Mission & Ministry

Mission & Ministry

Defining a new future for Malawi

Elube Phunduma laughs as her sow and five piglets noisily devour their dinner, much to the delight of the visitors to her home in the village of Bakali, Malawi. The…

Mission & Ministry

AMMPARO congregations practice hospitality

While Karina was shoulders deep in a river in the Darién Gap, crossing between Colombia and Panama, her main thought was whether she, her 6-year-old son and her 18-year-old daughter…

Mission & Ministry

A Lutheran cross-cultural exchange

Katsarin “Piano” Samranpriwan celebrated her 30th birthday this summer by throwing a Thai ramen party for 30 friends and colleagues. It wasn’t easy. Samranpriwan was at Holden Village—far from her…

Mission & Ministry

Riding against hunger

In the movie Field of Dreams, baseball players mistake Iowa for heaven. In real life, cyclist Lorna Halaas called her state “the kingdom of God.” Halaas, bishop of the ELCA…

Mission & Ministry

Church leadership for the future

Jay Peterson of the Lab House Band stopped himself mid-strum, holding his guitar as his bandmates changed instruments, to address the crowd. “Hey, Lab, how do you feel?” he asked…

Mission & Ministry

Maui wildfires relief

Members of Kihei (Maui) Lutheran Church are collecting and distributing relief supplies to help those impacted by the wildfires in Lahaina, Maui. So far donations have included 690 hygiene items,…

Mission & Ministry

ADLA Assembly, “This Is Us”

In July 2023, the ADLA assembly took place in Atlanta. Members engaged in worship, attended educational workshops and conducted official business, including the election of a new governing board. In…

Mission & Ministry

100 years of partnership

From its earliest days in 1923, the Lutheran Sudan Mission was shaped by relationships. That was part of the story Mark Nygard told at the beginning of the Sudan Mission…

Mission & Ministry

To prepare our kids

In 1987 the daughter of ELCA pastor Alvin Erickson and his wife, Ina, was a victim of sex trafficking. All the preconditioning factors were there, her father said. After serving…

Mission & Ministry

Inside the commission that could restructure the ELCA

When the 2022 Churchwide Assembly voted last summer to form the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church (CRLC), which will recommend how to restructure the ELCA’s governing process, it reached…

Mission & Ministry

[Video] Future Church: God’s Love Made Real

The gift of God’s son is for the world, not just our church buildings. The Future Church vision focuses on the world experiencing the difference God’s grace and love in…

Mission & Ministry

Camp hospitality

The ELCA has long presented itself as an inclusive church—especially Lutheran Outdoor Ministries, which is leading the way in welcoming all religions, ethnicities, races and sexual orientations. Several outdoor ministries…