Now Is The Time: A Study Guide For ELCA Declaration To People of African Descent Join a special webinar on March 5, 1-2:30 p.m. CT, to explore “Now Is the Time: A Study Guide for ELCA Declaration to People of African Descent.” Please register in advance for this free learning opportunity.Participants will explore the new study guide that helps congregations wrestle with the meaning of “Declaration of the ELCA to People of African Descent” and its accompanying explanation. Webinar speakers include the study’s author, Dr. Joyce Caldwell, Ph.D., Leading for Racial Equity, LLC; Judith Roberts, senior director for diversity, equity and inclusion, ELCA; the Rev. Nicolette Marie Peñaranda, program director, African Descent Ministries, ELCA; Linda Post Bushkofsky, executive director, Women of the ELCA; Shari Seifert, president, European Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice.This study guide provides an avenue for the realization, self-examination and accountability the church requires to “apologiz[e] to people of African descent for its complicity in slavery and its enduring legacy of racism in the United States and globally,” in the declaration’s words. The study guide focuses on deepening our understanding of this history as participants engage in often-difficult conversation and reflection to move the church toward racial healing and justice.The webinar is hosted by ELCA Racial Justice, Women of the ELCA and the European Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice. Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email containing additional information.REGISTER: https://www.womenoftheelca.org/…/webinar-now-is-the…

Luther Seminary faculty and alumni have written a Lenten devotional based on the hymn “My Song is Love Unknown” and they offer it freely to all who request (consider donating). Here’s the link to that resource which will come to your email inbox as a 27-page PDF file. Ash Wednesday is March 2. To inspire us, here is the hymn recorded from worship with the choir of Jesus College Cambridge, Richard Pinel, Director.  

Now Is The Time: A Study Guide For ELCA Declaration To People of African Descent Join a special webinar on March 5, 1-2:30 p.m. CT, to explore “Now Is the Time: A Study Guide for ELCA Declaration to People of African Descent.” Please register in advance for this free learning opportunity.Participants will explore the new study guide that helps congregations wrestle with the meaning of “Declaration of the ELCA to People of African Descent” and its accompanying explanation. Webinar speakers include the study’s author, Dr. Joyce Caldwell, Ph.D., Leading for Racial Equity, LLC; Judith Roberts, senior director for diversity, equity and inclusion, ELCA; the Rev. Nicolette Marie Peñaranda, program director, African Descent Ministries, ELCA; Linda Post Bushkofsky, executive director, Women of the ELCA; Shari Seifert, president, European Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice.This study guide provides an avenue for the realization, self-examination and accountability the church requires to “apologiz[e] to people of African descent for its complicity in slavery and its enduring legacy of racism in the United States and globally,” in the declaration’s words. The study guide focuses on deepening our understanding of this history as participants engage in often-difficult conversation and reflection to move the church toward racial healing and justice.The webinar is hosted by ELCA Racial Justice, Women of the ELCA and the European Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice. Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email containing additional information.REGISTER: https://www.womenoftheelca.org/…/webinar-now-is-the…

Watch Bishop Megan Rohrer’s interview here. ISBN/ISSN: 9780802879264 Description: (from the Resource Center’s listing) A challenge to the doctrine of biblical inerrancy that calls into question how Christians are taught more about the way of Whiteness than the way of Jesus Angela Parker wasn’t just trained to be a biblical scholar; she was trained to be a White male biblical scholar. She is neither White nor male. Dr. Parker’s experience of being taught to forsake her embodied identity in order to contort herself into the stifling construct of Whiteness is common among American Christians, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. This book calls the power structure behind this experience what it is: White supremacist authoritarianism. Drawing from her perspective as a Womanist New Testament scholar, Dr. Parker describes how she learned to deconstruct one of White Christianity’s most pernicious lies: the conflation of biblical authority with the doctrines of inerrancy and infallibility. As Dr. Parker shows, these doctrines are less about the text of the Bible itself and more about the arbiters of its interpretation–historically, White males in positions of power who have used Scripture to justify control over marginalized groups. This oppressive use of the Bible has been suffocating. To learn to breathe again, Dr. Parker says, we must “let God breathe in us.” We must read the Bible as authoritative, but not authoritarian. We must become conscious of the particularity of our identities, as we also become conscious of the particular identities of the biblical authors from whom we draw inspiration. And we must trust and remember that as long as God still breathes, we can too. Age Groups: High School; Young Adult; Adult (30-55)

Luther Seminary faculty and alumni have written a Lenten devotional based on the hymn “My Song is Love Unknown” and they offer it freely to all who request (consider donating). Here’s the link to that resource which will come to your email inbox as a 27-page PDF file. Ash Wednesday is March 2. To inspire us, here is the hymn recorded from worship with the choir of Jesus College Cambridge, Richard Pinel, Director.  

Peace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley formed a discussion group early in 2020 to discuss  racism. Their purpose was to do more than just talk about the subject. They decided to  contact the Bethel AME Church in Marysville since they were a bit connected through previous  experience of having the Bethel Choir sing at their Grass Valley celebration of MLK Day.  The group at Peace has twelve to fourteen people at each meeting, some of them coming from  other churches in our community. Four members of the LDS group in Yuba City joined a book  club headed by Bethel Church, as did four members of Peace Lutheran. Their long term goal   is to end the racial divide by coming together as Christians. Books they have read include  “Caste,” “The Color of Law,” “Just Mercy,” “The Color of Compromise,” “The Vanishing Half,”  and others.  Just happened: Since the movie “The Black Church” was recently shown on PBS, it was  suggested to the Bethel Church that we come together and watch it together. “Dinner and a  movie” took place on Nov. 13, 2021, in Marysville. It was also a fundraiser for the Bethel  Housing and Development corporation, a non-profit supported by Bethel which provides food,  housing and other services for the needy in the Marysville area.   This has been a process of developing trust. It has been a bit slow, but it is working. We are  achieving what we had hoped in that our two churches are working together for one purpose.  Our group is growing slowly, but we hope that this event and those to follow will add numbers  to our group. The Council, Pastor, and Congregation of Peace, as a whole, support our efforts.  We are excited by how well this is being received. After Bethel has completed the series…

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Do the words of the Reverend Dr. King tend to ring hollow so oft replayed this time of year? Maybe they’ll regain their “zing” if heard from the lips of our own contemporaries. Tune in, won’t you, to the Metro D.C. Synod’s recording from last year of a special event: “A Prophetic Call to the Church: The Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 1963” https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=218759536540606

The end of Christmas rewards us with more than freedom from festive decorations as we discern the revelation the Christ child has profound meaning to the whole of humanity. Have a look at this year’s Living Lutheran article for this holy day. https://www.livinglutheran.org/2022/01/a-time-to-pay-attention/ (photo credit: iStock.com)

Advent Vespers Service with the Bridges Conference & PLTS Wednesday, December 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd at 7:00pm PT ​ Livestreamed via PLTS Worship YouTube ​This Advent season, congregations in the Bridges Conference of our Synod will be hosting evening vesper services on Wednesdays at 7:00pm. The worship services will be streamed live from the host congregations and can be viewed by you via the PLTS Worship YouTube page, here.  ​The congregations will be using the Holden Evening Prayer liturgy in these services.

In April 2021 I realized that for a second summer I would be the big, bad youth director that told our kids and youth that we wouldn’t be able to go to summer camp. Although we provide Sunday school, youth group, and other youth events during the year, there’s no denying that summer camp is the pinnacle youth experience at Hope. Our kids wait all year to pack their bags and carpool to go up to Mt. Cross Ministries in Felton, or Calvin Crest Conferences in Oakhurst to experience a special connection with nature, God, and each other. I put on my creativity cap (which, if I may mention, is quite worn out after 2020-2021!) and started to think of an outdoor event that might help youth and their families experience some of the fun of camp. Each Thursday in July 2021 from 6-8pm, families of Hope and The Learning Tree preschool came for Campfire Worship. We started with camp activities like friendship bracelets or a water balloon toss. We built a small fire and began worship together, led by volunteers on guitar and our associate pastor, kids in the congregation, and me. It was a new experience for all, and there was a bit of trouble shooting when the heat in Fresno was extra spicy, and we adjusted some activities for COVID safety. But there is nothing like the smell of a campfire and the voices of youth and families singing “Here I am Lord”. It was a fun and more intimate worship experience! Christiana Slater, Director of Children’s Ministries, Hope Lutheran in Fresno, CA

Saturday, Nov. 6 Lutheran Disaster Response Emotional Spiritual Care Webinar #1 (free) https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lutheran-disaster-response-emotional-spiritual-care-webinar-1-tickets-170328690699?fbclid=IwAR0Rga5emQLX2c4mQLO46mrJTdYtrZh_xb-r-61V8lNWIVZBAaRCYH94Lkk

October Mondays from 6:30-8:00 p.m. or October Wednesdays from 6:30-8:00 p.m. on Zoom. Launched in September, the Bishop’s Book Club has been meeting Mondays and Wednesdays to discuss books of significance to Bp. Megan, Assistant to the Bishop Rev. Hazel Salazar-Davidson, and our synod. The inaugural session hosted two discussion groups centered around the book “If God Still Breathes, Why Can’t I?” We met in a Zoom gathering on Mondays with a second group gathering on Wednesdays throughout the month of October. Hope you got to participate! Did you get to join Bishop Megan and Author Angela Parker on Friday, September 24th at 5:00pm PT for our very first Bishop’s Book Club, talking about the book “If God Still Breathes, Why Can’t I?” If not, you can view it on the Synod YouTube channel or by clicking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OX3T78z6GU The Bishop’s Book Club is co-hosted with the Synod Resource Center and we register to participate here (same as the first link) https://forms.gle/is6aV51BEub4TA3d7  Want to support more conversation like this? Consider donating to the Sierra Pacific Synod through Paypal: https://tinyurl.com/spsdonation Friday, Sept. 24 at 5:00 p.m. PT