Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry has accepted an invitation from the GCS Hunger Leaders Network to join their monthly network call on Tuesday, February 24 at 6:00 pm.
If you’ve thought of joining the GCS Hunger Leaders Network calls but haven’t yet gotten around to it, now’s a good time! The virtual meetings are held monthly on the last Tuesday of the month from 6:00 – 7:00 pm AZ (PDT) time. Each meeting consists of a short devotion, update from a guest at ELCA Churchwide — this time, Bishop Curry! — and an update from a local hunger ministry. In addition, the meetings include upcoming events, resources and grants, and updates from hunger ministries across the synod. It’s well worth an hour of your time each month!
In a constantly evolving digital age, artificial intelligence (AI) has become part and parcel of modern life. Given its impact, as well as the overwhelming enthusiasm for and protest against it, how do we best live in the world with the reality of AI? How do we respond to it faithfully and theologically?
Join us online or in Berkeley on Wednesday, February 25 from 8:30 am – 3 pm for a dynamic day of inquiry! Learn more & register HERE!
Ahead of a contentious midterm election, Congress is considering legislation that would raise barriers to voting. Take action.
Over the coming weeks, several lawmakers are quietly pushing for legislation that would make voting and voter registration more difficult for millions of American citizens. The SAVE Act, if enacted, would create additional burdens on voters to provide eligibility – which non-partisan experts say would not make any noticeable change to election security. The adjustments would disproportionately impact rural, low-income and marginalized communities, and members of Tribal Nations, by making it harder to both prove eligibility and register to vote. “These measures erect new barriers for people facing significant challenges registering and voting, especially those with unstable housing, geographic isolation, or limited access to government-issued documents,” assesses the National Low Income Housing Coalition in which the ELCA participates.
The ELCA strongly affirms voter participation as an exercise in citizenship and condemns efforts to restrict access – especially for low-income communities which are often left out of the election process. The ELCA social message “Government and Civic Engagement in the United States: Discipleship in a Democracy” urges rejection of “antidemocratic exclusion” efforts to restrict voting, including “requiring voters to show identification without issuing identification to all eligible voters,” purging voter rolls, and more.
2. Require strict proof of citizenship to register (and exclude common documents like drivers licenses) which millions of American citizens don’t have access to, such as a passport or birth certificate.
3. Place burden of verification not on internal state processes but on the efforts of individual citizens with the new regulation burdens.
Lawmakers should be aware of the challenges this legislation poses, and of the moral concerns from the Christian community ahead of any possible vote. Customizing this message with your top concerns and values will improve your impact. Urge Congress to reject the SAVE Act.
“You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” — Matthew 5:13–14
Salt is a small thing, but it changes everything.
It preserves what would otherwise spoil. It brings out flavor where things feel bland. And sometimes—let’s be honest—it irritates before it heals.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus does not ask his followers to become salt and light. He names them as such. This is not a future goal or a spiritual achievement. It is an identity.
To be salt is to show up in the world in ways that preserve dignity and tell the truth. To be light is to refuse hiding hope when the world feels dim.
But salt can lose its flavor. Light can be covered up. Faith can be watered down when it costs us comfort, when accountability feels hard, or when grace is confused with avoidance.
Jesus’ call is not to cheap grace or easy forgiveness. It is a call to love that is honest, courageous, and rooted in justice. Love that holds one another accountable without becoming cruel. Love that refuses to forget harm while still choosing a future shaped by mercy.
This week, lean into the simple but challenging question Jesus places before us:
Where is God calling you to be salt?
Maybe it looks like preserving what is good when others are ready to give up. Maybe it looks like speaking truth when silence feels easier. Maybe it looks like releasing resentment so that God’s transforming love has room to work.
And where is God inviting you to let your light shine?
Not for recognition. Not for righteousness points. But so that others might glimpse a kingdom shaped by justice, peace, and dignity for all.
We are made of dust and salt. We are held by grace and called to love.
Lean into the week knowing this: You already carry what the world needs.
Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada 