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Holding Space

The following reflection is cross posted from the Minneapolis Area Synod of the ELCA blog. The original post can be found here.


By Bishop Jen Nagel

When the day of Pentecost had come they were all together in one place . .  . Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them.”  – Acts 2 

May 25th marked the 5-year Angelversary of the murder of George Floyd. That Sunday evening, as part of the Rise and Remember Festival and at the invitation of the ELCA Racial Justice Ministries, I joined a number of you for a fabulous concert featuring Sounds of Blackness and a moving vigil. We gathered beforehand on the steps of Calvary Lutheran Church, just a block south of George Floyd Square. ELCA Racial Justice Director Jennifer DeLeon grounded us for the evening, reminding us that people come to this event holding both memories and hopes, lament and a call to action. If you haven’t been to George Floyd Square lately (or ever), consider making a pilgrimage and ask for a community guide to share this sacred space with you or your group.  

Photo credit: Pastor Melissa Pohlman

The sun was low when the concert ended. Theologian and community leader Jeanelle Austin stepped onto the stage to prepare us for the vigil. Volunteers quietly distributed candles. Now, let’s be clear: These were not the smaller candles we often hold during a Christmas Eve candlelight service, candles that flicker through a few verses of Silent Night and are soon extinguished. Instead, these were large tapers, ready for the long duration of the vigil and all it would include.  

 

Austin described the plan: With candles lit, Brass Solidarity would lead us north past the spot where George Floyd was murdered, past exhibits and memorials filled with the names and stories of BIPOC individuals from around the country who have been victims of systemic racism and violence. We would turn west and go a block to Say Their Names Cemetery where over a hundred symbolic headstones bear the names of Emmett Till, George Floyd, Philando Castile, Jamar Clark, and dozens more. Anticipating the moment, Austin explained that we should move down into the cemetery and find a headstone where we would “hold space” as the youth and young adult musicians of Kamoinge Strings played several pieces, and then we would close with a prayer.  

 

Holding space. As the sun set and night came, hundreds of us settled in around the headstones. Some people stood, some sat in the cool grass. Candle flames flickered and wax dripped. Music swelledIt was beautiful and incredibly sad all at once. I held space by the stone of a 17-year-old named Jordan Davis who was killed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2012.  

Holding space means creating a safe — yet also brave — environment in which people, with all our emotions, can be present and remember. I keep thinking of exercise classes and how they remind me to engage my muscles as I move this way or that. Holding space means figuratively engaging our muscles. It takes time. It makes us tired. It can be uncomfortable. If we do it well, we’ll grow stronger, we’ll gain endurance. I find that holding space is often profoundly moving. It’s holy work.  

In times like these, the temptation is strong to move through these anniversaries – this pain, this trauma – passively, without really engaging. Holding space invites us into the vulnerable recognition that the world is not yet as it should be, and we are called to be present, engaged, honest to the grief and all the moment holds, and ready to be part of the change.  

This Sunday we’ll celebrate Pentecost and the Holy Spirit’s movement. We believe that love is stronger than hate, that life is stronger than death, and that together, by the Holy Spirit’s power, we can be part of God’s new creation. That was my prayer as we held space with the sun setting and the candles flickering. That is my prayer today. May it be so.  

Remembering the Emanuel 9

White Lutherans for Racial Justice and ELCA Racial Justice Ministries invite you to a time of learning, reflection, and action as we prepare to honor the Emanuel Nine. Come be inspired to deepen your congregation’s commitment to racial justice.

Thursday, May 15, 2025 6:30-8 pm Central

To register, click: here

Remembering the Emanuel 9:  White Lutherans for Racial Justice and ELCA Racial Justice Ministries invite you to a time of learning, reflection, and action as we prepare to honor the Emanuel Nine. Come be inspired to deepen your congregation's commitment to racial justice.

My take: We are not newcomers Let us not just celebrate Arab American heritage—let us be changed by it

In honor of Arab American Heritage Month, ELCA Racial Justice Ministries will be elevating the voices of our Arab and Middle Eastern Descent peers and reposting their works from other sources around the ELCA. The following is cross-posted from Living Lutheran. You can find the original post here.


My take: We are not newcomers

Let us not just celebrate Arab American heritage—let us be changed by it

By Khader Khalilia | April 28, 2025

Marhaba (mar-huh-bah or mar-ha-bah). A simple word, ancient and powerful. Rooted in Aramaic and Syriac languages of early Middle Eastern Christians. It means more than just “hello.” It means God is love. It’s a greeting, a theology, a word grounded in relationship, faith and belonging.

April is known as Arab American Heritage Month, but the church is invited to not only observe one month out of the year but to reclaim marhaba as a spiritual practice of welcome, belonging, dignity and solidarity.

At the heart of our culture is hospitality. The moment a guest walks into our home or church, we no longer see them as a stranger—they are part of our family. We don’t just offer food, we offer belonging. You’re not just a visitor, you’re embraced with dignity and love. That spirit of open doors and open hearts mirrors the gospel: there are no outsiders in the body of Christ. The church is called to do likewise—not only to welcome the stranger but to receive them as part of the body of Christ.

But for too long, Arab Americans have been painted as the “other.” Our stories flattened and identities misrepresented. Whether Muslim, Christian, Druze or otherwise, in Hollywood and other places, including the church, we’re cast as villains, terrorists, foreigners or footnotes. These images have real consequences—from hate crimes and surveillance to erasure and isolation. Even indigenous Arab Christians who are descendants of the earliest followers of Christ are often invisible in American Christian spaces.

That’s why this month matters.

It’s why we give thanks to the ELCA, specifically the Ministries of Diverse Cultures and Communities (MDCC), for opening its doors to Arab American communities. For making space not only for our language, culture and style of worship but for our leadership, theology, story and witness. Through the MDCC’s support, Arab Lutheran congregations are taking root in places where the gospel is preached in Arabic, where Dabke is danced in celebration and where marhaba is lived out loud. These congregations aren’t side projects—they are essential to the church.

Arab Americans have helped build this country. We are doctors, engineers, teachers, artists, small-business owners, veterans and public servants. We’ve enriched American cuisine, contributed to scientific breakthroughs, helped shape national policy and led movements for justice. Arab Americans have woven their lives into every part of this nation’s fabric.

We are not newcomers—we are neighbors.

Let us remember: marhaba is not just about welcome. It’s about belonging.

Representation shapes how we see God and how we see each other. To support Arab American ministries is to proclaim that Christ speaks every language, eats every dish and walks with every people. It’s to remember that Christianity was never Western to begin with, and we did not convert from Judaism or Islam. Jesus was born in my hometown, Bethlehem; grew up in Nazareth; and was crucified in Jerusalem. And Christianity first spread across lands now called Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt.

Marhaba is more than a greeting. It’s an invitation to reimagine the church as a place where no one is foreign. It’s a call to resist tokenism and performative inclusion and instead build real relationships rooted in listening, trust and shared struggle.

So this month, let us not just celebrate Arab American heritage—let us be changed by it.

Let us teach and preach about the early church as a living legacy still carried in Arab American communities. Let us teach our congregations that when Jesus said to love your neighbor and the stranger, he was talking to a people who knew what it meant to flee, to be displaced, to be labeled othered. Let us break down the walls that separate us from our neighbor and dismantle racism, support Arab-led ministries and show up in solidarity when our siblings are targeted or dismissed.

Let us remember: marhaba is not just about welcome. It’s about belonging.

To my beloved ELCA, we thank you for making room at the table for us. For helping Arab American congregations not just survive but thrive. For reminding the whole church that inclusion reflects the kingdom of God.

 

Khalilia
Khader Khalilia
Khader Khalilia is program director for ELCA Arab and Middle Eastern Ministries.

May 5 is National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s (MMIW) Awareness Day

 

May 5 is National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s (MMIW) Awareness Day.

In 2021, as a follow-up to the 2016 Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery, the ELCA Church Council adopted the Declaration to American Indian and Alaska Native People by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It reads, in part:

“…We commit to advocacy for and being in solidarity with Tribal Nations, MMIWGR organizations, families, and friends who have gone missing or who have been murdered.

“Indigenous women and girls go missing at a much higher rate than any other group in the United States. Indigenous men also disappear at a higher rate than other males. There are 2 foci in this commitment. One is advocacy. Tribes, states, and the US government can and should pass legislation to coordinate work to alleviate the problem. The second focus is relational. Synod leaders can establish relationships with Tribal Nations, express solidarity, help with prevention, with search and rescue, with comforting the anxious and bereaved. Congregations can, as well.”

How to honor MMIW Awareness Day (May 5) in your congregation:

  1. Wear red (T-shirts available from the ELCA) and take pictures. Use social media to raise awareness. Use hashtags: #MMIW #NoMoreStolenSisters #TruthandHealing #ELCA
  2. Organize a prayer vigil (using this resource).
  3. Include MMIWGR in the prayers for the day.
  4. Say the names of MMIWGR (this would be especially meaningful if you also did the research to identify locally/regionally specific MMIWGR) and light candles for them during worship.
  5. Invite (and compensate) a local Indigenous expert to share on this topic as part of your educational time.
  6. Invite (and compensate) local Indigenous musicians to play/sing during worship.

This resource guide provides an extensive list of resources that you and your community can use to learn more about MMIW & ways to take action! To download, click HERE.

For information on MMIW events for 2025, click here and scroll down to upcoming events. For more information on Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations of the ELCA, please visit:  Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women – Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (elca.org) and Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations – Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (elca.org)

Join Us: 5th Angelversary of George Floyd

ELCA Racial Justice Ministries and ELCA African Descent Ministries invites you to join us at the Rise & Remember Festival in Minneapolis, MN. The 3-day, annual event “exists to hold in remembrance George Floyd and those we have lost unjustly to the pervasive impacts of systemic racism. Activities focus on education, empowerment, healing, celebration, and our collective pursuit for racial justice and equity.”

We hope you will join us for the gospel concert and candlelight vigil on Sunday, May 25. We will meet in front of Calvary Lutheran Church (clchurch.org) at 5 pm.

If you plan to attend, please let us know by completing this short, 6-question survey:  https://forms.office.com/r/d3ZW4T7iWs

Commemorating Bonhoeffer, Living into his Legacy

The following is shared from the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania (LAMPa) newsletter for Wednesday, April 9, 2025. 


Commemorating Bonhoeffer,

Living into his Legacy

Today, April 9, marks the 80th anniversary of the death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor-theologian who resisted the Nazi regime and was executed at Flossenbürg Concentration Camp just weeks before the end of WWII.

 

Over the past year Lutherans, advocates, and those committed to justice on behalf of their neighbor have been steeped in the legacy of Bonhoeffer and the lessons his theology and life have to offer us as disciples also working at the intersection of civic life, faith, and justice. People from Pennsylvania and beyond have used LAMPa resources to engage and deepen their understanding of the importance of Bonhoeffer’s central question, “Who is Christ for us today?”

In commemoration of Bonhoeffer, here is a collection of all of the resources we have compiled to help individuals and communities mark this day as one of learning and inspiration into deeper relationship with God and with humanity.

Lessons from Bonhoeffer in House Divided and a World on Fire – A 4-6 week curriculum for congregational use by Dr. Lori Brandt Hale of the International Bonhoeffer Society – English Language Section.

Evening Prayer Liturgy – Designed to complement the curriculum.

Hope in a Divided World: A Faithful Response to Christian Nationalism – Read a recap of our event at ULS earlier this year and watch recordings of lectures by Dr. Brandt Hale and Amanda Tyler of Christians Against Christian Nationalism.

Here I Pod Episode 3 – Listen to Pastor Erin Jones talk about faith-based advocacy and addressing Christian Nationalism on this podcast from ELCA Advocacy. The special history segment summarizes Bonhoeffer’s legacy.

Substack Posts

Coffee With Dietrich – Pastor Erin’s reflection from last year on the commemoration of Bonhoeffer’s death.

I Love Bonhoeffer – What do I do with all these Statements? – A summary of statements and resources from the fall release of a new movie on Bonhoeffer.

Buy your “Just. A. Guy” T-Shirt!

If you have participated in any or all of the above ways of learning about Bonhoeffer, you know we are committed to a reading that amplifies Bonhoeffer’s humanity – “a real human being” as he would say. Wear an invitation to conversation with a T-shirt that benefits the work of LAMPa.

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