Advocacy Director, Pastor Paul Larson will be on the road this weekend for LEAN.

On Sunday, he will preach at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church at 8:00 am and 10:00 am.

The Colorado River Conference: Second Annual MLK Celebration

• Sunday, January 18, 2026 • 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time
• New Song Church, Henderson, NV
• 1291 Cornet Ave, Henderson, NV 89052

The Colorado River Conference invites you to a festive worship celebration featuring guest preacher Rev. Dr. James Thomas, author of A Rumor of Black Lutherans: The Formation of Black Leadership in Early American Lutheranism. Worship will be followed by a reception and conversation/book study with Dr. Thomas.

The House passed legislation on January 8th to extend enhanced ACA premium subsidies, bringing us one step closer to ensuring millions of Americans can continue affording health coverage. Now we need the Senate to act—urge your senators to pass this critical extension.

Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada is concerned about efforts to restrict SNAP food choices for Nevada families. These proposed limitations, introduced without a public process, fail to address the real and urgent causes of hunger in our state.

The ELCA’s 1999 Social Statement Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All teaches that “food is a fundamental human right” and that society has a moral obligation to ensure that “all people are fed and protected from hunger.” It further calls on public leaders to create policies that “enhance human dignity rather than punish people for their poverty.”

Restricting how low-income families use their already, limited SNAP benefits does not protect health, it stigmatizes hunger. At a time when grocery costs continue to rise and many communities across Nevada lack access to fresh, affordable food, such restrictions do nothing to increase nutrition, dignity, or choice.

The ELCA reminds us that hunger is not caused by personal failure but by “a web of policies, structures, and circumstances.” Any meaningful response must address the systemic barriers that prevent families from thriving, barriers like food deserts, low wages, and rising housing and utility costs.

As people of faith grounded in Jesus’ command to feed the hungry, we call on Nevada to pursue policies that:

• Expand access to healthy and affordable food
• Invest in grocery infrastructure in rural and underserved communities
• Engage the public transparently, including those most impacted
• Protect choice and dignity for families relying on SNAP

Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada will continue to advocate alongside our congregations, neighbors, and community partners for a Nevada where every person, especially those living on the margins, has food on the table and agency in their lives.

In scripture, we are reminded that every person is created in the image and likeness of God. This Sunday, we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord, when the heavens open, the Spirit descends, and God proclaims over Jesus: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

That same blessing echoes through time and over all God’s children. God looks upon us, not with suspicion or fear, but with delight and unwavering love. God does not act as a judgmental parent waiting for us to measure up. God embraces each person as beloved, affirmed, and worthy of dignity simply because God created us.

At Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada, we hold firmly to this truth as we witness Governor Joe Lombardo’s continued use of transgender Nevadans as political theater. This comes at a time when violence against transgender individuals is rising and when legislatures across the country continue to target and harass transgender communities.

The ballot proposal Governor Lombardo has endorsed would undermine the will of Nevada voters. In 2022, Nevadans overwhelmingly passed the Equal Rights Amendment, enshrining broad constitutional protections against discrimination. The message from the people of Nevada could not have been clearer: our state is moving toward equality and fairness, not backward.

Policies like those proposed are not abstract debates. They inflict real and immediate harm on beloved children of God. They deputize adults, coaches, and even classmates to police girls’ bodies and appearances, to decide who “looks feminine enough” to belong. Girls who are tall, strong, broad-shouldered, or who simply do not match narrow expectations are singled out, scrutinized, and shamed. These invasions of privacy and dignity have already occurred in other states; the damage is not hypothetical.

This ballot proposal is not about fairness or safety. It is a political weapon rooted in fear, designed to energize an agenda that targets transgender people—especially transgender youth.

As people of faith, we reject the narrative of fear. We proclaim the Gospel of a God who calls us beloved, just as we are. As Lutherans, we are grounded in our church’s own teaching. ELCA social policy is explicit that discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people, including transgender youth, is incompatible with our understanding of God’s love and justice. In “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust” (2009), the ELCA affirms that “all people—regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity—are created in the image of God and should be treated with dignity, respect, and protection under the law.”

Our church also recognizes that government has a responsibility to safeguard the well-being of all residents and must not be used to harm or marginalize vulnerable communities _{(Church and State: A Lutheran Perspective, 1966; Government and Civic Engagement).}

These teachings establish a clear theological mandate: Lutherans are called to advocate alongside all LGBTQIA+ people, resisting policies grounded in fear and exclusion, and upholding protections that recognize every person as beloved.

Transgender Nevadans deserve safety, dignity, belonging, and joy, not to be used as pawns in a culture war. And we will continue to stand with them, advocate for them, and remind this state of the sacred truth spoken at the Jordan River, this is God’s beloved child; in them God is well pleased.

In Faith,

Rev. Paul M. Larson

Advocacy Director, Lutheran Engagement Advocacy in Nevada

Pastor, St. Paul’s Lutheran Family, Carson City, NV

When Zeidy Funes returned to her home country of Honduras after trying to migrate to the United States, she was looking for a new start. Fortunately, after her arrival, Zeidy was connected with an organization that is part of the AMMPARO (Accompanying Migrants with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities) network. The organization “provided me with the psychological support I needed,” Zeidy said. By meeting others in her same situation, she was able to rebuild her life in Honduras.

Zeidy is just one of many people who are part of a network for returned migrants in Honduras. Read more of their stories in the 2025 issue of “Thrive.”