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The following are highlights of news and community projects being spearheaded by congregations like yours, which are collected from readers and synod e-newsletters. To share news of your congregation, email livinglutheran@elca.org.
In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the outreach committee of Immanuel Lutheran in Lincoln, Ill., challenged the congregation to collect 250 boxes of macaroni and cheese for the local food pantry. Exactly 250 boxes were collected by June 30.
On June 12, Reformation Lutheran Church in Orlando gathered for a special service to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Pulse nightclub tragedy. Located a few miles from the site of the 2016 shooting, Reformation marked the occasion by tolling 49 bells, each representing a life lost in the attack. Participants joined in prayer, remembrance and hope while acknowledging all those whose lives were forever changed by the tragedy. Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church in Orlando marked the anniversary with “Pulse 10: Baquiné for the Angels,” an Afro-Puerto Rican healing ritual. Hosted by WESH-TV anchor Nancy Alvarez, the event featured music, dance and remembrance rooted in Puerto Rican tradition, offering a message of hope, resilience and love. Baquiné is a ritual that transforms a person’s death into a festive celebration honoring the person’s ascent to heaven and their new status as an angel.
Gethsemane Lutheran in Indianapolis welcomed neighbors from two apartment complexes next to its church building for an ice cream social and bingo party in July. Guests enjoyed a build-your-own-sundae bar, along with cookies, cupcakes, chips and drinks, before gathering for several rounds of bingo and fellowship. Gethsemane hosts a monthly community activity, with attendance ranging from 40 to 45 people. The events provide an opportunity to build relationships, create connections and offer a welcoming space for neighbors to gather.
To support literacy and learning, Living Water Lutheran Church in Scottsdale, Ariz., invited the community to share the gift of reading through a book drive from April 6 through June 30. The congregation collected new and gently used books for readers of all ages, helping to place reading materials into the hands of families across the Phoenix area.
What do you call it when a few dozen parishioners descend on a supermarket en masse, dash madly through the aisles and frantically fill their carts … only to turn their purchased groceries over to volunteers? It’s called Feed the Need Sunday, a family event sponsored by Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Garner, N.C. And those volunteers? They put the groceries on a truck and delivered them to the local food pantry. On July 17, Lord of Life offered a shortened worship service focused on the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. Each family was then given $10 to purchase items for the food pantry. The mad dash to the store filled a critical need because donations decline during the summer, when many children lose access to the breakfasts and lunches they receive at school. “This event, which is great fun for the whole family, is our own acting out of the miracle of the loaves and the fishes as participants add to the money they are given and purchase additional needed items,” said Wolfgang Herz-Lane, pastor of Lord of Life. “This giant shopping trip is our own miracle of multiplying what we have been given.”
Grace Lutheran Church and First United Church of Christ in Phoenix joined forces again to provide a heat relief ministry June 1–Aug. 24, offering a cooling space, water, snacks and hospitality for vulnerable neighbors during the hottest months of the year. The ministry was available daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with First hosting Sunday through Wednesday and Grace the rest of the week. Area congregations were invited to support the effort through donations of water, snacks, pet food, cooling supplies and frozen burritos.
Once a month, parents from across Newburgh, N.Y., come to Christ Lutheran Church for one essential item: diapers for their babies. Ten years ago, member Susan Surprise went to buy diapers for a baby shower and was startled by the price. She wondered how poor and working-class families could afford them. That led her to co-found the Baby Steps Baby Pantry. Today the pantry serves more than 100 babies each month, providing diapers and wipes free of charge to families who need them.
