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*From April 29 to May 1, the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public-policy offices attended the 2019 ELCA Advocacy Convening in Washington, D.C. The theme of the convening was, “Prepared to Care: Our Advocacy in Light of Disasters Intensified by Climate Change”. Over 70 attendees, including ELCA bishops, community leaders, and state public-policy advocates, participated in workshops, trainings, and hill visits with their legislators.

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Lutheran Office for World Community, United Nations, New York

Dennis Frado, director

UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT (CPD):

Photo: CPD; Credits: UN DESA

The 52^nd session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) took place at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York from April 1 to 5. The theme of this year’s session was: “Review and appraisal of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and its contribution to the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. At the opening session the commission adopted a “declaration on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development”. This was the first time ministerial declaration passed by the commission after several years; during this time the commission has been unable to adopt a resolution because some countries (the U.S. included reportedly) oppose any text referring to sexual or reproductive health and rights.

Among the many side-event that took place was, “Faith-based Approaches to Sexual and Reproductive Health from a Human Rights’ Perspective” organized by ACT Alliance, the World Council of Churches, UN AIDS, Faith to Action Network, Islamic Relief-USA, the Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Permanent Missions of the Philippines and Norway. The event emphasized that religious actors play a crucial role in advancing gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Specific topics included delivery of health and education services and how religious leaders and other religious authorities function as “norm setters”, and their relationships as advocates with legislators nationally and globally. Watch the event here. Read the full report on the general debate over sexual and reproductive rights during CPD session here.

 EIGHTEENTH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS PERMANENT FORUM ON INDIGENOUS ISSUES (UNPFII) 2019:

The Rev. Mari Valjakka (second from left), Sami pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and moderator of the World Council of Churches’ reference group on indigenous peoples, visited the Lutheran Office for World Community during the recent UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The Lutheran Office for World Community attended the 18th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) held April 22 – May 3 the Headquarters of the United Nations. This year indigenous people are sharing invaluable knowledge and information around the theme “Traditional Knowledge: Generation, Transmission and Protection.”

 The chair of the forum stated that “traditional knowledge is at the core of indigenous identity, culture and heritage around the world and must be protected.” Discussion centered on the urgent need to preserve and revitalize indigenous languages in this the International Year of Indigenous Languages. According to the publication Ethnologue:Languages Around the World, of the 7000 languages spoken around the world 2,680 are in danger of disappearing, and with them the important culture and practices they articulate.

During the session on human rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli Corpuz, the UN Special Rapporteur, spoke on attacks on and crimes against indigenous peoples, highlighted in her 2018 report to the Human Rights Council. Her 2019 report will focus on indigenous governance and systems.

Other side-events during the forum included, the launch of “Indigenous Youth: Through Their Eyes,” a book by the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus and the UN Special Envoy on Youth in collaboration with Columbia University. Fourteen indigenous youth contributed to the book, representing all seven regions of the world. They shared a unique perspective on indigenous issues that are affecting the world today.

Read more about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the General Assembly in 2007.

During April, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton (second from left) paid her first visit the Lutheran Office for World Community, accompanied by Kathryn Lohre, ELCA executive for ecumenical and interreligious relations (far right).

 

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California

Regina Q. Banks, Lutheran Office of Public Policy- California                                                        loppca.org

ADVOCACY CONVENING: California was well-represented at this year’s Advocacy Convening held April 29 through May 1 in Washington, D.C. The theme of this year’s event was “Prepared to Care: Our Advocacy in Light of Disasters Intensified by Climate Change”. The California delegation consisted of Bishop Guy Erwin of the Southwest California Synod, Debi Groon of Lutheran Social Services of Southern California, Wylie Cook a seminarian and board member of the Lutheran Office of Public Policy- California, and Regina Q. Banks, director of LOPP-CA.

The delegation discussed the ELCA’s commitment to disaster response and preparedness with congressional representative Gilbert Cisneros (CA-39), Doris Matsui (CA-06) and Brad Sherman (CA-30),  as well as senators Kamala Harris and Diane Feinstein. All of the meetings went very well and it was decided all of the offices were receptive to the ELCA Advocacy Ask.

LUTHERAN LOBBY DAY IN SACRAMENTO: Washington was good practice for California’s first statewide advocacy event scheduled for Wednesday May 29th in Sacramento. You can still register for Lutheran Lobby Day at the State Capitol. Participants from D.C. will give an in-depth debrief. Information and a link to register can be found at www.loppca.org

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Colorado

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

LEGISLATURE CONCLUDES: The Colorado General Assembly adjourned on Friday, May 3, after four months of legislative work in 2019. Major priorities of the Lutheran Advocacy office this session included death penalty abolition, paid family leave, school lunch access, renter’s rights, and climate action. The assembly had not adjourned by our deadline, so consult our June update for a full run-down of how these priorities fared.

ADVOCACY CONVENING: Colorado was represented at the ELCA Advocacy Convening in Washington, D.C. from April 29 to May 1. Peter Severson, director of LAM-CO, and Jim Gonia, Bishop of the Rocky Mountain Synod visited with staff of the Colorado congressional delegation on Capitol Hill.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SYNOD ASSEMBLY: The Rocky Mountain Synod convened May 3-5 for its 2019 assembly in Albuquerque, N.M., under the theme “Be Transformed!” The event featured keynote speaker Fr. Richard Rohr and also lifted up the ministries of the RMS that are leading hospitality for migrants in Las Cruces and El Paso.

CONGREGATION VISIT: Thank you to the people of Our Saviors’ Lutheran Church in Fort Collins for hosting LAM-CO Director Peter Severson, who preached at their Wednesday Lent service on April 3!

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North Carolina

GeoRene Jones, North Carolina Synod Social Justice & Advocacy Ministries (SJAM) Advocacy@NCLutheran.org

Last month we reported on our March 26 Advocacy Day event, Lutherans at the Legislature 2019, and follow-up efforts by congregations across the state. Our advocacy focus was to raise awareness about the significant number of homeless people in our communities and to ask for increased support from the state for affordable housing initiatives across our 100 counties.

One week later, on April 2, legislators in the North Carolina House of Representatives introduced House Resolution 564, which would create a North Carolina House of Representatives select committee on homelessness.

The measure, which passed first reading on April 4, is now under review by the House Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations, and we are hopeful that the resolution will be allowed to the floor and passed before the end of this year’s legislative session.

SJAM efforts in this area of advocacy continue, our next event being a pre-assembly educational forum on homelessness and affordable housing.

 

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New Mexico

Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry- New Mexico (LA-MN)            lutheranadvocacynm.org

GOVERNOR MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM SIGNS BILLS SUPPORTED BY LUTHERAN ADVOCACY MINISTRY-NM: Eight bills for which LAM-NM advocated during the 2019 legislative session made it to the governor’s desk for consideration and were signed into law:

Workers look on as Gov. Lujan Grisham prepares to sign a bill increasing the state minimum wage to $12.

• Increasing the state minimum-wage to $12 by 2023;
• Protections for domestic workers under the state minimum wage and labor laws;
• Stricter requirements and reporting for small loans;
• Creation of the mid-level dental profession of dental therapist which can expand access to oral health care for low-income New Mexicans;
• Prohibiting trafficked minors from being charged with prostitution;
• Prohibiting solitary confinement for children, pregnant women, and people with a serious mental illness;
• Increasing the state Working Families Tax Credit, which piggy-backs on the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, from 10 % to 17%; and
• Prohibiting most employers from asking on initial job applications whether or not an applicant is a felon.

 

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Southeastern Synod

Hilton Austin, director

WASHINGTON, D.C. ADVOCACY CONVENING: We just returned from D.C. We had good visits with our legislators or their assistants; Rob Woodall (GA) and Gary Palmer (AL) individually welcomed us to D.C. and talked with us for 30 minutes. It was very refreshing to have them take time out of a very busy day to speak with us.

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATION 2019 – ’20 SESSION: Mississippi’s legislative session has closed for the year. We were fortunate to have six of the bills we supported pass.

Criminal Justice Reform:

• HB1352 – This bill will create the “Criminal Justice Reform Act.” which redefines certain courts (such as drug courts) as “intervention courts,” removes the offense of contempt for an individual’s inability to pay fines, and revises expungement procedures to make them more inclusive.
• SB2328 – This bill will create the “Forensic Mental Health Act of 2019,” to ensure protections for people with mental health concerns who are involved in the justice system.
• HB1284/SB2781 – This bill will create the “Mississippi Fresh Start Act” which states that no person pursuing, practicing, or engaging in any occupation that requires a license shall be disqualified solely or in part because of a prior conviction, unless that conviction directly relates to the duties and responsibilities of the licensed occupation.

Environmental Justice:

• HB1568 – This bill will authorize the issuance of state general obligation bonds in the amount of $27,940,000 to provide matching funds for the Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund.

Education:

• HB637 – This bill will create the Voter Enfranchisement Study Committee to examine the impact of non-violent offenses on enfranchisement.

Healthcare:

• SB2267 – This bill will create and act to amend the code of Mississippi to transfer the responsibilities of the Mississippi Commission on Expanding Medicaid Managed Care to the Medical Care Advisory Committee within the division of Medicaid in order to monitor and study the Medicaid Managed Care payment program and to make an annual report to the legislature. The bill will also authorize the Medicaid Care Advisory Committee to consult with similar groups.

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Ohio

Nick Bates, Hunger Network in Ohio                                                                     www.hungernetohio.com

THE OHIO BUDGET – A MORAL DOCUMENT: Ohio continues to trail the nation in hunger, infant mortality, college tuition, income, and overdose death rates. We must do better. Faith leaders across Ohio attended an advocacy day at the Ohio statehouse in early April to discuss affordable housing, food security, a refundable Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC), and fair school funding. The senate will spend May putting their mark on the budget before a final version goes before the governor by June 30.

TAKE ACTION WITH A LETTER TO YOUR LOCAL PAPER: Public officials are dealing with many important issues in the state budget, but you can help lift up the needs of hungry Ohioans with a letter to the editor. CLICK HERE for instructions and a link to your local newspaper. This advocacy is extremely important!

OTHER HAPPENINGS: The Hunger Network was pleased to join our ELCA colleagues in Washington, D.C., for an advocacy convening on climate change and disaster. As we know, those already struggling to get by will bear the brunt of the impact of climate change. (top: Nick Bates, Presiding Bishop Eaton, and Amanda Silcox) . (bottom: Nick Bates, Sen. Rob Portman, John Pyron, and Paisha Thomas).

FAITH ADVOCACY TABLE: HNO continues to assist in convening an inter-faith table of statewide advocates. Paisha Thomas, an ELCA Advocacy Fellow, facilitates the day’s conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

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Pennsylvania

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

ELCA ADVOCACY CONVENING: LAMPa staff joined Bishop Collins and Bishop Dunlop of the Upper and Lower Susquehanna synods, respectively, as well as five LAMPa advocates in Washington, D.C., for the ELCA Advocacy Convening “Prepared to Care: Our Advocacy in Light of Disasters Intensified by Climate Change.” Along with bishops and leaders from around the country, the group learned about climate and disaster response before visiting lawmakers to advocate for policies to address the threats posed to all.

LUTHERAN DAY AT THE CAPITOL: Registration is open for our day of advocacy on May 20, which will begin at Trinity Lutheran Church in Camp Hill and include presentations on hunger and child nutrition, human trafficking, climate change, prescription drug pricing, the ELCA proposed Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment with keynote speaker Kathryn Lohre, and more. In addition, the day will include worship, legislative visits, breakfast, lunch and a celebration of advocates from each synod. The advocacy day is part of a two-day event on the theme “Set A Welcome Table,” designed to equip disciples to live into the beauty of Psalm 133:1: “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!” More.

CIVIL CONVERSATIONS TRAINING: On May 19, LAMPa will co-host training inspired by Krista Tippett’s “On Being” podcast and the Civil Conversations Project. Designed to help participants improve their skills for engaging in meaningful conversations in divided times and organize civil conversations in their community. This event invites people of all faiths to build a thriving, diverse democracy. More.

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Washington

Paul Benz, Faith Action Network (FAN)                                                                                              fanwa.org

The Washington State legislative session adjourned right on time, and we were busy working to ensure that policies passed will prevent poverty, build housing, protect immigrants, promote civil rights, create clean energy, restore justice to the criminal justice system, and increase public access to medical and mental health care!

HERE ARE JUST A FEW OF OUR EXCITING SUCCESSES OF 2019’S SESSION:

• The 2019-’21 biennial operating budget of $52.4 billion, which includes some increases for affordable housing and our broken mental health system.  We took a small step toward progressive tax reform by revising REET (Real Estate Excise Tax) and how home sales are taxed in our state.
• 100% Clean Electricity (E2SSB 5116) – The nation’s most comprehensive clean energy bill which will eliminate Washington State’s use of fossil fuels by 2045.
• Religious Zoning (SHB 1377) – Authories a “density bonus” for faith communities building affordable housing on their properties.
• Keep Washington Working (E2SSB 5497) – Separates the work of local law enforcement from that of federal ICE agents, allowing immigrant families to participate in their communities without fear of deportation.
• Initiative 1000 – This petition to restore affirmative action in jobs, contracts, and education was signed by more people than any other in the history of Washington State.
• Use of Deadly Force (SHB 1064) – Restricts the use of deadly force by law enforcement. The first bill to be signed by the governor this year, based on Initiative 940 which was passed by Washington voters in late 2018.
• Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women (2SHB 1713) – Improves law enforcement response to the safety of indigenous women.

FAN HAS BEEN WORKING FOR PEACE IN UNJUST AND DIFFICULT TIMES. We celebrated as the No Ban Act was introduced at the federal level and we met with local staff senators Murray and Cantwell who support the measure. As part of Holy Week, we attended a Table Turning event at Tukwila Detention Center to call out the systems of oppression that harm our neighbors. We mourned with the victims of the shootings in Sri Lanka and San Diego, attacks on people of faith that come far too frequently. We hosted a Statewide Giving Day on April 30 and took to the streets the following day to march with our union friends for May Day. Our work extends from our local communities across the state to the federal level.

PAUL AND SARAH ATTENDED THE ELCA ADVOCACY CONVENING IN WASHINGTON, D.C., and met with the staff of Washington State’s congressional respresentatives. We discussed climate change, natural disaster response, and funding for Puerto Rico.

 

 

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Wisconsin

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

Our state government is currently shaping its 2019-20 budget. Many of our efforts as an individual ministry and in coalition with our partners have been focused on influencing the budget according to our priorities on hunger and poverty.

PEOPLE OF FAITH UNITED FOR JUSTICE – INTERFAITH ADVOCACY DAY: One of our budget priorities was clean drinking water in Wisconsin, on which LOPPW took a leadership role. LOPPW’s director, Cindy Crane, and Lutheran Campus Ministry Faith and Vocation Fellow, Sarah Schultz, co-led a workshop on the state of drinking water in Wisconsin. Both Schultz and Hunger Fellow Kelsey Johnson served as legislative captains, leading participants from their assigned districts to their state senator’s and representative’s offices.

Sarah (left) co-leading the first of two 30-minute water presentations.

 

Kelsey (right) leading participants in a discussion during a legislative visit.

 

Water presentation video: https://www.facebook.com/LOPPW/videos/369178180354191/

JOINT FINANCE COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARINGS: The director of LOPPW testifed on water, human trafficking, driver’s licenses, and federal dollars for Badger Care at the commitee’s first public hearing, held in Janesville.

Kelsey and LOPPW volunteer Laura Hermanns attended the hearing in the Milwaukee area. LOPPW volunteer and WELCA leader Shirley Paulson attended the hearing in Green Bay.

 

 

First ordained Lahu pastor in the ELCA serves in two-expression church

“After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ ”  — Revelation 7:9-10

Christ Lutheran Church in Visalia, Calif., is a church transformed. In opening hearts and doors to a ministry among the community’s Lahu people, the congregation has become a two-expression congregation moving toward the future with hope and promise.

The first step was to welcome a worshiping community of Lahu people. The second step was to join with the Lahu community to support and encourage the Rev. Samee Singkeovilay, who became the first ordained Lahu pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in April 2018. Soon after, he became the mission developer pastor for the Christ Lutheran Lahu Ministry, a Synodically Authorized Worshiping Community sponsored by the Sierra Pacific Synod.

Called to connect

Nestled in the San Juaquin Valley near the Sierra Nevada foothills, the city of Visalia is home to the largest concentration of Lahu people in the United States: about 2,000 (out of a total of 130,000 people). This is the largest number of Lahu people outside of Asia. Most Lahu in Visalia have family ties to Laos and surrounding areas in Southeast Asia. As such, “the people pretty much know each other and most people are related to one another,” said Singkeovilay. His ministry focuses on building connections with and among this close-knit community.

The Christ Lutheran Lahu community has been worshiping at the church since 2006, after forming nearly 10 years earlier and initially worshiping at another church. Drawn to partnership in ministry with Christ Lutheran, in June 2018 the community became the Christ Lutheran Lahu Ministry SAWC, shepherded by the Rev. Teresita Valeriano, director for evangelical mission for the Sierra Pacific Synod.

But the connection goes deeper. The Lahu Ministry’s 40 worshiping families recently joined Christ Lutheran Church, en masse, transforming Christ Lutheran into a church with two expressions. This two-expression church comprises a collaborative partnership between a historically European-origin community and a newer community of Lahu people who, by adding their culture and heritage, have expanded the outreach and ministry potential of Christ Lutheran Church.

Glimpses of the future

The impact of Singkeovilay’s ministry is one reason for this connection. Bishop Mark Holmerud of the Sierra Pacific Synod, who ordained Singkeovilay, sensed his faith and commitment to serving the Lahu people of Visalia at their very first meeting, to consider his candidacy. “Pr. Samee is the kind of servant leader who gives me hope for the future of this church. At his ordination, several pastors from his TEEM [Theological Education for Emerging Ministry] cohort traveled hundreds of miles to join in the service. That spoke volumes to me of the impression he made on his classmates and their support for his journey to be ordained to serve at Christ Lutheran.”

With the transformation into a two-expression church, Christ Lutheran reflects the vision of the future that the ELCA is pursuing — to truly reflect the diversity of its community and the country and to seek to grow relationships with all God’s people. “Pastor Samee, as the ELCA’s first ordained Lahu pastor — and the Lahu community as a whole — are gifts to our church, not only in terms of diversity, but also more important, in terms of what we can learn from their contribution in mission and hospitality. I am very encouraged and inspired by this new mission partnership, a witness of missio Dei being lived out,” said Valeriano.

“Christ Lutheran is planting the seeds, serving as an example for vital congregations with two expressions to spring up all across the country,” said the Rev. Pongsak Limthongviratn, program director for Asian and Pacific ministries at the ELCA.

Involvement yields growth

Singkeovilay has been involved in the Lahu worship community for many years. The appeal of the ELCA began in 2009 when Singkeovilay, serving as worship leader, began to seriously consider going to seminary. Eventually he came to realize that, “in order for me and the Lahu to do ministry effectively, I should go through seminary and become an ordained pastor.” In 2011, with the encouragement of Christ Lutheran Pastor Brian Malison and Lahu elders, he made his decision. “Christ Lutheran Church members and leaders were a driving force for me to pursue becoming a Lahu pastor in the ELCA.” Over the next seven years, while working as a custodian in the Visalia Unified School District, he worked to complete the TEEM program of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary.

Christ Lutheran initially supported the Lahu community by providing space, which Singkeovilay and the Lahu elders feel “opened the door for the Lahu people to learn, to study the Word of God and to grow.” In time, as church leaders witnessed the depth of Singkeovilay’s ministry and the potential to reach more people, the church stepped up to do more, and to build greater connections between the two communities. To date, this has mostly meant shared worship opportunities as well as spiritual and financial support for Singkeovilay’s seminary path. But a greater partnership is in the works.

The Lahu worshiping community has found that getting involved in Christ Lutheran’s ministries has been “one of the best ways to learn from one another and share the Lahu culture and heritage,” said Singkeovilay. Experiencing the culture of the Lahu has been a blessing to the English-speaking community. “The Lahu remind everyone that (1) God’s church is multi-faceted and multi-ethnic; (2) saying you are inviting and actually being inviting are two different things; (3) grace is the common language that binds us, even though we speak different languages; and (4) the future of Christ Lutheran Church is going to look different now that the Lahu are a part of CLC,” said Malison.

Living the future, now

With its two expressions, Christ Lutheran is showing intentionality. It is beginning to live the vision of the future, now. The combined church has an end goal in mind, much like the vision of the church presented in Revelation (chapter 7: 9-10), which describes a multitude from every nation worshiping God together. “We have just begun to make plans and create strategies for greater ministry impact within our community, but I am sure that whatever that looks like, it will be beyond anything we would have thought of as a church before our formal merging,” said Malison.

Holmerud and Valeriano of the Sierra Pacific Synod have been a source of encouragement for Christ Lutheran as it begins to explore its path forward. Singkeovilay is thankful for this support, realizing, “there are people working behind the scenes to help me and to encourage me. Thanks be to God—through the prayer and support from Christ Lutheran Church, the synod and the ELCA, I can do more pastoral care to the Lahu ministry.”

by Kris A. Mainellis, Program Director for Communication and Events, Congregational Vitality

Jen Krausz, Bethlehem, PA

 Warm-up Question

Warm-up Question: When you hear someone’s testimony, do you tend to believe it or question it? Why?

How Do You Know the Truth?

On Wednesday May 1, U.S. Attorney General William Barr gave testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his handling of the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report about his two-year investigation into President Donald Trump.

Mueller investigated whether President Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, which would have been illegal. Collusion means working together, which a presidential candidate is not allowed to do with a foreign power like Russia.

Barr faced questions on Wednesday because of his summary of the March 22^nd report. Democrats in Congress think Barr has been too partial to Trump and has not been objective about the report.  Barr’s summary said that the report showed no collusion with Russia and was inconclusive about some possible instances of obstruction of justice. Democrats have said that the full report could show some wrongdoing by the President and his administration.

In his testimony, Barr defended his summary against aggressive questions from some Democrat senators, some of whom accused him of being “purposely misleading” and “lying to Congress.”  Barr refused to appear at a parallel hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, which is controlled by Democrats and might have involved questions from lawyers as well as lawmakers.

Trump has called the report a “complete and total exoneration.” Not all Democrats see it that way, however, Democrat party leaders have backed off on calls to impeach Trump since seeing the report.“  Still, many remain unsatisfied with Barr’s answers.  “Mr. Barr, now the American people know that you are no different from Rudy Giuliani or Kellyanne Conway or any of the other people who sacrifice their once decent reputation for the grifter and liar who sits in the Oval Office,” Senator Mazie K. Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii, said to Barr. Giuliani is Trump’s personal lawyer and Conway is White House counsel.

Discussion Questions

• Clearly, there is strong disagreement concerned the truth of Barr’s testimony.  What are some ways you might be able to tell whether someone is being truthful?
• Is truth always black and white?  Is it possible for there to be honest disagreement over what something means?
• What are some of the possible consequences of giving false testimony?
• How does false testimony relate to the Ninth Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”?
• Why might someone not be truthful when testifying about something?

Fourth Sunday of Easter

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

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

Gospel Reflection

As the scene opens, Jesus is walking in Solomon’s Colonnade in the Temple courts. In the Old Testament, Solomon was known for his great wisdom. The wisdom of Solomon remains legendary, but Jesus’ wisdom far surpasses that of Solomon, who eventually disobeyed many of God’s commands to him, i.e. marrying many wives, stockpiling gold, and even worshiping other gods. (See 1 Kings, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes for more of Solomon’s story).

The people around Jesus in this passage are not so different from people today. They want to know what is true; they decide to ask Jesus directly whether he is the Messiah. It seems that this isn’t the first time these people have asked Jesus whether he is the Messiah. For Jews, who have waited hundreds of years for the Messiah to come, it is hard to believe that this relatively uneducated, plain, and peace-seeking person can possibly be the promised Messiah, who will liberate his people.

Like so many people when they hear a word from God in their hearts, they want to hear it one more time before they can embrace it as truth. They just aren’t sure whether they can believe what seems so strange.

So Jesus tells them that his works testify about him. Healing miracles, his teachings, and his unique way of pointing people to God were his testimony. In its best form, testimony gives proof about something. It also reveals truth. The works of Jesus do both of these things, but like people of today, not everyone is convinced of the truth of Jesus’ testimony.

In the King James Version, Hebrews 11:1 says  that Faith is “the evidence of things unseen.” While some theologians have made strong and convincing arguments in favor of God’s existence and Jesus’ divinity (Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ, for instance), it isn’t possible to fully prove these things in a courtroom. Faith is required.

Jesus describes people of faith as his sheep. As sheep follow their shepherd, they come to know his voice. In the same way, as we follow Jesus, we come to know his voice. We don’t have to wonder who Jesus is; we know he is the Messiah because we know him through the Bible and our faith, and because his works in our lives have testified to us about him.

Discussion Questions

• If you consider yourself one of Jesus’ sheep, what has led you to believe in and follow Jesus? If you don’t, what is holding you back from believing and following him?
• Why do you think those without faith have a difficult time understanding who Jesus is?
• What events in your life have testified to you about who Jesus is?
• What helps you recognize Jesus’ voice?

Activity Suggestions

Jesus describes his faithful people as sheep. Do a little online research about what sheep are like. What qualities of sheep remind you of being a follower of Jesus? Do you feel any differently about the analogy Jesus used, which is also found in Psalm 23?

Closing Prayer

Dear Jesus, Thank you for giving us your works and your word to testify that you are the Messiah. Help me to follow you in faith and to better understand who you are through your works in my life. Amen.

Paul Baglyos, Baltimore, MD

Warm-up Question

A familiar Easter hymn calls Jesus the “risen conqu’ring Son.”  In Romans 8 Paul says we are “more than conquerors” through Christ.  In a world which has much tragedy and suffering, what does Paul mean? Are we really more than conquerors?  How?

More Than Conquerors

Two weeks ago, on Easter Sunday, terrorist explosions destroyed three churches as well as four hotels in Sri Lanka.  Less than one week earlier, a massive fire threatened to destroy the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.  News accounts and images of those events and their aftermaths are widely available on the web.  Many noted how particularly painful these events were, coming as they did, in the season when Christians celebrate the Resurrection.

Discussion Questions

• What were/are your reactions to the news about the Notre Dame fire and the Sri Lanka bombings?
• Are those stories of any concern to you?  Why or why not?
• How did other people you know react to those stories?  What did you hear or read from other people about the fire and the bombings?

Third Sunday of Easter

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

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

Gospel Reflection

We know that the church is people rather than buildings, but many people who belong to the church identify with the buildings in which they gather for worship, prayer, and devotion.  The burning of Notre Dame brought sorrow to many people around the world because of the religious and cultural heritage the building represents.  The churches in Sri Lanka were targeted because the bombers knew those buildings would be full of people on Easter Sunday morning.  The bombers wanted to kill people and the churches they targeted provided strategic opportunities for their gruesome intentions.

These recent events offer spectacular reminders that the church is not exempt from the hardship, suffering, and evil which afflict the world.  At Easter the church rejoices in the good news of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, often singing “Thine is the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son.”  But the risen Christ remains also and always the crucified Son, the one whose hands and side eternally bear the marks of his execution on a cross (see John 20:24-27).  Jesus conquered death, not by wielding its power as a retaliatory weapon, but by enduring its torment with an unshaken trust in God’s love and promise.  For Jesus, conquering death meant not evading its grasp, but acting upon the knowledge that God’s embrace of us is certain and secure.  So the “risen, conqu’ring Son” continues to act in our world and in our lives.

Jesus tells Peter – impulsive, impetuous Peter – that a time will come when he (Peter) will be led where he does not wish to go.  Perhaps in this puzzling statement Jesus seeks to remind Peter that the community of resurrection witnesses shares the same vocation as its resurrected Lord, to witness to God’s love in the midst pain.  As it is for Christ, so it must be also for the church.

On Easter Sunday, amid the news of the church bombings in Sri Lank, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton tweeted these words from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will hardship or distress or persecution or peril or sword?  As it is written ‘For your sake we are being killed all day long’ . . .   No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Christians are more than conquerors because Christ their Lord is conqueror.  For us as for him, however, we conquer not by evading the grasp of death, hardship, suffering and evil, but by facing such torments in the trust that God’s grasp is more certain and secure than any of those things, and that nothing can separate us from the love and the promise of God who holds us eternally.

Like Peter, we too will find ourselves at times being led where we do not wish to go.  Remember how Jesus prayed in Gethsemane before his arrest, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me”? (Luke 22:42)  We go knowing that Christ himself is the one leading us, calling us to follow him into the places where the world’s sorrow, grief, terror, and pain call out for healing and renewal.  The good news of Christ’s resurrection from the dead does not put him—or us— above it all.  Rather it is our food for the journey, our strength for the mission, and our cause for rejoicing.

Discussion Questions

• What do you think Jesus means by what he tells Peter in John 21:18?
• In Luke’s Gospel, a story about a miraculous catch of fish occurs early, in chapter 5, well before the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Do you think that John’s Gospel relates a similar but different story, or that John has located the same story differently for a theological reason?
• How do you understand Jesus’ command to Peter to “feed my sheep”?  What did that mean for Peter?  What does it mean for you?

Activity Suggestions

• Read together the words of the hymn, “Thine Is the Glory.”  Discuss together whether and how you have experienced in your own life any of the affirmations in the words of that hymn.
• Share with each other any favorite Easter hymns or songs and tell how and why those are meaningful to you.

Closing Prayer

Almighty God, you inspired Simon Peter to confess Jesus as the Messiah and Son of the living God.  Keep your church firm on the rock of this faith, so that in unity and peace it may proclaim one truth and follow one Lord, your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen  (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, page 55)

 

-por la Rev. Amy E. Reumann, Directora de defensa de ELCA

 

Oh Dios, nuestra ayuda en épocas pasadas, nuestra esperanza en los años venideros,

Nuestro refugio en la ráfaga de tempestad, y nuestro hogar eterno.

ELW 632, stanza 1 [Adoración Evangélica Luterana 632, primera estrofa] 705pm

 

A mediados de 2018, el Grupo Defensor de la ELCA decidió enfocar la Convocatoria de Defensa, una reunión de defensa para los obispos y líderes clave de la comunidad y ELCA en la intensificación de los desastres como consecuencia del cambio climático. Sabíamos que este tema requería nuestra defensa urgente. Desde ese entonces, millones de personas más han sufrido a raíz del terremoto y el tsunami en Indonesia, los incendios forestales en California, el ciclón Idai en el sureste de África, y las inundaciones generalizadas en la zona central de los Estados Unidos. La tierra gime mientras el calentamiento del clima intensifica la sequía, las inundaciones, los incendios forestales, y aumentan los niveles del mar, y éstos, a su vez, aceleran el hambre, el conflicto, la migración, y afectan el bienestar de cada habitante de nuestro planeta.

Como respuesta a este sufrimiento masivo, nos volvemos a Dios, nuestra ayuda, pidiendo liberación para aquellos que están en peligro. Lamentamos que los impactos del clima golpean primero y en forma desproporcionada a los que menos han hecho para ocasionarlos. Confesamos que los esfuerzos de alivio y recuperación para los supervivientes de desastres naturales no son distribuidos justamente, lo cual refleja y agudiza las inigualdades raciales y de género que se encuentran entretejidas en nuestra sociedad.

Se requiere que el liderazgo de la comunidad de fe, en el corto lapso de tiempo que le queda a nuestro mundo, dé marcha atrás de los peores impactos climáticos. La solución de la crisis climática exige que reimaginemos nuestras relaciones con la creación y las de los unos con los otros. Esto incluye nuestras medidas de repudiar la doctrina del descubrimiento y denunciar la colonización de la creación, las cuales alimentan nuestro consumo interminable. También exige un despertar espiritual a formas nuevas y más vivificadoras de relacionarnos con el mundo creado y los unos con los otros.

Nuestro esta iglesia a la acción persistente y resuelta a favor de la creación y de nuestro prójimo está profundizando. Aprenderemos de la experiencia y del conocimiento experto en el clima y de la respuesta ante desastres de unos y otros, llevaremos importantes conversaciones sobre el clima y un discernimiento comunitario a lo largo de las fallas geológicas de nuestro país, y llamaremos a nuestros líderes a la acción. Estamos involucrados en un esfuerzo continuo por reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, asegurar la transición justa de combustibles fósiles en nuestras comunidades, y abordar las pérdidas, daños, y el bienestar de los supervivientes de desastres naturales. Se necesitan urgentemente su voz y su presencia. Mientras nos reunimos, ponemos nuestra confianza en el Dios que nos formó, sopló aliento de vida en nuestro mundo, y nos sostiene ahora y siempre.

 

Antes de que los montes fuesen ordenados o la tierra recibiera su marco,

Desde la eternidad eres Dios, el mismo por siempre y para siempre.

ELW 632, stanza 1 [Adoración Evangélica Luterana 632, tercera estrofa]

 

 

 

-by the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, ELCA Advocacy Director

 

O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come,

Our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.

ELW 632, stanza 1

In mid-2018, the ELCA Advocacy team decided to focus the 2019 ELCA Advocacy Convening, an advocacy gathering for bishops and key community and ELCA leaders, on disasters intensified by climate change. We knew then that this topic required our urgent advocacy. Since then, millions more have suffered in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, wildfires in California, Cyclone Idai in southeast Africa and widespread flooding in the U.S. heartland. The earth is groaning as our warming climate intensifies drought, floods, wildfires and sea level rise, each in turn accelerating hunger, conflict, migration and the well-being of every inhabitant of our planet.

In response to such massive suffering, we turn to God, our help, asking for deliverance for those in harm’s way. We lament that climate impacts are visited first and most disproportionately on those who have done the least to cause them. We confess that relief and recovery for survivors of natural disasters is not justly distributed, reflecting and reinforcing the gender and racial inequities woven into our social fabric.

Faith community leadership is required in the small window of time our world has to pull back from the worst climate impacts. Solving the climate crisis requires us to reimagine our relationships to creation and one another. This includes our actions to repudiate the doctrine of discovery and denounce the colonization of creation that feeds our endless consumption. It demands a spiritual awakening toward new and more lifegiving ways of relating to the created world and one another.

Our church’s commitment to persistent and resolute action on behalf of creation and our neighbor is deepening. We learn from one another’s experience and expertise in climate and disaster response, practice leading climate conversations and communal discernment across the fault lines in our nation, and call our leaders to act. We are engaged in a sustained effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ensure a just transition from fossil fuels in our communities, and address loss, damage and the wellbeing of survivors of natural disasters.

Your voice and presence are urgently needed. We place our trust and confidence in the God who formed us, breathed life into our world and sustains us now and always.

Before the hills in order stood or earth received its frame,

From everlasting you are God, to endless years the same.

ELW 632, stanza 3

Today’s post is by Linda Witte Henke, an artist specializing in liturgically purposed art for congregation, synod, and churchwide settings (See three new collections of print-on-demand banner fabrics at www.lindahenke.com). This is Linda’s third post offering designs and templates for using visuals to enrich worship.

In anticipation of this post, I spent time during a recent 1,500-mile train trip ruminating on what visual might best convey the essence of the Holy Spirit’s appearance at Pentecost.

I recalled some of the biblical stories about fire and how those might inform our appreciation of the Holy Spirit’s appearance at Pentecost in fire and flame—Moses’ encounter with God in the fiery bush (Exodus 3), God’s guiding presence made known to the Hebrew people in the pillars of cloud and fire (Exodus 13), the voice of God coming out of the fire (Deuteronomy 5), Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego miraculously surviving the furnace of blazing fire (Daniel 1-3), and John the Baptizer’s warnings about the unquenchable fire (Matthew 3).

I also pondered human experiences of fire, both in ancient days and in our own. I reflected on how the Holy Spirit provides light for God’s people, generates warmth among God’s people, refines the visions and ministries of God’s people, and, yes, sometimes consumes or leaves a path of destruction among God’s people.

At some point, I was prompted to ask: In the Prayer of the Day for Pentecost, when we implore God to “by your Holy Spirit, kindle in us the fire of your love, empowering our lives for service and our tongues for praise,” for what are we praying? I suspect that, in many cases, we are praying that God’s Spirit would support and sustain whatever visions and ministries have already been conceived and put into place within our faith communities.

But what if we lifted our prayers with hearts wide open to receiving the fire of God’s Holy Spirit in whatever powerfully expressive ways the Spirit chooses to be made known?

• Fire that illuminates paths in bold new directions
• Fire that so warms our insular faith communities that we are compelled to convey God’s love and care to those beyond our doors and our neighborhoods
• Fire that inflames our hearts, unleashes our imaginations, and sends us out to love and serve in ways that stretch our boundaries and challenge our comfort zones
• Fire that opens our eyes to the possibility that some cherished programs, long-held practices, entrenched attitudes, and/or life-limiting perspectives may need to die in order for the Spirit to bring to life the “new thing” that God longs to cultivate within and among us

Here are some possibilities for using the fire visual as kindling for the Holy Spirit’s presence in your Day of Pentecost observances: (See the DropBox link below to access the underlined images)

• Facilitate a gathering of staff members and key ministry leaders. Distribute 8-inch by 10-inch prints of the visual. Pray together the Prayer of the Day for Pentecost (ELW 36, Year C). Invite reflection around how the visual speaks to each person’s understanding of the Holy Spirit’s work within and beyond your faith community.  Where might the Holy Spirit be encouraging us to embrace new perspectives or explore new directions? Where might the Holy Spirit be counseling us to let go of programs or initiatives that have outlived their effectiveness?
• Create a three-sided, free-standing, three-dimensional sculpture out of fabric printed with the visual and custom-sized to your worship context. Install the sculpture in a place central to the assembly. Explore safe ways to introduce a light source (battery-powered light, rope lights, etc.) to illuminate the sculpture. Or, if your space is conducive and you have local engineering expertise, create your sculpture to hang over the assembly as a mobile that responds to the air currents.
• Create multiple long, “skinny” banners from fabrics or paper printed with the visual and custom-sized to your space. Display the banners so that they surround the assembly.
• Customize for your use the projected graphic for worship. Explore the feasibility of using the visual as the background for all projection slides on this date.
• Adapt one of the two bulletin-cover formats for your congregation’s use.
• Adapt the social media visual for use in inviting broad participation in Pentecost worship.
• Adapt the post card design for use in inviting broad participation in Pentecost worship. If the effort and/or cost of mailing postcards is prohibitive, invite members to use the printed postcards to personally invite neighbors, friends, classmates, co-workers, or extended family members to worship with them on Pentecost. Encourage members to share the social media visual on their Facebook pages or post it to appropriate community Facebook pages. Or consider doing all of the above.

We are mindful that we celebrate the Day of Pentecost 2019 in the aftermath of fire’s devastation – at Notre Dame Cathedral, in historic Louisiana churches, and through wildfires that have consumed millions of acres and thousands of residences. We are freshly aware that fire is fraught with danger.

So it is with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2 is a dangerous text to read and to hear. “Come, Oh Holy Spirit, Come,” is a dangerous hymn to sing. “By your Holy Spirit, kindle in us the fire of your love,” is a dangerous prayer to pray.  God wills that we submit ourselves to be shaped, formed, reformed, transformed, and empowered by the Holy Spirit in order that the fire of God’s love may be made known.

May the Day of Pentecost 2019 open our hearts to God’s Holy Spirit unleashed in our worship and in our lives!

DropBox direct link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/33jdq8xwv173wj5/AABIEMuyAZNhmZYZvK4wv7_Ta?dl=0

 

To most of us in the United States, mosquitoes are nothing more than a pest. But in many places around the world, just one bite from an infected mosquito could transmit malaria. Every two minutes, a child dies from malaria – a preventable and curable disease. In a recent report, the World Health Organization warned that progress against malaria has stalled. World Malaria Day is a special time to remember our neighbors at heightened risk for this disease – and the ways God is working through and with them to reduce risk and build resilience.

More research needs to be done to help describe the relationship between hunger and malaria, but what we do know is that ending hunger means helping communities find ways to stay healthy. When malaria affects young children, costs for medicine, doctor visits, and transportation to health facilities can quickly add up. If an adult contracts the disease, it can mean time away from work, which makes it harder for their families to meet their needs.

But even seemingly simple interventions can make a big difference. One study from Zambia found that providing farmers with bed nets to prevent mosquito bites contributed to an increased output from their farms of more than 14 percent. A bigger harvest means more crops, more money, and less risk of hunger or poverty for a family. The interconnections between hunger and malaria – and the intertwined solutions to both – are one reason ELCA World Hunger continues to support efforts to address malaria.

Strategies for preventing malaria are just some of the ways the ELCA’s companion churches are accompanying neighbors in their communities. Though the ELCA’s Malaria Campaign officially ended in 2015, this important work continues in several countries.

Incidences of malaria can affect a family’s income, but the reverse is true, too. Increases in household income can reduce the likelihood of contracting malaria and make it easier for a family to afford treatment if someone gets sick. Building resilience by increasing opportunities for income generation is at the heart of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe’s (ELCZ) savings and lending projects in Zimbabwe. Here, the ELCZ helps community members form village savings and loan groups (VSLAs) and provides training to strengthen existing skills in tasks such as bookkeeping.

In the Hwange District, Bulowe Nyoni was responsible for getting a water well built that now serves as a source of drinking water for most of her neighbors. From her savings, she also started an organic garden near the well. As a volunteer in the project, Bulowe received two goats, which have now multiplied to over 30, thirteen of which she sold to buy a cart that allows her to fetch firewood and other items. In addition, Bulowe also works as a volunteer in health clinic where she conducts health talks for patients. Because of her efforts, her community has access to clean water, patients in the clinic receive the support and information they need, and Bulowe is able to earn and save the income that builds resilience to both malaria and hunger for her household.

Memory Hove, popularly known as Mai Mdlungu, is a member of a savings and loan group in the district of Gokwe North. She and a group of 25 other women started the group in 2015. Initially, her husband was opposed to the idea. But Mai Mdlungu was determined, and she started raising money by baking and selling buns in her community and used part of the money to save with the other women. By the end of the first cycle of the savings and lending group, she received goats that she has been raising and breeding. These goats now help her pay for her children’s school fees. In 2016, she used her share of savings from the group to buy a cow, which has since given birth to a calf.

Seeing Mai Mdlungu succeed challenged her husband’s first impressions of the group. “I got married to an industrious woman,” he says, “and she has just woken me up from my deep slumber.” Mai Mdlungu’s husband joined the group and, at the end of the 2018 cycle, used his savings to purchase maize seed and fertilizer. Other couples are following their example, with men joining the savings and loan groups alongside women. This helps to strengthen the relationships within the family and, in Mai Mdlungu’s case, provide the opportunity for women to be part of the decision-making processes in their families.

These kinds of projects address the deep problem of malaria in holistic and transformative ways by building resilience and reducing risk. Because of the skills, talents, and hard work of community members like Bulowe and Mai Mdlungu, these projects are changing the lives of members of their communities and families. This work helps their families be less likely to contract malaria, less likely to face hunger and poverty, and more likely to be able to weather an illness if someone gets sick. And their efforts are helping to “wake up” others to the hope for a future free of malaria and hunger.

To support this ongoing work through ELCA World Hunger, please visit https://community.elca.org/good-gifts-2017/health.

 

 

 

 

Jocelyn Breeland, Sunnyvale, CA

Warm-up Question

What is essential to sustain your faith?

Hope in the Ruins

As these words are written, the fire in Notre Dame, the historic cathedral in the heart of Paris, has finally been brought under control. Memorable scenes of the day include the silhouette of the church against the towering flames, the tall spire collapsing, and mourners praying as they watched in horror. French President Emmanuel Macron has promised to launch a national fundraising campaign so the church can be rebuilt. By the time you read this, we will likely know more about the cause of the fire, the extent of the damage, and what will be required to restore Notre Dame.

Notre Dame, one of the world’s most well-known churches, was completed in 1345 and over the centuries has played an important role in the life of the city and the history of France and Europe. The exterior of Notre Dame contains many scenes from the Bible, a sort of book to teach scripture to the parishioners who, at the time of construction, were mostly illiterate. The interior contains many priceless works of art, a magnificent organ, and the treasured relics of what is believed to be the crown of thorns Jesus wore before crucifixion and a piece of the cross. They were rescued from the flames.

This is not the first time the building was damaged. In 1548, Hugenots damaged statues that they believed to be idolatrous. In 1793, 28 statues of biblical kings were destroyed when they were mistaken for statues of French kings. A bombing attempt was foiled in 2016.

Within 24 hours, hundreds of millions of dollars had been pledged to the rebuilding effort.

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think restoration of the church is so important to the French people that the president – a secular leader – would vow to restore it?
• For people of faith what, if anything, has been lost?
• If the church building where you worship were destroyed, what would be lost?
• Would the loss of the building make you concerned about the congregation? Why or why not?

Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 5:27-32

Revelation 1:4-8

John 20:19-31

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

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

Gospel Reflection

Thomas had doubts. He had seen Jesus die and, despite witnessing Jesus’ previous miracles – including raising the dead – he could not believe that his master lived. If Thomas, who knew Jesus, had doubts, how are we, so many centuries removed, to sustain our faith?

We all have doubts. Like Thomas, we experience events that cause us to question what we believe. Even Mother Teresa, admired by many for her life of faith and charity, wrote about her serious doubts, her sense that her prayers were unheard and unanswered.

Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and who have believed.” But how are we to sustain this belief, our faith in Jesus, the son of God, sent for our salvation? One answer is in verse 30, “these are written that you might believe.” The Bible exists to support our faith – to teach us about God’s work in the world, about the life of Jesus and his victory over sin and death.

The Gospel writers risked, and sometimes lost, their lives to spread the good news of the gospel to all people. It’s hard to imagine this level of commitment if the events they recount in the New Testament were not true.

We are grateful for the gift of the Gospel and the stories and guidance that lead us to lives of faith. We have not seen but we believe. And we are blessed.

Discussion Questions

• Have you, like Thomas, had doubts?
• Do you share your doubts, as Thomas did, or do you keep it to yourself?
• What has helped to restore your faith?

Activity Suggestions

[This activity can be done individually or in groups.]

Thinking of the warm-up question, the fire at Notre Dame and this week’s Gospel selection – and your experience as a Christian – make a list of everything you can think of that can support, nourish or restore a person’s faith.

• Identify the items on this list that you would consider essential to Christian faith.
• Now, discuss the ways you and your congregation offer or connect people to these essentials. Is there room for improvement?
• Develop a plan to increase support in one of the essential areas, assign responsibility for the various tasks.

Establish a target date to implement your plan and schedule a group discussion on the results.

• What worked well? What didn’t?
• Did you notice any changes – in specific individuals or in the community as a whole – as a result of your work?

Closing Prayer

Gracious Lord, thank you for the gift of your son Jesus, and thank you for the gift of the Bible that teaches us and shows us the way to live lives of faith. When we doubt, or stray, draw us back to your holy word. As we are blessed, let us also be a blessing. Make us examples of your love that will bring others closer to you. In the blessed name of Jesus, Amen.

Congregational Vitality Training and DEM Gathering
August 16-23, 2019  |  Christ Lutheran Church, Baltimore, Maryland

Timeline of Events

FRIDAY (8/16)

9:00 am – 6:00 pm           Behavioral Interview Training – Day 1 (plan arrival for Thursday)

 

SATURDAY (8/17)

8:30 am – 4:00 pm           Behavioral Interview Training – Day 2

 

SUNDAY (8/18)

Travel day for DEMs (to attend DEM Gathering)

 

MONDAY (8/19)

8:00 am – 5:00 pm           Coach Launch – Day 1 (plan arrival for Sunday)

8:00 am – 5:00 pm           Homeless and Justice Network Gathering – Day 1 (plan arrival for Sunday)

8:30 am – 4:30 pm           DEM Gathering – Day 1 (plan arrival for Sunday)

               1:00-3:30 pm:    DEM Intensive Learning Experience with CV Team

1:00-5:00 pm                     Boundaries Training for Mission Developers – Day 1 (plan arrival for Monday AM)

 

TUESDAY (8/20)

8:00 am – 12:00 pm        Boundaries Training for Mission Developers – Day 2

8:00 am – 5:00 pm           Coach Launch – Day 2

8:00 am – 3:00 pm           Homeless and Justice Network Gathering – Day 2

8:30 am – 4:30 pm           DEM Gathering – Day 2

9:00 am – 12:00 pm        Latinx Coaching Meeting (plan arrival for Monday)

1:00-3:00 pm                     REDIL Meeting (plan arrival for Tuesday AM)

2:00-5:00 pm                     Intensive Learning Experience for New Mission Developers (plan arrival for Tuesday AM)

3:30-5:00 pm                     Congregational Vitality Training Event Facilitators’ Meeting (plan arrival for Tuesday AM)

 

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY (8/21-22)

8:00 am – 5:00 pm           Congregational Vitality Training Event (plan arrival for Tuesday)

 

FRIDAY (8/23)

8:00 am – 2:30 pm           Congregational Vitality Training Event

Friday evening flights home are strongly encouraged.

 

See you in Baltimore!

 

by Kris A. Mainellis, Program Director for Communication and Events, Congregational Vitality