Katey Zeh thought she knew the stories in Scripture—and she did, but mainly those about men. When she started combing through the Bible looking specifically for women, named or unnamed, everything changed. Her new book Women Rise Up: Sacred Stories of Resistance for Today’s Revolution (FAR Press) is partially the result of that exploration. Not […]
With Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, the ELCA issued the following statement on gender identity discrimination: In light of recent public events and conversation, it is important to remember the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) rejects all forms of hatred or discrimination. This includes employment discrimination against the transgender community, as stated in “Gender Identity […]
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Gathering under the theme “Embody the Word,” more than 800 voting members met Aug. 8-12 at the Greater Columbus (Ohio) Convention Center for the 16th ELCA Churchwide Assembly. In her welcome, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton acknowledged that the assembly was gathering on the original and ancestral homelands of the Shawnee, Miami and Kaskaskia peoples. “We […]
About an hour’s drive south of Pelotas, Brazil, lies the Kilombola community where Marta Madeira’s family lives along with eight other families. Even on summer’s hottest day, Madeira greets everyone with warm hospitality—coffee, fresh bread, a broad smile and excitement to share her story. Madeira and those living in Brazil’s Kilombola communities are descendants of […]
The 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly continued Aug. 10 at the Greater Columbus (Ohio) Convention Center. Day two included the third and fourth plenary sessions and a service of Holy Communion. The assembly was invited by the American Indian and Alaska Native Lutheran Association to wear red to bring awareness to missing and murdered Indigenous women […]
The 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly officially opened Aug. 9 at the Greater Columbus (Ohio) Convention Center, meeting through Aug. 12. Day one consisted of plenary sessions one and two, an apology to Iglesia Luterana Santa María Peregrina, Stockton, Calif., and a service of word and prayer. During plenary one, the 804 voting members present cast […]
Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the ELCA, has issued a statement on the June 27 killing of Jayland Walker by police. “Our prayers are with the family of Jayland Walker as they laid him to rest on Wednesday in Akron, Ohio, a place I know well and a community dear to my heart,” the […]
Marta Zachraj-Mikolajczyk received the news that she would be one of the first women ordained in the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (ECACP) on Feb. 24—the same day war thundered into neighboring Ukraine. “I got the information in the evening from the bishop’s office that I will be ordained—the same day after […]
