Nevadans, including many in our congregations, continue to face an escalating housing affordability crisis. According to the Out of Reach 2025 report, a full-time worker in Nevada must earn $32.94 per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. With a minimum wage of $12.00 per hour, a minimum-wage worker would need to work 91 hours per weekjust to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home.

Across the country, wages fall far short of the income needed to secure safe and stable housing. Nearly half of all U.S. workers earn less than the wage required to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment. Low-wage workers, seniors, families, and those living on fixed incomes face growing precarity, increasing their risk of eviction, displacement, or homelessness.

As people of faith, we believe that housing is a human right and a matter of human dignity. The ELCA Social Message “Homelessness: A Renewal of Commitment” calls our church to advocate boldly for policies that ensure affordable housing for all. The ELCA Social Statement “Economic Life: Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All”reminds us that government has a responsibility to safeguard the common good, including the right to shelter.

LEAN calls on federal and state leaders to expand investments in affordable housing, including:

• Increased federal rental assistance
• Significant investment in the National Housing Trust Fund
• Preservation and development of deeply affordable housing
• Stronger tenant protections to reduce displacement and instability

Housing is the foundation for healthy families, thriving communities, and the well-being of our neighbors. As Lutherans committed to justice, compassion, and public witness, we stand with Nevadans struggling to keep a roof over their heads — and we will continue advocating for policies that honor the God-given dignity of every person.

LEAN wants to remind you to register to vote. Elections shape our communities and future. It’s not too early to start conversations about upcoming local, state, and national elections. Approach discussions with empathy, listen actively, and share your values and hope for Nevada’s future.

Together, we can build understanding, compassion, and inspire civic engagement that will bring meaningful change to our communities.

A six-session study suitable for congregations on how Lutherans approach ethics.

This 32-page congregational study invites you to think and talk about how your faith in Jesus Christ shapes the way you live your daily life. Living the Faith introduces you to the basics of Christian ethics as viewed from a Lutheran perspective.

By drawing upon the Lutheran tradition in the midst of contemporary confusion and debate about ethics, this study from 1999 offers congregations an insightful and accessible guide for talking together about the Christian life. This study is meant for small groups of adults or youth who are interested in thinking through how Lutherans approach ethics. The questions in the text and the two sections Guides for Leaders and Small Group Session Questions and Activities are intended to facilitate discussion of the study.

Living the Faith follows upon the publication of The Promise of Lutheran Ethics (edited by Karen L. Bloomquist and John R. Stumme, Fortress Press, 1998). This study refers to the essays in that book and helps introduce readers to it. Reading The Promise of Lutheran Ethics and having a copy at hand for reference will enhance your study.

The author of this study is the Rev. Dr. Paul Jersild. Dr. Jersild is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, where he also served as Academic Dean. Before going to Southern, he was Dean and Professor of Ethics at Wartburg Theological Seminary. He is now Visiting Research Professor at the Bioethics Center, University of South Carolina. This study is a joint publication of the Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) and the Division for Church in Society (DCS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Rev. Paul Lutz (DCM) and the Rev. Dr. John R. Stumme (DCS) are the study’s editors. They have been assisted by the Rev. Ted Schroeder (DCM). DCM and DCS are responsible for the study.

Talking Together as Christians about Tough Social Issues. A six-session introduction on how to begin conversations on tough social issues.

In its first social statement, The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective (1991), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America—in all its expressions—committed itself to foster moral deliberation on social questions, seeking to:

• be a community where open, passionate, and respectful deliberation on challenging and controversial issues of contemporary society is expected and encouraged;
• engage those of diverse perspectives, classes, genders, ages, races, and cultures in the deliberation process so that each of our limited horizons might be expanded and the witness of the Body of Christ in the world enhanced;
• address through deliberative processes the issues faced by the people of God, in order to equip them in their discipleship and citizenship in the world;
• arrive at positions to guide its corporate witness through participatory processes of moral deliberation; and
• contribute toward the up-building of the common good and the revitalizing of public life through open and inclusive processes of deliberation.

The 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted seven “Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century.” The third initiative, “Witness to God’s Action in the World,” is intended to encourage congregations to “model life in community as they address pressing social issues, ethical questions, and community renewal.” Part of this includes congregations developing and exercising their skills in faith-based deliberation about tough social issues. This guide has been written in response to that initiative. It is intended for leadership teams of pastors and lay people. Here “talking together” is used as a more accessible synonym for what has previously been referred to as “moral deliberation.” The suggestions in this guide have been gleaned from groups and organizations with considerable experience in helping people with conversations such as these.

From the Introduction:

Many of us yearn for help in figuring out how God and our faith relate to the issues we encounter in our lives and society. As a church we confess that God is deeply involved in our lives and world, but figuring out how and what that means in relation to the specific issues and questions we face is often difficult. People in many congregations seem reluctant to talk together about such questions, especially if this will open up real differences among them.

What is considered a “tough social issue” to talk about varies greatly, depending on who people are, their culture, their history, current situation, and the usual ways their congregation does things. What is easy to talk about in an urban setting may not be in a rural setting, or vice versa. What is taboo in some cultures, such as issues related to sex or money, may not be in others. In some cases, people feel free to open themselves up to others—that’s part of what it means for them to be the church! In many other cases, people are reluctant to share their feelings and views—that feels too risky for them! They might express thoughts like those shared above. A given issue can affect some people in very different ways than it does others—due to what they’ve experienced, where they’ve come from, and individual personality differences. Talking about these things together brings these differences out in the open, which can be risky.

This 24-pg resource is available for purchase for $1.00 ea via ELCA Website #ELCACS1053 or via download free of charge, link below. ©1999

Black History Month reminds us that Black history is living history, shaped by struggle, resilience, and leadership that continues today. In Nevada, that history includes confronting segregation in Las Vegas, where Black workers and performers helped build the casino industry yet were barred from staying or gambling on the Strip. Black residents were confined to the Westside, a neighborhood long denied equitable city investment.

In response, the Westside became a powerful center of culture, community, and resistance—culminating in the 1960 Moulin Rouge Agreement, which ended casino segregation in Las Vegas. That victory was not given; it was demanded, organized, and won.

As we honor this legacy, we recommit ourselves to building a future rooted in equity, justice, and opportunity for all. Justice, freedom, and dignity are not relics of history, they are demands of the present. Black history is American history, and the struggle for liberation continues today.