Land Acknowledgment links:
Telling the truth about the lands we inhabit: https://www.livinglutheran.org/2021/11/48330/
Labor Acknowledgment link: https://www.diverseeducation.com/demographics/african-american/article/15108677/on-labor-acknowledgements-and-honoring-the-sacrifice-of-black-americans
News reference from Turtle Talk blog: Materials in the Challenge to the Birthright Citizenship Executive Order [and Commentary] (posted January 24, 2025)
Contact your members of Congress: https://5calls.org/
Recommendations from Lutheran Services in America:
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Telephone calls have the greatest impact with federal lawmakers right now, well beyond emails or online petitions.
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Identify your Senators and Representative by searching your address in our directory. You will get results allowing you to click through and easily find the phone numbers for both their D.C. and district offices.
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You have 6 chances to make your voice heard: 2 calls each (DC office and district office) to your 2 Senators and 1 Representative.
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When You Call:
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Speak to the Right Staff Member:
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When calling the DC office, ask for the staff member handling concerns related to whatever topic(s) you are calling about. If transferred, great! If not, ask for their name and continue talking to whoever answers.
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District offices are less likely to have dedicated staff for this issue, so speak with whomever answers the phone.
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In all cases, provide your address so they can mark it down.
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Make It Personal and Demonstrate Impact:
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Share personal stories or concerns (e.g., "I voted for you and I'm worried about...", "As a nonprofit employee, I am focusing on...", “Not having these funds has this impact on our community…”.
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Be Clear on Your Message:
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Clearly state your position: “I urge the Senator/Representative to push back against this funding freeze because of the harmful effects on our community.”
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Encourage your bishops and allies in the community to voice their support:
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Invite them to make phone calls to lawmakers as well.
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Ask them to consider submitting a Letter to the Editor to a local newspaper. We have an easy instruction guide as well as a downloadable sample template.
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In collaboration with ELCA Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations, ELCA Coaching is partnering with Rev. Solveig Nilsen-Goodin and Jason O'Neill to facilitate our gatherings on the second Wednesdays of each month through 2025.
(Most other Wednesdays will explore additional elements of Creating Beloved Community.)
"Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion." -- bell hooks, All About Love
This year, we will be engaging with a book written by an Indigenous author, scholar, leader, theologian, etc.: Custer Died For Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, by Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux)
We ask you to read one chapter per month on your own, then we will discuss together during these monthly gatherings. (Chapter 1 for January, Chapter 2 for February, and so on.) You are still welcome to join us if you are unable to read beforehand, and we do encourage you to read as you are able so that your contributions are filtered through the lens of this Indigenous elder.
If you do not have the book and cost is an issue for you, please send a request to jill.beverlin@elca.org
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Bonus learning:
In November 2024, the Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium focused on Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, with presenters sharing their take on Deloria’s book. You can find those recordings here:
"Red Power, Black Power, and Critical Race Theory" -- Rev. Dr. Robert O. Smith (Chickasaw)
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If you feel called to facilitate your own ELCA Truth and Healing Movement Reading Circle, please access the free discussion guide here.
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We began gathering online with faith leaders in March of 2020 to wrestle together with Being Church in a global pandemic, which transitioned over the summer of 2021 to Courageous Leadership, as COVID revealed our perceptions and misconceptions about most things in life. Jesus is our primary model as we move toward Creating Beloved Community: Healing Together to learn together and experiment in community with a variety of spiritual practices and focus areas.
We believe this is in attunement with our call as Christians from:
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Scripture and our expanding understanding and expression of love for ALL of our neighbors
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MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail and Vision of the Beloved Community
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ELCA Teaching, and especially our "connection to all of life"
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ELCA Truth and Healing Movement (as facilitated by Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations)
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Dr. Shawn Ginwright's The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves
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And so many other diverse voices and sacred ways we engage with each other and with the world.
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To answer some commonly asked questions about these regular gatherings:
"Why are you still meeting?" "Don't become too familiar with loneliness. Community is a risk, but liberation depends on the collective. Who can you trust to hold you?" -- Cole Arthur Riley, author of Black Liturgies
