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Mission & Ministry

Sacred hospitality

For more than 13 years, Miriam Vargas has lived in Columbus, Ohio. While there, she had two children, held a job, paid taxes—and has been an undocumented immigrant. Vargas and…

Faith in Action

A season of growth

St. Mark Lutheran Church in Van Wert, Ohio, is digging deep in its community outreach. The congregation has partnered with the local juvenile court to have junior high and high…

Mission & Ministry

Chaplain on the front lines: Anthony Stephens

Ministering to some 700 National Guard and Army troops during New York City’s severe COVID-19 outbreak might seem daunting. But not to Anthony Stephens, an ELCA pastor and an Army…

Mission & Ministry

A welcome respite

By the time asylum-seekers reach the Welcome and Respite center in Phoenix, they’ve migrated hundreds or thousands of miles to safety. The majority come from Central America, with a growing…

Faith in Action

Open doors

For years Marsha Harris worked at various congregations—first as a layperson and then while waiting for her first call—before a class attended by only a handful of people made her…

Faith in Action

What is God doing?

Focal verse I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the…

Faith in Action

Keeping vigil

A centuries-old Christian tradition and its powerful celebration of baptism are making a slow but steady comeback in the ELCA. Pastors across the church are infusing their congregations with the…

Faith in Action

Embrace new life

There’s a reason why we in the Northern Hemisphere celebrate Easter during spring. It’s a time when the sun shines more, temperatures grow warmer, ice thaws, animals come out of…

Mission & Ministry

Hope at Easter

Born in Jerusalem, Rodny Saïd felt called to serve the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). “I felt my call was specifically to one geographical point…

Faith in Action

Cloaks and palms

From Spirit in the Hills Lutheran Church in Spicewood, Texas, to First Lutheran Church of San Diego, some ELCA congregations are adding clothing donations to their Palm Sunday processionals, linking…

Faith in Action

When faith is a verb

“I was—I am—an alcoholic,” said Melody Gulbrantson. “On my own, I entered an AA recovery program. My sister cared for my children, but my son gave her trouble. I took…

Faith in Action

All land is holy

Our family lives in the Holy Land, where political tensions dominate the news. This is a place where the land reigns supreme in debates over who belongs and who doesn’t….