Today, October 15, the church commemorates Teresa of Ávila, 16th century mystic, religious leader, and saint. Hear her words from  The Way of Perfection :

"If I understood then, as I do now, how this great King really dwells within this little palace of my soul, I would not have left him alone so often, but should have stayed with him and never have allowed his dwelling-place to get so dirty. How wonderful it is that he whose greatness could fill a thousand worlds, and very many more, should confine himself within so small a space! Being the Lord, he has, of course, perfect freedom, and, as he loves us, he fashions himself to our measure." ( More Days for Praise  p. 239)

The 2019 Assembly of the Virginia Synod, ELCA resolved to encourage congregations of our Synod to designate a Sunday in October 2019 as “Tent of Nations Sunday.” The suggested date is Sunday, October 20, 2019, the beginning of the olive harvest. Tent of Nations Sunday has three purposes: it is a day for corporate and individual prayers, education of congregations and individuals, and encouraging visits to the Tent of Nations to learn and volunteer at the Nassar farm to experience and participate in its mission of building bridges of peace and understanding between people.

As you prepare for worship this Sunday, consider this suggested prayer for use in recognizing Sunday, October 20, 2019 as Tent of Nations Sunday. The following hymns are also suggested as ones that feature the theme of our global community in Christ: ELW 650 In Christ There Is No East or West, or 641 All Are Welcome.

For more information on Tent of Nations Sunday, click here.

Recently, Bishop Eaton added her name to a Statement of Support titled "Golden Rule 2020: A Call for Dignity and Respect in Politics." This project was developed through a convening hosted by the National Institute for Civil Discourse in Washington, D.C. earlier this year.

Churches have an important role to play in helping to heal America, and we hope and pray that local congregations will be active in efforts to increase understanding and bridge divisions in our country between now and the 2020 election.

To this end, we encourage Christians of different political views, to come together on  Sunday, November 3, 2019 --exactly one year before the 2020 election--to participate in Golden Rule 2020: A Call for Dignity and Respect in Politics. On that day, we invite congregations and individuals to do two things:

Click below to learn more and read the full statement. 

Does your congregation have a food pantry or other feeding ministry? Then this new website, FeedVA, can help provide you with ALL sorts of helpful data, info, and resources as you serve God's hungry people in your community.

FeedVA.org is a comprehensive and unique collection of statewide and localized data and resources related to Food Security, Nutrition Programming, School Nutrition, Health Outcomes, Emergency Food Distribution, and more for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The aim of the site is to provide access to a user-friendly, ‘catch-all’ hub of information for any user working towards increasing/enhancing food access, growing and selling food, educating about food, practicing medicine and health education, and ultimately any consumer of food in VA. The site is unique because of its interactive ArcGIS mapping tool, we are calling the FeedVA Map, which has an extensive and unprecedented combination of datasets (displayed as a map layer or as a dot map) and it allows users to customize datasets to their individual needs. You can access this tool through the “Explore Page"

FeedVA also houses a collection of resources and pre-developed maps for partners to download directly from the site. The following categories house relevant information from the “Search Page” that can be used to serve constituents, educate stakeholders, and enhance overall understanding of the variety of topics covered.

Over five years, your generous gifts helped us raise more than $115 million for ELCA World Hunger through Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA. Thanks to you, we’ve been able to do more together in the fight to end hunger and poverty. To learn more, visit  ELCA.org/hunger . 

To watch a video about ELCA World Hunger,  click here .