By Kathryn Mary Lohre

The government of Israel has declared its intention to annex West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley, as soon as July 1. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu depends on the backing of the US presidential administration to legitimize what would be considered illegal under international law.

The Palestinian people, who have lived under Israeli military occupation for nearly 53 years, are crying out once again. They are calling us to recognize yet another looming pandemic: the dissolution of prospects for peace with justice for Israelis and Palestinians – Jews, Christians and Muslims.

In recent weeks, these pleas from our Palestinian Christian family have included:

•  “Statement on Unilateral Israeli Annexation Plans” by the Patriarchs and Heads of Local Churches of Jerusalem (May 7)
• “Liberation not Annexation,” A Statement and Pentecost Message from Bishop Sani Ibrahim Azar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (June 2)
• The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope, a book by Pastor Munther Issac (June 16)
• “This is the Holy Land (Exodus 3:5). It Needs Justice and Only Justice,” a statement by three former Heads of Churches in Jerusalem on the Israeli annexation plans (June 18)

To our Palestinian family, and especially our Palestinian Lutheran family: the ELCA hears your cries. This cannot be overstated – to you, and to anyone else who is listening. Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton has spoken out clearly on behalf of the ELCA, and also with ecumenical partners. This is critical.

At the same time it falls to all of us to work to amplify your call for “liberation not annexation,” and to accompany you in being a “disturbing presence” for peace through prayer, action, and advocacy with our elected leaders (For Peace in God’s World, 1995). Consistent with our social teaching, we denounce beliefs and actions that “ordain the inherent right of one people, race, or civilization to rule over another” and that “despair of any possibility of peace.” Therefore, as an act of Christian witness, we denounce the government of Israel’s plans for annexation and the political and theological beliefs that falsely justify it as a viable solution for peace.

When we are a disturbing presence for peace, our focus is on justice. Thus, we make a clear distinction between our critique of unjust Israeli government policies and our commitments to anti-Semitism and right relationship with the Jewish community. Our Churchwide Strategy for Engagement and Israel and Palestine can and does coexist with A Declaration of the ELCA to the Jewish Community. As Lutherans we live faithfully in the tension of this “both/and,” as justice is at the heart of both sets of commitments.

When we are a disturbing presence, we work to uncover the deep, systemic connection between the oppression of one people and the oppression of another, and between the liberation of the oppressed and the liberation of all. The racism that has kneeled on the necks of Black Americans for 400 years is part of the same global pandemic as the racism that has been kneeling on the necks of Palestinians for 53 years of military occupation, and that has been even more suffocating under Israel’s nation state law, adopted in 2018. The Palestinian cry for justice cannot be heard apart from the Black cry for justice. For those of us who are not crushed under the weight of anti-Black racism or military occupation, we must redouble our efforts to learn, listen, and be transformed for the sake of the liberation of our whole human family.

When we are a disturbing presence, we put people front and center. This means we look to our Palestinian partners, and especially our Lutheran family, to guide our work and witness for just peace. We also engage with our ecumenical and inter-religious partners to amplify these voices, and to enhance the impact of our collective advocacy. Importantly, it also means that we build strong relations with our Jewish partners so that when our church’s decisions, policies, and public witness cause misunderstanding, tension, or conflict, we can interpret as we seek to accompany both the Palestinian people and the Jewish community in seeking justice for all.

500 years ago, Martin Luther wrote the treatise “The Freedom of a Christian.” In it, Luther summarizes the Christian life, also reflected in Galatians 5:1: “For freedom Christ has set us free.” Our freedom in Christ is not a freedom for ourselves, but for the sake of our neighbors, lived out in love. As an expression of the liberating love we share in Jesus Christ, we join our Palestinian family, and our partner Bishop Azar, in calling for “liberation not annexation.”

Please join in ELCA advocacy through Peace Not Walls: June action alert

 

 

By guest blogger the Rev. Athena C. Thomasson-Bless, Social Justice and Advocacy Coordinator, ELCA North Carolina Synod

In a year where we are experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter Movement is gaining traction challenging police brutality and systemic racism, voting is both more important than ever and may look different this time around. An emphasis of the ELCA presiding bishop is that we are church for the sake of the world. Part of being the church for the sake of the world in 2020 is to encourage and advocate for fair elections and the right to vote.

North Carolina where I pastor and serve on synod staff is a state infamous nationwide for voter suppression controversies. These include gerrymandering, the manipulation of boundaries so as to favor one party or class; same-day registration regulation, which can allow eligible voters to register to vote and cast their ballots on the same day; and voter identification (ID) provisions, which were struck down for disproportionate affect on minority voters.

 

VOTER SUPPRESSION’S UNEVEN IMPACT

I have experienced some of the hoops that one must jump through to be able to vote in North Carolina and elsewhere as someone who was a student for the past nine years and has moved over six times in that span. I’ve waited in lines and driven over an hour to my polling place on one occasion. What I experienced was inconvenience. For many black and indigenous people of color, voter suppression can be a be a vote-prohibitive experience. For example, in the Kentucky primaries this week only 200 polling places were open for voters. And there was only one polling place in Jefferson County, the county with the most people and the largest black population in the state.

Projections this year indicate mail-in ballot use is on the rise. In the first half of this year, many states which do not already have a vote-by-mail election system are scrambling to reimagine the ways we can vote in the midst of COVID-19 realities. Projections by some experts of a second wave of the COVID-19 virus in the fall, and outbreak numbers rising as I write in states including North Carolina, add to the fear that voters may have going to polls. Looming pandemic realities are a real and tangible problem for our election system.

In North Carolina, usually less than 5% of votes are cast by mail in absentee ballot. However, this year, a surge of up to 40% more mail in absentee ballots according to state officials is anticipated. This is why a new bill, House Bill 1169, has been passed in the North Carolina Senate to provide more resources for voting by absentee ballot and to make it easier on voters to request and submit ballots. This bill had three votes against it, all coming from Black Representatives who did not like the bill’s mention of what they called misleading voter ID requirements. This opposition resonates with challenges in our country to white supremacy and systemic racism. Currently North Carolina does not have voter ID requirements in place due to court rulings that struck them down citing the possibility of motivation by racism. Even with this bill generated by bi-partisan support overall and providing more resources for voting by mail, the damage of voter suppression is evident.

Voter suppression has more often than not intentionally targeted the ability of black and Indigenous people of color to exercise the right to vote. This form of systemic racism is not just present in North Carolina, but across the nation. And as adaptation of voting methods to accommodate pandemic realities increases, myths about voter fraud may rise as well.

 

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

As Christians and as Lutherans, we have a responsibility to combat the sin of systemic racism and to advocate for fair and accessible elections. On a congregational level, congregations can provide resources and have Get Out the Vote drives.* The congregation I serve, Christ the King Lutheran Church in Cary, has a voting team that is encouraging as many people to vote by absentee ballot as possible this November We will have an informational town hall during the Sunday School hour with a guest speaker and ongoing events to make sure our community is educated, is registered and has a voting plan.

Our elections may look a little different this year, so please: educate yourself, your congregation and your community. Start now! November will be here before we know it. Check out your state’s Board of Elections website and our #ELCAVotes resources, stay informed – and make sure to register to vote. We have the opportunity and the responsibility to advocate for justice and peace and use our voice to vote this November.

 

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* Tips for Get Out The Vote drives and more can be found in the ELCA Civic Engagement Guide.

 

It’s hard to overstate the impact COVID-19 has had on our communities and our worship experiences. Summer 2020 has begun with a great deal of uncertainty – about our health, the health and well-being of our neighbors, jobs and more. But these past few months have revealed in surprising ways what we have known by faith – God is still at work in our world, inspiring hope, motivating change and leading us to a brighter future. And many congregations have been hard at work, adapting to meet the new needs and changing landscape of worship and faith formation.

To help with this, ELCA World Hunger is delighted to share an adapted version of this year’s Vacation Bible School: “On Earth As in Heaven…At Home!” This adaptation simplifies some of the activities in the original leader’s guide, offers tips for doing crafts and games at home, and provides links to pre-recorded videos you can share.

“On Earth As in Heaven…At Home” Leader’s Guide

The new leader’s guide for this at-home VBS provides simplified instructions for a shorter schedule, as well as alternative activities for parents or caregivers to use at home. The small-group times from the original format have been re-structured into short bible studies, with tips for hosting an online meeting or for households doing the activity on their own. We also included tips for helping children use a journal as part of the small-group times.

New game ideas have been added with an eye toward smaller households doing them, rather than large groups, and new craft ideas can be done with both younger and older children at home. There are also links to the songs for “On Earth As in Heaven” and to pre-recorded videos.

 

Videos

We are also happy to share that we have pre-recorded videos for the skits and for the Story Time station for “On Earth As in Heaven!” The skits were recorded and performed by Paige and Alexis Greve. There are five videos – one for each day – and these can be shared, posted to your congregation’s website, or played live during online gatherings. Each skit helps introduce the theme for the day.

There are also five skits that tell the stories of projects supported in part by ELCA World Hunger. ELCA churchwide staff tell the stories in the videos, so in each one, children will meet one person who works for the ELCA and hear the story of our neighbors working to end hunger around the world. Each story also includes some fun facts about the countries featured.

All of the videos can be viewed or downloaded from the ELCA’s Vimeo showcase page at https://vimeo.com/showcase/7224146.

 

Music

ELCA World Hunger also has original music for “On Earth As in Heaven!” There is a song for each day, and you can find zipped folders for each song on our resource page at https://elca.org/hunger/resources#VBS. Each folder will have a recording with vocals, an instrumental recording and a songsheet with chords.

In the leader’s guide for “On Earth As in Heaven…At Home,” we included a permissions letter that details the rights your congregation has to fair use and sharing of the songs and other materials associated with “On Earth As in Heaven.”

 

This adaptation of VBS for 2020 is the product of many conversations with leaders across the ELCA who provided their input and suggestions as it came together. All of the materials were developed, too, with the generous support of gifts to ELCA World Hunger, and we are happy to provide them for free because of this. If you use “On Earth As in Heaven…At Home,” please consider inviting participants to continue supporting the work of our church toward a just world where all are fed.

If you have any questions or feedback, please contact Ryan Cumming, program director of hunger education for ELCA World Hunger, at Ryan.Cumming@ELCA.org, or Brooke De Jong, program assistant for hunger education, at Brooke.DeJong@elca.org.

Blessings in your ministry!

You remember the story of Jonah and the whale, right? God commands Jonah to preach repentance to his foes in the city of Nineveh. But Jonah wasn’t down with being God’s little messenger. Not about that. Not to them. So, he booked passage on the first ship heading anywhere but there. The Bible tells us plainly that Jonah “ran away from the Lord.”

That worked out about as well as you would expect and after many storms and tribulations Jonah found himself in the belly of a whale; saved from certain drowning by a God with a plan. In the belly of the whale, the reality of the task being asked of him became clear to Jonah. In the belly of the whale, the enormity of the force sending him to Nineveh became clear.

When I announced my intention to go to law school my mother’s family became suspiciously excited. As I went through the application process I talked with them about this school or that. A couple of days would pass, then worked casually into the next conversation somehow would be the stats for that law school’s Criminal Law department. They weren’t subtle. But I of course they thought criminal law. My grandfather was the first Black Genesee County (MI) deputy in the 1950’s. He studied law then finished his career as a magistrate. His only daughter (my mother) was a probation officer briefly. 3 of his 4 sons are, to this day, sworn law enforcement officers. One of them even married a state trooper! Adding a prosecutor to the family would complete the set.

But my distaste for criminal advocacy was years old by then. I was a precocious (read: nosey) kid. I would listen to adult conversations and easily decipher their unimaginative codes. I heard the stories of unnecessarily brutal arrests, cases that went up on scant evidence, hanging judges, and “facilities” (jails and prisons) unfit for humanity. My relatives believed, and still believe, that change can come from within the system and at the very least the system was a little less antiblack during their shifts. But I had no interest in being in the criminal law space. And honestly, I had passively accepted the culture’s prevailing attitudes about crime and criminals. Some neighborhoods simply do require a stronger police presence. I too looked over my shoulder at ATMs for “super-predators.” I took Criminal Law and Evidence because they were required then filled my schedule with Federal Labor and Employment Law, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. I was going to work a standard 9-5 resolving employment contract disputes via forced arbitration clauses (and get filthy rich doing it!) I kept maps of all the exciting places my jet-set lifestyle was going to afford me. Nineveh was not on the itinerary.

After many storms and trials I learned that my skills and talents lay with legislative and executive advocacy. I learned the basics then studied and honed it as the science and the art that it is. I advocated for domestic violence survivors and employees unfairly paid. I advocated for the fair treatment of our immigrant siblings. I advocated for the poor, the unhoused, the mentally ill. I’ve traveled abroad waving the banner for ecological justice and climate change abatement. And then the children. Always the children. I even found time to advocate for more green space in my own neighborhood. Everything and anything except anything that touched on crime or policing. Sure #BlackLivesMatter. But I don’t have to be the spokeswoman for it.

Then I spent I my three days in the belly of the whale. To be more precise the month of October 2019 broke me. It excised whatever small trace of “If you’re not doing anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to fear from the police” remaining in my spirit. Early that month my favorite human, my nephew Xavier, turned 8 years old. He got a new video game that he just loved. He wanted to play it with me. All. The. Time. Sometimes late into the night. We did that. He’s unreasonably scared of spiders. It’s one of those truly annoying things I love about him. I’m constantly called on to go 2 or 3 rooms away and kill the spider that he defiantly heard and is certainly on its way to come and get us. Sometimes he hears them outside. When I’m in a particularly generous mood I go and hunt for his imaginary spiders outside our front door.

Stop right now and Google the name Atatiana Jefferson.

When the news of her death reached the nation something in me broke wide open. It wasn’t just the fact of her death. It’s that her death made headlines for less than one news cycle. I was angry and heartbroken and incensed and grieved and irate and perplexed and exhausted and dying inside. I’m not certain when I was swallowed by the whale. But I was for sure in the belly of the beast; driving along the beautiful California coast from Sacramento to Monterey to offer a keynote address at the synod professional leaders conference– blind through tears. I don’t remember, and it doesn’t really matter what I actually said to the Lord in my car that afternoon. “In my distress I called to the Lord, and the Lord answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and the Lord listened to my cry.”

Through the sacrifice of one beautiful black life, I fortified a voice that advocates for Black bodies.

I’m not yet in Nineveh. I am only now beginning to understand the reality of the task set before me. Through my television screen filled with visions of cities all over the world rallying and rising and rioting I am just now learning the enormity of the source sending me. I am stumbling and fumbling and walking slowly and being led by the Spirit and those who have been on the road longer. I’ve been practicing what I will say when I arrive. I’ve begun saying small snippets in places I would have never dared before. I’ve rallied more. I’ve organized more. Staff meetings are different with me around now (thank you for making space for this, Amy Reumann.) I’ve begun saying in larger and larger spaces that the system we’ve built around crime and punishment requires repentance. I’ve been inviting others into the conversation. But we have not yet arrived in Ninevah. There’s still room for you on the road.

Bio:

Regina Q. Banks lives in Sacramento, CA where she proudly serves as the Director of the Lutheran Office of Public Policy- California. She is very active in her community, dedicating most of her free time to organizing public advocacy to support a host of social and political causes. She is a lifetime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (a public service organization) and, when permitted, shares her life with an ill-tempered chihuahua named Ender Jay.

 

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

Partial content* expanded from Advocacy Connections: June 2020

NATIONAL ATTENTION ON POLICE VIOLENCE AND RACISM  | COVID-19 LEGISLATIVE RESPONSE  |   COMPOUNDED MIGRANT CONCERNS  | PROTECTING VOTING RIGHTS DURING THE PANDEMIC

 

NATIONAL ATTENTION ON POLICE VIOLENCE AND RACISM:  The ELCA recently signed a letter to Congress with a coalition organized through The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights. The letter included specific policy recommendations for just police reform. Campaign Zero, a comprehensive platform of research-based policy solutions to end police brutality in America supported by the ELCA since 2016, also includes insights around barriers to effective misconduct investigations and civilian oversight; more available from ELCA.org/BlackLivesMatter.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, held a planned June 16 hearing on potential policing proposals, stating protests show it is clear that police use of force should be discussed. Un-passed bills introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) have received new life in policy discussions in the House of Representatives, including a 2014 proposal to track incidents of police violence nationally and a 2015 bill that would require independent prosecutors in violent incidents.

 

COVID-19 LEGISLATIVE RESPONSE:  The House of Representatives on May 15 passed a second economic supplemental bill (The HEROES Act). The $3.5 trillion dollar package included almost all of ELCA Advocacy’s top domestic priorities– including expanding low-income housing, nutrition and unemployment benefits. However, the passed bill did not include any additional funding for an international response.

It is unclear whether the Senate will take up all the provisions of the House-passed bill. ELCA Advocacy is working with partners to ensure that the next Senate supplemental bill will include funding for international response. An active action alert encouraging the U.S. Senate to take action can be found at ELCA.org/advocacy/actioncenter.

 

COMPOUNDED MIGRANT CONCERNS:  The COVID-19 pandemic as well as federal government response to it have widely disrupted the U.S. immigration system. The ELCA with 250 others signed a letter urging the Department of Homeland Security “to immediately halt expulsions of unaccompanied children and those seeking humanitarian protection and restore the rule of law at our borders” and the CDC to rescind its May 20 order.

Under the CDC order, border officers are expelling some Central American children and asylum seekers to Mexico. The letter indicates reversing the order could allow for the entry and processing of people seeking refuge in the United States. The letter concludes: “Decisions relating to COVID-19 should be aimed at saving, not endangering lives, and should be driven by evidence-based public health measures and respect for human rights.”

 

PROTECTING VOTING RIGHTS DURING THE PANDEMIC:  “Administering elections during a pandemic is new territory for the [U.S.]. But we do not have to choose between public health and a functioning democracy,” reads a letter to members of Congress signed by the ELCA with a coalition of faith-based organizations. It welcomed CARES Act funds for elections but requested more in the next response package “for the Election Assistance Commission to uphold a safe and secure general election and to support states and localities still facing risks with primary elections.”

“We must have as many safe voting opportunities as possible,” reads the letter, which names no-excuse absentee voting with prepaid postage, an extended voter registration period, same day registration, election day contingency plans and online voter registration among other supportable practices.

 

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*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 .

 

A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?” (Isaiah 40:6)

There are times when words fail us, when we search for what to say but crying out or sighing must suffice.

Yet there are also times we can turn to crafted words we have come to know through scripture and the church’s liturgy: “We confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.” “Have mercy on us.” “O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending…”

We pray in all times and circumstances but the specific words we use evolve over time. These changes reflect the needs of the church that is always “beset by change, but Spirit-led” (ELW 729). The forthcoming worship resource, All Creation Sings, includes a section of “Prayers, Thanksgivings, and Laments.” These prayers for assembly and devotional use address a number of topics and circumstances for our time. These include the health of our planetary home, but also the health of our relationships in church, family and society. Page ten of the preview for All Creation Sings provides a brief outline of the topics addressed.

In several instances the prayers may be contextualized by adding a name, country, or situation. When we need the words in a given moment, such prayers give us a beginning point from which we make the prayer speak to a particular time or situation.

Many of you know that the ELCA’s publishing ministry, 1517 Media, is located in Minneapolis. As employees gathered online to pray after the murder of George Floyd, the following prayers from All Creation Sings gave us words for this moment.

Rise up and come to our help, merciful God, for we are in need. Our spirits are weighed down with fear; our bodies feel as fragile as the dust from which we came. All that we have trusted seems hidden from sight. Although this moment has come upon our nation/city, you have not forgotten us. We do not trust in our own power or strength, but in your steadfast love in every generation. Show us your face in this time of trial, remind us of your faithfulness, and save us for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, your own mother looked on when your life ended in violence. Our hearts are pierced with grief and anger at the death of (George Floyd). We commend him to your wounded hands, and his loved ones to your merciful heart, trusting only in the promise that your love is stronger than death, and that even now, you live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

Our prayer, in and with all creation, includes such words and melodies of lament, of indignation, of pleading, and ultimately of hope in God’s presence and mercy. In the months and years ahead, we hope the prayers included in this new resource will give the church needed words for the moments when we ask, “What shall we cry?”

 

Welcome to the ELCA AMMPARO blog. For those of you who have discovered this and are not familiar with the ELCA AMMPARO strategy, it the ELCA strategy to accompany migrant children and families with protection, advocacy, representation and opportunities. As a holistic, whole church response, AMMPARO accompanies migrants in countries of origin, transit, destination and return!

We look forward to using this space to share in a deeper and more substantial way, our current analysis of the issues we are facing around immigration issues as well as a place to access the many immigration advocacy initiatives that we are a part of as ELCA AMMPARO. Stories of migrants will also be shared here.

Our hope is that this will lead to greater understanding, increased advocacy and thus justice for these very vulnerable children of God!

covid-19-us-res_47106616 (1)

Be a part of the response:

Pray
Please pray for people who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. May God’s healing presence give them peace and hope in their time of need.

Give
Thanks to generous donations, Lutheran Disaster Response is able to respond quickly and effectively to disasters around the globe. Your gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response (General Fund) will be used where they are most needed.

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

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

By guest blogger Katie Thiesen, Deaconess Community of the ELCA candidate from the ELCA New England Synod

The Deaconess Community of the ELCA is using prophetic diakonia – or service that leads to social change that restores, reforms and transforms – to do the work of justice with the Poor Peoples Campaign (PPC). This movement encourages us to be grounded in the thousands of scripture verses that call God’s people to the work of justice.

We claim as Lutherans that we are loved. We also know that being personally loved is only part of the story. Being unconditionally and radically loved is not an end. We more fully realize that radical love when we see the sacredness and love for ALL.

“Every stranger I meet is a part of me I don’t yet know – and I a part of them. Together, strangers, inextricably connected, we live into God’s reign on earth.” – Sister Davia Evans

After hearing the scriptural call to radical love, I have struggled with what it means to do the work of charity. If I see you hungry and feed you one meal, knowing that you will again be hungry later, where does that leave my relationship with you and with God? Matthew 25 connects us to Jesus in the encounter – “when you saw me hungry.” One meal begs many questions, including: Did not God create this world in abundance for all?

I am learning I must never stop with acts of charity. We all need to have daily needs met now, so we need charity now. Yet charity is only needed because we do not have justice and will only be needed until we have justice! Matthew 25:31-46 and James 2:15-22 call us out when we leave one another without needs met. Micah 6:8 calls us to justice.

Hear in this two minute video names and reasons including Emmett Till to Sean Reed “and the too many murdered just because they were black” that compel this deaconess to participate in the PPC: “The Poor Peoples Campaign is a vision and a movement for right now. That’s why I am going.” – Sister Ramona Daily

At a small PPC gathering in 2018, organizers called us together in a circle, asking us to stand next to people we didn’t know. We were then asked to turn to our left and then turn to our right and say, “Hello Image of God!” Even typing this brings me to my knees two years later.

This immediately consecrated everyone in the room! No one was more the image of God than another, and no one less. I felt a surge of the Holy Spirit moving about that space, affirming we all belonged, we all were loved and able to love in return, and we all wanted to be part of each person’s complete wellbeing.

We are not all the same, as 1 Corinthians 12:26 shares, but in all of our beauty and diverse gifts, we are ONE. I do not have all the answers of how to do and be this moral fusion work, but it grounds me and crosses every line of division.

The Deaconess Community of the ELCA endorsed the Poor People’s Campaign in 2019. “For over 130 years our Community has been acting on our call to prophetic diakonia – we can do this better with the Poor People’s Campaign, A National Call for Moral Revival fusion movement,” said Sister Noreen Stevens, Directing Deaconess, of work carried forward with the movement begun by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington on June 20, 2020 will be a digital gathering of poor, dispossessed and impacted people, faith leaders, and people of conscience, marshalling collective voices to demonstrate the power of our communities, and you can register from this link.

“The PPC is a moral call to take care of all of God’s people in an equitable way. The prophets called out injustice, and Jesus stood with the most vulnerable. It is our mandate to follow the command to Love your neighbor. This campaign addresses the root causes of injustice, and we are called through our baptisms to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.” – Sister Dottie Almoney, Chair, Board of Directors of the Deaconess Community

You already have a place of belonging in this movement as we are all doing the work of being the one body we were created to be.

 

Learn more about PPC and the June 20 event from https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/

Learn more about The Deaconess Community of the ELCA from https://deaconesscommunity.org/

Following are updates shared from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices.

U.N. | Arizona | California | Colorado | Minnesota | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Texas | Washington | Wisconsin

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

Dennis Frado, director

UN75 – 2020 AND BEYOND: The United Nations (UN) is marking its 75th anniversary this year. At the beginning of January 2020, it launched global conversations to listen to people’s experiences, fears, hopes as well as share the proposals and ideas that will shape the future for all. Everyone is asked to help in #ShapingOurFuture by joining the online dialogues. On May 14 -15, 2020, a virtual UN75 “People’s Forum for the UN We Need” was held. It brought together civil society and other stakeholders. The highlight of the forum was the handing over of the UN75 People’s Declaration and Plan for Global Action to the 74th President of the United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande. Check out the UN75 2020 and beyond and UN2020 websites to see how you can participate.

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Arizona

Solveig Muus, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA) director@lamaz.org

CONGREGATIONAL OUTREACH: LAMA’s policy team continues to reach out to each of our 85 Arizona congregations to learn how we might serve their needs. One church at a time, we are learning what each is passionate about, what community ministries each supports, and where there might be an advocacy call to action. We are learning a lot and are encouraged by the responses we receive.

COVID-19: As Arizona logged it’s highest single-day rise in coronavirus cases on June 3, we pray for all Arizonans, knowing the numbers are on the rise. In particular we pray for the Navajo Nation, which has seen 5,479 cases and 248 deaths among its 175,000 people, reporting the highest infection rate in the U.S. We thank God that 1,920 people have recovered from COVID-19, with more reports still pending .

This month, three of our team made videos for a Washington Interfaith Staff Community (WISC) campaign to move the Senate to act on a COVID-19 response, and we participated in a call with House Speaker Pelosi on coronavirus, housing and homelessness, and a call with U.S. Reps. Raul Grijalva and Tom O’Halleran on coronavirus crisis funding and recovery.

We continue to be blessed by God in so many ways! While our beloved nation is exhausted and in mourning, we know that God is in our midst at every turn, showing us a way forward.

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California

Regina Q. Banks, Lutheran Office of Public Policy- California (LOPP-CA) lutheranpublicpolicyca.org

RACIAL JUSTICE: As our state reels from countless incidents of police violence and brutality against Black people and the legacy of white supremacy in this nation, we mourn, grieve, and advocate. We are supporting a bill to end racial discrimination in jury selection, and, along with coalition partners Green CA and Building the California Dream Alliance, pushing forward a larger list of bills related to racial equity and criminal justice reform. We lift up bail funds around the nation to support the voices, rights, and prophetic work of protesters. The Virginia Interfaith Center – one of our fellow state public policy offices – offers this list of resources for faith communities to fight racism.

BUDGET ADVOCACY—CALEITC EXANSION: The California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) is an essential piece of anti-poverty policy for Californians, but one group has been consistently excluded: undocumented tax filers. Immigrant tax filers contribute $3.2 billion to state and local taxes every year, yet they are ineligible to receive aspects of the safety net proving so essential in the midst of COVID-19. Along with coalition partners, including interfaith organizations, we have been pushing over the last months and years to expand the CalEITC. The governor’s recent budget proposals lacked this expansion, but in the Legislature’s version the expansion is included for undocumented tax filers with children under the age of six. There is still much work to be done to see this through. We thank all of our advocates fighting with us!

FOOD AND FARMING: Our priority bills are moving through the committee process, with some wins! Two of these support expanded and simplified access to CalFresh for seniors, people with disabilities, and people exiting the criminal justice system. We are partnering with Bread for the World in sponsoring one of these bills. We are also following a bill affecting farmworker communities in conjunction with frontline farmworker and immigrant rights organizations. Our CalEITC advocacy and our work with ELCA AMMPARO also intersect with our food and farming work.

FEDERAL HEROES ADVOCACY: We mobilized our network to advocate for more coronavirus relief for people who have lost their jobs or who are already living on the edge. HEROES, which originated in the US House of Representatives, was thought to be dead on arrival at the US Senate. But concerted efforts of advocacy groups and citizens across the nation have moved the Senate to take up the bill, which would provide relief to state and local governments (of particular importance to California’s State Budget) and increase SNAP benefits as well as other food access programs.

END CHILD POVERTY CAMPAIGN: Several members of Lutheran churches throughout California joined virtual district meetings with federal lawmakers in May, urging strong support of policy recommendations shown to reduce childhood poverty. We were encouraged by the efforts and support of Congressmembers Adam Schiff, Ted Lieu, Anna Eshoo, Rosa DeLauro, Jimmy Gomez, and others.

ADVOCACY IN QUARANTINE: We continue to host our weekly Wednesdays at Noon briefing on state and federal legislation and call to action. This month, we have supported racial justice priorities, CalEITC expansion, CalFresh access, the HEROES Act, and rental assistance.

GOD’S WORK, OUR HANDS, OUR VOICES: Our Lobby Day was postponed until September due to the special nature of the current legislative session. Look forward to an advocacy component to God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday!

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Colorado

Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado www.lam-co.org

LEGISLATURE RETURNS: The Colorado General Assembly is back at the Capitol. Their focus in the limited two- to three-week window will be the state budget. All bills with new spending that were pending in March have been killed, leaving only the budget and items with no cost attached.

Several bills that we were waiting for have been killed, including:

• HB 1081, Multilingual Ballot Access – bill on which we advocated during our advocacy day in February to translate ballots into more languages.
• HB 1203, Helping Colorado Families Get Ahead – bill to expand the EITC and Child Tax Credit. We expect a different version of the bill to come back next year.

However, we are still supporting several bills that are under consideration, including:

• SB 029, Cost of Living Adjustment for Colorado Works – bill to tie TANF/Colorado Works funds to increase with inflation.
• HB 1332, Prohibit Housing Source of Income Discrimination – specifies that housing providers must accept any legal source of income and not discriminate.
• A new bill related to Paid Sick Days, which we expect to be introduced soon.

RECOVER COLORADO: We’re part of a coalition called Recover Colorado, advocating that the legislature use state budget reserves appropriately, that Congress provide federal aid to supplement the state budget and that the legislature pass a temporary tax measure to raise substantial revenue.

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Minnesota

Tammy Walhof, Lutheran Advocacy- Minnesota (LA-MN)  lutheranadvocacymn.org

Work continues on LA-MN policy priorities, as well as responses to COVID-19 and racial justice issues. Director Tammy Walhof shared a Modern-Day Psalm of Lament on Facebook on May 31, then added that since writing it the community had seen: “thousands of people into the streets to help with clean-up. It’s brought piles of donations, and an outpouring of concern for the neighborhoods and businesses that have been decimated. Sunday, thousands and thousands of peaceful protesters are marching in various groups throughout the Metro Twin Cities, honoring the memory of George Floyd and calling for the hard work of reconciliation. These first steps are the work of the Holy Spirit! (Unfortunately, some violence continues). Moving forward, may we all strive to live God’s justice, peace, and love with one another.”

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OHIO

Deacon Nick Bates, Hunger Network in Ohio hungernetohio.com  

FIGHTING RACISM: Lutherans across Ohio mourn with the family of George Floyd and have participated in a series of non-violent protests, vigils, and marches in late May. We will continue to do the hard work of not only avoiding racism, but actively train ourselves to be anti-racists and address the systemic barriers to forming a beloved community. If you would like to get involved in anti-racism work, please contact us.

BALANCED APPROACH TO BUDGETING: Ohio’s governor has already cut $775 million from our state budget due to falling revenues. Advocates continue to push for a balanced approach to budgeting by using our state rainy day fund and seeking new revenue to help our schools, communities and essential public services through this.

Advocates are pleased that families struggling with hunger will have a few extra dollars this summer to use in grocery stores through expanded SNAP benefits for many Ohio households.

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Pennsylvania

Tracey DePasquale, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry–Pennsylvania (LAMPa) lutheranadvocacypa.org

Stopgap Budget Sees Increase For Hunger Funding: Gov. Wolf signed a five-month stopgap spending plan, flat-funding programs from general revenues as the COVID-19 impact was anticipated to create a $5 billion shortfall in anticipated state revenue. The plan increases expenditures for hunger, housing and a host of other relief and recovery programs through federal CARES Act funding.  At $50 million, the package more than doubles funding for anti-hunger efforts through the State Food Purchase Program and the Pa. Agricultural Surplus System. Extra funding to help struggling dairy farmers can direct another $5 million into the charitable food system. LAMPa advocates were vocal in calling for this much-needed support.

Emergency Feeding: LAMPa advocates successfully urged policymakers to allow Pennsylvania to pilot a program to allow recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to purchase groceries online as a safer alternative for especially vulnerable individuals and households. That pilot has begun. In addition, hunger leaders effectively encouraged 13 of their 18 members of Congress to sign on to a “Dear Colleague” letter, urging extension of waivers of in-person visits for the Women, Infants and Children and The Emergency Food Assistance Program. LAMPa invited synods and hunger leaders to contact us about any service ministries disrupted by civil unrest.

Child Nutrition: Lutheran hunger leaders reached out to members of Congress to urge the USDA to extend waivers to allow schools and other providers to continue serving meals throughout the summer in non-congregate settings. The waiver was approved. LAMPa’s network also shared information encouraging families who lost income to sign up for free and reduced-price school meals so that their children might be eligible for additional pandemic-related nutrition support.

Collaboration: Director Tracey DePasquale addressed the role of faith-based advocacy as stewardship of citizenship in a virtual gathering for Lutherans Restoring Creation. She also collaborated with Lutheran Disaster Response in NEPA and SEPA synods on a webinar for those engaged in ministries with vulnerable populations in the time of COVID-19.

Hearing on Draft Social Message: Although we were unable to gather in person for our annual Lutheran Day in the Capitol, our keynote, the Rev. Dr. Roger Willer, led a virtual hearing on “Government and Civic Engagement: Discipleship in a Democracy.”

 

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Texas

Bee Moorhead, Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy texasimpact.org

COVID-19 RESPONSE: In May, Texas Impact began resourcing local congregations to share best practices on responding to the COVID-19 crisis and equipping members to advocate for solutions to unmet needs. We ended the month compiling sermons and statements opposing systemic racism and making plans for a legislative package to respond.

Texas Impact is adapting our Treasure Hunt pilot program to equip two congregations to study the local impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, identify emergency resources, and determine next steps for advocacy. Legislative Engagement Group leaders were trained in May to begin monthly meetings in their legislative district (by Zoom for now) as a group and with their state house district office. The initial meetings focus on how congregations can partner with legislators to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The weekly e-news has continued to highlight denominational leaders, including all three Texas ELCA Bishops, who continue to recommend congregations listen to the advice of public health officials. Texas ELCA bishops have been leaders throughout the COVID-19 crisis, helping to resource other denominational leaders throughout the state.

WEEKLY WITNESS PODCAST: This month Texas Impact continued the Weekly Witness podcast series featuring speakers from the Washington Interfaith Staff Community (WISC), which will include an appearance by John Johnson in June.

“TEXAS FAITH VOTES”: Texas Impact launched a “Texas Faith Votes” campaign, organizing Texans of faith to pledge to vote based on four priorities (health, climate, immigration and non-discrimination) and organizing congregations to promote vote by mail options for eligible voters.

The news can be discouraging, but we find hope in the leadership of Texas faith leaders and the level of engagement of Texans of faith.

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Washington

Paul Benz and Elise DeGooyer, Faith Action Network fan@fanwa.org

STATEMENT AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY AGAINST PEOPLE OF COLOR: Faith Action Network joins with many across this nation in deploring the latest murders of Black Americans by police and in calling out for justice. We speak the names of the victims of this recent racist violence and we grieve for their families, their communities, and our nation. We mourn with our communities around the state as peaceful protests are met with riot gear, and we stand in solidarity with nonviolent efforts for justice. See our full statement here.

“PROTECT WHAT YOU LOVE” – FAN’S 9^th ANNIVERSARY: We are celebrating our 9^th anniversary as an organization on June 11, with the theme “Protect What You Love.” In tumultuous times with the concurrent viruses of racism and COVID-19, it is vital that we protect the communities and institutions that we love. COVID-19 exposed the fragile support systems that fail to guarantee our neighbors the right to economic stability, housing, food, safety, and healthcare. As our state considers its upcoming budget and the federal government considers new relief packages, we “Protect What We Love” by strengthening programs like SNAP, creating new programs like the Undocumented Worker Relief Fund, and advocating more funding for vulnerable communities, NOT cuts to social services. FAN is raising funds to support this ongoing work which will be matched up to $8500 through June 11.

YAKIMA FARMWORKER STRIKE: FAN supports the efforts of farm workers in Yakima who have been on strike for weeks for protections against COVID-19. Yakima is the county most affected by COVID-19 on the west coast, and the health of our food laborers is vital to the health of all. Volunteers have been delivering homemade masks and forming caravans to join the protestors this month. After a significant advocacy effort by many groups, the governor is requiring all food packing employers to provide PPE and sanitizing stations in all parts of the workplace.

REGIONAL SPRING SUMMITS: Each Spring, FAN hosts four regional summits in Puget Sound, Southwest WA, Eastern WA, and Central WA. This year we have moved those meetings online but continue to host our familiar structure of legislative and congressional updates with a focus on justice issues our advocates would like to work on in the coming year, local advocacy efforts, breakout groups by issue topic, plus discussions on COVID-19 and the 2020 Census this year.

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Wisconsin

Pastor Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin (LOPPW) loppw.org

NEW INTERN: LOPPW welcomes Evan Sadlon, who will be entering his senior year at UW-Madison. He is majoring in religion and history with a minor in political science. He is an ELCA member doing his internship remotely from home in Illinois. He is also preparing for the LSAT this summer. Evan’s focus will be on care for God’s creation.

ELCA: Rev. Dr. Roger Willer moderated an excellent discussion on the draft of “Government and Civic Engagement: Discipleship in a Democracy” for Wisconsin and the UP via LOPPW.

WEDNESDAY NOON LIVE: LOPPW interviewed Nurse Elizabeth “Buffy” Riley, who lives in Hayward, WI. Recently, Buffy chose to help at a hospital in New York City. We also welcomed UpNorthNews Journalist Julian Emerson, who followed Buffy’s story.

SAFER AT HOME: The Director assisted the six bishops to organize a letter made up of their input on the WI Supreme Court’s decision to lift the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Safer at Home Order, and made the letter known. LOPPW also participated in the Lt. Governor’s conference calls and one call with the DHS.

HUNGER: LOPPW had a meeting with a food pantry coordinator in Eau Claire and then interviewed her about how to start a food pantry on FB live the following week. We also participated in a conference call with hunger leaders around the state and wrote an action alert about the new stimulus bill.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: Pr. Crane also attended the Festival of Homiletics in between meetings and other work.