Oliver has a portrait series called “Soft Shells” which explores people’s personalities through the clothes and accessories they wear. Instead asking them to pick out their favorite outfit and then taking their picture, Libby asks subjects to collect every piece of clothing they own and then photographs them underneath their huge pile of clothes! Instead of glamorous pictures of each person you gaze upon what looks like a heap of laundry. In all the photographs the person’s identity is completely covered up.

Libby’s photographs ask us to decide whether the things we own make up essential parts of our personalities or cover them up. She likes playing with the idea that we sometimes use the things we own as masks under which we hide our insecurities from the rest of the world. In a statement from the artist, Libby says that her series “Soft Shells” speaks to human vulnerability, trust, and power. Clothes can be excellent at communicating which brands we trust, or showing others our own influence or power. Libby’s art is a stark reminder that, if we are not careful, our identities get covered up or lost underneath the things we buy. Instead of being confident in who we are created to be, we hide our vulnerable selves under layers and layers of products.

Discussion Questions

What would it look like if you were covered with all of the clothes you own?
In what ways do you hide behind particular brands or products?

First Sunday in Lent

Genesis 9:8-17

1 Peter 3:18-22

Mark 1:9-15

(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 from Mark today is a very condensed version of many of the stories we know about Jesus. What, in other gospels, takes six or severn paragraphs, Mark covers in seven verses. Yet packed within this short reading is the crucial pattern of what happens to all of us throughout our faith walk with Jesus. Jesus is called away from home, baptized, and tempted. Then he spends his life sharing the Good News of God.

The ELCA talks about this pattern by saying we are Called, Gathered, Enlightened, and Sent Out. Another way to think of this pattern is language from Henri Nouwen’s book Life of The Beloved. Nouwen says we are Taken (Chosen by God), Blessed (Called Beloved by God in Baptism), Broken (Tempted), and Given (Sharing the Good News of God with the world). Taken, Blessed, Broken, and Given. We see this cycle in this short text and God invites us into it over and over again throughout our lives.

According to Nouwen, the life of faith hinges on God’s words spoken at baptism. Jesus would never have left home, been tempted in the wilderness, and then followed God’s call to share the good news (knowing it would lead to the cross) without a deep sense of his “belovedness.” Nouwen writes; “We ARE the Beloved and must BECOME the Beloved, we ARE children of God and must BECOME children of God, we ARE brothers and sisters and must BECOME brothers and sisters.”

Knowing our true identity is in God’s love for us is the key to fighting the battles against Satan, who tempts us to believe lies about ourselves. Nouwen says that we are most likely to be tempted away from our baptismal identity as God’s beloved when we believe one or more of these three lies:

I am what I have.
I am what I do.
I am what others say about me.

Jesus went through horrific physical and mental pain: The people from his hometown thought he was a joke. The religious leaders told him he wasn’t being faithful to God. His friends ditched him in his moment of greatest need. On top of that, people constantly challenged his identity: “He eats with sinners. He has a demon. What makes you so special? That’s not the right way to do things.” Had Jesus listened to these voices, he would have traded his identity for a lie. The voice he kept in the forefront of his heart and mind was his heavenly Father’s, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Discussion Questions

Which of the three lies do you most often listen to?
How might Libby Oliver’s artwork relate to this passage of scripture?
Where are you right now in the cycle of being Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given?

Activity Suggestions

Make a pile of all of your clothes, or all of your physical possessions, and then take a picture of it. Keep it as a reminder that you are much more that what you have.
According to a recent survey, the average person in the United States will have 12 different jobs in their lifetime. We are much more than what we do. Write down a list of the qualities or gifts that God has given you that you will share with others, no matter what job or career you might be called to.
Reflect on the lies that others have said about you. Using colored markers write those lies on a piece of paper. Then take a brush and brush water over the lies until they melt away. After the paper has dried write, “I am God’s Beloved child and with me God is well pleased.”

Closing Prayer

Triune God help me to remember that I am your beloved. Remind me that there is nothing anyone can say or do that changes the fact that I am loved by You. Help me to see that before I owned anything you gave me everything I needed. Guide me to see that I am not my work, but that my work is found in sharing the love of Jesus Christ with others. Amen.

Today’s post was written by Denise Rector, a PhD student at the  Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago focusing on womanist theology, race, and history. Denise was a member of the Liturgy Working Group for  All Creation Sings  and author of this lament. *

“Lamenting Racism” in All Creation Sings offers an entry point to the complexities of racism, making space to consider and mourn the effects of racism.

Why lament?

Why a lament, as opposed to a prayer or litany? This lament is intended as an action that acknowledges what has been broken in our relationship with our neighbor – the neighbor that we as the ELCA are called to love as we love ourselves. Specifically this lament is a way to recognize points of brokenness in the relationship between the ELCA and African Americans.

However, even after lamenting, there is still work to do. The other theological work of lament is that it invites contemplation of confession and forgiveness, reparation, and reconciliation. As members of the ELCA, we can lament racial inequity as a reflection of a societal problem, and then work to make the church and society more equitable. We are freed in Christ to serve our neighbor by actively remediating inequity.

Using this lament

Please include this prayer in your worship planning. You may want to add it to worship during Black History Month or for the commemoration of the Emanuel Nine (June 17), or in vigils or healing services. But please know that this lament is not limited to a certain commemoration, church season, type of worship service, or time of year.

This lament can be a way to begin:

Bible studies
Book club discussions
Adult education hour
Online events
Staff meetings

The most obvious connection may be to use this lament in situations that deal with racial or racist themes. But in reality, race – even White race – is always an issue. Therefore this lament can be used any time, for many various purposes. Be creative! You could:

Use as part of a personal prayer or meditation practice, changing the “we” to “I”
Focus on the prayer during a national time of ethnic recognition/celebration (African Descent; American Indian and Alaska Native; Indigenous Peoples within Canada; Arab and Middle Eastern; Asian and Pacific Islander; and Latinx community Heritage months)
Lead a discussion / plan a lesson about the lament for confirmation, adult education, etc.

The very word “racism” engenders emotional response. And that’s OK. Some people are more comfortable than others in talking about race. Consider how some of the above could work for you or in your congregation to begin hard but necessary conversations.

*sections adapted from Rector, Denise, The Gift of Lament: Moving from Diversity to Racial Equity in the ELCA, M.Div thesis, Wartburg Theological Seminary, 2018.

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

These reflections are a part of ELCA World Hunger’s Sermon Starter series which is published via email every Monday. You can sign up for the weekly email here on the right side of the page if on a computer or near the bottom of the page if viewing from a phone.

Isaiah 58:1-12

Fast from indoor gatherings.

Fast from outdoor gatherings of more than twenty-five people.

Fast from unnecessary travel.

Fast from in-person school (but over-indulge on virtual meetings).

Fast from expecting a quick resolution, and please fast from political posturing for a minute. Please.

Fast from uncovered faces, and indulge in imaginative masks.

Fast from indoor dining, but indulge on take-out, especially from the small stores who are just trying to make it!

We’ve had so many instructions these last eleven months. Fasts have been declared. Sackcloth has been replaced by mask-cloths. What are we to make of all of this?

The prophet Isaiah provides a beautiful column of words from which to build a thoughtful sermon, but truly on this Ash Wednesday the sermon will not be built by words, but by the world that is still trying to stop the hemorrhaging of our much loved friends and family. Truly we sit upon an ash-heap of tears and unrealized hopes in this pandemic.

In the process, we’ve drawn all sorts of images upon our brows: political D’s and political R’s and “sick” and “tested” and “vaccinated” and…

And we’re tired.

This Ash Wednesday, we don’t need a reminder that we are dust; I have a feeling that we’re all too aware of that by now, Beloved.

This Ash Wednesday, we need a reminder that, as the Gungor song says, “God makes beautiful things out of dust.”

The feast that God desires is one of justice. In a pandemic, that looks like wearing a mask, and abstaining from gatherings, and putting off travel in deference to the vulnerable. It means taking seriously the needs of communities of color, of indigenous communities, and our community of elders that are created by inequitable access to resources and care. It means learning, too, about “co-morbidities” and how these can exacerbate vulnerability. Although, if we’re truly honest, we all have co-morbidities we’re unwilling to acknowledge and face.

All humans have the co-morbidity of being made of dust.

God is in love with people with co-morbidities, Beloved. Let’s not pretend they’re expendable.

And not just in this pandemic, but long after it. God makes beautiful things, and it’s high-time we not just acknowledge it, but behave as if it is true!

We behave as if it is true not just by wearing a mask, but by honoring our neighbor after this is all over and done with. We behave as if it is true not just by abstaining from mass gatherings, but by finding ways to lift up the overworked and underpaid who don’t get to participate in mass gatherings no matter when they happen because they are hampered by poverty.

This Ash Wednesday we mark ourselves on our brow not with a D or an R or a “vaccinated” or an “employed,” but with a cross. A cross that says, in no uncertain terms, that all those other markings pale in comparison to the mark we received on that brow in our baptism, and that biological mark that all creation received in being formed from the dust that we use in remembrance.

Fast, Beloved, from elitism, not just from mass gatherings. Fast, Beloved, from ableism, not just from running at the gym. Fast from every -ism, not just traveling to exotic places to be waited on by underpaid workers.

This year, we have had the opportunity to see what a fast truly means, by God: it means remembering that we are not gods, but dusty-ones.

And God is in love with dusty things, so we can be in love with them, too.

All of them.

Pastor Tim Brown is the writer of ELCA World Hunger Sermon Starters for the months of January and February. Pr. Tim is a Gifts Officer and Mission Ambassador for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and a pastor and writer out of Raleigh, NC. He likes to write on the intersection of faith and doubt, and is a regular contributor to Living Lutheran, Sundays and Seasons, and The Christian Century. He’s a husband, father of two, a dreamer, and you’re more likely to find him at a coffee shop than in an office.

Grace Heimerdinger-Baake, Ankeny, IA

Warm-up Question

Have you ever transformed garbage into precious pieces of art? If so, what have you made and what did you use to craft the masterpiece.If you have not, what is stopping you from turning trash into treasures?

Transformation

A recent article tells how a visitors’ information center in Kathmandu, Nepal is collecting trash from Mount Everest and is transforming the waste into art. Foreign and local artists transform the used oxygen bottles, torn tents, ropes, broken ladders, cans, and plastic into unique masterpieces.

The information center displays the art with the hope of not only raising environmental awareness, but also generating employment and income. Proceeds raised from the art gallery will go towards conservation efforts in the region.

Discussion Questions

How would you transform the climbers’ waste into art? What waste materials would you use to craft the unexpected treasure?
What other solutions exist in safety disposing the garbage from the climbers?
How can you up-cycle the waste you and your family produce?

Transfiguration of Our Lord

2 Kings 2:1-12

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Mark 9:2-9

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

Gospel Reflection

This Sunday is the story of the transfiguration of Jesus. Leading up to this important event, Jesus has been very busy. He finished feeding a multitude of people, cured a blind man in Bethsaida, and had a deep conversation about his upcoming death with his disciples.

After all that, Jesus goes on a hike with three of his closest friends, Peter, James, and John. One might think this is a chance for Jesus to rest. Instead, Jesus transfigures (changes in form and appearance). Not only does Jesus’ appearance change, he is joined by Moses and Elijah. And then, God speaks, “This is my son, the Beloved; listen to him.”

Peter, James, and John have just observed their friend transform into something unimaginable. It is only rational for Peter to express the desire to make three homes, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He wants to preserve what he had just witnessed.

We know what the disciples may not have known at the time: the man who they went up the mountains with is the same man with the dazzling white clothes. Although Jesus’ appearance had changed, he was the same man, the same man whom the disciples witnessed feeding people, healing the sick, and walking on water. The transfiguration gives the disciples and us a new way of seeing and hearing Jesus.

After coming down the mountain, Jesus commands his disciples to tell no one (including the other disciples) what had transpired until “the Son of Man had risen from the dead.”

Mark’s gospel continues on from the transfiguration with additional accounts of Jesus teaching, healing, and foretelling his death and resurrection. The transfiguration simultaneously leaves Jesus changed and unchanged.

The mountain waste in Nepal undergoes a transfiguration similar to that of Jesus. It begins as something ordinary, having served the needs of climbers, and acquires deeper significance and beauty. The physical appearance is altered and the transfigured items provide for the needs of the native people.

Discussion Questions

When you hear the story of the transfiguration, what images jump out to you?
As the disciples and Jesus hike down from the mountain, Jesus orders them not to tell anyone what they have seen. Why do you think Jesus wants them to keep it a secret until after his death and resurrection?
On the mountain, the disciples are told to listen to Jesus. How do you and I listen to him? What role do the gospel stories play in shaping how we listen to him?

Activity Suggestions

Option 1: At the Transfiguration, the disciples are reminded that this event isn’t the end of the story; more is to come and they need to continue to listen to Jesus. A fun activity about a story’s continuation, and about our listening skills, is called One Word At A Time. This activity is best played between 2 to 8 people.

Introduce the activity by telling the players they are going to create a story that’s never been told before, and this story will be created one word at time. Ask a player to share the title of this story and begin with the first word of the story. Continue going around the room with each player adding a word to the story. It is important to stay focused on the story as a whole while remaining relaxed and ready for your turn.

Option 2: We don’t need to see new things. We need to see the old things with new eyes. Gather and clean waste items and transform the items into something useful or into art. While transforming, keep in mind that the milk jug you are using, is still a milk jug. You are just seeing it under new eyes.

Closing Prayer

Loving God, you led Jesus and his disciples up the mountain for his transfiguration, and there you commanded the disciples to listen to him. Open our ears and our hearts to always listen to Jesus. May we be attentive to the cross as we prepare to embark on the season of Lent. Amen.

By: Kristen Opalinski

“We are at a 1945 moment” — Those words from António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, came in a speech on January 10, 2021, marking the 75th anniversary of the first meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. Referencing the moment when the world, emerging from the horrors of World War II, took their first steps into a new era of global cooperation and unity.

It was at this moment, in the midst of one of humanity’s darkest hours, that leaders began to see the world for what it was — an interconnected web of people who possessed similar needs, but also similar hopes and dreams. It was the first time in human history that a unified body representing a majority of earth’s inhabitants would gather under one roof with the purposes of solving its most pressing challenges — the spirit of which is needed now more than ever.

Since 1948, the work of the U.N. has been grounded in one of its most important documents, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A professor and dean of the graduate school at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia at the time, Otto Frederick Nolde, was tapped by Eleanor Roosevelt to assist in the drafting of the declaration. 1 Authoring article eighteen, which states that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, Nolde helped ensure that faith had a seat at the table. He quickly became the most influential nongovernmental organization representative at the U.N., serving for over two decades in various diplomatic capacities that took him from Manhattan to Moscow.

As the world envisioned new ways of engaging diplomatically, the ecumenical movement was also gaining renewed energy and sense of purpose. A year prior to the start of World War II, 100 churches voted to found what would become the World Council of Churches (WCC) . Its inauguration would be delayed because of the war, eventually launching in 1948. Nolde was selected to lead a new WCC working group called the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, which advocated for the protection of religious liberty in the broadest possible terms within the U.N. and beyond.

Around the same time, Lutherans throughout the world were embarking on a new journey to become a federated body. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) was founded in Lund, Sweden, in 1947, taking the place of its predecessor body, the Lutheran World Convention. It was founded to provide a forum for theological and organizational dialogue, but also to coordinate the rebuilding and refugee resettlement efforts in post-war Europe. These founding aims continue to propel the LWF’s work today in responding to the needs of people around the world.

In 1973, the Lutheran Office for World Community (LOWC) was formed to both convey the social policy views of the LWF and eventually the ELCA (after its formation) to the U.N. and, in turn, keep LWF and ELCA members informed about U.N. responses to those issues. Along with the ELCA advocacy, LOWC works to cultivate a publicly engaged church, one that can respond holistically to promote peace and the dignity of all people.

Globally, the LWF, WCC, and other partners continue to serve as catalysts for action and transformation. From the LWF’s Waking the Giant, an ecumenical initiative aimed at building capacity in churches to contribute effectively to the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, to the WCC’s Thursdays in Black campaign advocating towards a world without rape or violence, churches are building upon past successes with renewed focus.

Moments like these require new thinking that pushes us beyond current realities. Youth and young adults are staking their role in this process. A recent webinar organized by the LWF, the WCC, and the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers (NRTP), brought together three young interfaith experts to discuss best practices learned during the pandemic. Mr. Fernando Sihotang, human rights and advocacy coordinator for the LWF’s National Committee in Indonesia, spoke about the ways in which the pandemic was pushing people towards a newfound awareness of their interconnectedness, “People joined hand in hand to support each other, to look for undeniable commonalities, instead of debating our differences.”2

Rev. Dr Sivin Kit, LWF Program Executive for Public Theology and Inter-religious Relations, reflected on the importance of this youth-led engagement, “Youth are able to connect the gains we have learned from history and reframe it in more ‘current’ and ‘future’ terms. Current because they are living in such complex world with such intensity that they may alert us to some blind spots… although revisiting and critically reviewing the past is necessary, often youth nudge us all – especially leaders, to be creative, draw on our imagination, and become more action oriented in shaping the future.”

As nations continue to scramble to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the inequalities present in our societies and their intersectionality have grown evermore clear. Ecumenical and inter-religious organizations are calling for the needs of the most vulnerable to remain front and center, as their lives and livelihoods are under the greatest threat. The Geneva Interfaith Forum for Climate Change , Environment and Human Rights (GIF), to which both the WCC and LWF are members, submitted a written statement to the 44th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council which called for the recognition, monitoring and addressing of “the intersections between the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and human rights.” Whether in our own community, across the country, or around the world, the need for ecumenical and inter-religious collaboration and participation in the public sphere continues to grow.

In the midst of a pandemic, rising tides of religious extremism and nationalism, political unrest, and racial injustice, the U.N. has designated 2021 as the ‘International Year of Peace and Trust.’ It is a time for us to look back and learn from these 75 years of global cooperation and ecumenical and inter-religious collaboration. It is a moment to ask ourselves what God is calling us to next, to seek out new paths that will continue to build trust, unity, and peace in the face of forces that seek to divide. Indeed, we find ourselves at a 1945 moment, a moment that requires us to move more urgently to mutual approaches to common challenges.

The U.N., like any institution, has at times fallen well short of it’s clarion call. And while its missteps in seeking justice and building peace must continue to be critiqued and studied, so too must its successes be celebrated. For progress has taken root over these 75 years, progress that will continue to evolve upon many different paths moving forward. Likewise, ecumenical and inter-religious partners must consider which paths to journey upon together. Wherever these roads lead us from here, may we work to ensure that truth-telling is paramount, that empathy is our guide, and that the dignity of all is recognized as we continue to name and celebrate that which unites us.

Kristen L. Opalinski serves as the Manager for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations for the ELCA

The Big Game Challenge has kicked off, and our church is racing toward the goal of ending hunger!

While you are cheering on your team and celebrating with family and friends— let’s help tackle hunger together!

From kickoff to final whistle, Team Kansas City and Team Tampa Bay will seek to outdo one another for the sake of the gospel. The fans that donate the most through their team page to ELCA World Hunger by midnight Central time on February 7 will help their synod take home the title of ELCA World Hunger Champion — regardless of the outcome on the field. Whether your favorite formation is 3-4, 4-3, or 3:16, you can send your nickels and dimes to support your team!

Team Kansas City and Team Tampa Bay are currently neck-and-neck and asking for your support! You can support your team by visiting the ELCA World Hunger Big Game Synod Challenge 2021 fundraising page at ELCA.org/BigGame!

Check out this video of Bishop Susan Candea of the Central States Synod of the ELCA encouraging supporters:

And not to be outdone, the Florida-Bahamas Synod’s Bishop Pedro Suárez is ready to prove that Team Tampa Bay has “the best football team and the most generous synod!”

Be sure to send us your game day photos, and may the best team win – so we can all tackle hunger together! #TeamTampaBay #TeamKansasCity #ELCAWorldHunger

Visit ELCA.org/BigGame to be part of the action!

(Thanks to Lizzy Croghan at Creative Coworking, Evanston, Ill., for the image of Martin Luther)

Chris Litman-Koon, Mt. Pleasant, SC

Warm-up Question

Working together, name some ways that the individuals of your group serve various roles within your community of faith. This could be official roles you have (e.g. acolyte, council member) or could be unofficial ways you contribute to the community (e.g. joy bearer, justice pursuer, peacemaker).

Dissonance and Resolve

Saint Peter’s Church in midtown Manhattan is a Lutheran congregation with a long history. In the local vernacular, it is often called “the jazz church” for its deep connection to the New York City jazz community and for its weekly jazz service. In the grand story of the congregation’s history, the years 2020 and 2021 will stand out as acutely painful.

The congregation has not met for in-person worship since the onset of the pandemic, yet at least 60 members of Saint Peter’s Church died from COVID-19 by the end of 2020. That in itself is heartbreaking for any faith community. Then on January 4 of this year, a municipal water main broke outside the church. This flooded the entire plaza where the church is located, and it sent water and mud a few feet deep into the main sanctuary and the lower level of the church. The damage to the building was extensive, including the organ, piano, and archival artifacts which include items once belonging to legendary jazz musicians John Coltrane and Billy Strayhorn. The leadership of the congregation has expressed appreciation for the various ways the broader community has rallied to support Saint Peter’s Church during this devastating time.

Discussion Questions

In jazz music it is common to have dissonant notes that lead to resolution. Using that as a metaphor, Saint Peter’s Church is experiencing a time of dissonance; how might “resolve” be understood in their context?
Has your faith community ever experienced a time of tremendous woe?

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

Isaiah 40:21-31

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Mark 1:29-39

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

Gospel Reflection

After healing a man of an unclean spirit in the Capernaum synagogue, Jesus and his four disciples (at this point) enter the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law has a fever, which was a more dire situation at that time than it is today. Jesus took her by the hand and lifted her up, and then she began to serve them.

It should strike us as odd that this woman — whose life was just in jeopardy — immediately begins to serve the men. Shouldn’t they tend to her? A narrow-minded view of gender roles is at play in this story. While we today are not bound to enact the social customs of a society which existed centuries ago on another continent, an understanding of those social customs can open our eyes to God’s activity in the story. People had certain and expected roles to fulfill in their Galilean communities, and it is safely assumed that the role of this woman was to serve others in this home, namely the men who entered it. However, the fever she experienced prevented her from fulfilling her role.

Interestingly, the verb used by the gospel writer Mark is that Jesus “raised up” her. Mark later uses this verb to describe Christ’s resurrection, and the verb is used on several occasions in the gospel to describe Jesus’ healing of individuals. In all those circumstances, the person is restored to their community or to a close relationship. When someone is brought low by unclean spirits, illness, or death itself, Mark says Jesus raises them again to fulfill their valued role in the community.

This woman serves the men after being raised up. That “serving” is the same verb that Jesus later uses to describe his own ministry in Mark 10:45. It is the word used to describe the disciples’ ministry: they are called to serve. The woman literally served the men food in her house. In a deeper sense, this woman is the first example of true discipleship in Mark’s gospel. She has been raised up by Jesus, and that experience leads her to fulfill her valued role in the community, which is (for her and all disciples of Christ) a role defined by serving.

That deeper understanding is what Mark intends for readers to hear and apply. Christ’s activity in our lives reconnects us to a community where we can fulfill our treasured role, which always takes the form of serving others. When jazz ensembles perform, it is said that they are “in the pocket” when everyone is keeping rhythm together and the ensemble is truly one. Christ desires his disciples to be “in the pocket” with their community — listening to others and each member making contributions to the whole in their own unique way — and it is through this experience of community that our service finds its greatest meaning.

Discussion Questions

When Christ raises us up and restores us to the community, do you hear that as the faith community or as a broader community? Can it be both?
How does or how can your service be an outcome of your role in the community?

Activity Suggestions

This activity can be done in the presence of others or it can be done virtually if everyone but the selected leader mutes themselves.

Have the leader create a repeating rhythm in either 4/4 or 3/4 time, keeping a constant tempo. This repeating measure can consist of claps, finger snaps, thigh slaps, or table hits. (If an instrument like a piano or guitar is present, that can be used to add harmony to the rhythm with an improvised repeating chord progression, known as a vamp.)

If the activity is done in person, have people contribute something additional, one at a time, to this underlying rhythm, like a finger snap on the second beat. As more people contribute, see if your group can be “in the pocket.”

If done virtually, everyone who is muted will only be able to hear their own contribution to the leader’s underlying continuous rhythm. Although this scenario limits the communal aspects of the activity, it might allow the muted participants to be more creative, perhaps changing things up as they feel moved.

As time allows, begin again with a new rhythm and possibly a new leader.

How does this activity add to your sense of community?

Closing Prayer

Loving God, you raise us up and call us to serve. Watch over all your servants, especially those who are facing difficult times. Raise up the Saint Peter’s Church community at this time, and may their help and hope be found in you. Amen.

Following are updates shared from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices.
As the new year begins, these state public policy offices (SPPO) share their annual policy priorities. Find a map and full list of ELCA affiliated SPPOs using our state office map.
Learn more about Lutheran advocacy using our new resource, Advocacy 101 For Young Adults

United Nations

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

LOWC represents both the ELCA and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) at UN headquarters in New York. Advocacy through LOWC reflects the work of these bodies depending on whether the context is domestic or international.

United Nations Policy Priorities include:

Gender Justice– Accelerate the pace towards gender justice, tackle the pervasive gender inequalities and discrimination. Advocate with ecumenical and interfaith partners by urging member states to implement fully the Beijing Platform for Action and other relevant international agreements. Amplify faith perspectives in UN processes, as well as build more coordinated faith interventions for gender justice at the national level.
Migration– Utilizing a rights-based approach, continue advocating for the promotion and protection of all migrants and their human rights, in accordance with international human rights treaties and instruments. Monitor UN member states implementation, follow up and review of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
Humanitarian issues– Advocate for policies that promote and protect humanitarian response efforts by companion churches and organizations, such as the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), through discussions and written messages, when appropriate. Special attention will be given, in conversations with the Security Council member states, to “forgotten crises”. Contact will be maintained with ELCA and LWF staff as well as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and its associated agencies. Advocacy collaboration will take place with ecumenical, inter-faith and other like-minded partners.
Sustainable Development– Monitor efforts by all relevant UN agencies (including the annual High-Level Political Forum) to achieve Agenda 21 (the Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs) and keep ELCA and LWF colleagues informed about meetings and other advocacy opportunities.
Human Rights– Advocate for the promotion and protection of human rights in country specific situations as well as with treaty bodies in coordination with LWF staff. Monitor and participate as feasible in the work of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
HIV/AIDS– Continue engaging with faith leaders and communities within the Interfaith platform working towards joint actions for access to prevention, testing and treatment services. Advocate and urge member states to address challenges hindering comprehensive responses to HIV in order to achieve the agenda 2030 HIV-related targets.
Racial Justice– Continue to advocate for racial justice in UN forums. A planned contribution will be in response to the recent Human Rights Council resolution on policing and racism. Continue to lift up the activities of the UN Working Group on People of African Descent, including the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade (March 25) and the first International Day for People of African Descent (August 31).

California

Regina Q. Banks, Director – Lutheran Office of Public Policy- California
https://lutheranpublicpolicyca.org/

Issue Priorities for 2021:

COVID-19 Response and Recovery. The coronavirus and the serious illness it causes have jumped to the fore to impact nearly every aspect of our lives, including state and counties’ Operations, budgeting, workforce, human services, behavioral health, public safety and economic development were all impacted. In 2020, LOPP-CA helped secure important federal CARES Act funding, millions of dollars in state Realignment Backfill funding, and a number of options regarding workforce operations, including increased Mental Health Services Act expenditure authority and extensions for counties. LOPP-CA maintained close engagement with Governor Newsom and his Health and Human Services Agency on the state’s reopening plans, the availability of testing, health equity, and a host of other COVID-19 related issues. As the health crisis continues, we will remain available to respond.
Affordable Housing. The affordability and availability of housing continues to be at crisis levels in California. The housing issue is not only a crisis in its own right, it’s also a main driver of California’s homelessness emergency. LOPP-CA will advocate for funding for affordable housing, including new state funding for construction of homes affordable to households at all income levels. We will continue to focus on implementation of recent housing legislation, including allocation of approved bonds, as well as full implementation of new homelessness programs.
Extend the CalEITC and Young Child Tax Credit to immigrant families and communities. These tax credits for families earning low wages are proven to increase economic security in households, help families pay for basic needs such as housing and food, and allow more people to share in the economic prosperity that they help create

Colorado

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

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado has adopted the following policy goals for its 2021 Advocacy Agenda:

Ending Hunger: improving SNAP usage rates, encouraging greater participation in nutrition programs for children, and collaborating with allied organizations
Poverty Reduction: supporting implementation work around paid family and medical leave (passed by voters in November as Proposition 118), protecting access to federal programs, and supporting efforts to make the Taxpayer Bill of Rights more equitable
Access to Housing: expanding and protecting housing options for low-income households (particularly renters) and extending eviction protections during the pandemic, and ensuring robust services and support for people experiencing homelessness
Criminal Justice Reform: working on sentence commutation and automatic record sealing efforts and advocating for increased community emergency responses from mental health professionals
Public Health: protecting health care access as a human right and public good, supporting public safety efforts to reduce firearm-involved deaths, promoting opioid addiction care and treatment, and addressing the ongoing mental health impacts of the pandemic (including anxiety, depression, stress, and suicidal ideation)
Migrants and Refugees: supporting broader ELCA efforts around sanctuary, asylum/refugee and immigration policies in collaboration with Lutheran service agencies
Caring for Our Environment: addressing the root causes of the climate crisis, supporting incentive-building programs around renewable infrastructure, and addressing the economic implications of transitioning communities away from extractive energy jobs

Kansas

Rabbi Moti Rieber, Executive Director- Kansas Interfaith Action https://www.kansasinterfaithaction.org/

Kansas Interfaith Action (KIFA) is a statewide, faith-based issue advocacy organization that puts faith into action on a variety of racial, economic, and climate justice issues. We are a state public policy office of the Central States Synod of the ELCA. KIFA’s 2021 legislative priorities include:

COVID-19 relief. People who are suffering from the effects of the pandemic and recession must be protected. In particularly we want to prevent an explosion of homelessness by preventing eviction. The moratorium on utility shut-offs should continue, and in both cases any repayment arrangements should be generous.
Payday loan reform. KIFA is part of a statewide coalition introducing bipartisan legislation to ease the conditions of short-term, high-interest loans to make them less onerous while protecting the accessibility of short-term credit.
Medicaid Expansion would help about 165,000 (mostly) working Kansans access affordable healthcare. It would bring millions of dollars in tax money back to the state and help keep rural hospitals open.
Build economic security for working families through equitable tax and budget policies; improving access to vital family and work support programs; and raising the minimum wage.
Criminal justice reform. Kansas’s state prisons are overcrowded, with significant racial disparities in enforcement and sentencing. Ways to address these issues include changing the sentencing structure to incorporate treatment, sentencing discretion, elimination of mandatory minimums, restorative justice principles, a focus on reentry, and a focus on decarceration – significantly lowering Kansas’ state prison population through commutations, pardons, and clemency.
Development of a state energy plan with a goal of equitably decarbonizing our economy by 2050.

KIFA’s advocacy priorities can be found here.

Minnesota

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

Issue Priorities for 2021:

COVID/Health Pandemic Aid & Recovery: The Pandemic exacerbates existing disparities as Black, Indigenous, other people of color, and low-income people are made more vulnerable to health and economic impacts. The pandemic also impacts mental health as cases rise and isolation continues.

LAMN is working to address ongoing impacts of the pandemic through policy work in:

Housing: Emergency Housing Assistance, eviction/foreclosures, shelter capacity
Mental Health: Accessibility to mental health services
Anti-Hunger Programs: Broader & deeper access to nutrition programs
Economic Recovery: Emphasis on income equity and job creation within renewable energy

Affordable Housing: Minnesota faces a severe housing crisis, worsened by the pandemic. The availability of housing, especially affordable housing, is decreasing as bars to low-income homeownership like low income and discrimination increase.

Alongside Homes for All Coalition, our agenda emphasizes the following areas:

Bonding for more housing stock
Several Policy Areas/Reforms (eviction reforms, manufactured home parks opportunities for resident community/nonprofit purchase, discrimination, and more)
Funding, especially for areas of emergency need

Climate Crisis & Clean Energy: A significant rise in climate-related disasters, human displacement, and the risk of future pandemics call for finding new ways to adapt and build resilience. Transition to a Clean Energy Economy has been speeding up. Many new jobs are being created in renewable energy industries. Fossil fuel industry workers need new, just employment.

LAMN is working with the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, the 100 Percent Campaign, and other partners/coalitions to:

Increase Minnesota’s Renewable Energy Standard
Require clean energy options to be considered before other energy options
Ensure a just, equitable transition to renewables for workers and communities
(Still under consideration) Improve soil health and carbon sequestration through regenerative agriculture

New Mexico

Kurt Rager, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry- New Mexico
https://www.lutheranadvocacynm.org

Dynamic advocacy during the on-going public health emergency:

Since the onset of the pandemic health emergency, state-level advocacy in New Mexico has lived a theme important to the Rocky Mountain Synod, that of “church becoming.” Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – New Mexico (LAM-NM) has repositioned its advocacy awareness and education, congregation outreach, coalition partnerships, and legislative engagement to the variety of virtual formats that so quickly have become our nation’s normal routine. Since the start of the pandemic, the New Mexico State Legislature has held two special sessions during which the capital was closed to the public and most legislators participated from home or office locations via Zoom. New Mexico’s 60-day session, which begins in January will be conducted entirely online and LAM-NM will continue to adapt and find new ways to achieve our advocacy goals in this ever-changing climate.

Since our ministry’s start over 35 years ago, the LAM-NM Policy Committee has helped set our legislative and policy priorities. Due to the significant and on-going presence of hunger and poverty in New Mexico, LAM-NM continues to focus our work primarily on public policies and programs that can have a positive impact on the realities faced by so many. At its 2020 fall meeting, the committee affirmed six priority issue areas on which our 2021 Advocacy Agenda will focus:

Affordable Housing and Homelessness
Family-Sustaining Income
Hunger
Health Care
Tax Policy
Criminal Justice

LAM-NM anticipates adding to the agenda as opportunities arise, particularly in the areas of redistricting, election reform, and racial equity legislation.

Pennsylvania

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

LAMPa’s 2021 Advocacy Priorities include:

Ending hunger and poverty and addressing their root causes remain top priorities for Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania (LAMPa) in 2021. Directing COVID aid to the most vulnerable, preventing homelessness, promoting just and sustainable economic development and achieving equitable education funding are also highlights of the issues agenda approved by LAMPa’s policy council in December. Read more here.
As the year drew to a close, Lutheran climate advocates testified in support of Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Read some of their stories here, including that of the Rev. Paul Metzloff of Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, who testified on behalf of LAMPa.

Washington

Paul Benz and Elise DeGooyer, Faith Action Network https://fanwa.org/

WA State Legislative Session: The 2021 legislative session began on January 11 and goes through April 25. Due to COVID-19, most of the work this year will be virtual, and FAN will continue to advocate strongly for justice-centered bills that support the well-being of our communities and equity for all. The six main areas of our 2021 Legislative Agenda are:

Advocating for a Biennial Budget that Reflects Our Values as a State
Reforming our Policing & Criminal Justice Systems
Creating Housing Opportunities & Preventing Homelessness
Addressing Climate Change
Protecting Immigrants, Civil & Human Rights for All
Ensuring Healthcare & Mental Health Access

You can find our full agenda at fanwa.org/advocacy/legislative-agenda/. We also have a page of Issue Fact Sheets with more information on each bill: fanwa.org/advocacy/issue-fact-sheets/ and a Bill Tracker so advocates can keep up with the progress of bills during the session: fanwa.org/advocacy/bill-tracker/.

Interfaith Advocacy Days: FAN hosts three Advocacy Days each year. The Eastern WA Legislative Conference “Beyond Words: Doing Justice” will be on Saturday, January 30 and includes a keynote by Rev. Walter Kendricks, a response panel, workshops, and legislative updates. Our annual Interfaith Advocacy Day focused on Olympia is on February 11 and will include information sessions, greetings from elected officials, workshops on bills on our agenda, and legislative district caucuses with legislator appointments on Thursday and Friday. In Central WA, we will gather on February 20 for Advocacy Day, “Moving Past Crisis and Into Action” for a morning of legislative overview, a panel discussion on policies affecting immigrants, and breakout action groups on Poverty, Climate, Voting Rights, Healthcare, and Immigration. We will emphasize collective actions we can take to move the policies forward, both locally and at the state level.

Wisconsin

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

LOPPW’s 2021 Advocacy Priorities:

Care for God’s Creation: Wisconsin Faith Coalition for Climate Justice is the name our coalition decided upon. LOPPW organized the group to address climate and water issues in the next State Budget. Our virtual advocacy event will be held on March 18, and we will organize actions leading up to and following the event.

Criminal Justice: Kyle, our hunger advocacy fellow, has worked with Kids Forward to continue leading coalition meetings to advocate returning 17-year-old youth to the juvenile justice system. This is a coalition initiated by LOPPW. Kyle has helped to organize three work groups to meet outside of coalition meetings.

Health: Advocated for the State Legislature to create a plan to address the pandemic. We signed on to a letter initiated by the Wisconsin Catholic Conference to request that clergy be moved up as a priority group to receive vaccinations.

Anti-Racism: Made a National Council of Churches letter Bishop Eaton signed on to requesting the removal of President Trump from office known. We also sent the NCC petition requesting the president’s removal to our listserv.

Wisconsin State Budget and LOPPW’s Priorities:

LOPPW is working with two coalitions focused on the Wisconsin State Budget. One focuses mainly on hunger, poverty, and immigration issues, and the other on additional issues. We are also working with the Wisconsin Anti-human Trafficking Consortium to strategize addressing budget items and separate proposed legislation.

About the Interviews

In October of last year, I had the opportunity to interview three of my friends and mentors, all current or former employees of Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp (FLBC). FLBC is a Lutheran Outdoor Ministry in Lakeside, MT. The interviews focused on how camp prepares young folks to be advocates for climate justice, and will be published in their entirety in the Lutheran Outdoor Ministry February newsletter.

Kyle Lefler served on year round staff at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp from 2014-2020, most recently serving as the Associate Director. These are excerpts from my conversation with her.

Conversation with Kyle

Colter: How does time spent outdoors change young folks, short and long term?

Kyle: The ability to play and be outside of traditional rules and boundaries really help people reset and learn things. It’s easy to see this when kids engage in creative play. In the long term, kids are able to establish their own boundaries in nature. They set up their own societies, build forts out of things they find, and create their own imaginative worlds! It all builds confidence. I’ve seen how access to true beauty and sacred space opens peoples’ eyes to how the world could be. Folks are moved towards stewardship and conservation of the land, and also consider, in new ways, how we can all be more inclusive. Kids will look back on their experience at camp when they think about climate justice.

Colter: If you could imagine a future where Lutherans are active climate advocates, what would that look like?

Kyle: We’re good at talking about this, and good at doing small, one-time acts of service toward climate justice. There are awesome folks who want to push the church but they’re hesitant to take bold risks. We should be challenging our synods to be carbon neutral. We should be pushing Lutheran Outdoor Ministry to incorporate climate education into its national programming. Too often these efforts are met by the tired response of ‘we must be apolitical,’ but the world is changing and shifting in our hands, and we’re called to care for our neighbors and our earth. Those are things the ELCA has explicitly stated we value as a church!

Our youth are not ambiguously “the future,” they are the present. We shouldn’t wait until our churches are burning in forest fires to care about the climate changes that cause those fires. God is calling us to something that is earth-changing right now. We have to be brave in admitting to it, and acting on it.

Next Steps

Be sure to check out all Colter’s interviews in the Lutheran Outdoor Ministry February newsletter here: https://www.lomnetwork.org/about-us/newsletter/
Become a Faithful Climate Action Fellow.
The Faithful Climate Action Fellowship is for people aged 18 to 26 who are passionate about their faith and the climate. Fellows will engage in 9 months of joint study, leadership training, and action. The time commitment is 2-3 hours a month and fellows will receive a $500 stipend. Priority will be given to Muslim and BIPOC Christian young adults from the Midwest and Southeast. The application deadline is Feb 15.

Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSckLGrJXyRh-TwpgYh74wuL9BADa1ujDELeVK7MJDedZ3qchQ/viewform
Check out our video series on faith and creation care from 2020, #NoPlasticsforLent
This series includes ecotheology, conversation about ecojustice and community, and green household swaps!

Videos available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egs4zLYaV2s&list=PL1kNLa7KLLn-D-JEajRXL5v8jqV5oYZHk

Reflection Questions

What did you learn / what was surprising that you heard about camp and / or creation care in this interview?
Kyle gives some bold recommendations about how Lutherans can be active climate advocates. Are your local faith communities implementing these or similar ideas? How might you become a bold climate advocate?
How does your faith inform the way you think about creation care? How are you investing in being more deeply spiritually formed in your understanding of ecojustice?

Colter Murphy served as counselor and wilderness leader at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp during the summers of 2014-2017. Colter currently serves as Director of Youth and Service at Faith Lutheran Church in Chico, CA. He can be reached at colter.g.murphy@gmail.com.

Kyle Lefler is passionate about working with young people in God’s Creation and striving to create intentional community spaces where they are unconditionally loved & accepted, empowered & advocated for. She loves early morning lake swims, handwritten letters & the Avett Brothers.

By Kyle Minden, ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow*

David is calling out to God in Psalm 86 to protect him from his enemies and from the other dangers he faces. David humbles himself before God and asks for deliverance from persecution and suffering. There are a lot of passages in Scripture that point to this sort of response to the prospect of suffering – and for good reason. We should reach out to God when we face obstacles and burdens.

TEXT Psalm 86 – “…You are my God; be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all day long…” (v. 2-3)

Like most of us, I have reached out to God many times over the past year to help me wrestle with grief, stress and exhaustion. That helps. But I think if you only read Psalm 86, you may get an incomplete picture of responses to the challenges and tragedy we face in our world today. Faced with suffering, Jesus acted.

Jesus in the presence of suffering

The Christmas story, for example, tells us of a time when the people of God were waiting anxiously for their deliverance. God’s people, having suffered through slavery, exile and persecution, called out to God for a Messiah. But when Jesus arrived, their Messiah wasn’t necessarily what people were expecting. Jesus was not a mighty king who would slay their enemies and eradicate suffering for God’s people. Jesus instead came as a teacher and a healer. Jesus healed and taught God’s followers to also look out for those who were poor, sick or on the margins of society.

I think we all have a tendency to depend on God’s ability to protect and heal, but we may skim over Jesus’s instructions for how we should all look out for each other. When there is suffering, we should call out to God for comfort and deliverance from suffering, but we must also act for those suffering as well.

A natural disaster is a tragic event that requires our prayers and laments to God. But reversing the ongoing climate crisis is a vital step to mitigate future disasters. After a school shooting, “thoughts and prayers” are only one side of a coin; following Jesus’s call directs us toward policy to help prevent future bloodshed. During this COVID-19 pandemic, we should call out in anguish to God; we truly need our faith in these trying times. But we must also do our part by wearing a mask, staying physically distanced and providing adequate funding and support including for frontline workers, scientists and healthcare systems.

Gifts and tools

I firmly believe that God’s guiding hand leads us out of tragedy, comforts us in our grief and even defends us against the burdens we cannot see. But we cannot call out to God for help without also utilizing the gifts and tools God has already given us to make change.

God gave us the scientists who plead with us to wear masks. God gave us climate change researchers of its causes and prevention. These are only a few examples. God has given each of us unique gifts and talents to make our world a better place.

Equipped with our gifts and tools, we must respond to Jesus’ call. We may cry out, but we need not only stand by and wait for God’s intervention. Followers of Christ must also act.

* This New Year Devotional Series has been composed by the three ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellows serving in 2020-2021. “The ministry of ELCA World Hunger involves young adult engagement in conversations and formulating solutions to this systemic and universal obstacle to physical and spiritual well-being. Hunger is one of the key issues we must address as a church, for injustice and inequity are consistent themes across our local and global food systems. One way to address hunger and ensure young adult involvement in the ELCA and in World Hunger’s faith-based work is by funding the Hunger Advocacy Fellowship (HAF) position, a year-long contract position designed to cultivate the leadership of individuals looking to halt the expanding reach of hunger through advocacy,” describes Taina Diaz-Reyes, Hunger Advocacy Fellow in D.C.

Kyle Minden is the Hunger Advocacy Fellow at Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin. He graduated from Wartburg College with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Business Administration and a Minor in Social Entrepreneurship. His interests in advocacy come from a desire to address systemic problems like poverty and hunger, income inequality, immigration reform and criminal justice reform. Growing up in the ELCA has taught him the importance of service as a demonstration of faith. He hopes to go to law school and become an attorney for the public interest following this fellowship.

ELCA Blogs

February 21, 2021–Who Are You–Really?

The Work of Lamenting Racism in All Creation Sings

ELCA World Hunger Sermon Starter: Ash Wednesday

February 14, 2021–Transformation

Pathways of Peace

Faith-driven diplomacy in the wake of war – Living Lutheran

Young peacemakers key to post-pandemic world | The Lutheran World Federation

ELCA World Hunger’s Big Game Challenge 2021!

(Thanks to Lizzy Croghan at Creative Coworking, Evanston, Ill., for the image of Martin Luther)

February 7, 2021-Dissonance and Resolve