On Jan. 22, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois announced program and staff reductions due to the state’s inability to pass a budget for the past seven months. Thirty programs and more than 750 staff positions will be eliminated, ending agency support to approximately 4,700 Illinois residents. The organization reports it is owed more than $6 million in government grants for services already delivered, with “no foreseeable prospect of prompt reimbursement.”
Civic engagement in an election season
In ELCA Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry’s message “A call to be trusted messengers in this election season,” readers received an invitation: “This year, I invite you to embrace an additional…