Recommendations in Response to State of Black Pennsylvania Report, Listening Tour
A year after the release of his State of Black Pennsylvania report and subsequent state-wide listening tour, Sen. Art Haywood (Montgomery, Philadelphia) has responded with a set of policy recommendations. The State of Black Pennsylvania report was released in February 2023, aiming to give a complete picture of the
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures features ELCA film A Time for Burning
CHICAGO (Dec. 14, 2023) — The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles will feature A Time for Burning, a film of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The film will be shown Dec. 17 as part of the museum series “Works of Enduring Importance: 35 Years
Honoring King With Community-Building Service and Advocacy
Martin Luther King Day is a day to remember and honor his tireless fight for justice and to join others in community to serve and advocate for a more just world. Together, we can make it a "day on," not a "day off"--a day for doing the work to which
PA House Passes Hate Crimes Legislation
In the midst of rising violence and expressions of hatred, particularly toward Jewish and Muslim communities in the U.S. in the wake of conflict in the Middle East, the state House of Representatives on Tuesday passed three bills to strengthen the Commonwealth’s hate crime laws. Supported by votes from both
PA To Adopt New Environmental Justice Policy
The Shapiro Administration has announced its plans to adopt a new environmental justice policy that expands environmental safeguards across the Commonwealth. The revision updates a 20-year-old policy that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has used to guide protections for communities most vulnerable to environmental challenges. These areas make
Join Stand Against Christian Nationalism
Christian Nationalism identifies human-made governments as lockstep with God’s will and seeks to privilege Christians, typically only white Christians. This type of ideology is not only dangerous but distorts the difference between holding government accountable to God as opposed to identified strictly with God’s will. Bishop Eaton has issued a
ELCA Statement on Mass Murders in Buffalo
“Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?” —Jeremiah 8:22 Our hearts grieve for those who have been killed and our souls cry out against more lives lost to the hatred birthed by racism.
Rogation Stories: Stewardship & the Disenfranchised
In late April this year LAMPa joined with United Lutheran Seminary in the celebration of rogation. ULS’s spring convocation around the theme “The Theology of Gathering” helped Lutherans across Pennsylvania think about the ways in which we are connected, even as we distanced ourselves due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In recognizing this theme, and
Commemoration of the Martyrdom of the Emanuel 9
As part of the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members adopted a resolution designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9—the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. To mark this
LAMPa Welcomes Donna Skinner Echols to Policy Council
LAMPa is very happy to welcome Donna Skinner Echols to Policy Council as a representative of Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod! Donna has 42 years of experience in the development, management, monitoring and administration of family services programs for at-risk children and families. She has worked in the urban settings of Houston,