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Celebrate Black History Month

Celebrate Black History Month with season three of “Talks at the Desk,” a four-part video series by African Descent Ministries of the ELCA. This season focuses on the Reclaim Gathering and will explore its themes: reclaim, embolden, embody and liberate. A new video will premiere each Wednesday in February at 8:30pm Eastern time beginning tonight, February 7, 2024. Watch live at youtube.com/elca.

Congregational and Young Adult Lent Resources

The ELCA's new initiative, Sumud: For Justice in Palestine and Israel, presents “Following the Way of Jesus: A Lenten Holy Land Journey.” This Lenten video series for individuals and congregations consists of six short videos that introduce people to the land, the theology of sumud and its significance through Scripture as the “way of Jesus.” Each video will be available in both English and Arabic.

While this Lenten journey is available for all, ELCA Young Adults will be hosting small groups each week to watch and reflect on the videos. Sign up to be notified when small group details go live!

#NoPlasticsforLent is back for its 4th year! This year, we are partnering with ELCA Advocacy and Lutherans Restoring Creation to bring you a Lenten series that focuses on advocacy in care for creation and what we as Christians can do about it this upcoming election year. Small groups will be released soon, but you can sign up to be emailed directly once the small group details and resources become available.

If you are outside the age range of 18 - 35 or want to organize your own small groups, we encourage you to use this Lenten resource for yourself and your community! Still use the Interest form below and you will be sent the materials once they launch.

ELCA Educational Debt Task Force Survey of Rostered Ministers

The burden of educational debt has had a profound impact on many rostered ministers in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. At its spring 2022 meeting, the Executive Committee of the ELCA Church Council approved the formation of a task force to study the issue and shape recommendations for providing relief to as many pastors and deacons as possible.

One of the first steps in this work is to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how educational debt is impacting our leaders, their families, their call processes, and their ministry. We’d like to hear from you.

All rostered ministers, active and retired, are invited to participate in this survey. Even if you no longer carry or have never carried educational debt, we want to hear your experiences and perspective. 



Your individual responses are confidential and will be shared only in aggregate. Please complete the survey by Friday, Feb 9. Thank you for your participation and support.

~The ELCA Educational Debt Task Force

Embracing the Sacred in Shades of Black: Celebrating God’s Holy Darkness During Black History Month

As February unfolds its pages of frost into blooms of introspection and celebration, we embrace Black History Month with reverence and joy. It's a poignant time to reflect on the rich tapestry of history woven by African American individuals and to honor the impactful contributions of African-descent ministries within the ELCA. In the spirit of this special month, I will share weekly resources to celebrate the vibrant voices, resilient spirits, and deep faith that African descent authors and ministry leaders bring to our church and society.

God’s Holy Darkness is a children's book that emerges as a spiritual and visual odyssey, rebuffing the traditional dark/light dichotomy pervasive in religious teachings. The book is an artistic and theological collaboration between writer and podcaster Beckah Selnick, Master of Divinity candidate Sharei Green, and illustrator and ELCA African Descent Ministries program director Nicolette Peñaranda. Through its pages, the book seeks to redefine darkness, framing it as a symbol of beauty, creativity, power, and boldness. Rather than casting darkness in a negative light, God's Holy Darkness celebrates the divine works accomplished during the nights of biblical history. Selnick, Green, and Peñaranda have collectively infused the narrative with a sense of partnership, inclusion, and cultural richness.

Beckah Selnick initiated this project inspired by her mother, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton’s reflections, and with a keen awareness of her role as an ally in telling this story. She partnered with Sharei Green to ensure the narrative was shaped authentically, echoing a voice that had long been absent from public conversations around race and faith. Illustrator Nicolette Peñaranda envisioned a God with feminine, robust, and majestic qualities – a God with "hips wide enough to birth the universe" and "hair that flows through the night sky", challenging the conventional representations of the divine being. The narratives chosen for God's Holy Darkness feature familiar biblical tales, intended to guide readers towards a renewed understanding of Scripture, where darkness has always been an evident and potent presence. The stories are not obscure but are major scriptural milestones that naturally draw attention to God’s presence in the darkness, inviting a broader interpretation of these well-known events.

For Lutherans and broader readership alike, this book presents an opportunity to transcend the fetters of anti-Black theology and to discover the sacredness inherent in darkness and blackness. It encourages dismantling the simplified binaries that too often govern our spiritual and societal perspectives. Authors of the book hope it will serve as a transformative tool – celebrating the diversity within sacred texts and inviting children, especially those of African descent, to see their blackness as beautiful and divine. The wish is for this book to become a staple in homes and Sunday schools, offering an affirmation of God's love for every hue and a potent counter-narrative to the fear of darkness.

God's Holy Darkness is more than just a children's story—it is an invitation to embrace and celebrate the sacredness of darkness. It aims to nurture a generation that finds holiness and goodness in blackness and night, reshaping how we approach the divine and each other in the subtle glow of God's nocturnal wonderland.

Hunger Network in Ohio:

Monthly Advocacy Affinity Group

2nd Thursdays at 7pm on Zoom

NEXT EVENT: February 8, 2024

Join fellow advocates from across Ohio to hear what is going on at the Ohio Statehouse, ways to get involved, ask questions, and share what is going on in your community. All are welcome to this time!

Prayers for Healing

Prayer concerns will be removed after four weeks unless otherwise requested.

Consent is required for all submissions. Thank you.

These pages are updated every week with new trainings, events,

opportunities, and more! Be sure to check them out.