Current News
Do you know young musicians who would thrive at LSM? Nominate them today at LSMacademy.org/nominate.
The 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly called for two reconsiderations of specific sections of the 2009 social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.
Firefighting efforts continue in Southern California, and we won’t know the full impact until the fires are extinguished. Even as these fires still burn, Lutheran Disaster Response is here to support the families and communities that will be rebuilding their lives.
Overview: This position serves full-time to assist Lord of Life Lutheran Church (LoL) in accomplishing its mission: As Lutheran Christians, Lord of Life invites all people, wherever they are on their spiritual journey, to worship God, serve others, and build community, in order to transform individuals, the Tri-Cities, and the world.
At the end of December we made one final ask for Rooted in Place, our offering recipient for the 2024 Regional Gatherings. Thanks to one major gift and many, many other donations, we can report that we collectively raised $21,293! THANK YOU for your generosity and support.
I am just finishing my first work trip of 2025: ELCA and ELCiCanada Bishops Academy in Puerto Rico. The Academy, held every two years in various locations, provides fellowship and continuing education for those of us called to serve as bishop in the United States and Canada.
This spring we’ll be gathering on May 3, 2025 via Zoom beginning at 9AM Pacific/10AM Mountain. The theme for the 2025 NWIM Synod Assembly is “Wellsprings of God’s Love.”
Bwana Yesu, Asifiwe! (Praise Jesus! in Kiswahili) The Northwest Intermountain (NWIM) Synod has enjoyed and has been richly blessed by a 35-year relationship with our Companion Synod, the Ulanga Kilombero Diocese (UKD) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. In July 2024 a contingent of 13 pilgrims from the NWIM Synod traveled to Africa to visit the UKD.
Please watch a brief 5-minute video (below) of this trip which has been distributed to Region 1 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America World Hunger Chairs.
Enter the Bible is here to help everyday disciples and spiritual seekers engage Scripture in ways that are thoughtful, accessible, and faithful—with an aim to encourage and strengthen faith in the God revealed in the Old and New Testaments.
In this issue we are sharing the Baptism of our Lord resources from the Celebrate! Worship for Every Festival series that is a part of the Nourishing Vocation with Children Project at St. Olaf College.
DEM Pastor Liv Larson Andrews will be leading a series on Dan Erlander's classic Manna and Mercy on Thursdays, beginning January 9, at 6pm Pacific/7pm Mountain Time.
Please go to our Mission Support website page to to take a deep dive into learning all about Mission Support and and what is does for our Synod. Here you may also share your intent to participate this year.
This year, the ELCA will join the movement of racial healing for our church and the nation. On Jan. 21, 2025, 10 AM - 2 PM Central Time, join a free online educational event that centers the voices of ELCA leaders of color.
Please read for all the upcoming documents to be submitted for the new year.
At the heart of this ministry is the belief that effective leadership begins with the individual and is honed in community. This ministry helps each person learn how to appreciate who they are, how they are embodied, and manage the way they personally respond to challenges and conflict. Through engaging in this work,
There’s a classic horror film gimmick that feels apt this season. (Hmm, that’s telling that tropes from horror films are seeming appropriate!) When the final survivor is nearing the film’s end, the phone rings. She picks up the receiver and tries to trace the call, only to realize “the call is coming from inside the house!” Eeek!
The Synod Council encourages each congregation to put into practice a congregational sabbatical policy appropriate to its context. The Synod's policy includes a model congregational sabbatical policy that your congregation may adapt and adopt!
As faith communities, we are not merely bystanders in a transition to clean energy—we are leaders. Guided by our shared values of care for one another and the Earth, we have the potential to drive significant change. By leveraging new federal programs and financial incentives, we can make impactful energy and resiliency improvements that inspire others to follow our lead.
Pastor Moses Nwaka recently inquired of the NWIM Companion Synod Team about the purchase of a threshing machine for Tumaini school. This would not only help them save money when they harvest their crops but would also produce income by renting out its services for other local farmers.
The synod’s EcoFaith Action Network is planning its first offering of 2025. What should it be? A book study? A workshop? Something else?
We’re considering several possibilities. Please tell us what you think about them by answering three simple questions at this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QCRQFV2.
Dear Friends in Christ,
Advent brings with it many wonderful characters and stories and gifts. Here are three words I commend to you as we enter into this joyful and hopeful season and look ahead to the new year.
The day after the 2024 presidential election, Bishop Eaton reflects on the many expressions of our church being woven together as strands of a large tapestry, even as individually people are experiencing joy or grief. She reminds us that regardless of who is elected president or to other leadership positions in our country, our call to be Christ in the world doesn't change. "As we're moving through these next years, no matter what happens and what befalls ... imagine all of us woven together and in Christ, and we will continue to serve the gospel and to serve the world."
“If you had asked me my junior year of college if I had ever thought of being a Lutheran pastor, I would have said, ‘absolutely not.’” recalls Mariah Mills. Mariah attended an ELCA college but was deeply involved in an evangelical campus ministry. Later on in her junior year, though, her involvement with that ministry was disrupted.
You may have seen that a new film about German Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer will be coming to theaters Thanksgiving Weekend.
Here is what I suggest. If you want to see the film, go see it and understand that it is entertainment AND see it with some friends and have a discussion about the film afterwards.