I have been interested in life-giving ways for ELCA Lutherans to share their stories about Jesus’ transformative love and grace for a long time. So much of this new resource from the ELCA is basic but also essential! I suspect it will address many of your fears and queasiness around the very word evangelism, but it will also point to skills and tools you already possess.

Did you attend a United at the Font: Partnering for the Future event in 2025? Are you ready to reconnect with friends from other denominations and keep working together for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ?

“Bega Kwa Bega” is the Swahili term for mutual support between partners, and describes our relationship with our sister-synod, the Ulanga Kilombero Diocese in Tanzania, a partnership going back 35 years. This year, a delegation of 12 individuals from the NWIM Synod will travel to Tanzania, leaving June 5th.

Rev. Dennis Hickman and family at the death of his mother.
Rev. David Kappus at the death of his father.
Rev. Steve Myers (retired) at his death.

I am looking forward to spending time around my home and with family. I am looking forward to engaging in some local educational opportunities. And I am looking forward to spending time exploring some of the mountains and lakes and rivers in the Pacific Northwest. In short, I am looking forward to this truly being a sabbatical, “a break or change from a normal routine (as of employment)” as Merriam-Webster defines the term.

Four leaders from ministries across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) share how their faith journeys intersect with their commitment to creation care in the seven-part short film series “Caring for the Earth: Stories From Faith Communities.” The free-to-access series premieres online April 25 as part of this year’s National Faith + Climate Forum.

This two-semester program will begin September 2026 and end May 2027. A 100% online curriculum allows students from around the world to build relationships through bi-monthy small group meetings on Zoom.

What does it mean to be Christian — not just in belief, but in practice — in a complicated world
Sundays at 2:00 pm (75 minutes) PST/3:00 pm MST
May 31; June 7, 14, 22, 28; July 5

NWIM Synod Council has authorized the Companion Synod Team to raise funds towards the purchase of a Solar Electric Cooking System (SECS) to replace the hazardous combustion system. In addition to producing on-site electricity for stove-top and oven cooking, the SECS would power a water pumping system and water purification system. A reputable supplier and trustworthy installation contractor have already been identified, and preliminary discussions with them are underway.

It was so good to be together with many of you at Kennewick First Lutheran Church for the 2026 NWIM Synod Assembly last weekend. I left Kennewick with a deep sense of gratitude. Gratitude for all the ways the Holy Spirit is at work through the ministry sites & leaders across the Synod. Gratitude for all the ways these people and communities are wellsprings of God’s love.

This letter - 1 Peter - is one of the most hope-filled books in the New Testament. Its purpose is to encourage Christian converts living in the midst of a hostile society. Like most of the letters, there are a few passages that I would rather ignore; I have to remember that the letter was written in a very different time and place. Still, there is enough life-giving in the letter to hold our attention. The author names “a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1:3). That living hope is ours as well, even as the world around us groans. We hope that the God who created life out death on Easter morning will continue to create life from death. We hope that transformation is possible. And finally, like those disciples in the Emmaus Road story, we might say “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road?” (Luke 24:32). 

United at the Font: Partnering for the Future 2026
REGISTRATION OPEN FOR
Chelan - May 16
Sandpoint - June 27

Ministry, in all the ways we live it—parish, hospital, campus, new/old projects, organizing, public service and public witness—has its seasons just like a river does. It’s up; it’s down. It bends unexpectedly. It has snags. It dwindles to a trickle or rages in a torrent of energy. When we are so focused on navigating the moment-to-moment challenges, we easily miss the glorious sunset. Too homed in on that potential snag we know is coming, or worried about our own lack of knowledge (gosh…never floated this section before…), we fail to look up from our wheel, our desk, our phone, our whatever and just see. Oh, my goodness: the play of the twilight sun on the water!

NWIM Synod Council has authorized the Companion Synod Team to raise funds towards the purchase of a Solar Electric Cooking System (SECS) to replace the hazardous combustion system. In addition to producing on-site electricity for stove-top and oven cooking, the SECS would power a water pumping system and water purification system.

I am inviting you to consider Sacred Ground, a faith-based dialogue program of the Episcopal Church designed to help communities engage honestly with the history of race and racism in the United States, and to discern faithful responses grounded in Scripture, theology, and lived experience.

Congratulations to Shalom Ministries in Spokane, Washington who is a recipient of a 2026 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Domestic Hunger Grant for $30,000 over three years! Shalom is supported by St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Spokane.

Here is a photo of the scholarship students as well as their headmaster, Pastor Frank Mauyo, and the vice principle. This is 27 girls and 11 boys. You have changed the life of these students. Asante Sana!

Worship, including the sharing of the peace, gives us a glimpse of God’s reign that we can take into the world, and what a gift that is. Jesus gives us a peace, as he says earlier in John’s gospel, that the world does not know, a peace that exists through Jesus Christ even when the world feels like it’s shaking and absent of all peace.

We have updated the Congregation Remittance Form to use when sending in mission support and now have a Checklist that provides some helpful information about submitting mission support and designated gifts.

Can breath from a global Lutheran church body like the ELCJHL blow through the atmosphere and give life to the rest of the church? If it could, the breath would whisper about six congregations plus schools and other ministries who are giving life to their local communities.

Registration 

• $325 Early Bird – through March 31, 2026 

• $400 Registration – April 1 - June 5, 2026 

• $110 Non-Registered Guest Celebratory Banquet Ticket – 

  Available until Wednesday, June 3. Tickets will not be available after this date. 

From weekend workshops to full-week classes, the Guild is excited to welcome you into a year of resonance.  Check out the Guild’s In-Person Program page to explore upcoming programs - spring, summer, fall, and winter - and register today!

The 2026 Conference on Worship, Theology, and the Arts (CWTA) is a high-quality, affordable conference, full of practical ideas that you can adapt to your own setting, along with meaningful worship experiences — for ministry practitioners and by ministry practitioners. It will be held July 20-22, 2026.

“Church Property Insurance”

Wednesday, April 29
2 p.m. Central time

Insurance is one of the most pressing property concerns shared by synod and congregation leaders with the Church Property Resource Hub team. Join us for a conversation about today’s insurance landscape and learn about the support and options available to help congregations navigate these challenges.

We’re delighted to have available for congregational use a curriculum to help study and understand the ELCA social statement, Faith and Civic Life: Seeking the Well-being of All.

“Imagine More” isn’t about doing more stuff or trying harder to be “good enough.” It’s about recognizing that God is already at work in us and around us — way more than we can predict or control