This Friday, October 4, the church commemorates St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), perhaps the most popular saint of all time. Born into the family of a wealthy merchant, Francis gave up his inheritance to serve poor people. He also had a spirit of gratitude for all of God's creation. Francis formed the Order of Friars Minor (called Franciscans), who took on poverty and the task of preaching "using words if necessary." Franciscans are known especially for their ministry to those who are poor. (ELW; More Days for Praise)

By Tessa Comnick, ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow

I was the youngest person by maybe 30 years sitting in a dilapidated American Legion hall at 5 a.m. preparing to start a 15-hour shift at my local polling station. The gentleman next to me warned that we’d probably have some intermittent slow periods. “We’re expecting we’ll get more people than last year, though,” he told me with some pride.

“More people” turned out to be over double the voters on Nov. 6, 2018 than in the previous year. In Lorain County, Ohio, 26.80%* of those eligible voted in November 2017—in November 2018, we hit 54.15%.** This is a trend I am hopeful we will continue to see.

The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP), part of the ELCA Advocacy network, has been active in encouraging congregations through its Get Out the Vote (GOTV) Faithful Citizen Civic Engagement Program. Regional trainings teach effective nonpartisan civic engagement in order to prepare members and places of worship to raise their voices and promote 100% voting participation in their communities. And I have reason to hope for a continued rising voting trend— twice as many people turned out for VICPP’s first GOTV event than registered. Read more.

The deadline to register to vote in Virginia is October 15th. To check your registration, register to vote, request an absentee ballot and more, visit www.vote.org

In March 2018, the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP) Richmond Living Wage Certification Program launched the very first Living Wage Certification Program in Virginia. Later that summer, the Northern Virginia program launched and in September 2019, the Charlottesville and Harrisonburg programs officially launched.

It is certainly an exciting time to be working for living wages and a just economy in the Commonwealth. Make sure you follow VICPP Facebook and Instagram pages and stay tuned for more updates.

For more information on the Living Wage program, click here.

In the September 25th issue of Style Weekly, the Richmond Program was featured in an op-ed by Patrick Graham, Senior Policy Adviser for the Office of Community Wealth Building. Read more.

Join Tapestry this Thursday night at 7:00 PM for our third of six weeks of conversations on "Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the US" by Lenny Duncan. We'll be having this six week conversation via Zoom (video chat). Join us for some or all of the sessions as you are able.

Login to the Zoom Chat Here:  zoom.us/j/574971266

Buy the Book Here:  lennyduncan.com/order-dear-church

For more information on this event,   click here .