Mark your calendar for three SYAT Collective Zoom meetings on November 19 and December 10, 2026. The Grand Canyon Synod’s Synod Youth Advisory Team (SYAT) invites you to connect around navigating political conversations and Advent renewal. Register separately for each event using the links below.

These gatherings offer opportunities to support one another in ministry with children, youth, and young adults. Rooted in God’s grace, we are called to listen with care, love our neighbors, and make room for renewal as we serve.

Navigating Political Conversations
Thursday, November 19, at 10 a.m.
Join a conversation about navigating political discussions—a meaningful topic for leaders seeking to nurture respectful dialogue and care for neighbors.
Register for Navigating Political Conversations

Advent Renewal for Children’s, Youth, and Young Adult Leaders
NEW DATE: Thursday, December 3, at 6:30 p.m.
Make space during Advent for renewal alongside others serving children, youth, and young adults.
Register for Advent Renewal

Share these invitations with leaders in your congregation. For more information about SYAT and youth and young adult ministry across the synod, visit gcsynod.org/youth-family.

Wednesdays, November 18, December 2, 9, and 16, 2026 | 8–9 a.m. MST / 7–8 a.m. PST | Online via Zoom

The Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin, in collaboration with Pastor Ron Glusenkamp and other partners, invites members of the Grand Canyon Synod to An Advent Journey of Reflection & Action: “Filled with Good Things,” a four-session online series exploring the connections between faith, justice, and faithful action.

Using ELCA World Hunger’s Filled With Good Things 2026 Advent Devotional as a guide, participants will gather for reflection, conversation, guest speakers, and opportunities to consider how faith calls us to serve our neighbors.

Discussion topics include:

• Inclusion, belonging, and mattering
• Public policy advocacy
• Hunger and homelessness
• Community organizing

The series offers an opportunity to connect Advent’s themes of hope and expectation with the Lutheran calling to love and serve our neighbors, particularly those experiencing hunger, poverty, and exclusion.

Dates and Times

November 18, December 2, 9, and 16, 2026

• Arizona and Utah: 8–9 a.m. MST
• Nevada (Pacific Time): 7–8 a.m. PST

Register for the Advent Zoom Series

Participants can also download the 2026 ELCA World Hunger Advent Devotional and explore additional Advent resources.

For questions, contact Kacy Kostiuk at kacy.kostiuk@elca.org.

Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) invites lay leaders, rostered ministers, and community members to explore faith and racial justice through two online courses beginning in January and March 2027. These six-week courses are self-paced, require no previous educational background, and cost $250 each.

Part of PLTS’s Racial Justice and Faith Certificate Program, the courses offer opportunities to learn from theologians, examine church history, and explore how faith informs the pursuit of racial justice.

SPRING 2027 COURSE OFFERINGS

My Church History Story

• January–February 2027
• Instructor: Dr. Carla Roland Guzman
• Registration deadline: January 1, 2027

Womanism and Social Justice

• March–April 2027
• Instructor: Rev. Keyona Lazenby, PhD Candidate
• Registration deadline: March 1, 2027

Both courses are offered online, primarily asynchronously, allowing participants to complete coursework on their own schedules. The program also includes opportunities for interaction through Zoom.

ACCESSIBLE THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION

Participants may enroll in individual courses or complete four courses to earn a Certificate in Racial Justice and Faithfrom PLTS.

Each course costs $250, with discounts available for groups and PLTS alumni. Need-based scholarships are also available. No undergraduate degree or previous theological training is required.

Through the guidance of theologians from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, participants explore how history, identity, and lived experience shape biblical interpretation and Christian witness.

For Grand Canyon Synod congregations, these learning opportunities can support leadership development, deepen theological understanding, and encourage faithful engagement with racial justice in our communities.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

Explore the Racial Justice and Faith Certificate Program and register for Spring 2027 courses →

For questions, contact Rev. Dr. Sheryl Johnson, Director of Non-Degree Programs at PLTS, at sheryljohnson@plts.edu.

Congregations are encouraged to share these opportunities with ministry leaders, council members, and others interested in deepening their faith and serving their communities.

PLTS also offers a separate Certificate in Church Leadership, featuring courses in Lutheran theology, preaching, biblical interpretation, spiritual care, and congregational leadership.

Join ELCA Indigenous Ministries on Thursday, November 19, 2026, from 3–4 p.m. MST (Arizona) / 2–3 p.m. PST (Nevada) for All My Relations: Connecting Past, Present and Future, a free Zoom webinar exploring Indigenous history, identity, faith, and the stories we tell about Thanksgiving.

Hosted during Native American Heritage Month, the conversation features Rev. Wanda Frenchman, interim director of ELCA Indigenous Ministries, and Brenda Blackhawk (Hocąk), director of communications at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.

Register for the November 19 Zoom Webinar

CHALLENGING FAMILIAR NARRATIVES

Together, Frenchman and Blackhawk will challenge familiar Thanksgiving myths and explore Indigenous history, identity, and faith. Their conversation invites participants to reconsider inherited narratives and deepen their understanding of Indigenous communities, past and present.

Rev. Frenchman will also share updates on ELCA Indigenous Ministries across the country, highlighting ongoing work and opportunities to strengthen and sustain Indigenous communities for future generations.

As Lutherans, we are called to listen to our neighbors, confront harmful histories, and pursue justice and reconciliation through relationships grounded in mutual respect.

Bring your questions, curiosity, and willingness to challenge what you think you know. This educational opportunity invites us not only to learn from the past but also to consider how we can act faithfully today.

EVENT DETAILS

• Date: Thursday, November 19, 2026
• Time: 3–4 p.m. MST (Arizona) / 2–3 p.m. PST (Nevada)
• Location: Online via Zoom
• Registration: Register here
• Questions: Rev. Wanda Frenchman, wanda.frenchman@elca.org

Register for All My Relations: Connecting Past, Present and Future

When I moved to Nevada, I have loved learning these small and cool things like a river under Death Valley. Or that Nevada’s Devils Hole pupfish is making a comeback. Scientists counted 137 of these tiny fish this fall, more than double last fall’s count.

Less than an inch long, and already giving us something to celebrate.

That progress comes with the patient work of scientists and conservation partners helping these rare fish survive.

Genesis calls us to care for creation. Sometimes that means thinking about mountains, forests, and rivers. Sometimes it means paying attention to a tiny blue neighbor whose entire wild population lives in one small Nevada habitat.

God’s creation is wonderfully weird, beautifully connected, and worthy of our care.

Let’s keep supporting the work that helps it thrive. Even our smallest neighbors deserve a future.

Read More: Nevada Current