The 2022 Synod Assembly will be held on Saturday, April 20 online. Registration is open now through March 25. Register by March 10 for the discounted price.

The ELCA has strong partnerships with Lutheran churches in many of the countries that border Ukraine and are currently receiving refugees. The ELCA’s Europe Desk reports that “our greatest strength and most valuable assistance is through the supporting church’s humanitarian efforts to receive and care for people who are fleeing Ukraine- a population that is overwhelmingly women and children.” Please continue to hold in prayer those who are fleeing and those who are caring for them.

In this rapidly changing situation, it is likely that by the time media highlights a need the organizations on the ground are already helping and offering expertise. Financial support is essential to equip the organizations best prepared to respond in the context. “We have already provided financial assistance to those working in Ukraine and in neighboring nations and will continue to do so (with confidence that the generosity of those in support of Lutheran Disaster Response will continue to support the work),” according to the report.

How you can help

A group of interreligious leaders, including ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton, has issued a statement calling for peace in Ukraine:

In LivingLutheran, Kimberly Knowle-Zeller writes: “As a parent living in the United States, I’m pondering the reality of my days compared to those of Ukrainians at war. … Facing so much uncertainty in the weeks to come, I’ll focus my eyes and heart on both the life in front of me and the lives of those across the world. As a family, we’ll pray for peace and share meals with neighbors. We’ll lift up Ukrainian families fleeing for their lives and help a local mom adjust to life with a newborn. We’ll light a candle for the conversations of leaders abroad and in our country. Both deserve my attention, both are the responsibility of people of God, and both have the power to bring peace and hope.”

Read more https://www.livinglutheran.org/2022/03/praying-for-ukraine/

Lutheran Disaster Response is part of two multi-faith storm recovery efforts in our region – and you or someone you know may be able to help.

In August 2020 the Eastwick neighborhood of Philadelphia experienced severe flooding following Tropical Storm Isaias. Lutheran Disaster Response, with with local and national partners, have restored heat and hot water to 25 homes, yes there is still much work to be done to repair drywall, hang windows and doors and make homes more resilient to future flooding for about 30 homes. Then in September 2021, the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit Pennsylvania. Eight Pennsylvania counties received federal disaster declarations including Philadelphia, Chester, Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery and Northampton Counties.

You can help! LDR needs:

If you are interested in being part of a team that is dedicated to serving those who still have significant unmet needs from recent storms, please contact me for more information at jmenzo@libertylutheran.org.

March 8 was International Women's Day, and we shared on Facebook this photo of the ELCA bishops who happen to be women. This Women's History Month we are celebrating them (and we are grateful for all of our 66 bishops).

The Women of the ELCA are commemorating Women's History Month with a series of three webinars on the Living History of Faith Filled Women.  They will be held on March 10th, 17th and 24th at 8 pm our time (7 pm Central time.) To register and get more information please see Events - Women of the ELCA  

Register for upcoming training events by clicking here. You may also download and return the registration form to Julia Menzo at 7002 Butler Pike, Ambler, PA 19002.

If your Lenten discipleship includes taking a closer look at your carbon footprint, join us on Tuesday, March 22 at noon. If you can’t attend at that time, register to receive a recording. In this webinar, you will learn when and how to shop for household electricity, as well as just how powerful a choice that can be. Learn more and register for this free event.

Online Course: Keeping Our Sacred Trust: Assuring Financial Integrity

From the Lewis Center for Church Leadership: Learn practices to prevent fraud and financial misconduct in your church. For pastors, church staff, finance committee members, church treasurers, financial secretaries, counters or tellers, bookkeepers, church secretaries, seminarians, and all others with responsibility for handling church funds. 

This new online course from the Keeping Our Sacred Trust ethics training series explores issues of maintaining financial integrity and preventing fraud in congregational settings. The three-part online course costs $49.

Learn more: https://www.churchleadership.com/keeping-our-sacred-trust-assuring-financial-integrity/

This is a free, practical preaching workshop by Backstory Preaching. As preachers begin their sermon prep and open the text, the first question they often ask is "What am I going to say?" It's a question fueled by anxiety that they won't find something worthwhile to say—or worse, won't have anything to say—especially when they've seen the text a thousand times before. But what if they never had to ask that question again? This one-hour workshop will guide lay and ordained preachers through the simple process that lets them see the text with fresh eyes, allows the message to reveal itself, and draw them closer to God at the same time. This session is offered by the Rev. Dr. Lisa Cressman, founding steward of Backstory Preaching. Register here for the Zoom link.

Preaching With Power, a forum on Black preaching and theology organized by the Urban Theological Institute of United Lutheran Seminary, will be presented virtually this year from March 13-16. Each event will be shown on the seminary’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/unitedlutheranseminary.

Presenters include Scott O. Cumberbatch, Rev. Dr. Wayne E. Croft, Sr., Rev. Dr. Stephen G. Ray Jr., Bishop Yvette A. Flunder, Rev. Dr. Janet J. Sturdivant and Rev. Dr. Barry C. Black.

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ministrylink@sepa.org / 267.323.3742