The Word

“All shall be well

And all shall be well

And all manner of thing

Shall be well.”

• Julian of Norwich | 1342-1416

“I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

• Romans 8: 38-39

My friend Julian

I’ve loved Julian (which may not be hear real name!) of Norwich for the past few years. This is probably in part because when I came across her work at 23, I was tired of learning exclusively about male theologians from any time before the last 100 years. It is probably also in part because she introduced me to Christian mysticism. This seemed like the most magical of the Christian traditions and so appealed to my Harry-Potter-loving heart.

Regardless, her words sang to me.

(Me, speaking at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering. Also the face you make @ pandemics.)

At the ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston in 2018, I told the story of being immunosuppressed and going to Rwanda. What I didn’t say was that in Rwanda, when I was 23, I got typhoid fever. About six months after that, I got malaria.

I thought I was going to die.

Laying in hospital beds across the world for two weeks, Julian’s words wrapped me up.

They laid on my heart, not a trite dismissal of my suffering, but a defiant hope in the face of a situation that was MARKEDLY unwell.

“All shall be well

And all shall be well

And all manner of thing shall be well”

(my Rwandan friends, Frank and Fred, visiting me and bringing me snacks in the hospital in Kigali.)

Turns out, I didn’t know her that well.

The REAL Julian of Norwich

In a place of deep anxiety and fear this week, I came across these words again and learned more about Julian’s history.

I didn’t know that when she was a child, her town was overcome by the Black Death, killing about a third of its inhabitants from 1348-1350. I didn’t know she lived through two wars.

I didn’t know that when she was 30 she was so ill she thought she was going to die.

(Julian AND HER CAT. An icon (literally).)

This has been strangely comforting to me in the past few days.

Not the fact that she was sick or survived a pandemic or war, I am not comforted by unnecessary suffering.

I am comforted by the fact that, while it may feel like it sometimes, Julian of Norwich and other Christian Mystics did not live in a world outside time. Julian lived in times of fear and doubt and STILL. Still, her songs persist. Just like so many faithful Christian women before and after her.

Being Kept

Our songs persist, too, loved ones.

Already we have joined together online. We have sung together, prayed together, encouraged each other.

And we have been scared together.

We live in the suffering and struggle of our own time.

But our sister, Julian, has a fierce song of hope in Christ for us, still.

She saw visions of Jesus and wrote:

“If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love.”

Friends, we MUST do the best we can to keep ourselves and our neighbors safe. This is holy work.

(look at these friends and colleagues safely meeting online for the health of their neighbors!)

But we know that as humans living in the world, we cannot always be kept safe.

We may feel anxiety.

We may not feel well.

Y’all, we may not BE well now.

We don’t have to pretend we are!

But in our falling an in our rising, we are kept in love.

Across the street and across the world, you are kept in love.

And nothing, NOTHING, can separate you from that. 

So now I pray that we be generous and patient and just and kind, that we breathe deeply the peace of God (she wrote to herself), and that we remember the promise in Christ we have hoped in for centuries, a promise that stands even and maybe especially when we don’t feel it:

“All shall be well.

And all shall be well.

And all manner of thing shall be well.”

Discussion Questions:

1. What things in your life have brought you peace? What songs or poems or art pieces? What spiritual passages?
2. Who are people you look up to spiritually?
3. Where can you offer yourself grace this week?
4. Where have you experienced hope this week? Where have you experienced God this week?

Savanna Sullivan (she/her/hers) serves as the Program Director for ELCA Young Adult Ministries at the ELCA Churchwide Office in Chicago, IL. She was a main stage speaker at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston, TX and gives presentations about Young Adult culture and empowerment in the church to ELCA and ecumenical groups around the country . She is passionate about helping young people connect to their own spirituality and pushing the church to equip, amplify, and respect the voices of young leaders. She loves banana pudding, the Clemson tigers, and memorizing poems.

These reflections are a part of ELCA World Hunger’s Sermon Starter series which is published via email every Monday. You can sign up for the weekly email here on the right side of the page if on a computer or near the bottom of the page if viewing from a phone. Pastor Tim Brown is the writer of these reflections. Pr. Tim is a Gifts Officer and Mission Ambassador for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and a pastor and writer out of Raleigh, NC. You are invited to use the message below for personal devotion as well as prompts for sermon writing. 

March 29- Fifth Sunday in Lent

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The enigmatic poet Emily Dickinson’s famous words are appropriate for a sermon that hangs off the Hebrew Scripture assigned to the day:

Tell the truth, but tell it slant

Success in circuit lies

Too bright for our infirm delight

The truth’s superb surprise

A lightening to the children eased

With explanation kind

The truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind

“Tell the truth, but tell it slant…” is Dickinson’s prescription for a humanity that truly has trouble bearing too much reality, at least all at once.

And, Beloved, let’s be honest: there is tons of heavy truth in these days. Truth about this pandemic, truth about the health of our loved ones, concerning truth about the health of our congregations…too much truth.

I don’t suggest you tell it slant. I don’t suggest you bludgeon people, either.

All this heavy truth is perhaps why we have historically destroyed those who tell too much truth.  In

ancient days they called them “prophets,” though you might not associate prophecy with truth-telling. So much of what passes for “prophecy” these days has to do with predicting the future, but that’s not actually what a prophet does, nor is it indicative of who a prophet is, at least in the Bible.

Prophets are truth-tellers.

Ezekiel was already a priest, but just being a priest doesn’t make you a prophet. Priests perform ritual acts, but prophets perform acts of truth-telling, often to powers that don’t want to hear it. Sometimes priests and prophets are one and the same…but it takes intention and risk.

And the book of Ezekiel is one of powerful truth-telling, using allegory to speak to Israel in a time of great confusion.

Because as he’s standing over this valley of dry bones God tells him to proclaim more truth: to the bones, and to the wind, forging an alliance between the human and the elemental to show forth God’s work in the world.

Is this not what we essentially do as pastors in the Rite of Baptism? Do we not prophesy to the human (the baptismal candidate) and the elemental (the water) at the urging of God to cause new life to enter into not only the human but the world writ large?

This text is a baptismal text. It’s a text about new life.

And what truths need to be told in these days of confusion? Perhaps there is a call to be honest and careful about human touch with Covid-19 spreading like wildfire.  And, along with that call, perhaps the prophet in the digital pulpit would do well to remind people that this is not a “foreign” virus, as viruses don’t have nationalities, and we must resist language that pits humanity against each other, especially in times of crisis.

New life will come for the world, but we are called practice caution in these days. That’s some tough truth, especially for those who already don’t get their touch-needs met enough: the lonely, the aged, the stigmatized, and the unwell.

So maybe some truth-telling today might name that, in this time of social distancing, we must find safe ways to reach out to those who already feel distant. That’s some deep truth.

Deep truth-telling can change things, by God.

It’s even been known to make things that were once dead alive again.

Perhaps that’s why it gets another hearing at the Easter Vigil every year.

Prophets don’t tell the future, they tell the truth. In this Lenten season, what is the truth your assembly needs to hear, by God? And what is the truth they need to say to this world too often dominated by dry bones and hot air?

John 11:1-45

This reading is plagued by a lack of brevity, which only works against the preacher if you’re not imaginative with how you proclaim it. I suggest, if possible in this new reality, you split up the text between several voices. I know in our digital reality this would require some planning and coordination, but it is worth it.

And once the text falls on their ears, you then have the ability nimbly navigate this longer reading in a way that lands with more than sentimental impact. Sentimentality is one of the dangers of this text, I think. And in the world of proclamation, sentimentality is akin to pity: it deflects true emotion by keeping distance.

Because the truth of the Lazarus story is that Lazarus is dead. Very dead.

We know this because the writer goes to great lengths to note that Lazarus has been in the grave for four days. In ancient Jewish lore, the spirit of the deceased hovered around the tomb for no more than three days (which, it is worth noting, John makes sure that Jesus actually does physical things post-resurrection, to show he’s not just a spirit appearing to people). The Gospel notes that Lazarus was there for four days, many hours past the time when he might have just been mistaken for dead, or that his spirit would appear.

Lazarus is dead. And in these days of rising death-tolls, this can be difficult to claim and name. But it also might be necessary to investigate.

What are the dead places in our lives? Our feelings of safety and normalcy? Our healthcare system? Our trust in our government?

Or, perhaps in these intensive quarters, we’re realizing our relationships are dead or dying? Our jobs?

What used to have life, but is long past that now? These questions bounce around the text this Sunday morning.

A different sermon might find another avenue, though, through the way that both indignation and hope hold hands in the person of Martha. Mary, rightfully, seems full of grief and regret. But Martha holds out the candle of hope in the shadow of the valley of death, noting that Jesus can ask anything of God and God will provide.

The imagery of holding both indignation and hope simultaneously strikes me as timely in these days, even as the Earth warms, our politics continue to be divisive, wars continue, and mass shootings become far too regular.

Perhaps you and your online-assembly will resonate with that theme as well. How do we hold indignation in one hand and hope in the other, well? It’s worth asking and pondering together as a church.

Or perhaps your assembly needs to ask openly what is binding them and keeping them buried in these days.  Is it a budget that can’t be met?  Is it division in the pews?  Or perhaps they’re tied to a past that is long dead or an uncertain future.  Or maybe all of this and more.

Lazarus is unbound in today’s Gospel, and if you read just a bit more in the scriptures, you’ll find that in the next scene he’s serving Jesus. Not only are his bindings keeping him buried, but they’re keeping him from serving.

Maybe yours are, too.

There is so much to pull from this Gospel lesson. Pick an avenue and follow it down that holy path.

Children’s Message

This might be a good time to allay fears around COVID-19, and explore how God calls us to gather together safely. You’re probably giving this online, and wanting to strike a balance between providing perspective while not alarming them.  Be cheery, but honest.

Have a box of tissues with you to lift up.

Alright, everyone, I brought something with me and I bet you know what it is.

Hold up the box of tissues

Right!  Tissues. When do we use these? Give space to pretend for an answer. The children watching will understand this pause. It is part of many shows they already watch. 

Right. When we have a runny nose, or we sneeze, or cough…when we’re sick.

Where is the best place to cough and sneeze if we don’t have a tissue though?

Give space to pretend for someone to answer.

Right! Doctors say that we should cough or sneeze into our elbows demonstrate so that we get good coverage over our mouth and nose with our arm.

We know that there is a virus going around. They probably have you washing your hands at home a lot right?  Yeah, they want to make sure we’re all healthy and don’t spread it around.

God wants us all to be safe. So, many of us are staying at home. And in this time when we’re being careful not to spread things around, we still want to be safe, right? Because we don’t want people who are sick to get sicker or people who may be very old or very young to get sick, right?

So, for a little while, I want to show you how to say “Peace be with you” in sign language. It’s something that we can do when we share the peace with one another, so we don’t actually have to touch hands while doing it. And I want you to send me videos of you doing it! Ready?

The sign for “peace” is made by putting your hands together and turning them over, then moving them apart in an inverted V.  “With” is simply bringing two closed fists together.  “You” is made by a simple point or gesture toward someone.  You can find visual directions here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moAv06flgEU

Practice this a few times with the youth, and then show them “Also with you!” which is just a simple point back at the person who offered you peace.

We want everyone to be healthy and safe. So, we can do this peace sign instead of actually shaking hands.  Or, if you’d rather, you can bump elbows demonstrate or bow demonstrate or even just hold up your fingers in a V demonstrate.

In this church, even when we can’t be physically together, we care about people who need caring for, and in this time it’s those who may get sick because we’re having too much contact. So, let’s practice safe ways of communicating!

Right now, let’s practice. Send me a short video of you giving the peace to someone using sign language, or bumping elbows, or bowing, or whatever way I just showed you. God wants us to be in community safely, so let’s do this for a little while!

Post the videos with permission. For other resources, you can check out the ELCA recommendations here: https://www.elca.org/publichealth

In Fall 2020, the newest resource in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship resource family will be made available. All Creation Sings, a liturgy and song supplement, will include liturgies, prayers, and approximately two hundred hymns and songs.

Conversation, consultation, and dedicated research led to the development of this resource. In the nearly fifteen years since the publication of Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW), a rich abundance of new texts have been written and new tunes composed. While ELW continues to be a principal resource for this church, many of the hymns and songs in All Creation Sings reflect newer expressions that have emerged in the years since ELW was prepared. Hand in hand with ELW, All Creation Sings will offer diverse assembly song that enriches our worship by:

• providing additional options for singing throughout the liturgical year
• offering variety in style and format, including a number of short songs for contemplative prayer, gathering, and sending
• addressing topics and timely concerns including creation care, lament in times of crisis, healing/wholeness, and justice/peace
• bringing forward a number of hymns and songs from collections such as This Far by Faith, Libro de Liturgia y Cántico, Singing in Community, Singing Our Prayer, and others

About the title

The title, All Creation Sings, evokes a theme that permeates the scriptures, especially in the psalms but beginning even with Genesis 1, where the Word that brings creation into being has often been interpreted as a sung “Let there be . . . ”. Psalm 96 is an example in which the sky, the earth, the sea, the field, and the forest are invited into sung rejoicing at God’s coming. The vision at the close of the scriptures, in Revelation 5:13, articulates this theme with cosmic breadth: “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’”

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in awareness and alarm concerning the impact of human activity over the past two hundred years on this planet’s ability to sustain the fragile balance necessary for the life God planted here, including human life. All Creation Sings will provide new resources that remind us of our integral part within the whole of creation, inspire our wonder at the gifts of creation, and help us voice our thanks for these gifts, joining the rest of creation’s song even as the cosmos joins ours.

Yet the song of creation and our song with it, especially in this time, goes beyond rejoicing and thanksgiving. Romans 8:22-23 suggests another kind of song: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, . . . groan inwardly while we wait for . . . redemption.” The song of all creation, and thus our song too, includes words and melodies of lament, of indignation, of pleading, and ultimately of hope in God’s presence and mercy.

The hymns and songs included in All Creation Sings will help our assemblies give praise and express lament, as well as being a resource for our sung prayer and proclamation across the whole course of the church’s year and around the word and sacraments. Look to the ELCA Worship Blog and ELCA Worship on Facebook for more about the contents of this supplemental resource in the coming months.

Bob Chell, Sioux Falls, SD

Warm-up Question

Who are blind to the obvious today? Politically? Spiritually? 

So Obvious?

We often see what we expect to see and miss other things because we are not looking for them.  A famous experiment illustrates this.  A group of people is passing balls around.  Observers are asked to count the number of passes made.  During the time the group is passing the balls around, a person in a gorilla suit walks into the group, struts around, then moves away.  About half the observers say they did not see a gorilla.  If observers are told about the gorilla and the experiment is repeated, most see the gorilla–but miss other things which are obvious if you are looking for them.  You can see an illustration of this experiment here.  Watch the video if you have internet access.

Discussion Questions

• Does this video shake your certainty of who is blind to the obvious today? If not, why not? If so, how so?
• Can we ever be certain of anything?
• How do faith and certainty differ?

Fourth Sunday of Lent

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Ephesians 5:8-14

John 9:1-41

(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

This long story in John is a favorite of mine, not only for its content but for the way it is constructed. At the beginning the man born blind is blind, meek and frightened while the religious leaders are bold and confident, but as the story progresses, ever so subtly, the roles are reversed. This is most clear when the once meek man mocks those questioning him, asking, “Do you also want to become his disciples?” Those in charge are now on the defensive and, unable to defend their view, they dismiss the man born blind in anger.

Today both those on the political left and right, like those in this gospel lesson, are certain their views are correct. Committed Christians on both sides base their convictions on their faith. What does the Bible have to say about this?

For those with eyes to see and ears to hear the message of this story is clear, “I may be wrong.”  Those aren’t easy words for those of us who care about our faith, our country and our world. Are we supposed to shrug our shoulders and turn away from serious issues in our world and in our life?

I don’t think so. However, I do think that we should enter conversations with the awareness that we may be mistaken. Lest you think I am taking one story and overstating its message, take the Bible as a whole. You will find that those who are most certain, who are positive about what is right and how God would have them do things are usually wrong. They stone the prophets, they oppose Jesus; they judge, rather than love, their neighbor.

Christians have been on opposite sides of political and religious issues from the beginning. A large part of the book of Acts is a church fight about who can join and what the requirements are to be a Christian. In the 1800s Christians argued about whether slavery was a part of God’s plan with those supporting slavery quoting verses like Ephesians 6:5 (“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ…”) or Colossians 3:22 (“Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.”). Those opposing slavery pointed to Galatians 3:28 (“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”).

Today all Christians believe slavery is not a part of God’s plan or God’s will for humankind. However, what’s obvious to us was not so obvious to Christians of the 1800s. 

More recently Christians have argued about the role of women in the church, sexual orientation, and sexual identity, often going to the Bible, not to discern where God might be leading us, but to support their convictions.

We do need to engage, debate, and even argue about the issues facing our church and our world. We need to do that by recognizing what is not obvious, that, as the Bible says, we are one in Christ.   “So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another (Romans 12:5).”  For a longer riff on this,  read 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 where the apostle Paul goes on and on, like a bulldog, making the point that we are united in Christ. Like a Dad berating squabbling children, Paul drives the point home wanting us to know this is bedrock, non-negotiable.

Whatever your opinions and convictions, be mindful that it was those filled with doubt and questions who ultimately heard and followed God’s call: Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Esther, the list goes on and on.  

Discussion Questions

• What is the “hot” issue in our world, in our country, in our community, our church, our school, our home?
• If picking a side and standing our ground isn’t the Christian way to approach controversy, how are we to approach it?

Activity Suggestions

• Find someone in your group or class whose views differ from yours and argue with them—but switch sides, with you defending their view, and they yours.
• Sometimes outside pressure has enabled the church or our country to see our unity. Persecution united early Christians while Americans were galvanized by WW II. What are the forces pushing us to unity today?

Closing Prayer

Loving God, open our hearts and minds to hear your word and your will for our lives and for our world. We care deeply and feel powerless surrounded by those who have no doubts. Give us faith to trust you are with us as we work to do your will in our lives and in our world.  Amen.

As communities across the United States and around the world take steps to slow the spread of COVID-19, the routine daily movements of individuals, faith communities, businesses, and more have ground to a halt – or taken new shapes few anticipated. With closed signs hanging outside many restaurants and shelves standing empty inside many stores, it’s no surprise that many people are worried about having enough to get through the current crisis. And yet, in the midst of it, we need to remember that the fear of scarcity or vulnerability did not start with the novel coronavirus; it merely widened in scope. For many of our neighbors, the vulnerability of economic uncertainty and the concern of not having enough food or supplies to last the week or month was and remains a daily reality, exacerbated by the shutdown of daily life and the new significant threats posed by the virus.

The emergency food system – pantries, community meals, soup kitchens and more – is designed to provide for neighbors in need. But it also functions in many ways contrary to the best advice we are receiving about managing the COVID-19 crisis. We are being told not to congregate in large groups; community meals are often designed to bring together a large, diverse crowd for fellowship. We are being told to practice social distancing; many pantries are set up to foster close communication and contact between participants and volunteers. We are being told to stock enough food and household necessities to last 2-4 weeks; many emergency feeding programs rely on neighbors giving freely of their resources.

Hunger is still a challenge, even as our attention is focused on the health crisis at hand, and in many ways, it may get worse. What can we do to ensure that the virus that has brought so much of daily life to a grinding halt does not do the same to our work to end hunger? Below are some tips to support neighbors facing food insecurity during these challenging times. For more suggestions, you can visit the California Association of Food Banks or the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC), both of which have pages listing suggestions for adapting hunger programs to meet the current reality.

1) Change

If you work at or run a pantry, consider alternatives to your current model. This might mean providing a drive-through service, instead of indoor pick-up. Some food pantries have moved from a client-choice model to preparing bags, so that clients are not moving through the pantry or congregating together in lines or waiting areas. Be sure to have adequate signage and other communications if you make this shift. Also, remember to consider clients who do not have cars. One way to maintain client choice may be to offer 2 or more different types of bags, with different items in them. As a volunteer greets each guest, offer them the option of which bag they would prefer. This allows them the choice, while still maintaining the social distance needed with the new distribution. With stores running low on disinfectant supplies and paper goods, consider adding these to your distribution, if you don’t already.

2) Know

Knowing your neighbors is a key part of participating in any successful feeding ministry. So, too, is knowing as much as possible about COVID-19, including who is most vulnerable, what the symptoms are and where testing might be available. We know that some neighbors will be more vulnerable to COVID-19, depending on age. Consider increasing the distribution amounts for them, so that they don’t have to leave the house as often. If your ministry has clients with other underlying conditions, try reaching out to them to make sure they are healthy. If possible, prepare separate bags for special diets, including for people with conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes.

Also, help clients and volunteers learn more about COVID-19 by sharing information about the virus and about testing options. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have print resources available online at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/communication/factsheets.html. Consider posting these or including them in bags of food for guests. Your local county health department may be able to share with you information about testing sites, including restrictions. Remember, some testing sites, including drive-through testing sites, are only open to people with a physician’s order for testing. You can also visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html to learn more.

The ELCA is also providing information and resources via its website at https://elca.org/publichealth. There, you can find guidelines from the CDC, important links and other useful information.

3) Reduce

Reduce the number of people gathering at the pantry at one time. If possible, consider providing appointment times for clients, to reduce the number of people gathering at the space at a single time. If you already use an appointment system, reduce the number of people allowed at each appointment and consider expanding hours or availability to help diffuse the flow of people. The California Association of Food Banks also suggests cross-training volunteers to do multiple jobs and evaluating how many volunteers or staff are essential to help reduce the number of workers at each shift.

4) Protect

It is not known how long COVID-19 can live on surfaces. As you receive donations, talk with your suppliers about the steps they have taken to reduce the spread of the virus. Be sure anyone working in your facility or handling donations is not sick and is practicing good hygiene – washing hands frequently, avoiding touching their face, and avoiding contact with others to the extent possible. As you stock up on cleaning supplies for clients, be sure that your pantry has enough soap, sanitizer, disinfectant supplies, etc. for frequent cleaning and disinfecting for volunteers and the pantry, too. When packing bags of food for clients, reduce the number of people who are touching food or other donations as much as possible, and ensure that everyone who packs bags, stocks shelves or otherwise works with donations washes their hands. If you use clipboards for intake forms, sanitize them often.

5) Cancel

DMARC has postponed or cancelled all large volunteer events and hunger education and outreach events within their network, and the same stance should be adopted for other feeding programs. Any gatherings of large groups, including for service or education, should be postponed or cancelled. Unfortunately, this includes community meals, whenever possible.

6) Donate (But Ask First!)

Now is a critical time to accompany local feeding programs and ministries. As more folks hoard supplies and food, ensuring that our neighbors have enough is more important than ever. If you are able to support a local pantry or feeding ministry, please do so. But before you drop off a large donation, call them first! Managing donations takes a lot of volunteer time, which many ministries and programs may not have right now. Others may have specific needs, depending on their community. Try to reach out first, before choosing how to provide the best support.

7) Give

These are going to be trying times for anti-hunger work for a very long time. If you have the means, prayerfully consider supporting local hunger ministries by donating online, if the option is available. You can also continue to support the work of domestic and international ministries through ELCA World Hunger by visiting https://community.elca.org/elcaworldhunger. With churches closed and offering plates not being passed, it can be easy to forget how much our local, national and international ministries depend on the regular support received from gifts.

8) Support

Hunger is never just about food. Hunger is often a symptom of deeper vulnerabilities. Some of these economic vulnerabilities are being disclosed in rapid and jarring fashion now. The immediate impact of the widespread shutdown is being felt by service and hospitality industry workers in restaurants, bars, coffeeshops, hotels, etc., especially. Many workers in these industries work for hourly wages without paid sick leave. Servers and others depend primarily on tips, which won’t come when the business is closed. The long-term impact of the pandemic on the service industry and small businesses may be significant. Even as we follow the advice to stay home, consider purchasing a gift card from a local business, like a restaurant, coffeeshop or retail store, to use after the current crisis ends. These businesses provide the jobs that are needed to help people feed themselves and their families in the long-term. Many restaurants are also offering take-out options. If you are healthy and can do carry-out or curbside service, remember to tip the workers well. If possible, try to make the tip for carry-out at the same level as the tip you might leave for a sit-down meal.

9) Advocate

ELCA Advocacy has been actively providing alerts about legislation related to COVID-19. You can read the recent ELCA Advocacy blog here. Right now, legislators are preparing to vote on H.R. 6201 – the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. This major legislation will be a major step in providing support to people in need across the country, both in the immediate and in the long-term. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to get in touch with your members of Congress. H.R. 6201 takes major steps in ensuring that our neighbors in need will have access to nutritious food during the crisis by:

• Increasing funding for TEFAP, the federal program that allows pantries and food banks to purchase food at low prices;
• Expanding funding for low-income pregnant women and mothers whose jobs are impacted by COVID-19; and
• Providing additional meals for elderly Americans who rely on the Senior Nutrition

In addition, the Act would prevent changes to the SNAP program that are slated to go into effect on April 1. These changes would remove the ability of states to make exceptions to the work requirements of SNAP during economic downturns, like the kind we are seeing now. This would mean that some SNAP recipients who work in businesses currently closed due to COVID-19 would be at risk of losing their benefits. H.R. 6201 as it is currently worded would prevent this from happening.

Stay up-to-date on the latest legislative information related to COVID-19 by following ELCA Advocacy on Facebook and by signing up for ELCA Advocacy e-Alerts here.

10) Witness

The church is and always has been caught in the tension of the already-but-not-yet Reign of God. We know by faith that God, even now, is moving the world toward wholeness and healing that surpasses even our deepest hopes during a pandemic. The church is called to bear witness to that hope to one another and to our neighbors. To be church means to be a sign of the bright future God has in store for all creation. But to be church also means to take seriously the threats to our health and wholeness now. As Lutherans, we affirm that both the complete healing to come and the healing we can experience now are gifts from God. The wisdom of public health officials, the empathy of neighbors sacrificing together to stem the spread of disease, and the tireless efforts of community leaders are gifts from God.

Maintaining social distancing, practicing good hygiene, and even changing the way we worship together may seem like mere practical steps. But they reflect some of our core beliefs as people of faith: that human wisdom is a gift of God to give effective shape to our love for one another; that protecting our most vulnerable neighbors is part of our vocation as the people of God; and that authentic worship can take many forms. Our faith also calls us to accompany our neighbors facing heightened anxiety because of both health- and economic-related uncertainties. To witness to hope means to be part of practical solutions, to show empathy and to respect the dignity of all our neighbors, especially in challenging times. It is to remember that even as we maintain social distance, we do so out of love and concern and not out of fear.

To be the witness God calls the church to be means being both wise and “foolish” at the same time – wise, in that our actions are driven by the best information we have available, and “foolish,” in that we bear witness to hope, even in the midst of crisis. At work in this tension is where we are called to be and who we are called to be, during a pandemic – and long after.

To learn more about the church’s “caring response in times of public health concerns,” visit the ELCA’s website at https://elca.org/publichealth. There are links on that page to resources for your congregation to pray for healing and health during this time.

The Word

“In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

-Proverbs 16:9-

Seasons and Seasons

Lent is a season in which many strive for reflection, to make new experiences and achieve rest. It’s also a time in which we see God’s creations of nature change and show their seasonal differences. As nature’s seasons change, so do the seasons of the human life. We are deeply connected to the Creation around us. Different in the seasonal human change, unlike nature, especially Lent when all things appear new again, our bodies age. Hopefully, our minds are renewed each season to the point of maturity revealing the beauty of Godly wisdom.

Focusing on nature’s seasonal changes – identify your current season of human life. What elements of the Lent’s seasonal beauty, reflection, and shedding of old ways are on display in your current season of life? In this season of Lent, what your life’s aspiration? Are you inspired for the next season? Who are you inspiring in their season?  What’s your plan and how in each season are you ordering your steps? What does this look like in terms of our communal relationship with the earth?

Plessy V. Ferguson Site in New Orleans, LA

Chronos and Kairos

Proverbs 16:9 reminds us that we could work and try to do everything on our time (Chronos), but the Lord provides in the Lord’s time (Kairos). Some events and opportunities that occur in winter, spring or fall may seem overwhelming and intimidating because of climate and mobility limitations. I suggest that Lent is a time where we can let go and allow God to guide our hearts to best fit into God’s plan of action. Allowing God to plan removes the obstacles of time, stress, failure and other limitations which transcend into opportunities for peace, restoration, and understanding.

Monument Circle in Downtown Indianapolis, IN

Aspire to Inspire

Incorporating the meaning of the quote “Aspire to Inspire before you Expire” into whatever season of life in which we find ourselves, we can identify pain, the need for power, and hope for promises fulfilled.

There is recognizing the pain experienced in past seasons – the pain that has allowed you to become the person God created you to be. Then comes the pain of anticipated trauma and dilemmas that are in store and unknown. One must go through this pain to move to the next season.

The power of our testimonies changes who we are as servants. We are changed for the work of the risen Savior.

Then there’s the best part – the promise, the promise(s) fulfilled from a lifetime of holding on to God’s unchanging hand amid both chaos and celebrations.

When living out the true existentialism of this quote, we can see how only God can transform our pain into power and how God always delivers us promises within a Kairos moment.

Overview of Dallas, TX

All of this is what we could try to do before the time that we leave this season. However, this is not limited to only this season, but this journey is for a lifetime. Imagine what we could do as a powerful group of people when we serve the kingdom with the mindset to aspire to inspire before we expire.

A gathering of 82 disciples representing 9 different congregations in inner city Baltimore, MD to worship for a Lent Service held at St. Philip’s in East Baltimore on March 4, 2020. To God be the Glory!

Discussion Questions

1. What elements of the Lent’s seasonal beauty and newness are on display in your current season of life?
2. In this season of Lent, what your life’s aspiration? Are you inspired for the next season? Who are you inspiring in their season?
3. How has the Lenten fast from plastics newly inspired you? How might your next season look different because of this Lenten practice?

Rev. Louis Tillman is the Pastor of St. Philip’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baltimore. This congregation is the oldest African American Lutheran Church in North America. It was started as an African American church by a pastor who was recently freed out of slavery. St. Philip’s Evangelical Lutheran Church will be celebrating their 130th Anniversary on October 18, 2020.

Issue 69 of Administration Matters

ELCA presiding bishop addresses concerns about COVID-19

Rostered ministers gathering – July 2020

Political activity and tax status

ELCA technology discount program

ELCA health plan takes another evolutionary step

Local travel reimbursement

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

COVID-19  |  LANDMINES  |  HMONG AND LAOTIAN DEPORTATIONS |  FY2021 BUDGET |  FAIR HOUSING RULE

COVID-19 OUTBREAK: With daily developments in the spread and scope of the COVID-19 outbreak, our anxiety and uncertainty tempt us to curve inward and fixate on self-preservation. Last week, Congress passed emergency funding to bolster local, state and federal governments’ public health response to the virus. This is an important first step, but we must do more so that our nation’s economic and health care systems work together to minimize the impact of the outbreak on poor and low-wealth communities, the elderly and other vulnerable people. ELCA congregations and ministries are responding to the outbreak in their communities to ensure the health and safety of worshipers, staff and neighbors by adopting practices to prevent or slow transmission of COVID-19. But as church in this pandemic, we can also illuminate the impact on our most vulnerable neighbors. God calls us to stand by them in advocating for dignity, equity and justice, and ELCA Advocacy staff are monitoring the situation for policy-response opportunities for our network.

LANDMINES: On Jan. 31 the Trump administration announced a decision to lift existing U.S. prohibitions against the use of landmines, saying the prohibition could put U.S. troops at a “severe disadvantage.” As a member of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines, the ELCA signed a public statement, posted Feb. 20, that opposes the action. It says in part, “Landmines are inherently indiscriminate weapons that maim and kill long after conflicts end.” It concludes, “To roll back the progress the global community has made would not only be a tragedy but an affront to the dignity of landmine survivors around the world.”

The Jan. 31 action reverses a 2014 Obama administration ban on the use of such weapons, which applied worldwide except in the defense of South Korea. Lifting the prohibition represents a break with many nations around the globe that have banned landmine use, including more than 160 countries that are party to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (known as the Mine Ban Treaty), agreed on in 1997 and implemented in 1999. Take action through the ELCA Action Center.

HMONG AND LAOTIAN DEPORTATIONS: Laotian and Hmong refugees are preparing to face a possible increase in deportations, in part because the U.S. government is funding a reintegration program to help Laos accept nationals with final orders of removal. Concern is being felt by congregations and members, particularly in the Minneapolis Area Synod, Saint Paul Area Synod and East-Central Synod of Wisconsin. St. Paul, Minn., has the largest Hmong population per capita in the United States (28,591 Hmong Americans, or 10%), followed by Wausau, Wisc. (3,569, or 9.1%).

Lao, Hmong and other Laotian ethnic groups fled the Southeast Asian country after a nine-year bombing campaign by the United States during the Laotian Civil War, which ended in 1975. Many of those refugees resettled in the United States, which is home to about 186,000 foreign-born Laotians, according to the 2017 American Community Survey, as reported by NBC News. On Feb. 28, Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) introduced a bill that would prohibit the administration from deporting individuals to Laos.

FISCAL YEAR 2021 BUDGET PRESENTED TO CONGRESS: President Trump presented Congress with his fiscal year 2021 budget, which includes a number of proposals rejected by Congress when they were included in previous budget proposals. Proposed cuts to SNAP amount to $181.9 billion over 10 years. With all our interfaith partners, we will work with Congress to reject these efforts once again.

FAIR-HOUSING RULE UPDATE: Through March 13, public comments can be submitted through the ELCA Advocacy Action Center on a proposal that would substantially challenge prevention of discrimination in housing. Under the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposal, the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule — first designed to help localities promote diversity and inclusivity under the 1968 Fair Housing Act, and to take proactive steps to reverse the effects of housing segregation — would be rendered almost completely ineffectual.

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 .

With daily developments in the spread and scope of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), our anxiety and uncertainty tempt us to curve inward and fixate on self-preservation. Appropriately, ELCA congregations and ministries are responding to the outbreak in their communities to ensure the health and safety of worshipers, staff and neighbors by adopting practices to slow transmission of COVID-19. Resources and links on ELCA.org/publichealth offer guidance to inform and prepare our worshiping communities. But as church in this pandemic, we can also shine a light on impacts for our most vulnerable neighbors. God calls us to stand by them in advocacy for dignity, equity and justice.

As a church for the sake of the world, committed to God’s call to love and serve our neighbor, we must turn our attention to those who will be most impacted by what may be massive disruptions. The probability of lockdowns, quarantines, and intensified health and safety precautions is growing. From employment and income to government services, from access to testing and emergency health care to schooling for students, disarray can cause hardship.

Our heightened concern extends to neighbors, including:

• The elderly and those in fragile health.
• First-line health care workers under stress as they meet unprecedented demand.
• The poor, people in low-wealth communities and workers in the gig economy, facing risks that include no paid sick leave, unavailable childcare, inadequate health care or lack of a savings cushion.
• The unhoused who have few choices for protecting shelter or health care access.
• Immigrants, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons and children in detention centers that are crowded and lack sanitary conditions.
• People who are incarcerated, with no access or options to appropriate prevention or care.
• Indigenous community and village residents, especially if they live in isolated areas where health care and infrastructure may not have immediate resources to respond to a large-scale crisis.

Last week, Congress passed emergency funding to fund local, state and federal governments’ public health response to the virus. This is an important first step, but we must do more so that our nation’s health care and economic systems work together to minimize impacts on poor and low-wealth communities, the elderly and other vulnerable people.

We call on Congress to strengthen programs that serve as an economic backstop for individuals and families. In doing so, we can help prevent unnecessary harm to communities and the nation-at-large, especially in vulnerable populations who may be overlooked.

Social teaching

ELCA social teaching understands that caring for health is a shared endeavor among individuals, government and the wider society that “expresses both love for our neighbor and responsibility for a just society” (“Caring for Health: Our Shared Endeavor”). We must be faithful stewards of our own health, but that is not all. “The Church also supports the just obligations of a society to serve those who are often left out and to be present with those who suffer” (page 9).

At this moment of global crisis, God calls the church to promote the health of and ensure care for those who suffer during this pandemic and their loved ones. We will use our voice to advocate for government services and societal actions that will support the public health and well-being of all people and communities, especially those without power who may be forgotten or left behind.

Policy points

To achieve these ends, ELCA Advocacy will prioritize policy points with the administration and on Capitol Hill to help our nation respond compassionately to the most impacted. The ELCA Advocacy network will be invited to act* when there are opportunities for our collective voice to make a difference. Areas being monitored include:

• Funding for testing and treatment for the underinsured and uninsured so health access for individuals is not financially prohibitive, and health care providers and hospitals can focus on treatment.
• Access to food and nutrition programs, which will be essential for the most vulnerable people to feed their families and maintain health, especially if movement is restricted or they fall ill. Important measures include ensuring continuation of school meal programs if schools are closed and addressing campus hunger, services on tribal lands, delivery of food to the elderly and access to food in rural areas.
• Housing assistance for the homeless or those at risk of losing their homes will ease the process of tracking and treating the sick and in doing so help reduce infections. Shelter system expansion that allows for safe distancing and personal hygiene will help protect the unhoused.
• Proper care and medical services for detainees in government custody is essential.
• Awareness that fears could prohibit beneficial public health access at entry points for migrants living in our communities is relevant. Screening and health care without fear of a documentation litmus test or detention should be emphasized in sensitive locations for individual and community wellness.
• Global health systems may be quickly overwhelmed, reducing ability to prevent transmission and provide health care to those who might acquire COVID-19. The ELCA can walk with global partners to advocate with the U.S. Congress for global public health resources to address international needs.
• Xenophobic harassment and attacks are on the rise at this time of heightened uncertainty. The church must lead in denouncing stigmatism and displays of racism by modeling welcome and inclusion and disseminating accurate information.

Our life together

In our civic engagement:

• Voting remains critical, and measures must be taken to ensure access to the ballot and election integrity during the increased risk due to COVID-19. Early voting, mail-in and other methods may be increasingly attractive options, and adjustment to registration methods may be advisable.
• As Census 2020 gets underway, congregations can use ELCA Census materials to encourage participation through online and paper formats so door-to-door census worker visits are kept to a minimum

Learning from this experience includes pointing to underlying policy decisions that better equip us to handle the unexpected, which will require improved policy.

• Infrastructure — multiuse medical facilities are needed in times of crisis.
• Food access — rural communities and other food deserts have unique challenges.
• Unemployment benefits — policy should be shaped to respond to such unexpected and urgent economic disruptions.
• Mental health needs — the body of knowledge on the long-lasting impact of traumatic events needs to increase.

Spiritual support, prayer and accompaniment by God’s faithful is needed to provide for those children and adults experiencing anxiety during this crisis, including witness to the healing work of God. Health care workers in particular may be in need of witness to God’s healing and presence as they tend to the growing and perhaps overwhelming number of sick.

——–

A prayer for caregivers and others who support the sick
God, our refuge in strength, our present help in time of trouble, care for those who tend the needs of the sick. Strengthen them in body and spirit. Refresh them when weary; console them when anxious; comfort them in grief; and hearten them in discouragement. Be with us all and give us peace at all times and in every way; through Christ our peace. Amen (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, page 85).

* Receive updates and Action Alerts from ELCA Advocacy by signing up at ELCA.org/advocacy/signup,
and connect on social media @ELCAadvocacy.

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

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

Lutheran Office for World Community, United Nations, New York, N.Y.

Dennis Frado, director elca.org/lowc

DEFENDING PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN COLOMBIA: On February 26, LOWC co-hosted, on behalf of the Lutheran World Federation, Caritas Internationalis and the World Council of Churches, a briefing by four winners of the National Prize for Human Rights in Colombia. Those who spoke were: (second from left) Ms. Clemencia Carabalí, 2019 National Prize for the Defense of Human Rights “Defender of the Year” Award Winner and Director, Association of Afro-descendant Women of Norte del Cauca (ASOM); (far right) Mr. Ricardo Esquivia, 2019 National Prize for the Defense of Human Rights “Lifetime Defender” Award Winner and Executive Director of Sembrandopaz; (second from right) Ms. Annye Páez Martinez, Representative of the Rural Farms Association of Cimitarra River Valley and 2019 National Prize for the Collective Experience or Process of the Year; and (far left) Mr. Marco Romero, 2019 National Prize for the Defense of Human Rights “Collective Process of the Year” Award Winner and Director, Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement. The group was visiting New York and Washington, D.C. under the sponsorship of Diakonia and ACT Church of Sweden to discuss the ongoing challenges of protecting human rights and encouraging efforts toward peace despite limited implementation of the 2016 agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

ADVOCATING HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY: Also on February 26, the Alliance for Multilateralism held a discussion “Advocating Human Rights in the 21st Century – building bridges between Geneva and New York” to support the protection and promotion of human rights in the context of strong and effective multilateral cooperation as “an indispensable foundation for securing peace, stability and prosperity.” An aim of the event was to underscore the relationship between discussions about human rights in Geneva, primarily at the Human Rights Council, and those on international peace and security in New York, primarily at the Security Council. Another objective was to examine, as outlined in a preparatory concept note, the New York-Geneva relationship with respect to “specific contemporary human rights issues such as women’s rights and gender equality, the effects of climate change on human rights, and risks and opportunities of digitalization and artificial intelligence for the protection of human rights.” German Foreign Minister H.E. Mr. Heiko Maas had issued the invitation and also spoke, but the event was sponsored by at least eleven other permanent missions in New York. The webcast can be accessed here.

Arizona

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

Greetings from the Grand Canyon Synod (GCS), and from the new Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA)! We give thanks to God as we seek to live out our baptismal call to “defend human dignity, to stand with poor and powerless people, to advocate justice, [and] to work for peace” (The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective). After a 12-year hiatus and a year of planning, a committed group of clergy and lay leaders brought the dream of an advocacy office in Arizona to life once again. Together with our partners at Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest (LSS-SW), and using the ELCA’s social teaching documemts as our guide, we look forward to being God’s hands and feet in the world, following the path of serving people and encouraging GCS people to do the same.

At our January Policy Committee retreat we discussed priorities for this Legislative session, heard from Angie Rogers with the Association of AZ Food Banks, and from ELCA Advocacy Director, Domestic Policy John Johnson via Zoom. Our first action was for committee members to join LSS-SW for the 2nd annual Refugee Lobbying Day at the Capitol on February 10th to gain legislative support and pass the Refugee Welcoming Bill. Solveig Muus agreed to be the director of this new ministry. Her experiences with building businesses, passion for connection, and a heart for the most vulnerable among us has kept the ministry moving forward.

In this early building stage we will: introduce ourselves to our congregations and identify ministry partners and create website and social media platforms (FOLLOW us on FB at @LutheranAdvocacy. We are following you!). Our priorities for March will be to go live with a website, grow our network, learn about the legislative process, engage with our congregations on the 2020 Census and lift up the new ELCA World Hunger VBS God’s Good Creation for summer planning.

Our thanks to those who have been willing to share your resources and knowledge. We ask for your prayers as this ministry continues to unfold.

California

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

END CHILD POVERTY DAY OF ACTION: The Lutheran Office of Public Policy- California came together with faith partners and anti-poverty activists for the End Child Poverty day of Action. Following moving speeches and a press conference on the west lawn of the capitol, participants walked the halls of the legislative and executive offices to garner support for a plan to end childhood poverty in the state by 2030. The event was well attended, and legislators and staff appeared open to our positions. Contact LOPP-CA for ways to get your congregation involved in the campaign.

CALFRESH 2020 FORUM: The CalFresh 2020 forum is a working conference dedicated to identifying and planning strategies to improve the reach of CalFresh throughout the state. CalFresh- formerly known as food stamps- is a program that helps families acquire healthy and nutritious food in their local community. The uptake rate of the program, especially in otherwise vulnerable populations, needs improvement. We lobbied for a variety of legislative policies that would lead to a more equitable and sustainable food distribution chain. With our commitment to food and farming policy this year, LOPP-CA is a strong partner with California Food Policy Advocates and the California Food and Farming Network. For more information about how your congregation can take the next step from food pantry to food policy advocacy, contact Nicole Newell at nicole.newell@elca.org.

CONGREGATIONAL VISITS: A special and heartfelt “Thank You” goes out to the pastors and members of the following congregations for inviting LOPP-CA into your Sunday worship experience. It is always a blessing to see the many ways that the spirit is moving in our communities and share a bit about the work that we do here with individual members and worshiping communities: Advent Lutheran in Citrus Heights, Calif.; St. Paul Lutheran in Fullerton, Calif; Advent Lutheran in Auburn, Calif; Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, Calif; and American Lutheran Church in Burbank, Calif. If you are interested in hosting LOPP-CA for worship, contact Regina Banks at regina.banks@elca.org.

Colorado

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

DEATH PENALTY WILL BE REPEALED: We are thrilled to join a broad-based faith community and the ACLU of Colorado in successfully advocating for the repeal of the death penalty in Colorado. The bill, SB 20-100, passed its final vote in the House on February 26. It heads to the desk of Governor Jared Polis, who has promised to sign it.
The bipartisan legislative effort was led by Senators Julie Gonzales and Jack Tate and Reps. Adrienne Benavidez and Jeni James Arndt. The effort was repeated four times in the previous decade, but this year’s bipartisan cooperation ensured the bill’s passage.

ELCA Lutherans have long opposed the death penalty for a variety of reasons, all deriving from our Gospel witness: it is impossible to undo a mistake, it is applied unequally, it is using violence to respond to violence, and it does not reflect the restorative way taught by Jesus. With gratitude for all the voices that engaged this process on all sides, we welcome this new day that is dawning.

LUTHERAN DAY AT THE LEGISLATURE: Nearly 80 advocates came together for Colorado Lutheran Day at the Legislature on February 27. We are grateful that Rep. Jeni Arndt joined us in the morning to talk about death penalty repeal and excited that almost every attendee had the opportunity to speak to at least one of their legislators face to face.

Delaware

Gordon Simmons, Delaware Lutheran Office for Public Policy delutheranpublicpolicy@gmail.com

The Delaware Lutheran Office for Public Policy is concentrating on two issues in 2020: education and the environment. There is a major Commission working on revisions to the educational system in the state, with an emphasis on Wilmington. This is partly a response to a lawsuit which contends the state is not providing adequate funding to children from low income families or those learning English. In regard to the environment, we have signed onto a resolution from the Sierra Club calling for a movement towards 100% renewable energy. There is a bill before the Legislature which calls for 40% by 2035. The current mandate is 25% by 2025. We are also monitoring the squabble between the State Division for Natural Resources and Environmental Control (which is supporting the move) and the Public Service Commission (which keeps trying to put up roadblocks). We have a day at Legislative Hall planned for March 25 and a larger “Lutheran Day at the Capitol” set for June 13.

Kansas

Rabbi Moti Riebe, Kansas Interfaith Action (KIFA) kansasinterfaithaction.org

KIFA’s major focus this year, as in the last two years, is on Medicaid Expansion. Before the session, Gov. Kelly (D) and Senate Majority Leader Denning (R) announced a compromise bill which would expand Medicaid to the statutory 138% of the Federal Poverty Line without work requirements. Our alliance supported the bill. However, other Republican leaders still oppose expansion, and things became complicated when a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion failed to pass the House. Expansion opponents are holding expansion back as leverage for the abortion amendment, despite the two issues being unrelated (Medicaid funding cannot be used to fund abortion in Kansas).

The expansion bill is stuck in a Senate committee; 24 votes are needed for a procedural motion to bring it out of committee but only 23 have been identified. The last several weeks have seen a series of events to keep the pressure on, including statements (op eds, letters to the editor) from faith leaders; a press conference attended by ELCA Central States Synod Bishop Candea among others; a letter from 75 Kansas nuns supporting expansion; and a faith leader event with Gov. Kelly and Sen. Denning which KIFA helped organize that was attended by 35 faith leaders.

One other thing I’d like to mention: at our annual climate and energy lobby day in February, called WEALTH Day, we organized what we consider to be the first comprehensive climate hearing in the Kansas legislature. To talk about this pressing issue, we put together an ad hoc committee made of legislators of both parties and both chambers from a broad cross section of the state. They heard from advocates and experts on a variety of aspects of climate disruption in Kansas, including impacts on the agriculture sector, increased spending on disaster relief and recovery, and the importance of proactive planning for future disruptions. The hearing was very successful and got some press coverage (not enough), but we’re hoping the legislature will have this hearing in front of an authorized committee next year!

Minnesota

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

FAITH LEADER HOUSING SUMMIT: Many Lutheran leaders participated in a Faith Leader Housing Summit through long-time advocacy partner, Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC). It was exciting to hear Gov. Walz talk about housing priorities!

PRECINCT CAUCUSES: LA-MN Advocates had the opportunity to bring resolutions to their caucuses on housing & homelessness and clean energy! We hope that major parties will include statements on the party platforms.

“CLEAN ENERGY FIRST” LEGISLATION: Clean Energy First refers to prioritizing clean renewable energy over other sources, if more economically viable. Wind and solar energy have become the lowest cost option, but tweaks are needed to update current law. The Senate Energy & Utilities bill rolls back current statute and redefines clean renewable energy in ways that are not actually clean but does include positive language regarding jobs and transition. LA-MN advocates have made many contacts with legislators to improve the bill, but action is still needed as most of the problems remain.

HOUSING: Many LA-MN advocates contacted legislative leaders to push for $500 million in affordable housing bonds. We appreciate feedback and welcome the legislative responses advocates share with us.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

From the Upper Midwest? Join this event!! Includes worship that sings Easter for the whole creation; young activists sharing their motivations; breakout sessions; faces of the climate crisis; messaging on climate & difficult environmental issues; networking for musicians, students, creation care teams, church gardeners, youth leaders, preachers, public advocates, and more!

Now the Green Blade Rises: The Easter Gospel for the Whole Creation
(2020 EcoFaith Summit) – Flyer / Registration
Saturday, March 28, 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 418 8th Ave. NE, Brainerd, MN 56401

Want to meet with your state lawmakers? Come join the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition’s (JRLC) Day on the Hill in St. Paul this April!

2020: Serving the Common Good
Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC) Day on the Hill – Info/ Registration
Wednesday, April 1, 8:30 a.m. – afternoon legislative visits
InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront, 11 E Kellogg Blvd, St Paul, MN 55101

Ohio

Deacon Nick Bates, Hunger Network in Ohio hungernetohio.com

We were very excited to continue our collaboration with the Southern Ohio Synod in February in hosting a training, Seeing Race Through Faith for 30 congregational leaders from across the Dayton area. We discussed the history of American racism and slavery and how it continues through our politics, culture and economy today. We finished the afternoon with situations where we find ourselves in each and every day and are confronted with racism. How can we respond to unite a world that has been segregated by sin? Our first action always needs to be to confess our own sins and ask God to help and guide us.

Want to learn more? Check out our reading list! White Fragility, Dear Church, The New Jim Crow, Race Matters, Living into God’s Dream; Dismantling Racism in America, America’s Original Sin, How to Be an anti-racist.

RAISE THE WAGE: Did you know that the ELCA Social Statement on economic life says, “Although our identity does not depend on what we do, through our work we should be able to express this God-given dignity as persons of integrity, worth, and meaning. Yet work does not constitute the whole of our life. When we are viewed and treated only as workers, we tend to be exploited.”

As a church we commit ourselves to “…a minimum wage level that balances employees’ need for sufficient income with what would be significant negative effects on overall employment.” Beginning later this month, faith leaders can join with partners around Ohio in gathering signatures to put the minimum wage on the ballot in November!

Pennsylvania

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

STATE BUDGET: LAMPa supports Gov. Tom Wolf’s call for an additional $1 million for the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System (PASS) in his spending plan.

SOLIDARITY, NOT SOLITARY: LAMPa joined the Pennsylvania Council of Churches at a press conference inviting policymakers to “experience” solitary confinement at a real-scale replica of a solitary cell on display in the Capitol. Staff continued legislative visits supporting legislation to end overuse of the practice.

Lutheran advocates stood with lawmakers and supporters of protections for LGBTQ Pennsylvanians in the Capitol as members of the LGBTQ community and their families shared stories of continued discrimination in housing and employment in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s seven ELCA bishops issued a joint letter in support of non-discrimination protections.

ASHES-TO-GO: On Ash Wednesday, LAMPa staff joined ecumenical partners in sharing Ashes-to-Go at the Capitol. Many expressed their thanks for the offering of ashes and prayer in the midst of their day, particularly those who are not able travel to their home communities for the start of Lent.

LAMPA ENDORSES CHIP EXPANSION: Public health advocates, including LAMPa, urged policymakers to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to include prenatal care for pregnant women ineligible for other medical assistance because of immigration status.

EQUIPPING LEADERS: Tracey DePasquale led workshops at SWPA Synod’s training for congregational councils and taught at St. Luke’s, Devon, SEPA Synod. She also toured the food pantry at the Lutheran Center at Kutztown University with alumna Shana Rose and the Rev. Inge Williams, LAMPa policy council member from NEPA Synod,. The pantry’s food helps support the hunger ministry and is sourced through the State Food Purchase Program and PASS, both of which are priorities for LAMPa advocacy.

STANDING WITH DETAINED FAMILIES: Lutherans are helping to lead monthly vigils at Berks Family Detention Center. Sister Dottie Almoney, St. Peter’s, Lancaster, led the vigil in February. Read press coverage.

ELECTION REFORMS: Comprehensive reforms designed to encourage greater participation in Pennsylvania elections are in place for the April 28 primary.

Southeastern Synod

Matt Steinhauer, Southeastern Synod Advocacy Team synod.office@elca-ses.org

My position as Assistant to the Bishop, Director of Advocacy for the Southeastern Synod began on February 1, 2020. The annual gathering of the Advocacy Policy Council for the Southeastern Synod was held on that day at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Atlanta. Thanks to the good work of my predecessor, Hilton Austin, who conducted the meeting. Approximately 30 advocates from all four states in the synod, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, heard presentations by the Georgia Justice Project on criminal justice legislation, Georgia Interfaith Power and Light on care for creation legislation, and the American Cancer Society on healthcare legislation.

As all four of our states’ legislatures are in session at this time, it has made it difficult to attend to pressing needs of communication with our advocates, and, at the same time, orient myself to this new position. My first month has been mostly spent assessing the resources already in place, connecting with the advocates across the synod, and working on educational information around our baptismal charge to “work for justice for the poor and oppressed,” in preparation for spreading that word through the congregations in the synod.

I have much to learn, and I am excited to get to know my colleagues across our ELCA, and covet not only your prayers but your good ideas and experiences of building strong advocacy ministries.

Texas

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

TEXAS INTERFAITH ADVOCACY DAYS: Texas Impact hosted our inaugural Interfaith Advocacy Days February 16-18 in Austin. Participants spent three days in legislative training, participated in Texas’ only US Senate Candidate Forum on climate change, and visited legislative offices at the Capitol to advocate for health equity, migration justice, and climate justice.

The ELCA was well represented at the event. Ruth Ivory Moore, ELCA Advocacy Director, Environment and Corporate and Social Responsibility, was one of the featured speakers, and the Rev. Jeff Thompson was awarded Texas Impact’s Advocate of the Year award for his dedicated service. Pr. Thompson visited his representatives at their Capitol office dozens of times during 2019 and worked to build relationships with campaigns and representatives in their district offices—both for Texas Impact and other local organizations.

REIMAGINING JUSTICE HEALTH EQUITY PODCASTS: Texas Impact has completed production of a special series of Texas Impact Weekly Witness podcasts focused on various aspects of the social determinants of health. The 10 episode health equity series is available by searching for “Texas Impact Weekly Witness” in your favorite podcast app. Also available in the same feed is our recent Weekly Witness conversation with Bishop Michael Rinehart, ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod.

Washington

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

INTERFAITH ADVOCACY DAYS: Over the last month, FAN co-hosted three Interfaith Advocacy Days (IFAD) – in Spokane, Olympia, and Yakima. In Spokane (January 25) and Yakima (February 8), advocates joined us for issue workshops, interfaith panels, and strategizing sessions on advocacy efforts this year. Two hundred advocates joined us for IFAD in Olympia on February 6, where we heard from our new Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins, held workshops on our Legislative Agenda issue topics, and planned in caucus groups in the morning. In the afternoon, advocates met with their Senators and Representatives, and we ended the day hearing from some key elected officials on how the session is going and how FAN can support the passage of justice-centered bills.

WASHINGTON LEGISLATIVE SESSION: We are nearing the end of the 2020 session on March 12, with many bills still alive and needing a final push to be voted out of the second chamber and onto the Governor’s desk! We encourage our advocates to send weekly emails to their legislators on bills from our agenda, and we are especially urging constituents to ask their Representatives to pass the Death Penalty Repeal bill (SB 5339 Sen. Carlyle) these final two weeks. The state Supreme Court, the Governor, and the Attorney General have all called for the repeal, and it is time we make it law!

CENSUS 2020: FAN co-hosted a Census 2020 Faith-Based Summit in Tukwila last month to rally the faith community and local organizations around the census to ensure that all are counted. We heard from inspirational keynote speakers Ron Sims, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Urban Development and former King County Executive (bottom right), and Rev. Dr. Kelle Brown of Plymouth Church Seattle (top right). Co-Director Elise DeGooyer led an interfaith panel, which included ELCA Bishop Rick Jaech (top right) who implored us to stand with our immigrant neighbors who may be fearful of how their information will be used.

Wisconsin

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

HUNGER: LOPPW participated in a conference call with hunger leaders from the Northwest Synod and East Central Synod of Wisconsin to plan a panel discussion the three groups will lead at a statewide Feeding Wisconsin conference. Pastor Cindy Crane earlier shared LOPPW’s presentation on hunger and advocacy with our main leader from the Northwest Synod. LOPPW also advised a direct service nonprofit addressing hunger on how to get involved with advocacy.

CARE FOR GOD’S CREATION: We focused on water for February’s Wednesday Noon Live. We also sent out action alerts on protecting children from lead in water, supporting farmers to care for their land in a way that would improve their production and protect drinking water, and a new comprehensive bill that addresses several environmental issues and that does not have much traction yet.

ANTI-SEX TRAFFICKING: LOPPW participated in our quarterly Wisconsin Anti-Human Trafficking Consortium, helped with updates on legislation and learned about one new bill that is relevant to LOPPW’s work.

IMMIGRATION: LOPPW participated in a conference call with our D.C. office and Directors for Evangelical Missions on immigration and began preparing for our focus on immigration for March Wednesday Noon Live.

LOPPW displayed a table at the Greater Milwaukee Synod’s Together in Mission (left) and at the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin Walking Together (right). We have snazzy new t-shirts based on a design from a former ELCA t-shirt design.

ELCAVOTES: We began seeking an intern or consultant to help LOPPW recruit poll workers in the context of talking about ELCAvotes resources, thanks to funding from All Voting is Local.

IN ADDITION: LOPPW led a workshop on advocacy at a congregation in the South-Central Synod. Pastor Crane had conversations with two new advisory council members from the La Crosse Area Synod – Irene TenEyck and Rev. Adam Arends – before welcoming them during our March check-in call.