Skip to content

ELCA Blogs

Hungry. And surrounded by food

Jenny Sharrick

August 3, 2015

I have a very complex relationship with food. I absolutely love it. My favorite food changes almost daily because there are so many incredible ones from which to choose. So many flavors to experience within a short life. But often food does not love me. Or perhaps, a better way to explain it is that my body does not love food. You see, I have an intestinal disorder called Crohn’s disease. It means that portions of my 22 feet of small intestines can become ulcerated (like a bunch of open sores, but on the inside) and inflamed. Crohn’s disease, along with ulcerative colitis, is part of a group of diseases known as Inflammatory Bowel Disorders (IBD), which affect 1.6 million Americans.1

Personally, I don’t like to draw attention to my illness and generally I give a non-committal non-answer when people ask how it affects me: “I have good days and bad days; but I’m always hopeful for more good than bad.” It’s hard to talk about an illness that is invisible to everyone else. It’s even harder to talk about an illness when it presents with the symptoms of Crohn’s. And sometimes, I would just rather pretend that my body is healthy and that nothing is wrong. But the reality is that it always affects my body and sometimes it means I’m in excruciating pain when I eat.

But the worst part of all is not the lack of food. It’s the lack of fellowship. We encounter Christ at The Table. And we encounter Christ around our tables at home with friends, family, and new acquaintances. When we want to “catch up” with others, the first instinct is to grab lunch, ice cream or go for coffee. Without the ability to eat, it becomes nearly impossible for fellowship, communion, and emotional support.

Crohn’s can be so isolating. I can find ways to sneak in enough calories to survive until tomorrow with easily digested foods such as pureed baby food or nutritional shakes, but it’s harder to find ways to sneak in authentic time and experiences with friends that don’t end up exhausting me further. It’s hard to find those moments to say “I really need to be in fellowship with you, but I can’t continue to pretend like going out for Indian food isn’t the worst idea I’ve had all week. Can we just sit here on my couch and chat without any refreshments?”

I spend a lot of my life thinking about various aspects food. My favorite de-stressing activity is to bake any and all desserts (I’d be lying if I didn’t say I also love eating desserts, too!). I’m always in search of a good recipe on Pinterest. I am on my synod’s “(anti-) hunger team” within the ELCA. My congregation is involved in anti-hunger ministries including a food pantry and a food co-op. My research focus for my Masters in Public Health (MPH) is rural food insecurity. I even come from a long line of food-growers. Some day I will inherit one and a half farms in Nebraska (although truthfully I know very little about the actual process of growing food other than what I’ve gleaned from my unsuccessful ventures in gardening and what I’ve heard about the process of farming around the dinner table growing up). The thing I’m most looking forward to when I return home to Nebraska is my weekly bag of vegetables, fruits, cheeses, eggs, honey and freshly baked bread from local farmers and producers.

Even after all that thinking and reflecting on different aspects of food, I still struggle daily with what it means to come to the T(t)able and not be able to eat, regardless of the reason.

Food is everywhere. It’s engrained in my life and also in yours. It’s in the news (the newest fad diets, research about what we should or should not eat, advertising campaigns about food), and it’s in our homes and most places we visit. It makes sense. Food is literally life-sustaining. But now, more than ever, I can recognize how much fear and anxiety food can cause for people.

I have never been without access to enough food. I’ve been lucky enough to be food secure my whole life. I’ve always known that I can find food. But I can resonate with the 49 million people in the United States who are food insecure.2 Even more so with those who are food insecure and have IBD, an eating disorder or a food allergy.

I am often also hungry for the communion with others that comes from breaking bread, salad and casserole around the table.

Sometimes “feeding the hungry” also includes those of us who would give anything to be seated with you, but can’t. Can’t because of allergies. Can’t because our psychological relationship with food is disordered, for example, by anorexia, bulimia, or other eating disorders. Or can’t because of tiny pockets of inflammation that we don’t like talking about.

We are often surrounded by a sea of food but still drowning in our inability to eat any of it.

Jenny Sharrick is the 2015 summer intern with Constituent Engagement with ELCA World Hunger.

 

1 http://online.ccfa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=TS_homepage

2http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/our-research/map-the-meal-gap/child-food-insecurity-executive-summary.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/

Share

Lutheran Disaster Response at the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering

Megan Brandsrud

​During July 14 – 19, the Lutheran Disaster Response team and several dedicated volunteers were in Detroit for the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering. Lutheran Disaster Response had the great opportunity to have an activity space in the Interactive Center as part of the Proclaim Community Youth Gathering event.

Lutheran Disaster Response’s activity space was titled “Hope for the Refugee,” and the interactive activity gave participants a chance to have a simulation experience of the journey that refugees face. Participants were grouped into “family” units and assigned family roles that they portrayed throughout the activity. Stations included discussing and determining what materials families might need with them to make the journey to a refugee camp, learning about challenges encountered along the journey and how to adapt, and learning about the hope found at refugee camps and what Lutheran Disaster Response does to support refugees around the world.

LDR booth

The entrance to the “Hope for the Refugee” activity space at the 2015  ELCA Youth Gathering

Approximately 1,200 youth participants and adult leaders visited the “Hope for the Refugee” activity space and learned more about the work of Lutheran Disaster Response.

Lutheran Disaster Response also worked with Campus Ministries and Habitat for Humanity at the Youth Gathering  to build house frames for Habitat for Humanity homes in Detroit.

LDR build

A message written by a 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering Participant on a house frame built for a Habitat for Humanity home in Detroit.

More photos of participants at the “Hope for the Refugee” activity space and of the dedication of the house frames can be found on the Lutheran Disaster Response Facebook page.

We were blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering and to meet and interact with so many wonderful youth from around the country!

Share

Water-Related Activities for Youth

Anna Smith

ELCA Walk for Water

Do-it-Yourself Track Experience ELCA World Hunger

This guide features all the information necessary to recreate the interaction Walk for Water track in your own community or congregation.

Local/ Personal Context:

Community Mapping Pg. 6. Produced by Polaris Institute.

A lesson that gives youth the chance to explore water in the place they call home and create a local context by mapping out the water resources in their surrounding area.

Lesson Plan: ‘Thirst‘ Written by Terri Carta. Produced by PBS.

This is a discussion guide to supplement the hour long documentary Thirst. Although the full video is currently unavailable online, this guide is an important learning and activity resource. It touches on themes of water privatization and The Commons. The guide features a mock town hall meeting activity surrounding the city council, citizens and water supplier’s role in privatization issues.

Water Bingo Pg. 7. Produced by Polaris Institute.

This game allows youth to interact with each other by filling out spaces with information like “has heard of or been to a protest to protect water,” or “has had to boil or filter their water for it to be safe enough to drink.”

 

Water Footprint Calculator Made by National Geographic.

An online, interactive resource that allows people to calculate much water they consume based on a variety of factors such as their home, diet and energy consumption.

 

Global Context:

Lesson: Village Voices Pg. 24. Produced by The Water Project.

This is a simulation which gives youth an insight into solutions to water crises from various perspectives: Geologist, Climatologist, Public Health Officer or Village Elder.

 

Race to Development Water & Hunger Toolkit. ELCA World Hunger.

This activity is a simulation which informs youth about the difficulty to obtain water daily faced specifically by women. They will go through a variety of tasks listed on situation cards.

Tragedy of the Water Commons Produced by Water.org.

A lesson guide that introduces youth to The Tragedy of the Commons by using an interactive, visual representation. This resource also helps youth connect The Tragedy of the Commons to the global water crisis.

Creating and Building:

Build Your Own Watershed Produced by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

This activity allows youth to learn about the importance and creation of watersheds while also discussing the pollution issue watersheds are facing.

 

Mock Muck Produced by Water.org.

In this activity, youth will attempt to purify dirty water using various techniques.

 

Way to Flow – Water Irrigation Written by Jaimie Schock. Produced by TryEngineering.

Irrigation is a very crucial component of water issues around the world as it helps farmers sustain their livelihood. This activity gives youth the opportunity to learn about irrigation systems by designing and creating their own.

 

Discussion and Advocacy:

Water and Society: Day Two Pg. 5.  Produced by The Water Project.

This guide includes a game to introduce youth to what a commodity is and leads into a discussion/ debate about if water is a human right or a commodity.

 

Waters of the United States: Enforcing the Clean Water Act Produced by ELCA Advocacy. Coupled with the resource-Writing to Public Officials

These resources can be used to encourage youth to get involved with water-related advocacy.

Final Reflection Resources:

Becoming Changemakers Made by Polaris Institute.

This is a great resource to help youth generate ideas and examples of action that they can take with water crises.

 

Closing and Action section of Water Toolkit.

This can be a really helpful reference to give ideas for future involvement with water issues.

Water, Holy Water (Must fill out information before downloading).  Produced by Creation Justice Ministries.

This resource has information about various topics surrounding water, but also gives ideas for creating a water themed worship service.

 

Anna Smith is an ELCA World Hunger intern working with Hunger Education this summer. She is currently a student at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn.

Share

Reflections on the ELCA Youth Gathering

Ryan Cumming, Elysssa Salinas & Anna Smith

​MIVES in the D

Ryan P. Cumming

I went to Detroit with 360 pool noodles, a three-seater latrine, a bag of tools, and a debriefing script, all to help make ELCA World Hunger’s Walk for Water a meaningful experience for the youth and adults who passed through our space.  The other items got used, but several times, the script was tossed aside as I listened to fellow Lutherans’ stories of their own water challenges, especially from California – dry wells, dangerously low lakes, disappearing streams.  I was happy to share with them the story of ELCA World Hunger.  But in hearing their stories and learning about their concerns, I learned as much about the connections between faith, water and hunger as I had to offer them.  Sometimes, we speak and sometimes, we listen.

Our work as a church is rooted in accompaniment, walking together with one another.  The values which inform accompaniment are mutuality, inclusivity, vulnerability, empowerment and sustainability.  We see ourselves as mutual partners creating inclusive tables where everyone involved feels safe enough to be vulnerable and guided in their own empowerment so we can shape long-lasting, sustainable relationships.  This is not just a method but an expression of who we are in relationship to each other and to God.  And it starts with listening.

In another series of conversations last week, this time with youth from Grace in Action in Southwest Detroit, I discovered that no matter how full our team packed boxes for the Gathering (and trust me, they were FULL), we could never bring enough to Detroit to match what the city and its people had to offer us.  Listening to these young people, you can get a sense of what it means to be in the midst of crucifixion and resurrection.  They have no illusions about the challenges their city faces.  If they ever forget, the national media will remind them.  But they also have a rich understanding of their own role in the renewal of Detroit.  Much has been said of Detroit’s recovery after the bankruptcy and leadership of their state-appointed emergency financial manager, but listening to young Detroiters, I found a clear sense that this resurrection did not begin top-down.  It began on the streets and sidewalks, in alleys and garages with individuals and families refusing to believe that Detroit would remain always in its own Good Friday.

I was also reminded last week what it means to be church together.  Sometimes, church looks like people standing and singing.  Sometimes it looks like people praying together.  Sometimes, church looks like a community working together to install a well for clean water.  Sometimes, church looks like 30,000 young people painting, cleaning, and building.  And sometimes church looks like young people from Southwest Detroit selling shirts they have designed with symbols of pride in their city, on a street corner near Cobo Center.

Those of us who traveled to Detroit – staff, partner organizations, volunteers, youth, leaders and so on – brought much to the city, and the media coverage of this massive event lifted up the hard work ELCA youth were part of in various neighborhoods.  But in Cobo Center and in a cramped hotel room with young people from Southwest, I was reminded the importance of accompaniment, the importance of listening and looking not for the gospel we think we bring but for the gospel that is being lived out already, for the presence of God in communities.  We brought a word of grace and hope – a “gospel” – to the city of Detroit, but not because the city was lacking in either.  There is a gospel being lived in the Motor City, as sure as there is a gospel being lived in California, Cameroon, Indonesia, or wherever we find people expressing resurrection hope in the midst of crucifixion.  We did not serve or teach or give or provide.  We accompanied and were given the chance not to bring God to Detroit, or to bring the good news to those who hunger and thirst, but to bear witness to what God is already doing, to be part of the good news already at work among our God’s chosen.  It was clear – from the dynamic speakers, the structure of the event itself and more –  that “Rise Up Together” was not a command we obeyed, nor a directive the ELCA proposed.  It was an invitation to which we responded, to be part of what God is doing in Detroit.  And we came away with more than we had to offer.

Ryan P. Cumming, Ph.D., is program director of hunger education for ELCA World Hunger.  He can be reached at Ryan.Cumming@ELCA.org.

 

Worms, Diarrhea, and Malaria, Oh My!

Elyssa Salinas

The 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering last week has been marked on my calendar since my first week working for the ELCA, but I still could not fathom the scope of this event. I was confused in meetings when we talked about noodle forests and jelly bean medicine; I had never been to a youth gathering, so I was not able to comprehend the scope of this event.
The Walk for Water allowed participants to simulate the experience of many people around the world who do not have ready access to water. My base for the event ended up being in the clinic area of the track itself, which was about three-quarters of the way through the experience. The participants carried five-gallon jerry cans that weighed 41.5 pounds when full. On each of the jerry cans was a symbol telling them if they got a waterborne illness, such as malaria, diarrhea or worms. Then they would need to stop at the clinic to learn about their disease.

clinic 1.jpg

I worked in the worms (ascariasis) and diarrhea area where I talked about the causes and effects of these two water-related illnesses. The youth would sit on a latrine, if diagnosed with diarrhea, and try to spot the clean water from four different jars, if diagnosed with intestinal worms.

Clinic 2.jpg

In the activity related to worms, there were two clear water jars and two that looked contaminated. When the youth or adult would pick the clear water jar as clean one, I would inform them that the water contained  bacteria or a parasite that could make them sick. Instead, it was the orange-colored water that was safe to drink because it had been treated with an iodine solution. This demonstration made us all consider the reality of water across the world, and the serious risks contaminated water presents.

Clinic 3.jpg

When participants saw a square drawn on their jerry cans, I would invite them to sit on the latrine because they had diarrhea! There was a lot of nervous laughing, especially from the youth, because here in the United States diarrhea is an illness associated with embarrassment but not death. The truth is that diarrhea is one of the leading causes of death in children five years and younger.[1] This “laughing matter” kills 760,000 children every year.[2] In order to help the participants gain perspective on this number, I compared it to the population of Detroit, which is fewer than 700,000 people.[3]  Mouths would open wide, gawking at the often-deadly reality of diarrheal diseases. Our work through partners and companions is not just about helping people get access to water, but also helping them access education and resources to prevent water-related diseases like worms and diarrhea.

In the middle of our space was a baptismal font fashioned out of wood crates and a metal bucket meant to be a sacred space to remind us of God’s love. Yet after this week I believe that water is sacred, whether it stands in a font or comes home in jerry can. Water is always a sacred space.

Elyssa Salinas is program assistant of hunger education for ELCA World Hunger. She can be reached at Elyssa.Salinas@ELCA.org.

 

We Must Continue to Rise Up Together

Anna Smith

Growing up in the ELCA, I always wanted to attend the ELCA National Youth Gathering. When the time came in high school for me to attend, my congregation ultimately made the decision to forego the Youth Gathering in place of continuing with our annual mission trip. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that I was selected to be the ELCA World Hunger Education Intern and that my “duties” included attending the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering in Detroit. I was set to attend my first Youth Gathering as a twenty-year-old!

I took on the Youth Gathering in full force. I wanted to take it all in and not miss a thing. Although I spent most of my time at ELCA World Hunger’s Walk for Water space, I was still able to attend the events at Ford Field almost every single night. I was also given the opportunity to speak to 500 youth from Northwest Wisconsin at my synod’s “Proclaim Story” day. After much contemplation about what exactly I wanted the youth to take away from my story, I eventually decided to speak about the place where I have felt the closest to God: Bible camp. My whole story centered on a quote from the former program director at the camp I worked at for three summers, Luther Point Bible Camp. Jesse Weiss would always remind the campers, “God doesn’t just live here at camp, God goes out with you.” It is so easy to see God at work each and every day at camp, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t working just as hard outside of the camp world. I shared this sentiment because at an event like the Gathering, many youth experience a similar high point in their relationship with God. I wanted to share with them that it doesn’t end here in Detroit.

I certainly witnessed a lot of moments of God at work in Detroit. While working the Walk for Water I was in awe as I watched incredibly athletic youth be humbled as they struggled to carry the 41.5 pound jerry can and realize that some people’s lives are far more difficult than their own. I also saw some youth finish in tears after they could barely complete one lap, let alone go the full 37 laps to reach the average distance some women and girls must travel to collect water. Those tears and the deep empathy shown for our sisters and brothers around the world were certainly glimpses of God.

Then there was Ford Field. To witness 30,000 youth cheering at the top of their lungs at callsfor change and justice was simply breathtaking. As I heard the roar when my colleague Mikka McCracken  said with confidence, “I believe it is possible to end poverty and hunger,” it was then that I knew this church and these youth WILL be a source of change and a beacon of justice.

After the Gathering in Detroit, we can’t just return to life as usual. Those “God sightings” cannot fade to distant memories. The overall theme of the Gathering was Rise Up Together. We did this every day in Detroit by bearing burdens, building bridges, breaking chains and bringing hope. I call my fellow attendees to practice what we learned at the 2015 gathering: that we find the issues that we are passionate about and that we never stop seeking God and continuing to do God’s work. The Gathering’s last day in Detroit was not the end; it was merely the beginning as we were sent to continue to Rise Up Together and never stop.

Anna Smith is an ELCA World Hunger intern working with Hunger Education this summer. She is can be reached at Anna.Smith@ELCA.org

 

[1] World Health Organization: Diarrhoeal Disease. April 2013. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs330/en/ (accessed July 23, 2015).

[2] Ibid.

[3] United States Census: Detroit (city), Michigan. May 29, 2015. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/26/2622000.html (accessed July 23, 2015).

Share

Index of the July 2015 Issue

Issue 41 of Administration Matters

2015 ELCA Youth Gathering live stream
The 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering is happening in Detroit right now, July 15-19. You can be part of this witness to God’s redeeming cycle of life-death-life a​gain (Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.) by following the live stream at http://www.ELCA.org/gathering. You can also participate with the young people by using their daily devotions called First 15 and Final 15. They can be found on the same website or you can download the Gathering app.

ELCA receives federal charter to open credit union
On July 7, 2015, an ELCA Federal Credit Union was chartered! Created to provide low-cost financial services to members and ministries of the ELCA, the credit union will open in the first quarter of 2016. >More

Preparing for disaster – a guide for Lutheran congregations
This Congregational Disaster Preparedness Guide will walk you through, step-by-step, how to create a comprehensive plan in case of a disaster and help equip your congregation to respond after a disaster strikes. Created by Lutheran Disaster Response, the intent of this resource is to help your congregation take basic and important steps to serve your communities. (This 101-page document may take a little while to download. Please be patient.)​ ​>More

Be a good steward – pay your Portico bill online
By using Portico’s online bill pay, you’re helping to lower the cost of bill processing. It’s simple, it improves accuracy, your payment is applied to your account faster, you can schedule a payment up to 60 days in advance, your retirement account contributions are deposited and invested faster, and it saves postage and paper. By paying online, we all help to make the most of church resources. >More

Insurance recordkeeping
The wise congregation invests valuable stewardship dollars in insurance coverage. The wiser congregation protects that investment by keeping thorough records of that coverage. >More

ELCA Mission Builders
Is your congregation planning a new building or adding to an existing building? If so, then you might want to consider the option of using ELCA Mission Builders to provide management and skilled labor for your project. Over the past 25 years, Mission Builders have completed 157 church building projects across the ELCA.

Normally, Mission Builders can rough-in the building, raise joists, walls and roof trusses, frame and install windows and doors and side the building. Plumbing, electrical and HVAC installation is handled by subcontractors. Mission Builders also share in the spiritual life of the congregation during their time of service. The congregation agrees to serve as general contractor, provide volunteers, and pay Mission Builders a modest fee for their services. Since most Mission Builders live in their own RVs, the congregation is also expected to provide a place where they can park on the building site.

Through the efforts of Mission Builders, congregations get new facilities with cost savings and a unique sense of ownership. Those involved in Mission Builders receive a host of new friendships and the reward of helping others and serving God. >More

Share

American by Grace, Compassionate by Action

Sean Bonawitz, ELCA Advocacy

Rethinking Perspectives of Migration in The Northern Triangle

We do not choose where we live, who our families are, or the time that we are born into. We are thrown into the mystery of life. Some land gracefully while others crash and crash hard. For those of us who are born as citizens of the U.S.A., our environment is a stable one. Not without its own challenges, but with general safety. Life is difficult at times for all, but have you ever felt a strong enough presence of danger that forced you to flee from your home? Rarely do we ever look across the Gulf and wonder what our lives would be like had they begun in Honduras, Guatemala, or El Salvador; the Northern Triangle of Central America.

Children and families in the Northern Triangle continue to leave their homes due to complex and interrelated reasons, including chronic violence, poverty, environmental displacement and lack of opportunities. These problems are exacerbated by the failure of governments to address these issues, leaving many with no choice but to flee. Children are forcibly recruited and targeted by gangs as they cross gang territories to attend school. Many business owners are forced to pay a “protection” fee to criminal actors to avoid harm. Although numbers of migrant children and families at the U.S.-Mexican Border have dropped significantly this past year, deportations and detentions of Central Americans along the Southern Mexico Border have increased drastically due to Mexico’s 2014 Southern Border Plan, which is backed by the United States.

Why do we continue to prevent Central Americans access to the protection our nation’s stability has to offer? It is possible we have been labeling migrants from the Northern Triangle incorrectly. So far we have refused to identify them as needing international protection or refugees, but rather, have colloquially categorized these children and families as “illegal immigrants”. The 1951 Refugee Convention under Article 1(A)2 says, “the term refugee shall apply to any person who fear(s) being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”. Although persecution via gang violence does qualify many of these people for international protection, most children and family members do not qualify as textbook refugees, and fail to receive adequate aid. Why are these persecuted children and family members not regarded as deserving of this legal status? In a region where homicide rates and gang violence run rampant, fleeing from a community culture such as this should qualify these people as refugees.

Those of us who were born in America were handed this privilege by chance, not choice. As one of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, once proclaimed, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights”. We are endowed with, we were gifted these rights as humans and people of God. Our privilege as Americans is that we, as a nation, persistently fight for these values. So why should we deny these rights to others who actively seek acknowledgement of their unalienable rights? Should we not embrace our neighbor with open arms?

We as Americans should provide a safe haven for these refugees and welcome our neighbors, who have shown extreme bravery, courage, and faith. We should listen to the words in Philippians 2:4 which states, “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others”.  We should welcome refugees, as we previously have, and continue the idea of America as “The Great Salad Bowl” of diverse communities. America was founded and forged by immigrant communities. We should not turn away those who seek life, liberty and pursue happiness.

Share

ELCA Advocacy Update – July 2015

ELCA Advocacy

Lutherans are taking action across the country! Below you will find our monthly State Advocacy Newsletter. Share with your friends!

​​​Washington, D.C.

Advocacy Director, Stacy Martin

www.elca.org/advocacy

 

LOGUMVatican Encyclical “Laudato Si”:  On June 18 Vatican officials released “Laudato Si,” an encyclical letter on caring for creation. In the encyclical, Pope Francis I places a special emphasis on our moral obligation to address the growing threats to our world caused by climate change. Arriving shortly before the upcoming global climate summit in Paris, the pope’s encyclical affirms that climate change is largely a man-made dilemma, and is a principal challenge facing humanity today. Immediately after its release, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, praised the encyclical noting parallels to our own social statement “Caring for Creation.” Bishop Eaton also called for action to help less-privileged nations that must now face the most brutal effects of climate change.

Smarter Sentencing Act: ELCA Advocacy took action earlier this month to support The Smarter Sentencing Act, now in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, as part of our ongoing effort to address mass incarceration and racial justice in our communities. The bipartisan Smarter Sentencing Act makes modest reforms to our justice system by alleviating overcrowding in our prisons, restoring the ability of federal judges to determine fairer and more realistic sentences, and creating more transparency about how federal laws and regulations are applied. You can take action now at the ELCA Action Center.

1Mexico and Central America: This month, members of ELCA Advocacy and the churchwide organization staff traveled to Mexico to learn about the detainment and treatment of migrant children and families from Central America. Staff met with civil society leaders and government officials to learn more about the ongoing crisis.This visit came in the wake of the Obama administration’s ongoing foreign policy discussion that continues to focus on encouraging increased border security measures by the Mexican and Central American governments without acknowledging the immediate need to protect migrants who are forced to flee. ELCA Advocacy continues to urge lawmakers to support the protection and human rights of all God’s children and will be releasing a full report on the findings in Mexico within the coming weeks.

Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston, S.C.:  Presiding Bishop Eaton and leaders of the ELCA offered their prayers to the victims of the Mother Emanuel AME tragedy earlier this month. Two of the victims, including the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, were graduates of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, an ELCA seminary in Columbia, S.C. Bishop Eaton, who later attended Pinckey’s funeral, reaffirmed in a statement the immediate urgency to address racism as a society and as a church. ELCA Advocacy recognizes that we cannot truly seek justice and peace through advocacy without being committed to ending racism. We commit ourselves to working toward this goal and ask that you join us in this effort. Follow our Advocacy efforts and ELCA Racial Justice Ministries to learn how you can join in the conversation.

2The Endangered Species Act: On June 25, ELCA Environmental Policy Director Mary Minette was on a panel of experts about our moral obligation to care for creation by protecting endangered species. The event was attended by Senate and coalition-partner staff. In her message, Mary reaffirmed our religious calling to be stewards of nature by caring for creatures and the environments around them. To protect God’s creation, we must make environment-friendly choices as well as advocate for continuing the Endangered Species Act, which is, as Mary put it, “a modern-day Noah’s ark.”

____________________

New York, NY

Dennis Frado​, Lutheran Office for World Community

Ministerium meeting at LOWC: On May 12, LOWC welcomed the Lutheran pastors from Manhattan to the Church Center for the United Nations. The meeting of the ELCA Manhattan Ministerium Conference started with worship on social justice under the heading “Sing a new song to the Lord.” Afterward the ministers had an opportunity to learn about the work of the Lutheran office and discussed possible areas of cooperation. The LOWC staff also expressed their offer to visit congregations that are interested in our work to the United Nations.

Peace Not Walls gathering:  About 30 members of the Peace Not Walls network gathered in mid-June at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio to discuss recent activities and future work plans. They shared ideas for synod engagement, heard reports on advocacy activities, proposed teleconferences with speakers from the Holy Land, heard updates about future young adult trips to the region, discussed the intersections of work between Peace Not Walls and racial justice and received an update about staff efforts to explore “positive investment” in connection with the 2013 Churchwide Assembly request.

Lutheran World Federation Council meeting: As has become the custom, Dennis Frado served as co-opted staff for several of the committees of the annual meeting of the Lutheran World Federation Council when it met last month in Chavannes-de-Bogis, near Geneva, Switzerland. The council adopted four public statements and four resolutions. The public statements were on climate justice, protracted conflicts and over-stretched humanitarian response, the situation in Tanah Papua (West Papua, Indonesia) and the sin of racism (in response to the shooting in South Carolina).  The four resolutionscovered the Middle East, Migrants, the post-2015 Development Agenda and the recent Nigeria elections.

Unaccompanied and migrant children consultation: Following a number of conversations with synodical bishops, the ELCA Church Council and others, the churchwide organization called together a consultation last month to provide input for a proposed churchwide unaccompanied and migrant children initiative. Dennis is serving on the writing team to prepare the document related to the initiative with Alaide Vilchis Ibarra of the ELCA Advocacy office and Megan Brandsrud, program interpreter for Lutheran Disaster Response.  It is expected to be reviewed by the Conference of Bishops later this year and be considered by the Church Council at one of its future meetings.

____________________​

California

Mark Carlson, Lutheran Office of Public Policy

www.loppca.org​

Sadness about Emanuel AME is mixed with good feelings about a state budget that includes a new state Earned Income Tax Credit, over $300 million in new funding for preschool and child care, health insurance coverage for undocumented children, resources to assist immigrant integration into society, and money for access to scarce water in disadvantaged communities as the drought worsens.  There is good news about housing, as the first grants of carbon cap-and-trade funds were announced under the Affordable Homes and Sustainable Communities program, with more to come.  LOPP-CA was part of the collective effort needed to achieve this progress.

3On Friday following the Charleston massacre, LOPP-CA Director Mark Carlson attended a prayer service at Murph-Emmanuel AME (site of a former ELCA congregation) and left Bishop Eaton’s statement and spoke with the pastor of St. Andrew’s AME, the oldest AME church west of the Mississippi.

On his own time, Mark went with family to see “Inside Out,” a “a major emotion picture,”the Pixar-animated tale of Riley Anderson, age 11, who moves from Minnesota, where her “core memories” were made, with her parents to more diverse “San Franstinktown.” Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust live in her head.  She is engaged with Islands of Friendship, Family, and Honesty, among others, which crumble as she and her family try to adapt to a new life. Joy and Sadness work in grace for renewal, including a new Island of Friendly Argumentation, what we might call “moral deliberation.”

____________________​

Colorado

Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – Colorado 

www.lam-co.org

Self-Sufficiency Standard: The Colorado Center on Law & Policy recently released the 2015 Colorado Self-Sufficiency Standard, a measure of how expensive it is to live in Colorado. Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado was present at the launch event alongside many other interest groups. The standard calculates the income required for a family to meet basic needs without assistance. On average, costs increased by 32 percent across Colorado between 2001 and 2015. While the amount needed to be self-sufficient varies considerably by geography, 7 out of 10 of the most common occupations in Colorado pay median wages below the standard. Closing that gap will require both reducing costs and raising incomes, both of which will be part of LAM-CO’s economic policy agenda for the 2016 legislative session.

Other events: LAM-CO Director Peter Severson was invited to give the benediction at the graduation of the Family Leadership Training Institute, a civic engagement program run by the Department of Public Health. Severson shared the stage with more than 100 graduates as well as Secretary of State Wayne Williams. Severson also recently attended the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative annual summit, took part in the commissioning of summer staff at Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp, and participated in Together Colorado’s summit of Denver faith leaders at Shorter Community AME Church.

____________________

​Minnesota
Tammy Walhoff, Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota
tammy@lcppm.org  

The legislative special session: Gov. Mark Dayton had been cut out of negotiation processes through much of the session and vetoed three funding bills, necessitating a special session. A month of negotiations finally reached adequate agreement to call the special session, though even then it was not a smooth process. LA-MN’s priority issues saw little change, although both housing and clean energy were in a vetoed bill.

Homes for all priorities (final): The coalition, supported by grassroots action, secured a $25.5 million boost for housing and homeless services (including $10 million in bonds for housing). Homeless Youth programing increased $1 million per year. New funds will help thousands of Minnesotans access safe, stable and affordable housing. (For funding table, click here, and find the full bill here.)

Clean energy (final): There were no improvements to the Renewable Energy Standard or energy efficiency (original goal). Success became stopping roll-backs taking Minnesota significantly backward. The faith leader letter (see May update) played a significant role in that regard.

Papal encyclical: LA-MN used news of the new encyclical to draw attention to the ELCA social statement on the care of creation. Plans are to use the encyclical for study, to emphasize our stewardship role, and to tie poverty to climate and environmental degradation.

Synod-related activities: LA-MN Director Tammy Walhof led a workshop on housing, homeless youth and advocacy at the Southwestern Minnesota Synod.

Continuing education:  A theological retreat with colleagues, focused on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Ethics,” made for interesting reflection in the advocacy context.

Twitter: @LuthAdvocacyMN   Facebook

____________________

​New Mexico

Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – New Mexico 

www.lutheranadvocacynm.org

4Learning about advocacy ministry:  Youth from Peace and Trinity Lutheran churches in Las Cruces stopped at the Roundhouse, as the New Mexico state Capitol is nicknamed, on their “mystery trip.”  LAM-NM Director Ruth Hoffman spoke to the group about advocacy ministry in a legislative committee room where they were able to sit in the legislators’ chairs and learn about how to be involved in advocacy. Ruth also took them on a tour of the Capitol.  Thanks to Laura Carson, AIM and the Christian education and youth ministry director at Peace Lutheran for inviting LAM-NM to be a part of the adventure.

5Ecumenical connections:  Rocky Mountain Synod Bishop Jim Gonia and LAM-NM Director Ruth Hoffman were part of the ecumenical and interfaith attendees at the installation of the new archbishop of Santa Fe. The Most Rev. John C. Wester comes to the archdiocese from Salt Lake City where he served as bishop and worked in partnership with local ELCA pastors on issues of immigration and poverty.  Utah is within the territory of the Rocky Mountain Synod so we look forward to continuing our partnership with Archbishop Wester.

____________________

​Ohio

Nick Bates, The Faith Coalition for the Common Good 

nick@oneohionow.org

Gov. John Kasich signed the Ohio budget on Tuesday, June 30. Faith advocates are pleased that the conference committee restored Medicaid services for pregnant women up to 200 percent of the poverty level, removed a last minute amendment that would have cut homeless and affordable housing programs in half, and increased funding for emergency food banks. Faith advocates in Ohio will continue to advocate for increased access to emergency cash assistance, more equitable school funding, and a more progressive state tax system – including a refundable Earned Income Tax Credit to help lift Ohio families out of poverty. For more information, please contact Nick Bates at batesyep@gmail.com.

____________________

Pennsylvania

Amy Reumann, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania 

Tracey DePasquale, Associate Director

www.lutheranadvocacypa.org

6As the July 1 budget deadline looms without promise of being met, Lutheran advocates are making their voices heard in the Capitol.

LAMPa led a prayer service on the Capitol steps June 23 in conjunction with a rally by the Campaign for Fair Education Funding and a faith-based organizing fast. Lutherans from around the state joined in the day of advocacy.  The Rev. Carlton Rodgers, Philadelphia, preached on the Capitol steps.  7Read his stirring sermon. The Rev. David Byerly, Shamokin, a LAMPa policy council member, spoke at the press conference. Both called for an end to the injustice of the state’s record of being the worst in the nation for school funding equity.

The LAMPa network responded quickly to help stall a bill that would have created a lifetime ban for those with felony drug offenses from receiving nutrition benefits. Lutheran advocates have also been active in alerting lawmakers against supporting another bill that would legalize payday lending.

LAMPa submitted testimony in support of the death penalty moratorium and assisted in publishing a letter from the state’s seven bishops in support of legislation to prohibit discrimination in areas of employment, housing and public accommodation on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Staff attended seven assemblies, which included advocacy-related resolutions on hunger, non-discrimination and the environment.

 LAMPa also equipped confirmation campers for their calling to strive for justice and a trip to Washington, D.C., where they advocated for clean water and child nutrition.

____________________​

Virginia

Charles Swadley

Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy     

www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org

On June 30, VICPP’s Virginia Consumer Voices for Healthcare program held a highly successful event, “Healthcare Access as a Moral Imperative,” which was co-organized by VICPP’s Richmond Chapter. Donations were generated for the Health Wagon, which provides remote-area medical services in Virginia and has been featured on “60 Minutes.” A capacity crowd of more than 150 was called into action for affordable health care access and expansion in Virginia! We are now planning to replicate this event with the two nurses of “60 Minutes” fame in Hampton Roads, Northern VA and Roanoke in the months ahead!

On June 18, Virginia Interfaith Center members joined people of all faiths at a prayer vigil at Second Baptist Church to trump fears and setbacks associated with the Charleston murders the previous day. Those assembled are organizing for unity and faith in action about the chronic issue and the solutions for hate crimes.

VICCP joined the Virginia Council of Churches in developing Virginia’s interfaith condemnation of the murders in Charleston.

Members of VICPP’s New River Valley Chapter joined members of the NAACP, Common Cause, and League of Women Voters in a Voting Rights Act rally in Roanoke on June 25. VICPP is joining with the Center for American Progress to produce an Anti-Poverty Summit to be held in the fall in Hampton Roads. VICPP is helping to lead a statewide anti-hunger effort with faith communities and partners, including the ELCA, the Office of the First Lady and the Virginia Poverty Law Center.

____________________​

Washington

Paul Benz, Faith Action Network 

www.fanwa.org

Policy: The state Legislature, after three special sessions, finally got the 2015-2017 biennial operating budget approved and signed by the governor just before midnight on June 30 – the last of day of the current biennium. The $38.2 billion operating budget (capital and transportation budgets were approved separately on the same night) raised only $185 million in new revenue by eliminating two tax exemptions (Washington state has 600). Funding for the K-12 public school system is under a state Supreme Court order – we await the court’s response as to whether this portion of the budget is adequate to fund education. The state education secretary is adamant that it’s not enough and does little to change the unfair levy funding system.

One key policy/revenue-related bill that passed allows counties (by a vote of the people) to raise one-tenth of 1 percent in local sales tax dedicated to housing and mental health services.

On the congressional front, our four primary issues are: trade (Trans-Pacific Partnership), Child Nutrition Reauthorization (summer hunger bills), Green Climate Fund, and the International Violence Against Women Act. FAN’s goal is to meet with all 12 members of our congressional delegation. A FAN delegation had our first meeting on July 1 with Rep. Derek Kilmer, and later this month we’ll meet with Sen. Maria Cantwell.

Organizing and programs:  FAN’s Network of Advocating Faith Communities reached a milestone with our 100th faith community joining: Three Rivers Unitarian Universalists in eastern Washington. Our outreach continues with the Muslim community by attending the beginning of Ramadan in an eastern Washington mosque and an interfaith Iftar dinner in a Seattle-area mosque. FAN also released its statement on the Charleston murders and signed on to the Statewide Ecumenical Executives statement. FAN is in its third program season of the year, which is the convening of our Network of Advocating Faith Communities by 17 geographic clusters around the state. The purpose is to deepen relationships among local faith communities and strengthen our joint advocacy efforts. We’re beginning to plan two fall forums on taxation and its role in building a more equitable and sustainable state. Planning is also underway for our annual dinner in November.

____________________

Wisconsin

Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin 

www.loppw.org

State budget: The Legislature will likely make final decisions about the state budget soon. We are pleased with the $2 million included in the budget to assist youth victims of sex trafficking but are disappointed in some of the deep cuts and the decision to add the requirement for drug testing for recipients of public assistance to the budget. 

Other bills: The bill that would return 17-year-old non-violent offenders to the juvenile justice system will now be addressed apart from the budget. Safe Harbor, ensuring youth under 18 caught in the sex trade will be treated as victims, has officially become a bill and will likely go to committee later in the summer or fall.

Synod assemblies: LOPPW had a display table and held the following workshops at four synod assemblies:

9La Crosse Area Synod: “How to be an Advocate from a Faith Perspective,” co-led by the director and Council Member Bridget Crave.

10Greater Milwaukee Synod: “Human Trafficking in our Backyard,” led by the director. The Assembly was held at Carthage College.

Northwest Synod: “Advocacy and the Proposed State Budget,” co-led by the director and Council Member the Rev. Diane House.  11

12South-Central Synod: “Poverty and our State Budget,” co-led by the director and Council Member Lisa Hassenstab.

Sermon after Charleston deaths: LOPPW’s directorpreached at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Madison on June 21.

____________________​

What advocacy efforts are going on in your synod or state? We want to hear about it!

Contact us at washingtonoffice@elca.org ​​

Share

Charleston, SCOTUS and Hunger: What a Week!

Ryan P. Cumming

Whew, what a week!  Even for the time, the second week of August 1965 was a whirlwind.  On August 6, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act that protected suffrage for Americans of every race.  The Act was the result of months of activism, including the actions in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama.   But even the joy of the moment could not mask that trouble was brewing out west.  A few days later, on August 11, riots erupted in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. As Selma was celebrating, Watts was burning.

Fresh off success in the South, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., headed to California and was shocked by what he witnessed.  Many folks today are surprised to learn that King’s reception in Watts was less than enthusiastic.  When he spoke, he was greeted with jeers: “Get out of here Dr. King!  We don’t want you!”  As theologian James Cone has pointed out, not even the Jim Crow South could prepare King for the depth of economic and social racism of Watts.

The trip marked a turning point for King.  His message shifted; he started talking less about segregation and more about economic opportunity.  What did it matter if a lunch counter served both blacks and whites, if blacks couldn’t afford to eat there?  When he was assassinated, you might recall, he was in Memphis, Tenn., campaigning with striking sanitation workers for fair pay, the right to organize, and safer job conditions.  King lived fighting racial injustice and died fighting economic injustice, learning in 1965, as his counterpart Malcolm X has pointed out before his death, just how closely the two were connected.

Whew, what a week!  As we close in on the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and the Watts uprising, black churches are burning, videos of racial violence are flooding the airwaves, and a Lutheran racist murdered nine African Americans as they studied the bible in church.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

And yet, the times have changed.  Supporters of a racially inclusive vision of the country (and that should be all of us, by the way) eagerly anticipate the (official) removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse following the murders in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.  Supporters of marriage equality celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to protect the right to marry in every state.

You’ve come a long way, baby.  But, man, there’s still a long way to go.

Removing a flag is an important step, but it’s just a step.  In another Supreme Court decision this past week, the justices upheld a key part of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 that allows advocates to bring claims of discrimination when the effects of a practice are discriminatory.  What this means is that discrimination means much more than intent; when practices and policies disproportionately affect racial groups negatively, they are discriminatory.

This may help to address some of the more complex and challenging aspects of racism in the United States.

  • In 2013, more than 25% of African American households and 24 percent of Latino households were food insecure.  By contrast, only 11 percent of white, non-Hispanic households were food insecure.

Death-dealing racism wears many faces.  Sometimes it looks like a white Lutheran (and, yes, we have to admit this) and sometimes it wears the more subtle but no less destructive mask of economic disenfranchisement and poverty.

The Supreme Court decision protecting rights to marriage will have far-reaching economic effects, protecting (for the first time, in many states) the right of spouses to receive much-needed Social Security benefits and protecting their right to shared assets if one spouse passes away.  These are significant consequences that should be celebrated.  But the decision leaves much work to be done.  Gay and lesbian partners can now legally marry in all 50 states.  They can alsolegally be fired because of their sexual orientation in 28 states.  In more than half the states in the US, you can legally be evicted or denied housing if you are gay or lesbian.

The situation is even worse for transgender persons.  Even fewer states offer workplace and housing protections for those who are transgender.  An estimated 20% of transgender persons have unstable housing or are at risk for homelessness. When they do seek help from a shelter, they are often discriminated against, even at shelters that are open to diverse sexual orientations.  Gender identity is still stigmatized – at home, in workplaces, in churches, in shelters, and on the streets, where many LGBTQ youth find themselves.

Race, sexual orientation and gender identity intersect with policies and practices at critical points, and hunger and poverty can often be the results.

On June 18, 2015, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton issued a call to a day of repentance and mourning in the wake of the Charleston church murders.  After this day, she wrote, “then we need to get to work.”  She urged ELCA Lutherans to be involved: “We need to talk and we need to listen, but we also need to act.”

We do all of this with hope in the resurrected God and awareness of the crucified Christ.  Lowering a flag does not enliven a dead body.  Ensuring the right to marry for all people does not protect the rights to employment, housing or public accommodations for everyone.  We live in the tension of the reign of God that is “already” here but “not yet” here fully.  Too often, we get an appetizer of the “already” and gorge ourselves on the “not yet.”

This isn’t about building a perfect world.  As Lutherans, we know that the fullness of God’s reign is God’s doing.  Nor is this about saving ourselves, as if our works can make us or our world righteous apart from God.

It is not works-righteousness to strive for justice and peace in the world.  It is works-righteousness to sit back contented and believe we have done enough.  Striving for justice and peace in all the world is part of our baptismal calling.  Believing we have striven enough, that lowering a flag or protecting one set of rights has cleared us from addressing the deeper, more entrenched symptoms of sin, is works-righteousness and threatens to undermine our baptismal vocation.  God invites us into God’s work of building a community of justice and peace here, now.  God is already in the process of inaugurating God’s perfect reign.  We have been called to be workers in the vineyard.

There is some to celebrate, there is much to mourn and there is much to do. Addressing the root causes of hunger, a commitment our church has made through ELCA World Hunger, demands the kind of honesty Bishop Eaton asks of us.  Despite where we land on various spectrums of politics and faith, we are all invited to share in God’s work of crafting a world in which “justice roll[s] down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24).

Regardless of which way we might answer the latest, greatest CNN/Fox News/NBC/Whatever-you-like-media poll, we can at least unite around this as a confession of faith in the Gracious Creator: no one should go hungry in a world of God’s abundance.  As our namesake, Martin Luther, once wrote, “we are bound to each other in such a way that no one may forsake the other in his distress but is obliged to assist and help him as he himself would like to be helped” (Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague, 1527).

We do this work not because we can make our world perfect, nor because we are compelled to obey a demanding God.  We enter into the hard work of eradicating hunger because we seek God.  And when there is suffering – from the direct violence of a shooter or the indirect violence of discriminatory economic practices – I can’t help but recall the response to an execution in Elie Wiesel’s Night:  “Where is God?  He is there, hanging from the gallows.”  We find God on the cross at Calvary, and we find God on the cross today, with those who have been excluded, marginalized and victimized.  To fight hunger – authentically, Lutheran-ly – is to feed others and be fed ourselves, by the presence of God among our neighbors.

What Can We Do?

So what do we, as people of God called to anti-hunger ministries do, practically?  There will be other suggestions (and I hope they are shared widely), but one step is to listen, as Bishop Eaton urges us.  Start a listening campaign in your hunger ministry.  If you are unsettled by the racism in Charleston, start listening for subtle and overt signs of racism in your ministry.  More than that, listen for ways that your hunger ministry can be anti-racist and part of the broader solution.  (For a great article on this, see Rachel Slocum’s article, “Anti-racist Practice and the Work of Community Food Organizations.”  If you don’t have a license, the article is still worth the purchase price.  Or ask a college student to look it up on a library database.)

Ask the right questions to the right people, too.  Many ELCA members are unsupportive of the protection of marriage for all people, yet profess love for LGBTQ neighbors. How is this exemplified in our other ministries?  For those who do support marriage equality, what other ways are you allying with the LGBTQ communities to address economic and social inequity?We may be one church under a big tent, but it is a tent in which ALL ought to be fed.

Here are some other questions to ask:

  • Are our relief ministries welcoming and inclusive?
  • Do my congregation’s or synod’s hunger education programs include education about the intersections of hunger and racism, sexism and heterosexism?
  • Are our sustainable development programs – tutoring, job placement and assistance, community gardens, etc. – affirming of persons from diverse backgrounds?
  • Does my advocacy include demands for protection of rights to employment, housing and public services for all people, regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation and ethnicity?
  • In our community organizing, are we listening to and affirming voices that have been often marginalized and silenced in our communities?
  • Is our ministry’s leadership diverse?  Is there intentional space for a variety of voices to be heard?
  • Are our communications not only sensitive to but affirming of diverse identities?

ELCA World Hunger – from the team at the Churchwide organization to the local pantry in a congregation – can be part of the work God is inviting us into by listening and being open to what we hear.  The challenges can seem so large, the issues so complex, but anti-hunger ministry is already an entrypoint to doing our part in God’s work of reconciliation and renewal.  I hope that we, as a Church “gathered and shaped by the Holy Spirit to be a serving and liberating presence in the world,”take advantage of the opportunity we have to be the community we are called to be.

Maybe this is where we begin as ELCA World Hunger, with a season of listening for ways our Church’s hunger ministries can be enriched by addressing discriminatory practices and policies not as “race problems” or “sex problems” but as what they are – root causes of hunger that create scarcity when there is abundance and exclusion when there is more than enough room at the table.

 

“Each of us and all of us need to examine ourselves, our church and our communities. We

need to be honest about the reality of racism within us and around us. We need to talk and we

need to listen, but we also need to act. No stereotype or racial slur is justified. Speak out against

inequity. Look with newly opened eyes at the many subtle and overt ways that we and our

communities see people of color as being of less worth. Above all pray – for insight, for

forgiveness, for courage.  Kyrie Eleison.” – Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton

 

Ryan P. Cumming, Ph.D., is program director of hunger education for ELCA World Hunger.  He can be reached at Ryan.Cumming@ELCA.org.

Share

South Dakota: Tornado recovery in Delmont

Megan Brandsrud

​A tornado tore through Delmont, S.D, around 10:45 a.m. on May 10. Delmont is a rural town in south central South Dakota with 140 housing units. Of those 140 homes, 48 were destroyed or severely damaged and 12 received significant damage. These numbers represent 43 percent of the housing units in Delmont.

In addition to the damage to homes, Delmont’s fire station and water tower were destroyed, which caused the stored water to flood neighboring homes. The town’s electrical substation was damaged, which cut off power to the town, and damaged home propane tanks caused a public safety hazard that led emergency officials to evacuate the town of approximately 300 people for several days.

After the tornado hit, our affiliate, Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota (LSSSD), was on the scene organizing volunteers, addressing immediate household needs, providing crisis counseling and case management, and assisting in planning for long-term recovery efforts.

In coordination with Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota, Lutheran Disaster Response has provided an initial $50,000 to assist with case management and construction management in Delmont.

Delmont tornado -LSSSD

A home in Delmont, S.D., that was damaged by a tornado that hit the community on May 10. Credit: LSSSD

Case Management

A case manager will assist people whose homes and/or livelihoods were affected by the tornado. The case manager will assist individuals in filing claims and applying for available financial assistance, in addition to providing emotional support and counseling referrals to people who are dealing with trauma and loss due to the disaster.

Construction Management

Construction managers will be contracted to evaluate homes that were affected to determine which units are suitable for volunteer rebuilding work. The construction managers will supervise volunteer construction crews, manage cleanup, and assist case managers in evaluating unmet needs.

As the community of Delmont begins its rebuilding phase, Lutheran Disaster Response will be there to work with the people who were affected through every step of the recovery process.  Please hold the community of Delmont in your prayers. If you would like to support Lutheran Disaster Response’s work in Delmont, please visit the Lutheran Disaster Response giving page.

Share

Living Earth Reflection: We have no such right

Mary Minette, program director, Environmental Policy and Education

June 2015

But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being. – Job 12:7-10

Last week, when Pope Francis released his encyclical, “Laudato si,” on care of creation, most of the media attention around the world focused on what he had to say about climate change and how Catholics might react to this message. However, Pope Francis addresses a broad range of issues affecting God’s earth in his teaching document, and his call to care for God’s creation is addressed to “every person living on this planet,” not just to those of the Catholic faith. This encyclical also reflects many of the same concerns and approaches as the ELCA’s “Caring for Creation” social statement.

One issue that is featured prominently in “Laudato si” is the protection of plants and animals from the threat of extinction.From the first chapters of Genesis to the end of the book of Revelation, the Scriptures that lie at the core of the Christian faith celebrate creation and our fellow creatures as a gift from God. God calls us into a relationship with our fellow creatures that is one of stewardship and care. God calls us to name “every living creature” – a responsibility that we are still fulfilling as new species are discovered. When God becomes angry with humanity for its corruption and plans to destroy the earth in a cleansing flood, God picks a righteous man, Noah, and tells him to save two of every living creature – a breeding pair – from the waters of the flood along with his own family. After the flood, God makes a covenant not just with humanity but with all creation to never again destroy the earth. And in the book of Job, God tells Job that his fellow creatures have much to teach him about the power of the creator and the connections between all of life.

The ELCA’s social statement on caring for creation notes that “humans, in service to God, have special roles on behalf of the whole creation. Made in the image of God, we are called to care for the earth as God cares for the earth.” We are to name the animals, uniting us in relationship, and to love the earth as God loves each of us.

In “Laudato si,” Pope Francis argues that concern for our fellow creatures and concern for our fellow humans are deeply related: “A sense of deep communion with the rest of nature cannot be real if our hearts lack tenderness, compassion and concern for our fellow human beings … . It follows that our indifference or cruelty towards fellow creatures of this world sooner or later affects the treatment we mete out to other human beings.”

Today, Earth is losing mammal species at 20 to 100 times the rate in the past – a rate so rapid it could rival the event that killed the dinosaurs. Since 1900, 69 mammal species are believed to have gone extinct, along with about 400 other types of vertebrates. Pollution, habitat destruction, hunting and poaching and increasingly climate change all cause God’s creatures to vanish from the earth.

Pope Francis also describes this extreme rate of extinction in his encyclical:

Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see, because they have been lost forever. The great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity. Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right.

Earlier this spring a number of media outlets shared pictures of Sudan, the last male northern white rhino on our planet. Sudan lives in a nature preserve in Kenya surrounded by armed guards tasked with protecting him from poachers who want to kill him for his horn (powdered rhino horn sells for as much as $75,000 a kilo). He is 42 years old – rhinos typically live between 40 and 50 years – and so far, attempts to breed him with one of the four remaining female northern white rhinos have failed.

We are failing in our task of protecting God’s creation and our fellow creatures, and by doing so we are failing ourselves and those who come after us. We have no such right.

Learn more

In 1973, Congress passed (and President Richard Nixon signed) the federal Endangered Species Act to protect our nation’s native plant and animal species from the threat of extinction. For more than 40 years the act has protected species and their habitats and has dramatically increased populations of iconic species, such as the bald eagle and the grey wolf. Unfortunately, despite its successes, some would like to weaken the protections of the act. This is why we must work to fulfill our call to protect all of God’s creation.

Share