We need to talk
Church the appropriate place for deep, honest, even painful conversation about race A MONTHLY MESSAGE FROM THE ELCA PRESIDING BISHOP This summer and fall our country was shaken by violence—the violent encounters between police and young African-American men in Ferguson,...
Stories from border immersion
Group hears stories from border patrol official. (Photo credit: Kate Davidson) Standing at a border will always refocus horizons. A group from our synod has spent the past week (Feb. 2-9, 2015) on a Border Immersion...
Cabin fervor
by John Handley Sun on his back and gratitude in his heart - that's a 9 year old John (though not at Caroline Furnace). I can clearly remember my first trip to Caroline Furnace at the...
February is I LOVE CAMP month
In February 2015, we have a special opportunity to join congregations across our Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod to celebrate the beauty of creation, to recognize the importance of retreating, and to honor relationships that are fostered through outdoor ministry at...
Baptism begins real new year
Resolutions will always come up short in our attempts to remake ourselves A MONTHLY MESSAGE FROM THE ELCA PRESIDING BISHOP A new year. Time to start over. A fresh set of possibilities. Out with the old, in with the new....
From the Bishop’s Desk: Allegiance
A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM BISHOP GRAHAM Brothers and sisters, The Christmas story is embedded in a story about empire. The Emperor Augustus wants to know how many people live in his empire and where they belong (Luke 2:1). Pregnant as...
Cross true gift of Christmas
With Jesus we have peace, we have hope, we are loved—and not just at holiday A MONTHLY MESSAGE FROM THE ELCA PRESIDING BISHOP I remember this jarring image: It was the Christmas Eve candlelight service at my home congregation. A...
Silent shout from Companion Synod
Christmas Message from Bishop Medardo Gómez of the Salvadoran Lutheran Church* Dear sisters and brothers: With the love of God that unites us as brothers and sisters, I want to mention and share the situation of the life of the...
Prayer for peacemaking
"Let us pray that we remember the promise of your Spirit poured out upon all flesh that we do not wait for others to be peacemakers but take up the work ourselves, and that your healing power be poured out...
Complicated and human
“Why would any parent bid farewell to a child and send him/her off alone into the unknown? It is a complicated story,” writes Marion McInturff of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Vienna, Virginia. Her article posted Nov. 26, 2014 to FairfaxTimes.com...