Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod, ELCA

Keep it growing

Earth Day lands on Sunday this year, but All Saints Lutheran Church in Bowie, Md. is hosting a 4th annual event on Earth Day that helps maintain year-round momentum of stewardship awareness. Grounded [no pun intended] in verses from the 1st chapter of Genesis, "Then God said, 'Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.' And it was so... And God saw that it was good," the community sets up tables and invites a community exchange on Earth Day. "Share your abundance!" they encourage, such as seeds, divided perennials, bulbs, and seedlings "that were more than enough" in member households. "Everyone is invited to help themselves to whatever you can
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Daily we witness the evidence

On Earth Day 2018, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton shares a message including this claim and prayer. "The present moment is a critical and urgent one, filled with both challenge and opportunity to act as individuals, citizens, leaders and communities of faith in solidarity with God's good creation and in hope for our shared future. We claim God's promise in Revelation 21 for 'a new heaven and a new earth as we pray together: 'Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us coworkers in your creation. Give us wisdom and reverence to use the resources of nature so that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty; through your Son, Jesus
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Take Heart: Getting to Wholeness

Our Synodical Women's Organization (SWO) invites you to an exploration of depression and suicide prevention with the help of presenters from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), who will share their journeys with mental illness in an English and a Spanish session during the SWO's annual convention on Sat. May 5. Other activities include "God, Improv, and the Art of Living," an experience with author Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana about how the principles of improvisation can guide us in our daily lives when we are faced with detours and disappointments - when life doesn't go according to plan. "We will be uplifted by worshiping and celebrating the Eucharist together in a bilingual service, shop our vendors and exhibitors, and
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Vision of reconciliation

Set free as we are because of his death, set free from ourselves and set free from the need to justify our place in the world, we have been claimed by the Holy Spirit to be witnesses for Jesus. Ser liberados como lo somos es por su muerte, ser liberados de nosotros mismos y liberados de la necesidad de justificar nuestro lugar en el mundo; el Espíritu Santo nos ha reclamado para ser testigos de Jesús. All along it was Jesus’ task to be the Father’s witness and to remind the people who believed what he said that they had nothing to fear in this world or the world to come. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you,” says Jesus. Todo el tiempo, la tarea de Jesús fue ser el testigo del Padre y recordar a las personas que
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For healing of the trauma

Let us share “prayers for healing of the trauma that has hit the whole community near Great Mills High and particularly for the healing of the injured Senior and the rest of [the school community],” asks Christy Hartigan, member of Good Samaritan Lutheran Church in Lexington Park, Md., which is located less than a quarter-mile from the site of a tragic school shooting on March 20, 2018 in Great Mills, Md. “We always think tragedy won't hit close to home, until it does,” wrote the Rev. Mitch Watney to parishioners of his congregation after reporting to the scene on Tuesday to be of spiritual service. “There is always a great urge to ask ‘why,' to search out the cause, and to assign blame. There is a time and place for each of
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