Does your congregation have the free, synod-sponsored Stewardship Workshops on their radar? Coming up on Sat. Mar. 12 in College Park, Md. and repeated on Sat. Mar. 19 in Springfield, Virg., a top-notch presenter will discuss the current situation for stewardship in our church, best practices, creating a culture of generosity, and implementable steps to bring home for a personalized program. Led by Mark Ward, ELCA pastor and Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), works with congregations and church institutions all across the country including in our synod. Learn more and register for the event at www.metrodcelca.org/events/stewardship-workshops/ .

LENT "40 DAYS OF GIVING" RESOURCE
During Lent, World Hunger's "40 Days of Giving" will encourage congregations to learn more about ELCA World Hunger program through devotions, study guides and special resources, and to give generously to support these programs. A goal of $2 million to be reached before Easter will help to start crucial work. Information about the program is at www.elca.org/40days , and congregations are encouraged to register to be part of this work in the USA and around the world.

ELCA World Hunger Education and Networking Grants are available. The grants are designed to support local projects and programs in ELCA Congregations, groups and/or synods. The grant opportunity encourages ELCA congregations, groups and/or synods to think creatively about educating, mobilizing and expanding their networks to increase awareness of and engagement with the root causes of and solutions to hunger. Education grants can be used for events, programs or the development of shareable resources. For networking proposals, congregation-based and synod-wide hunger leadership events and trainings will be prioritized. More at http://blogs.elca.org/worldhunger/edandnetgrants/ .

WHEAT RIDGE GRANTS
Wheat Ridge Joshua Grants provide $1,000 to $5,000 in matching grant funding over a one year term. The congregation or organization requesting funding must contribute matching funds equal to 50% of the award. Grants are awarded to programs that are new and innovative, address a health or human care need demonstrated in their community, and are led by congregations/organizations/agencies with connections to the Lutheran community. Included in the award schedule are submissions being received March 1-May 31 with grants awarded in July. Learn more at www.wheatridge.org/joshuagrants .

INTER-RELIGIOUS RELATIONS
The publication, "Engaging Others, Knowing Ourselves: A Lutheran Calling in a Multi-Religious World," is a resource available from Lutheran University Press highlighted by ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations to help congregations engage in ongoing conversation about our church's inter-religious calling and commitments. Useful as individual enrichment or as part of a group study, real-life case studies in ELCA ministry contexts "challenge us to embrace that while there are a variety of responses to religious plurality, our common response is rooted in our Lutheran vocation - our response to God's love in Jesus Christ," writes Bishop Eaton in the forward. More at www.elca.org/en/Faith/Ecumenical-and-Inter-Religious-Relations/Inter-Religious-Relations/Case-Studies .

FAIR TRADE MINISTRY GUIDANCE
If your congregation is thinking about starting a Fair Trade ministry, Lutheran World Relief offers a free Fair Trade Leader Guide to help out. Prayers, stories, a calendar and guidance are contained in the booklet. Find it at http://blog.lwr.org/topics/lutherans/new-fair-trade-leader-guide-makes-planning-easy/ .

In simultaneous meetings held on their respective campuses Jan. 12-13, the boards of Gettysburg and Philadelphia Lutheran seminaries adopted identical resolutions calling for "the creation of a new school of theology and leadership formation." The boards' unanimous actions authorized the two schools' presidents and other officers to take all necessary steps required prior to their April 2016 board meetings that would launch the process of creating a unified Lutheran seminary. As envisioned, the new Lutheran seminary will be "one school on two campuses with multiple points of access." (ELCA News Service, 1/20/16)

HONOR FOR DR. BURLEY
Dr. Ulysses Burley, program associate for the ELCA strategy on HIV and AIDS, has been selected as one of the National Minority Quality Forum's 40 Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health. Burley and other award recipients will be recognized at the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust's awards dinner in Washington, D.C. in April, which is National Minority Health Month. "This is special for me considering my difficult and prayerful decision to depart from clinical medicine fulltime and reimagine public health in this faith-based content of a more holistic approach that focuses on spirituality, relationships, community and the social determinants of health in my work with the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS," said Burley. (ELCA News Blog, 2/29/16)

ELCAvotes INITIATIVE LAUNCHES
An ELCA initiative called ELCAvotes has been launched. ELCAvotes is an initiative to: 1) expand the role of the church in encouraging faithful and non-partisan voter participation by providing faith based resources around voting; 2) provide a framework for all Lutherans to understand and speak out about the intersection of voting/elections, racial/gender and economic justice; 3) provide young adults the tools to understand and speak about what it means to be a young person of faith who is civically engaged; and 4) engage with and equip ethnic communities to talk about voting rights and race and their connection with elections today. ELCA Advocacy, ELCA Racial Justice Ministries and ELCA Young Adult Ministry offer a tool for up-to-date information on ELCAvotes by singing up from http://bit.ly/ELCAvotes . Learn more at http://elca.org/Our-Work/Publicly-Engaged-Church/ELCAVotes .

JOINT REFORMATION COMMEMORATION IN 2016
"Almost all of us remember when it would have been inconceivable for the pope to join with Lutherans, in the birthplace of The Lutheran World Federation to commemorate the Reformation in a service of common prayer," said the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the ELCA. "Yet only months from now we will be experiencing it." The Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church will participate in a joint ecumenical commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation on Oct. 31, 2016, in Lund, Sweden. Pope Francis; the Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and LWF president; and the Rev. Martin Junge, LWF general secretary, will lead the ecumenical event. The event will include a common worship based on the recently published Catholic-Lutheran "Common Prayer' liturgical guide. "Amid so much in our world that is viciously divisive, we are strengthened by this gentle example of healing," said Eaton. (ELCA News, 1/25/16)

ELCA PART OF CHURCHES UNITING IN CHRIST
Comprised of 10 Christian churches, Churches Uniting in Christ is committed to expressing unity and combating racism. In support of the group's work in addressing racial justice, an ELCA delegation attended the communion's January plenary meeting in St. Louis and is a group partner in mission and dialogue. (ELCA News Blog, 2/17/16)

GRANT TO SUPPORT RESOURCEFUL SERVANTS
"Concern for the financial well-being of rostered leaders was increased by the concerns about the growing debt load of Master of Divinity graduates who were about to begin their ministry in the ELCA," said the Rev. Wyvetta Bullock, ELCA assistant to the bishop and executive for administration. "Subsequently, it became clear that all ELCA rostered leaders, the congregations which call them and the members who are served, could benefit from renewed attention to financial literacy and stewardship." The churchwide organization will use a $1 million grant awarded to the ELCA as part of Lilly Endowment Inc.'s National Initiative to Address Economic Challenges Facing Pastoral Leaders to create a variety of initiatives called "Resourceful Servants: Renewing the Economy of Pastoral Leadership." (ELCA News Service, 1/20/16)