I’m working on the Pentecost 2008 edition of Congregation Connections, the 12-page biannual resource that links ELCA World Hunger, worship and congregational life. A two-page spread in this edition looks at ways to help congregations, families, and individuals make plans in the summer in order to enjoy a simpler and more meaningful Advent and Christmas. This will morph into a summer article for Seeds for the Parish.

A big part of that planning centers on Christmas giving viz-a-viz Christmas presents. Please share your alternative-giving ideas, suggestions, and experience with me by commenting here or e-mailing hunger@elca.org

Here are snippets from the Congregation Connections for a start. The sentences in bold signal where I’m especially looking for comments. Rest assured that ELCA Good Gifts (World Hunger and beyond) and LWR Fair Trade Projects are lifted up as key alternative-giving strategies.
God bless us, everyone! Sue

UNWRAP YOUR PRESENT THINKING
Help participants initiate conversations about Christmas giving and share their plans with family and friends.

• Think about Christmas-present giving. What do participants feel is “expected” of them? What was their all-time favorite gift? What gifting strategies have they employed in their family (e.g., drawing names)?
• Brainstorm alternatives to store-bought presents. Strategize antidotes to “too much.”
• Make a pact to give up mall and mega-mart shopping during Advent.
• Encourage participants to let family and friends know what they are giving this Christmas (e.g., prayer, gift-donations, gifts of time or food). It is also respectful to share ideas about what you’d like to receive. “Don’t give me anything,” for example, is not as helpful as “Please don’t give me a thing…I’d much rather receive a gift-donation, the gift of your time, or a hand-written letter.” Consider sending an ELCA Good Gifts catalog to folks who want to remember you at Christmas.

“I WANT SOMETHING TO WRAP*” GIFT IDEAS (Please share your alternative gift ideas…whether they can be wrapped or not.)
Light a candle and say a prayer for your gift recipient(s), then wrap up the candle and a copy of the prayer.
For ELCA Good Gifts, wrap up a representative stuffed animal for the youngest member of the family to receive your gift donation to God’s Global Barnyard. Likewise, wrap small-and-useful representations of other gift donations (e.g., a dust pan for a gift donation to ELCA Disaster Response).
Box and wrap a card or hand-written letter to announce your gift donation.
Wrap up consumables, something that can be readily eaten or used (e.g., Fair Trade chocolate and coffee, homemade treats, postage stamps).
Give pre-owned or no-buy gifts: share a gift from your home (e.g., dish, photo, ornament); personalize free calendars with important dates; wrap up garage-sale finds.

Thanks! Sue-s

Passing on this important information from our friends at Lutheran Volunteer Corps. Sue

Lutheran Volunteer Corps Now Seeking Applications for 2008-2009!

Application deadlines for the 2008-2009 program year are right around the corner! Applications are received on a rolling basis with the following deadlines: March 14 and May 1. Download an application today from www.LutheranVolunteerCorps.org/Volunteers.htm. Please contact Kelly Shinn, Recruitment Coordinator, at 202-387-3222 or Recruitment@LutheranVolunteerCorps.org with questions or for more information.

Lutheran Volunteer Corps is a full-time program that offers people a one-year opportunity for spiritual and personal exploration while working for social justice, living in intentional community and simplifying their lifestyles.
Volunteers are matched with non-profit organizations in Baltimore, MD; Wilmington, DE; Washington, DC; Chicago, IL; Milwaukee, WI; Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN; Seattle and Tacoma, WA; and the SF Bay Area, CA.
Volunteers receive health insurance, time off for retreats and vacation, and a stipend to cover basic living and personal expenses. Most positions also qualify for student loan deferment and a $4,725 AmeriCorps Education Grant.
Members of Lutheran Volunteer Corps unite their time and talents with the time and talents of society’s marginalized people. LVC volunteers work in such areas as AIDS/HIV, addiction and recovery, anti-racism, children and youth, community development, education, employment, the environment, food and hunger, GLBT rights, health care, housing and homelessness, immigration and refugees, international solidarity, legal assistance, and peace.
Most positions are entry level, requiring little or no previous experience except flexibility, a passion for social justice, and a sense of humor!
Finally, LVC is on a Journey to an Inclusive Community, forming and strengthening alliances among people of many cultures and communities, and intentionally dismantling racism within LVC, the church, and society. As a Reconciling in Christ organization, LVC welcomes and encourages the participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people in all aspects of LVC. LVC volunteers come from a wide variety of faith backgrounds, and do not need to be Lutheran to serve. Married and committed partners are welcome to apply. While there is no upper age limit, volunteers should be at least 21 to participate.

The Gospel text for Sunday, March 8, “The Raising of Lazarus,” is found in John 11:1–45. This has been one of my favorite texts for years, ever since I edited an LWT article. The author* wrote something along the lines of “Jesus saved Lazarus from premature death. Unlike Jesus, Lazarus will die again. As followers of Jesus, that’s our challenge, too…to save our neighbors from premature death.

Until that day, this text spoke to me about what Jesus could do (raise people from the dead) and what Jesus was about to do (head to Jerusalem and the cross). Now, when I hear this passage of Scripture I also hear a reminder of what I can do. I am response-able for helping to save my neighbor from premature death.

Premature death: One child dies every five seconds from hunger-related causes. The average life expectancy of a female in Zimbabwe is 37 years; the average life expectancy of a female in the United States is 80 years.**

Life-saving difference: Literacy programs teach parents how to read, and scholarship programs help their children attend graduate from primary school and beyond; wells and reservoirs bring life-giving water to whole communities; animal and agriculture projects help families put food on the table and money in the bank. ELCA domestic hunger grants help congregations, organizations, and ministries help neighbors close to home meet today’s needs and build a better future.

Response-able: We can give generously to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal. We can send advocacy e-mails. We can donate our time and volunteer. Throughout the year we can link our congregations to ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Response.

With God’s grace and spirit: Our eyes open to the needs around us. Our arms open to embrace neighbors we’ll never meet. Our hearts open to care about the people behind the statistics. Our imaginations open to see the possibilities of God. Our hands open in service and generosity.

*I believe the author to be the Rev. Phyllis Kersten, but my sources are unavailable for confirmation.
**The appendices at the back of Bread for the World Institute’s annual reports are a great source for statistical information.

How fun! Visit the link the link below to see how St. Luke’s Lutheran in Muskegon, Michigan has “webbified” the ELCA World Hunger 40-day plus calendar for congregational use during Lent. Thanks to Phil O. for passing this information on; feedback on resources is very helpful! Share what’s working (or not working) in your congregation by posting a comment here or sending an e-mail to hunger@elca.org Blessings! Sue-s

This Lent we are using the 40 day plus calendar with the offering banks. We are using the recommended table prayers at our church meals each week and have incorporated it into our website (http://www.stlukesnortonshores.com/html/40_days_world_hunger.html) It has been well received and a great tool.
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church
Muskegon, Michigan

I’m in Wausau, Wisconsin where I’ve had the great pleasure of hearing Pastor Lisandro Orlov speak today. Pastor Lisandro is from Argentina and is the Latin American regional coordinator for the Lutheran World Federation HIV/AIDS campaign. He said a lot of intriguing and challenging things about the relationship between the church and those in the world who are stigmatized and excluded. A few statements, in particular, really stood out for me. These aren’t exact quotes, but they are close:

• Be more than the boundary established in your culture.
• My job each Sunday is to scandalize my parish.
• Be a sanctuary for the dignity of all people.

Pastor Lisandro was emphasizing that living the Gospel is not easy. It can mean walking with people and in places that are unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and sometimes unacceptable to people around you. But it’s also incredibly important, enriching, and ultimately just.

I love these ideas and how they relate to our work in World Hunger. Building relationships with those who live in poverty is not particularly comfortable to many of us who live in relative wealth. But our lives are enriched through such relationships. And a mutual, real understanding of each other is critical for building the trust and structures and processes necessary for ending poverty. We also need to get more people involved. To get the attention and support we need to make real changes, we often have to push others out of their comfort zones, too. Sometimes, we must speak truth to power, which is not easy or safe. But in doing these difficult things, what if we, by our actions, become a sanctuary for the dignity of all people? Picture that: sanctuary for the dignity of all people. I can’t imagine a better legacy for a life, or a better display of the divine.

I had two opportunities to reflect on “going to the well” this weekend. On Saturday a good friend and I spent the day at the “Global Luther” conference held at Northwestern University. I followed most of the academic presentations and panels and my notes reflect aha moments, questions, and flashes of inspiration. The agenda allowed good breaks for lunch and dinner, and my friend and I made good use of them in Evanston. I arrived home after 10 p.m., feeling refreshed.

Sunday morning I served as lector at church…and the Gospel lesson, about the Samaritan woman who encounters Jesus at the well, was read by Pastor Kristi (narrator), Alpha (Jesus), and me (the Samaritan woman). It was a renewing service from start to finish.

Going to the well. Life-giving water. In the middle of hard, good work, sometimes we forget to take a drink. Sometimes we don’t realize that we are parched.

For me “going to the well” meant attending a conference outside of my work life, having lovely meals with a friend, and soaking up the Spirit during Sunday morning worship. What does it mean for you? Are you in need of a drink?

I read with interest Chris’ post about eco-overload. I think I suffer from one of eco-overload’s close cousins; I’ll call it eco-confusion. I want to engage in some more environmentally friendly behaviors, but I’m often unsure of what they are. It can be easy to change nothing for fear of doing wrong. For example, lists of ways to go green such as this one include the tip to use cloth napkins rather than paper napkins. Makes sense. After all, you can use the cloth over and over and not add to the landfill. But then I’ve also heard the arugment that using cloth napkins mean using more water, detergent, and electricity to wash them. And what about the bleaches, chemicals, trees, and fibers used to make either paper or cloth? Does it change the equation if you use paper napkins made of recycled paper? All this over napkins! I want to make good choices, but there seem to be so many variables. How do you make the right choice? Can you do it without dedicating your life to research?

In searching for some guidance, I kind of liked the advice I found at ECOnomically Sound. After they posed several both-sides-of-the-argument issues I hadn’t thought of (and thus reinforcing my confusion!), they recognized that making green decisions isn’t easy. They advised to do the best you can, and suggested that if everyone makes choices thoughtfully and with good environmental intentions, we’re bound to make improvements. It’s not an excuse for skipping research, but I do find it reassuring.

How fun! Paul E-S found this video on youtube. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlcHxNIOPw4

“About the video” written by the producer :
Pastor Erwin Roux (aka ‘PR’) is the Pastor at the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Turbotville Pa. He and his wife Beth teach ballroom dancing lessons on selected Friday evenings. These classes were originally started at the Hidlay Parish Lutheran Church in Bloomsburg about 10 years ago. In 2005 when PR relocated to the Church in Turbotville, the classes were continued at the new location.

[===]All proceeds from these dance classes are donated to the Lutheran {ELCA] World Hunger Appeal. So far about $30,000 has been raised and donated since the dance program was started. The Pastor generously pays the operating expenses (printing, postage, and domain registration) out of his own pocket.

[====]RELATED LINKS:
http://ParishHouseDance.org – The Church’s ballroom dance lessons program http://ELCA.org/hunger – Lutheran World Hunger Appeal
http://Zion-ev-Lutheran.org – Main website for Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Turbotville, Pa.

[=====]This iMovie video was assembled 2/14/08 by JamesRobertIngram.com, aka Track2.com .

I live in Chicago and ride the CTA to work everyday. I take a bus, train, and then a short walk to get to the office. All in all it’s about an hour commute each way, maybe an hour 10 if I stop at the coffee bar. Most mornings I read the Red Eye, a free local paper published by the Chicago Tribune. It gives me a decent dose of local, national, and international news and all that celeb gossip that I don’t really care about but some how end up reading first.

A feature article a few weeks ago was about eco-overload. An idea that today, we (consumers in the United States) may be overloaded by messages to be environmentally friendly, to recycle more or to reduce our carbon footprint. The article goes on to say that this eco-overload can cause “eco-anxiety” and there are even “eco-therapists” popping up to help folks deal with the stress of being “green”.

I was shocked! The entire idea seemed so absurd to me and I felt like it was really being used as a way to justify excessive lifestyles and an excuse to not be good stewards of the planet. The article went on to say that this surge in “green” messages could cause “green-fatigue”, thus loosing the message altogether.

Interesting I thought? What other important messages might get lost in the din of all the other messages we receive daily and could cause fatigue? The fight to end hunger, the quest for peace, clean drinking water for all, what else? I suspect that there are not many people who would say these things and the preservation of the planet are not worthy goals to achieve, but the question is what are we each doing about it?

I think we should be more curious and learn about the root causes and solutions to these matters. Then act. Start with some small changes in our lives. Small things really do add up. Be generous and make regular financial gifts to organizations that do good work. Tell others what you have learned, are doing, and encourage them to join you.

The world and those most in need can not afford for us to be overloaded and fatigued. For me doing something, even something small, helps me to know that I am making a difference and by making a difference I am combating fatigue and changing the world.
What about you?