The Bridge in Plain Text
Issue To Be Used Any Time After
May 1, 2008
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The Bridge
A monthly publication of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod, ELCA
Connecting the congregational, synodical, and churchwide expressions of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
ELCA Poverty Ministries
Jesus told his disciples that
feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger,
clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the prisoners are like
doing those things for the Son of God. With this lesson, we engage in
poverty ministries. The poverty ministries of the ELCA, part of the division
Church in Society, are outlined below:
HIV and AIDS
In 1988 the ELCA Church Council affirmed a message committing the church to
care for those affected by AIDS. Though treatment and education have
increased, the number of infections worldwide still grows. Since the largest
growth is among people do not have access to treatment or education, HIV and
AIDS are not just a health concern, but also an issue of justice.
The webpage
www.elca.org/aids contains
information about HIV and AIDS, ways to minister to those dealing with HIV
and AIDS, worship materials, and information about World AIDS Day.
Community Organizing
Community organizing is a way for congregations and their communities to
address issues of poverty and justice in their own neighborhoods. Rev. John
Heinemier defines faith-based organizing as, “the intentional and
disciplined putting of the diverse peoples of a city in relationship across
all racial, economic, denominational and neighborhood lines for the purpose
of making that city ‘work better’ for the good of all” (www.elca.org/organizing).
The webpage
www.elca.org/organizing
provides resources to assist congregations in organizing to address issues
beyond their own walls and becoming a powerful force in their communities.
Granting Hope
Granting Hope, funded by the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, is a collection of
domestic hunger grants available through the ELCA. Congregations seeking to
address issues of hunger can use the resource at
www.elca.org/grantinghope to
read stories about other grant recipients, learn about the grants, and
apply.
Community Development
Community Development Services provide outreach to recipients of domestic
hunger grants as they are engaged in community development and redevelopment
programs. Many of these recipients are small, congregation-based programs
addressing important needs but with very small budgets and little
infrastructure. They need some assistance to address the need over the
long-term and improve their services.
Poverty Ministry
Networking
One common error by people concerned about addressing poverty is that
low-income communities do not have any assets. This is clearly not the case,
and one important asset is the people. There are people assets but they need
support and training. Poverty Ministries Networking works with leaders in
low-income communities to upgrade their ability to provide leadership in
their communities. Training includes topics such as fundraising skills,
nonviolence, community organizing, etc. to equip these leaders.
Featured Resource
Monthly Bible Verse
This Bible verse was selected by Harold Usgaard, bishop of the
Southeastern Minnesota Synod, for everyone in the synod to study.
“The rich and the poor have
this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all.” PRoverbs
22:2
About Our Synod
The Southeastern Minnesota Synod is a faith community of 130,000 baptized
people in 184 congregations as well as related institutions of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Its geographic area includes
15 counties in the southeastern corner of Minnesota.
The Bridge is a monthly
publication of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod, ELCA. For more information,
contact the synod office:
Southeastern Minnesota Synod,
ELCA
1001 14th St. NW, Suite 300
Rochester, MN 55901-2551
(507) 280-9457
www.semnsynod.org
This issue is designed to be
used any time after May 1, 2008.
Graphics from this issue
Right-click the link and choose "save to disk" to save the
graphic, and then insert it into your desktop publishing program. Graphics
are in high-resolution tiff format. If you require another format, please
call 507-280-9457.
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