Living Lutheran Weekly Email Digest

LL Stories June 29, 2021 I'm a Lutheran: Rico Martinez Gonzalez Luther Place Memorial Church, Washington, D.C. Artist and musician, member of N Street Village Ambassadors of Praise, and of Luther Place’s choir and Community Craft Collective ministry My … continue Dignity, details and In the Heights Early in the screen musical In the Heights, matriarch Abuela Claudia (Olga Merediz) describes the velvet gloves her mother purchased when she immigrated from Cuba to the Manhattan barrio Washington … continue Stepping out in faith In June 2018, Miriam Vargas faced an almost unimaginable fate. A native of Honduras living in Columbus, Ohio, she received a deportation order from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), meaning … continue

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UC National News 30 June-6 July - NAIDOC Week, Living the Covenant, Meet the Members of the 16th Assembly, stories of Intercultural Worship and more

Living the Covenant: NAIDOC Week 2021 As we approach NAIDOC Week 2021, the Uniting Church Assembly launches its first Covenant Action Plan. UCA President Dr Deidre Palmer and Interim National Chair of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) Pastor Mark Kickett jointly welcomed the plan and encouraged UCA members to think about how they can live out the covenant in their own local contexts.  “The ACAP rightly places First Peoples, through the UAICC, at the heart of who we are as the Uniting Church and calls us to deepening relationships as First Peoples and Second Peoples living in this ancient land,” said Dr Palmer. Palawa woman Alison Overeem and National Consultant Covenanting Stuart McMillan have provided prayers for you to use during NAIDOC Week from 4-11 July.  Meet the Members of the 16th Assembly For 20 days in the lead-up to the 16th Assembly, we're featuring 20 members who will be joining the online meeting from 17-18 July. Drawn from every Synod across the country, they speak of their hopes and expectations as they prepare to gather with others to discern the Spirit's leading for the Uniting Church nationally. Six Weeks of Dwelling in Prayer Join others across the UCA in our Six Weeks of Dwelling in Prayer for the 16th Assembly meeting. In Week 4, Rev Sandy Brodine shares this prayer in Chinese. Worshipping together in an Intercultural Church As we continue our series on being an Intercultural church, this week we consider what it means to worship together in a way that is inclusive and celebrates the rich cultural diversity of our Church. We share some wonderful examples of Intercultural Worship in the UCA. We would love to hear about your experiences too. Exploring the UCA National Conferences A panel of speakers including Virginia Lavaki, Rev Dr Tony Floyd and Rev Eseta Meneilly as Moderator, explored the history and witness of the Uniting Church’s National Conferences in the second in a webinar series hosted by the Becoming a Multicultural Church Circle and Assembly Resourcing Unit. Listen to the recorded webinar, and continue the conversation in the Being a Multicultural Church Circle. Redress Scheme Review The Uniting Church has welcomed new recommendations for the National Redress Scheme after a two-year independent review found rapid reforms were needed to ensure the Scheme remains accessible, efficient, and survivor-centered. Lay Preaching Unleashed Find out about and register for the National Conference of Lay Preachers which will be held on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland from 10-13 September 2021.  Children and Families resources Looking for resources for the children and families in your community? Check out the July update shared by Chris Barnett from the VIC/TAS Intergenerational Ministry team and for daily updates follow our Children and Families Facebook Page.  Never growing old Hear from QLD Uniting Church Minister and aged care chaplain Rev Harold Kilah on the ABC’s God Forbid program who joined a conversation on how we value people as they get older. Rev Kilah says we shouldn’t only focus on the physical aspects of ageing but the personality and spirit of the individual. If this is something you or your congregation are passionate about, consider joining Uniting Friends of Ageing. Contact Warren Talbot Help get volunteers where they are needed most This is Kingoonya, a tiny outback community in central SA with a population of 10. It is also where a team of Outback Link volunteers with Bush Chaplain Sunny Kadaparambil have been deployed this week to bring much-needed practical support. Help make more trips like this happen by donating or volunteering with Frontier Services.

Presbytery Minister: Mary Burnett Presbytery The Mary Burnett Presbytery reaches from the Glasshouse Mountains on the Sunshine Coast to Eidsvold in the west and Burnett Heads north of Bundaberg. A Presbytery Minister is needed to provide pastoral oversight and intentionally missional leadership. Mallee Rivers Regional Team - Intergenerational Explore the placement vacancies in the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, including this role supporting a cluster of diverse rural congregations in the Mallee Rivers region.

JOIN US IN PRAYER FOR: A deepening of relationships as First and Second Peoples in this land and in our Church. The members of the 16th Assembly as they prepare for the meeting and gather online in community groups for the first time this Sunday. Those working to contain the spread of COVID-19, those who are sick with the virus, people who cannot work and all those feeling afraid, anxious and alone. Copyright © 2021 Uniting Church in Australia, All rights reserved. We're sending you weekly updates because you opted into news from the Uniting Church in Australia. Our mailing address is: Uniting Church in Australia Lvl 4 262 Pitt St Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia

WCRC eNews: June 2021: Future Plans, Lombard Prize, Loss of Leader

eNews: June 2021   Virtual Executive Committee sets future course The World Communion of Reformed Churches Executive Committee, meeting for the first time in two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, approved an interim leadership plan, set task groups for sustainability and the next General Council, adopted a Gender Justice Policy, thanked outgoing General Secretary Chris Ferguson for his service, and produced a message for members and partners. The text of Esther 4:14, “At such a time as this…” framed their deliberations. Using this text, President Najla Kassab invited the Communion into a renewed imagination for the various challenges for the Communion and also called for a radical hope. Read more: Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Deutsch, English, Español, Français, Korean La CMER appelle à la prière et au deuil pour les victimes des pensionnats La Communion mondiale d'Églises réformées se joint aux sœurs et frères du Canada pour pleurer tous les enfants qui ont souffert et sont morts dans les pensionnats autochtones du Canada. Veuillez vous joindre à nous dans la prière et le soutien pour tous ceux qui ont souffert - et continuent de souffrir - de ces politiques injustes et racistes du gouvernement canadien, souvent soutenues par des organisations chrétiennes. Lire la suite : Anglais, français

Webinar on ecumenical dialogues looks to future. WCRC mourns death of Allen Nafuki. Young theologians are invited to participate in the Lombard Prize. Facebook Twitter Website Email WCRC congratulates LWF general secretary elect. WCRC calls for end of US blockade of Cuba: English, Español

Copyright © 2021 World Communion of Reformed Churches, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because of your interest in the work of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. Our mailing address is: World Communion of Reformed Churches Knochenhauerstr. 42 Hannover 30159 Germany

WCC NEWS: European churches reflect on transformation of pandemic of death to pilgrimage of life and faith

How will the churches use the wide range of new opportunities in the post-pandemic context? How will they call to faith and trust as we move beyond the global health crisis to a time of renewal? These were the core questions that representatives of the European region addressed during a discussion that took place at the World Council of Churches central committee meeting, 23-29 June. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 30 June 2021 “The COVID-19 pandemic brought forth the relationship between the church and the secular. We have witnessed all tensions rekindling between churches and states and, at the same time, new forms of collaboration and alliances emerging in the service of the broader community,” Katerina Pekridou, executive secretary of Conference of European Churches, stated in her opening remarks.  Pekridou also announced a Conference of European Churches pre-assembly meeting, to take place in Warsaw, in February 2022, to prepare European participants for Karlsruhe, with a thematic focus on how European churches can best contribute to world Christianity within an increasingly secular context.  Participants reflected extensively on a series of questions with direct impact to the European societies, churches and ecumenical work: How can we avoid self-centered thinking among nations and regions and build international solidarity? How do we develop societal literacy and engagement with science to respond to the problems of the world? The topic of racial justice and white supremacy was prominent throughout the discussion. Racism and the connection with Europe’s response to the refugee issue was recognized as one of the main topics European churches need to respond to, self-critically and with an authentic reflection on what it means to be white in the contemporary global context. “As churches working together, what is the rationale as we discuss the topic of racism? How do we  look at our own institutional picture and what is the Biblical imperative, the reason we are compelled to do something in connection to the issue of racism?” asked Rev. Canon Dr Leslie Nathaniel (Church of England), WCC central committee member.  It is time for the European churches to start a discussion on how the ecumenical movement and WCC should look in the future in order to find ways to deliver to societies in need the word of God and the Christian messages that bring meaning to life. “We are talking to the world as churches in a period of a global pandemic and we are listening to their agony, the anxiety of death. We are coming in this space as WCC and Conference of European Churches to a world that is in pain and suffering. As Christians, beyond our confessional differences, the core question is how would we transform this pandemic of death to a pandemic of faith. How do we turn the anxiety of illness to a praise of life?” said Prof. Marina Kolovopoulou, a WCC central committee member from the Church of Greece. “This pilgrimage to life is a great opportunity for all Christian churches in Europe to strengthen the feeling that, as Christians we have gone beyond death.” WCC central committee meeting 2021 The 11th Assembly of the WCC in Karlsruhe, Germany Participants of the European regional meeting at the World Council of Churches central committee 2021. Photo: WCC See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 350 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland