“I see the dream of Martin Luther King and others,” the article quotes Nan Apuku saying. “We have people of all nations coming together to worship…”

A photo gallery accompanying the article is posted online.

I went to my trusty ELCA Style Guide several times while writing Christmas greetings last month. It occurred to me that not everyone in our congregations may be familiar with this useful reference tool!

Use the ELCA Style Guide liberally and often if you want consistency using many terms common in the course of our church work. Who’s done their homework will show whose church keeps the page bookmarked!*

* I keep the who’s/whose distinction on a slip of paper next to my laptop for frequent reference, lifted from page 41 of the Style Guide. I am clearly mistake-prone. Your recognition of my grammatical and other foibles in print and post remains humbling but welcome!

Author afloat in Dead Sea

Now, over four months into my year as a Young Adult in Global Mission** in Jerusalem, I find myself feeling at home here, no longer a stranger in a new country. I can navigate the bus system, haggle with vendors and taxi drivers, hold myself to basic cultural norms for behavior, and conduct the most basic of conversations in Arabic. Still, I find it jarring to see a group of soldiers, mostly younger than I am, wielding machine guns, or to find a looming concrete wall interrupting my travel between short distances, but these realities are part of “home” for all who live here. Maintaining hope is part of the everyday struggle here, for Palestinians and me.

Thankfully, I encounter sources of joy and beauty every day that make that struggle possible and worthwhile. The sweet, loving faces of my kindergarteners, the humble sense of mutual care and hospitality among my Palestinian neighbors, the sight of a sunset beyond the Jerusalem skyline, the sense of a history that is at once ancient and living: all of these help me remember why I am here, why anybody would choose to be here, really, in this troubled place.

(continue reading – link to Steiner’s full newsletter, pdf file)

Take the ELCA 2012 National Advocacy Priorities Survey

Advocacy is a faith act you share with Moses, Esther, the Prophets, Luther and many Christians around the world.
Advocacy is living our Lutheran belief that good government is a gift.
Advocacy is pushing aside toxic politics to make space for others unheard. 
Advocacy is talking about your volunteering, projects and ministries to your public officials.
Advocacy is your voice. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “Advocate.”

I know, I know. You and I are Americans living in a country that seems to have forgotten how to make meaningful decisions.
Tired of politics-as-is in both major parties?  We hear you!
Want to share what is important to you as a person of faith for 2012? We hear you!
Take ten minutes and tell us about advocacy priorities…*
Your opinion matters!
Let’s stand together with hope and purpose next year.

Blessings,
The Rev. Andrew Genszler
Director for Advocacy, ELCA Washington Office

*This letter by Drew Genszler was distributed just before Christmas. The ELCA 2012 National Advocacy Prriorities Survey is still open, and your input is encouraged.

Listen to/view the recently-archived Webinar using your email address. The original Webinar took place in early December as part of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s 3rd Tuesday Conversations (3TC). (If time is tight, consider skipping over the first 5 minutes – introductory comments before the meat & potatoes discussion began.)

Merry Christmas and blessings for the New Year from all of us who work in the synod office!

“[It] simultaneously challenges the cultural assumption that the path to happiness is paved with gift cards and invites a trust in God’s providence that creates a sense of confidence and contentment that is as precious as it is rare,” Knoll writes in “I Shall Not Want” (PostLocal, 11/10/11).

An exercise testing the truth of the sentiment is suggested. On a blank page, start one column of things you’re thankful for and a second of things you want right now. “Which would have a greater impact, losing all the things for which you are grateful or gaining all the things you currently want?” Knoll asks.

Find comments from folks who did the exercise and read the full post online.

“I find Patch helpful and a potentially vital tool for congregations or any community organization,” said the Rev. Christine Stephan, pastor of Epiphany Lutheran Church in Burtonsville, Md., of the Web-based, community-specific news and information platform. ”In my case, it has allowed me to be known by the editor who has thought of me and the congregation as a source for stories and community support.

“It’s an easy, free way to get the word out for events and activities. It links to my blog, which enables me to be a ’safe’ face for the church in a very neutral way. I find out about community things and can make community connections through it that I otherwise might not have known about.

“All that being said, it hasn’t transferred into more membership, nor has anyone ever come to Epiphany solely because of Patch. It has, however, helped in forging relationships with the Fire Department (the president of that organization comments on Patch on my blog posts rather than on my actual blog) and with the Farmer’s Market.”

See if Patch has a location around your congregation.

“Road trip!” tells the story of a student group’s journey that “included a mix of vocational discernment, volunteer work and quality time with Mother Nature.” The trip was taken at an important juncture, when the question of direction looms large.

Read the full article online from the November 2011 issue of The Lutheran.

Click image to view video of the work of CFLS. Claudia Thorne (pictured here), CFLS Executive Director, has been very helpful as the synod makes this transition.

Side-by-side doorbells will buzz the new synod office or Community Family Life Services (CFLS) when the synod moves to 4th and E later this month. Our future landlords have a long and respected involvement with those in need in the area.

First Trinity Lutheran Church, a synod congregation, started CFLS in 1969 in response to the needs of exoffenders, poor and homeless persons in the community. Today the organization is a faith-based, independent non-profit with a mission to facilitate personal growth, independence and integration into a healthy community for people who are homeless or have low-incomes.

“Our agency has two primary goals: to resolve our clients’ short-term crisis needs and to help them break the cycle of poverty that leads to crises and homelessness,” states the CFLS Web site. Nearly 500 people monthly receive housing, youth development, employment, mentoring and emergency services through the agency.

Around the corner from the founding church, and with a floor of offices in the CFLS building, you will find the Metro D.C. Synod office at its new home in NW D.C. soon.