On June 17th, 2015, Dylann Roof, a member on the rolls of St. Paul Lutheran Church – ELCA, entered Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston, SC for a prayer meeting. He proceeded to shoot and kill nine of the people in attendance in an act born of white supremacy and racial hatred.

Last summer, at our Churchwide assembly, the ELCA voted and approved a resolution to set aside June 17th as a Day of Remembrance and Repentance for the Emanuel 9. Acting on this resolution, the Virginia Synod’s Tapestry team is hosting a Zoom meeting on  Wednesday, June 17th, 2020 at 7:00 PM  for a time of remembering the Emanuel 9, an action step to take, and a prayer. We invite all Rostered Ministers and laypersons in the Virginia Synod to join us during this time. To join the meeting:

The Tapestry team invites congregations to use resources to commemorate the Emanuel 9 on Sunday, June 21st during or after worship, including a video that can be shown. To view all of the resources, visit vasynod.org/ministries/tapestry

An ELCA Prayer Service for Commemoration of the Emanuel Nine will be available for online viewing starting at 12noon Eastern on June 17, the fifth anniversary of the evening nine people were shot and killed during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, SC. The service will include leaders from around the ELCA and ecumenical partners, including leadership from the AME Church. ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton will preach the sermon. We join in a time of repentance, mourning, and prayer as we remember these nine martyrs and renounce the sins of racism and white supremacy. To learn more and to view the service, go to: https://elca.org/emanuelnine.

More information about the ELCA’s ecumenical relationship with the AME Church and resources to help congregations honor this day are available  here .

As we prepare to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the murders of nine Black members of a Bible study group in the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church by a white Lutheran (ELCA)-raised man on June 17th, and on June 19th commemorate “Juneteenth”, the anniversary of the end of slavery in 1865, I feel the need to share some of my own reflections. 

On Saturday, June 13th, the Virginia Synod Virtual Youth Assembly connected over 70 youth and adult leaders throughout our synod in a new way. Attendees joined in a Zoom meeting from their homes, a change in the event’s typical in-person format due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. The Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO) president  Mairi Bachman  of Grace, Winchester led the event which centered on the theme “Peace Be With You”.

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is hosting a virtual march taking place on June 20th. The Poor People’s Campaign is a revival of the historic Martin Luther King Jr.- led movement of the same name organized 52 years ago. It is a non-partisan fusion coalition movement rising up; a new and unsettling force challenging our nation’s distorted moral narrative. It seeks to unite tens of thousands of people across the country in 40 states including Virginia and is led by Rev. Dr. William Barber, a North Carolina civil rights activist, and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-director of Union Theological Seminary’s Kairos Center. Instead of hosting a live march on June 20th in Washington D.C., the march will be hosted on line. For more information you can visit: www.poorpeoplescampaign.org

The Tapestry team hopes that congregations will join in the Poor People’s Campaign virtual march on Monday June 20th, 2020, and from there commit to engaging the issues of racism at least once a quarter. This can be done in many ways including book studies, viewing a movie and discussing it, or in in-depth anti-racism studies.

Join us Monday, July 6, through Friday, July 10 for a week of study, prayer, fellowship, worship, and art. Learn about theology and advocacy, about evangelism and worship. Experience new ways of worshiping at home and online. Join us as we gather in the name of the Holy Spirit!

While it’s a shame we won’t be together in person this year, that doesn’t mean going without the ministries of Power in Sprit. If you sign up for our email list you can expect:

Our theme this year centers on this event’s namesake: the Holy Spirit! Just who is this person of the Holy Trinity, oft-neglected by Lutherans? Each day we’ll explore the scriptural images of God’s Spirit, and how this Spirit continues to be at work in our world today.

Join us! Sign up for our email list by clicking the link below so you won’t miss out! Come and enjoy Power in the Spirit!

LUCOM (Lutheran Cooperative Ministry), a ministry of congregations of the Roanoke Valley has made a $5000. contribution to Caroline Furnace in memory of the Rev. Dwayne Westermann and in honor of George Kegley. Pastor Westermann was a counselor at Caroline Furnace and continued to promote and enable the Camp to thrive throughout his life. George Kegley has been active in LUCOM’s ministry of sending inner-city children from the Roanoke area for over 50 years. We give thanks to God for the great example of service of these fine Ambassadors of Christ.

When Lutheran World Relief launched the 75,000 Face Mask Challenge less than a month ago, they knew the compassionate response would be overwhelming – and that good people like you would meet the challenge. They just had no idea you’d pull it off so quickly. Thank you!

As COVID-19 continues to make its way around the world, the poorest communities stand to bear the heaviest burdens. Cloth masks are a first barrier of defense, and the need is only increasing. To reach even more people in dire need, Lutheran World Relief is collecting 75,000 more masks! How many will you make to help stop the spread? Sign up for more info. www.lwr.org/masks