When Elizabeth Platz entered seminary nearly six decades ago, things were different in the Lutheran church—and the world. Platz earned acceptance into several schools, one of which admitted that it…
When I was 10, I came to the dinner table one night to find my family’s special red plate at my usual seat. I smiled wide. I had told my…
Amy Beitelschees-Albers comes from a family whose parents lived their faith more than they talked about it. “We were good Lutherans,” said the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, North Manchester,…
Woolly alpacas graze peacefully in a field. Bhutanese refugee farmers till the soil and harvest the crops. Youth practice yoga. Single parents attend free child care classes. Family mission teams…
“First [they] said we were crazy for building a Lutheran church,” recalled Fabian Gaspar Cardenas, pastor of St. Augustine Lutheran Church in La Esmeralda, Guatemala. “Then they said we were…
One of my greatest faith lessons came from failing at youth sports. I sat on the bench for four years. Four years! I tried my best, gave it everything I…
One frosty morning in March 1946, Bernice Severson (née Johnson) arose early. She dressed from the one suitcase that held her entire wardrobe plus hundreds of evangelism leaflets. She ended…
On March 13, as the threat of COVID-19 began spreading across the United States, Kris Erickson got news he never expected: he had to ban everyone but staff members from…
Editor’s note: COVID-19 has uniquely impacted communities of color and their lives and ministries. In this series, we will feature ELCA Racial Justice reflections from each of the ELCA Ethnic…
As Matthew 18:20 reads: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Lutheran congregations around the country found new meaning in this passage…
The church is committed to welcoming all people into God’s work in the world—without hesitation—and ELCA Disability Ministries demonstrates this value. As part of its continuous support of ministries that…
At February’s end, Rebecca Duerst, ELCA director for diakonia, had just returned from Lutheran World Federation (LWF) meetings in Geneva when it dawned on her: COVID-19 was spreading like wildfire. …
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