Path to Pennie offers way to get health coverage while filing taxes
From the ELCA's Social Statement on Healthcare (2003): "Health is central to our well-being, vital to relationships, and helps us live out our vocations in family, work, and community. Caring for one’s own health is a matter of human necessity and good stewardship. Caring for the health of others expresses
Statement from the ELCA Conference of Bishops in solidarity with migrants in Texas
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35). ITASCA, Ill. (March 4, 2024) - We, the members of the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
LAMPa’s Period Poverty Postcard Campaign
Join LAMPa in supporting measures to end period poverty in Pennsylvania, beginning March 8, International Women’s Day!* Period poverty – the inability to afford menstrual hygiene products – has gained more and more attention in recent years, though the issue is nothing new. For generations, those who experience menstruation
Earth Day 2024 Resources
LAMPa encourages congregations, conferences, synods, or other gatherings to host an Earth Day Vigil, acknowledging the ways in which we humans have failed to care for God’s good creation, and to place our hope in the Good Shepherd who redeems and restores all in love. This Vigil Liturgy can
New Policy Brief on Infants and Toddlers Experiencing Homelessness
The "State-Level Brief Update - A Call for Action: Participation of Young Children Experiencing Homelessness and Young Children in Foster Care in Early Childhood Programs in Pennsylvania" was released by the Pennsylvania Head Start State Collaboration Office (PA HSSCO) and HopePHL in February. The brief update "highlights key state-level
Sites Needed for Summer Meals Program
Although most of us delight in the idea of summer in the midst of winter, those summer months can be a very trying time for families that rely on free or reduced-price meals during the school year. During the school year, many students receive healthy and nutritious school meals for
LAMPa’s Response to Governor Shapiro’s 2024 Budget Address
LAMPa finds much to applaud in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s $48.3 billion budget proposal unveiled yesterday, especially in priority areas of housing, health care, safe communities, household financial stability and education equity. Although nutrition programs would see some significant increases and innovations, hunger advocates fear they do not go far enough
Housing Alliance Releases Interactive Report on Post-Pandemic Evictions
LAMPa's coalition partners, the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, released an interactive web report on the rise of eviction filings in Pennsylvania post-pandemic. As people of faith, we grieve the ways in which so many of our neighbors are turned out of their homes and are called to work for policies
Khader El-Yateem appointed Executive Director for ELCA Service and Justice
CHICAGO (Jan. 17, 2024) — The Rev. Khader El-Yateem has been appointed executive director of the Service and Justice home area of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). El-Yateem will begin his service March 18. “I am excited about Pastor El-Yateem bringing his relationship-building skills to the churchwide organization,”
Lutherans and Racial Reconciliation in SWPA
When a historic Black church in the Hill District of Pittsburgh reached an agreement in 2023 with the Pittsburgh Penguins to reclaim land that it had been forced to give up more than 60 years ago, Lutherans were a part of the faith community supporting the effort. Bethel African
