As president of the ELCA’s African Descent Lutheran Association (ADLA), Lamont Anthony Wells is on a mission to help build not “a color-blind” church but “a color-brave one,” he said. “It’s important for us to be brave enough to have discussions and solve some of the biases that are real in our church.” Read the...
Category: ELCA
July 4, 2018
African Descent Ministries: Color-brave, not Color-blind
As president of the ELCA’s African Descent Lutheran Association (ADLA), Lamont Anthony Wells is on a mission to help build not “a color-blind” church but “a color-brave one,” he said. “It’s important for us to be brave enough to have discussions and solve some of the biases that are real in our church.” Read the...
June 27, 2018
ELCA presiding bishop responds to Supreme Court decision on travel ban
Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow … (Jeremiah 22:3). I am dismayed by the Supreme Court’s recent decision concerning the president’s authority to restrict travel...
June 22, 2018
Presiding Bishop Statement on Executive Order
About two weeks ago, I joined more than 20 other faith leaders in raising concerns about the administration’s announced plans that it would begin separating families and criminally prosecuting all people who enter the U.S. without previous authorization. In line with that statement, I acknowledge that President Donald Trump’s new executive order, “Affording Congress an...
June 7, 2018
Family Separation Addressed by ELCA, Interfaith Leaders
CHICAGO (June 7, 2018) – The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has convened ELCA ecumenical and inter-religious partners in a statement addressing concerns over a recent U.S. government policy calling for more stringent enforcement of federal immigration laws. The policy will most likely result in an...
June 5, 2018
Learn About New ELCA Hunger Grants
ELCA World Hunger is pleased to announce the 2019 Domestic Hunger Grant application will open soon! Beginning in June, you will be able learn more about the grants and how to apply by visiting ELCA.org/domestichungergrants. The Domestic Hunger Grant process has been in transition this year. Based on feedback from previous applicants, our team has...
May 16, 2018
Bishop Eaton Responds to Gaza Situation
In a pastoral message, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton says “I am appalled and saddened by (Monday’s) escalation of Israeli military action against protestors in Gaza.” At least 60 Palestinians, including six children, have died and thousands injured in the violence. The ELCA “will support a planned medical mission from The Lutheran World Federation’s...
April 16, 2018
Earth Day Message from Bishop Eaton
As members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), we share a deep love for all of God’s creation and a profound responsibility for it. Made in the image of God, we are called to continue what God is already doing for the earth (Psalm 104), enabling it to flourish. God assigns humans to...
February 21, 2018
ELCA Response to Florida Shooting
Lifting prayers for the “inconsolable loved ones” and “those terrorized by what took place” at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Ash Wednesday, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton, in a message to the church, says that prayer and lament alone won’t solve the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our nation. “We acknowledge our own...
February 7, 2018
ELCA Presiding Bishop to Join Rally to End Racism
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will join ecumenical and inter-religious partners for Act Now: Unite to End Racism April 3-5 in Washington, D.C. The focus of the three-day event will be...
December 6, 2017
ELCA presiding bishop responds to decision to move U.S. Embassy in Israel
ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton said in a statement that she is “deeply disturbed” by the administration’s plans to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Bishop Eaton called on the president “to rescind this plan and instead continue to focus on our nation’s ability to contribute constructively toward a peaceful settlement of...
September 5, 2017
ELCA Presiding Bishop Responds to DACA Announcement
CHICAGO (Sept. 5, 2017) – The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s announcement about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. “As we journey together through the time God has given us, may God give...
August 28, 2017
ELCA Speaks Against Hate, Discrimination
In light of recent public events and conversation, the ELCA has issued statements reminding us of its long-standing positions against hateful acts and discrimination by race, religious creed, or sexual identity. Confronting Racism and anti-Semitism The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), stands against all forms of hatred and discrimination. The church believes that...
August 28, 2017
ELCA Launches ‘Resourceful Servants’
The ELCA introduces “Resourceful Servants,” an initiative to encourage habits that strengthen and sustain individual and congregational financial wellness and growth. The goal is to help rostered ministers move toward financial wellness early in and throughout their ministry developing the skills needed to manage household finances, assist congregations in the management of finances, teach stewardship...
August 28, 2017
Bishop Eaton’s Leadership Initiative
ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reminds us, “It’s not only the job of our seminaries and universities to identify and raise up leaders in the church. This is something that belongs to all of us.” The Leadership Initiative encourages all of us to seek out and inspire gifted people in our congregations and communities to consider a call...
August 1, 2017
Bishop Eaton: Laborers in the Vineyard
Reflecting on the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard for LivingLutheran.com, Bishop Eaton says that grace “is not something we deserve or earn or can work for. We are all utterly dependent upon God’s mercy, and God is very prodigal with mercy. The grace that all the laborers received—those who worked all day and...
July 10, 2017
Live In The Freedom of Christ
“In May the [Lutheran World Federation (LWF)] met in assembly in Windhoek, Namibia. Lutherans from Africa; Asia; Latin America and the Caribbean; North America; and Western, Central and Eastern Europe gathered to worship, sing, deliberate, study and dance,” ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton writes in her July column in Living Lutheran. “We are 145 member...
June 12, 2017
Bp. Eaton: Ministry In Charged Times
In her June column for Living Lutheran, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reflects on serving the neighbor in politically charged times. She reminds us that “active participation in public life and the duty of government to care for its people, especially the most vulnerable, have been part of the Lutheran movement since its beginning.” Read her...
March 2, 2017
Bishop Eaton: The Good Samaritan
In her March column for Living Lutheran, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton ponders the parable of the good Samaritan, reminding us that our new life in Christ leads us to answer a different question—not “Who is my neighbor?” but “How are we neighbor?” Read her column in English at livinglutheran.org/2017/02/the-good-shepherd or in Spanish at livinglutheran.org/2017/02/el-buen-samaritano. The...
February 6, 2017
Bishop Eaton: It’s Not Up to Us
Whose work is it? In her February column for Living Lutheran, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton lifts up the need for well-trained pastors and deacons. Where do we find these potential leaders? She says it’s the “work of the entire church.” Read her column in English at http://www.livinglutheran.org/2017/02/its-not-what-we-do/. Or in Spanish at http://www.livinglutheran.org/2017/02/no-es-lo-que-hacemos/. By Bishop Elizabeth...
November 3, 2016
“I Was A Stranger…”
I was a stranger and you welcomed me …. (Matthew 25:35). In her November column in Living Lutheran, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reminds us that migration has been part of the story of God’s people from the beginning. She urges us to “welcome the stranger, seeing him of her as a fellow traveler, a companion...
