Evangelical Luthern Church in America
Today we are in a special moment where we could turn this around. Working though Lutheran churches in Africa, the ELCA Malaria Campaign is uniquely positioned to provide mosquito nets, insecticides, medication, health care, education and more to help eliminate deaths from this disease—for good.
For more information and resources, click ELCA Malaria Campaign.
Health Care AssessmentApril 30 – Deadline for taking the Assessment to save approximately $36,000 throughout the synod. Take the assessment at https://www.elcaforwellness.org
May 7 – Deadline for Early Assembly registration AND Housing/Meals registration at Bethany College.
May 7 – Nominations due in the synod office.
Registration/Information: http://css-elca.org/about/synod-assembly/
May 8: Lutheran Church of the Living Christ — Florissant, Mo.
May 9: Atonement Lutheran Church — Overland Park, Kan.
May 10: Redeemer Lutheran Church — Salina, Kan.
For all Pastors, Associates in Ministry, Diaconal Ministers and Parish Ministry Associates in the Central States Synod. Registration/Information: http://css-elca.org/for-leaders/boundary-workshops-2012/
The massive storm system that swept through Kansas beginning the afternoon of Saturday, April 14, generated 97 tornadoes (and possibly up to 120), according to the National Weather Service. Despite this, officials in the Kansas Division of Emergency Management have received no reports of deaths resulting from the storms.
Oaklawn Neighborhood
According to the Sedgwick County (Wichita area) Emergency Operations Center, 17 injuries were reported in Sedgwick County. Thirteen people were taken to Via Christi Hospital in Wichita. Three were admitted and are still in the hospital. Four persons were taken to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. One was admitted and is still there.
Rice (Northwest of Hutchinson) and Sedgwick Counties were the hardest hit among the many counties that reported damage. Rice County officials reported several buildings were damaged and debris blocked some minor roads. Four separate tank batteries near 2nd Ave. and Ave. H were damaged, releasing 50 to 100 gallons of oil into a containment area. The sheriff’s office was damaged and the jail roof was blown off; prisoners were transferred to off-site facilities. County 911 dispatch center has been transferred to the regional 911 Back-up center.
In Sedgwick County, Pinaire Mobile Home Park in the Oaklawn area of Wichita received significant damages. Fifty-seven mobile homes were damaged to greater than 75 percent, 35 mobile homes damaged more than 50 percent and 61 mobile homes were damaged less than 50 percent.
Pinaire Mobile Home Park
Six other homes were reported destroyed, three were damaged and a condominium was damaged. All buildings at the Spirit Aerosystems facility received some damage; six sustained significant damage. Other damage in the county included a gas line rupture, debris and power poles down. Approximately 100 area residents were sheltered overnight by the American Red Cross in Derby; 25 are still being sheltered.
Assessments are underway. Prayers, financial &volunteer assistance will certainly be needed during the recovery period. To assist immediately, financial donations are the best. Kansas United Way 211 will be taking calls for volunteers. And please keep all who have been affected in your prayers.
To make a financial contributions (payable to Central States Synod, noting “Disaster Response”):
Disaster Response
Central States Synod, ELCA
21 N. 12th St., Ste. 210
Kansas City, KS 66102
Undesignated disaster funds will be used for current responses. If you would like to designate a specific location, please note that on your check.
ONLINE donations: If you would like to make a contribution by credit/debit card, please click:
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Christ is risen! Imagine the power in those words of promise.
When the disciples first heard Jesus speak of his death and resurrection, “they kept the matter to themselves” (Mark 9:10). But the news is too good to keep to ourselves. The life of Jesus Christ has been unleashed into the world.
Because Christ is risen, you can embrace life’s complexities and uncertainties with a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. The risen Christ goes ahead of you, meeting you in the most surprising faces and unexpected places. Christ’s resurrection puts us right where God wants us to be — in the thick of life.
Because Christ is risen, you have a word of hope. To those weary from mourning loss and fearing death, the assurance is given that nothing in all creation will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson
The life of Jesus, God’s own life, has burst into the world, restoring community. At the barriers we erect to divide us, the risen Christ meets us, turning those walls into tables of reconciliation. To those who live in fear and feel unworthy, the promise is given. “You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).
Every morning you awaken with the mark of Jesus’ death on your forehead and the promise of Christ’s resurrection on your lips.
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
In God’s grace,
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Centuries ago the church thought Christ’s journey from the cross to the empty tomb was so important that it should be celebrated weekly and every Friday was good and every Sunday was Easter. Later they changed the calendar to celebrate it annually because they wanted worshipers to experience more reverence for the journey. I think we have achieved that, but have we become much too serious? More»
April 1, 2012
Readings
Mark 11:1-11 or John 12:12-16 Procession with Palms
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16 (5)
Philippians 2:5-11
Mark 14:1 – 15:47 or Mark 15:1-39 [40-47]
Prayer of the Day
Everlasting God, in your endless love for the human race you sent our Lord Jesus Christ to take on our nature and to suffer death on the cross. In your mercy enable us to share in his obedience to your will and in the glorious victory of his resurrection, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
The Sunday of the Passion (also known as Palm Sunday) marks the transition into Holy Week. What does your congregation do to celebrate this day?
Do you have a dramatic reading of the passion story? A procession (inside or outdoors) with palms? What makes this Sunday memorable for members of your congregation?
Visit Living Lutheran and share your story.
The March 21 issue of the Central States Synod E-News is available for download. Click the logo above to download a PDF file. If you would like the E-News sent directly to your inbox, please email Dan Glamann in the synod office.
ELCA News