Entrusting a half-million-dollar renovation investment to a construction team made up of a retired pastor, a farmer, an administrative assistant, an engineer and a salesman may seem like a risky…
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton and a delegation from the ELCA have joined Lutherans from around the globe for the 12th Assembly of The…
Each season, Zulema Lopez sows and reaps crops in the village of San Luis, near Somoto in northern Nicaragua. But after years of prolonged drought, wells have run dry and…
“If your church closed its doors tomorrow, would the surrounding community notice?” I imagine many of us have heard this line. It’s meant to encourage a congregation to be an…
In 30 years the nation’s increased racial and ethnic diversity hasn’t changed ELCA demographics, according to statistics. Since the 1980s, the U.S. Census Bureau shows the total number of African-American,…
When a church closes and sells its building, it doesn’t have to mean the end of its ministry. Many of these congregations have left a legacy by donating their buildings…
In any organization, archives play an important role. Although the ELCA is only a few decades old, its archives house more than two centuries’ worth of information from the denomination…
Editor’s note: This story is a part of The Lutheran World Federation’s Her-stories global Lutheran storytelling project. If you have a story of how women have reformed the church or…
The words “college students” and “free food” often go together, but two ELCA colleges—Augsburg in Minneapolis and Augustana in Rock Island, Ill.—are putting a twist on the stereotype. Both campuses have…
The youth at my first call had the tradition of spending the night at church for the Easter Vigil. Waiting in the dark, they each took turns praying. I also…
ELCA leaders meet with Congress ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton joined more than 100 Lutheran leaders, ELCA members and international partners in Washington, D.C., March 27-29 for the 2017 ELCA…
“Our Lutheran Life” invites and encourages ELCA members to tell contemporary stories inspired by the Reformation about how the power of God’s grace plays out in the complexities of daily…
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