Lutheran Disaster Response

The 2008 Lutheran Disaster Response Annual Report has been out for a couple of months. What makes this one special is that it is only accessible online. Doing that has not only saved LDR a sizable amount of money, but it also provides a more interactive report. You can access the report here and enjoy following the many links for more information.

Bishop Hanson News Release

Yesterday, Presiding ELCA Bishop Mark Hanson issued a statement regarding the shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC:

I write to express my sadness and concern about the impact of the shooting which took place on June 10, at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. It is reprehensible that such an attack occurred at this place of solemn remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust. Our prayers are with the families of the guard who was killed, as well as with all those present or who work at the Museum and who will remain traumatized by this terrible event.

You can view the whole statement here.

What I love about Trinity...

There are several things I love about Trinity, but I was reminded of one of them yesterday at the 11am worship service. At one point I looked over at the praise team and there was Roseann holding and feeding her baby while Roseann was singing. Then Debbie Groth's son, Dean, jumped up on the piano bench to sit next to his mom. And at the end of the worship, for the last praise song, I glanced to the left to see the usual group of young girls dancing in the aisle. How wonderful to see so many children so comfortable in worship! I love that the congregation embraces the children so much!

Video Contest

Within the past year the ELCA adopted a new tagline: "God's work. Our hands." They have decided to sponsor a video contest. Shoot a short video on what that tagline means to you and you could get a $5,000 ministry grant or $2,500 in cash. For more information, visit the website. Note: upload the videos between June 15th and July 15th, 2009.

What Will They Think of Next?

A parishioner sent me this information which she got from the Baltimore Sun Web Site. The Catholic Church in New York City apparently ran this "ad" on youtube to increase the response to confession during Holy Week. It is a takeoff of the "ShamWow!" commercial.

ELCA to Air Ads

One of my favorite web sites I visit regularly is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Web Site. When I went there this week, I noticed one of the stories on the front page indicated that the ELCA will be running t.v. ads from May 11th-31st. You can preview the ads on this web page. The ads are very short, but they highlight the new tagline: God's work. Our hands. The ads will run nationally on CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, HGTV, and DIY Network. Apparently this has been in the planning stage for two years! So, if you watch any of those networks, keep an eye out for the ads!

Christians Not Faring Well

As I opened my home page, the lead article was, America Becoming Less Christian, Survey Finds. I can't say that I'm all that surprised - and it is something that I have heard before. It just confirms there are a lot of unchurched people out there!