Helping Our Neighbors at
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Martensdale  

That's the question posed by a recent article from Bread for the World.  Visit the link provided below to learn more about the work of the committee charged with making massive budget cuts to the federal budget over the next ten years and what you can do to help speak for those who are the most vulnerable in our society by urging our elected leaders to form a circle of protection around domestic and international programs for hungry and poor people.  Visit: http://www.bread.org/what-we-do/resources/newsletter/oct-nov-2011/at-stake.html 

Ecumenical Resources   

Pr. Chris Okiewicz,

Windsor Heights Lutheran Church and Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives Network

Lutheran Catholic Dialogue Resource  

The Hope of Eternal Life: Common Statement of the Eleventh Round of the U.S. Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue, edited by Lowell G. Almen and Richard J. Sklba is now available from Lutheran University Press - 888-696-1828 or http://www.lutheranupress.org/Books/The_Hope_of_Eternal_Life. In the eleventh round of this long-standing dialogue our churches affirm that death cannot destroy the communion with God of those redeemed and justified. The nature of the life that the justified departed share with God cannot be described in great detail and, in this life, it remains a great mystery. Nevertheless, Catholics and Lutherans share the sure and certain hope that the justified departed are "in Christ" and enjoy the rest that belongs to those who have run the race. The Hope of Eternal Life is a solid resource for individual or small group study.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

 The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is a longstanding expression of the ecumenical movement - a worldwide movement among Christians to heal divisions within the church.  The week of January 18-25, 2012, Christians are encouraged to pray together as a sign of the unity that is already theirs in Christ. Worship resources and other ideas for observing the week are available from the following websites:

ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Website

www.elca.org/ecumenical  

Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute

www.geii.org.

Week of Prayer

www.weekofprayer2012.org 

Lutheran Summer Music        

Lutheran Summer Music (LSM) is a four-week residential training and performance program for youth. Each summer, LSM brings together 150+ band, orchestra, choir, and keyboard students from the U.S. and abroad in a supportive, intentional community at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Registration deadline for the program in November 30, 2011.  To learn more about LSM, explore their website at  http://www.lutheransummermusic.org/