Pastor Sarah, as well as other churches, will be in downtown Phoenix as part of our annual Ashes to Go campaign. She'll be around Taylor place, approximately 11:30 am til 1 pm. 120 E Taylor St, Phoenix, AZ 85004.
Grace Vine: February 2018
Why don’t we use alleluias during Lent?
Learn about the background of why the church omits this word during Lent and why some congregations “bury” it. View a PDF from the ELCA explaining why.
ELCA Directory is now online
The 2018 ELCA Yearbook is now online and known as the ELCA Directory, directory.ELCA.org. Just as the printing press changed the world during Martin Luther’s time, so are the digitization of data and the internet changing the way we publish and access information.
Living Lutheran – 'The millennial mystery'
Millennials, known as people born between 1982-2000, are the largest living generation in the U.S., but you won’t find many of them at church. According to a Pew Research study, both the church and other member-based institutions aren’t being embraced by millennials like the institutions were by previous generations. But this doesn’t mean millennials aren’t seeking out community. In Living Lutheran’s cover story, hear from millennials on why they've stayed in the church, left the church or how they’re looking for spiritual nurture.
Bishop Younan honored
Synod Congregational Spotlight: Esperanza Lutheran Church
Esperanza Lutheran Church has had four primary mission partners, two local and two global: Habitat for Humanity (22 homes as part of the SE Valley Lutheran Coalition), the Kyrene Family Resource Center, Feed My Starving Children and the Meera Primary School in Tanzania.
Living Lutheran: ‘Form a faithful foundation’
The January Living Lutheran cover story centers on the topic of faith formation as it relates to leadership and how our baptismal covenant is one way to explore this. Read the full article here.
How will you lead?
Sermon: 1/28/18
The news this week is full of images of destruction. Destruction—due to biological processes beyond our control, Mother Nature, hatred and misunderstanding, desperation, abuse of power, and I don’t even know what. Images of destruction that stand in stark contrast to the destruction employed by Jesus in today’s gospel.
Serving Your Neighbor through Circles of Care
Want to help your (literal) neighbor? The Area Agency on Aging connects senior citizens who need support with neighbors who can transport them to medical appointments, provide friendly visits and support, and regularly call to check in. If you or a small group of people are interested in reaching out to a neighbor, please call 602-264-4357 or caringcircles@aaaphx.org. You can also pick up a packet of information, including a volunteer application, from the back of the sanctuary or the church office.
Sermon: 1/21/2018
Following Jesus is the part of Christianity I find most compelling. Weekly worship, Bible study, even believing certain things, these for me are not as compelling as Jesus’ call to follow. I imagine where Jesus’ disciples, his original followers, went when they followed Jesus. I imagine the people they met and with whom they spent their time. I imagine their lifestyle. I imagine their surprise and hesitancy to follow at times because of the outrageous things Jesus did. And imaging all this makes me laugh because it in no way resembles the lives of most Christians here and now.
Community Building Goal
January Grand Canyon Synod Newsletter
Annual Meeting on Sunday, 1/28, 10:45 am in Hope Hall
January Wilbur Funds
Grace Vine: January 2018
Traditional Christmas Day Worship in the Sanctuary
Sermon: 12/24/2017
My dad’s also a Lutheran pastor.Three weeks ago, he retired after 39 years of ordained ministry from Spirit of Hope Lutheran Church in east Mesa. Of all the Christmas Eve sermons I have heard him preach, the one that sticks with me is the sermon where he told the story of a young woman giving birth in her car, a hatchback, behind a particular Circle K in east Mesa, cold, alone, scared.
Midwest Food Bank volunteer opportunities
Volunteers are invaluable to the mission of Midwest Food Bank. If you are interested in giving back this year, please help prepare disaster relief boxes, repackage bulk foods into manageable quantities for distribution and to support local pantries.
Midwest Food Bank also has opportunities for drivers with a CDL license. If you would like to learn more bout how you can make a difference this season, visit arizona.midwestfoodbank.org.