(CLICK HERE) Here's an idea to help you organize your closet and help some people out in the Ukraine.
FOOD SHELF.... CASH or FOOD? This frequently asked question among Food Shelf staff, volunteers and donors is a good one.. Generally, cash is preferred for the following reasons: 1. cash is much easier to process since it does not have to be collected, delivered, weighed, sorted or stored. 2. cash has no “expiration date”, a much longer shelf life and doesn’t spoil. 3. cash can purchase perishable foods like eggs, milk, & meat and can be used to obtain many items from the Northern Lakes Food Bank for a shared maintenance fee that can be as little as $0.04/pound. Your tax-deductible contribution can be sent to CHUM Food Shelf @ 120 N 1st Ave. W., Duluth, MN 55802
Food donations also help meet the needs of people who are hungry, but needed items vary, based on inventory. Items most needed at this time: canned juice, canned stew, chili, peanut butter, peas, macaroni & cheese. Canned and dry goods are accepted every Sunday at Gloria Dei in the narthex and taken to the CHUM Food Shelf each Monday. Contact: Stephanie Carlson.
Reflection I: A Theological Basis for the MDGs
At the heart of the Christian faith is the belief that in Jesus Christ, “the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven by making peace through the blood of the cross” (Col. 1:20).
The church calls this reconciling act the atonement (“at-one-ment”) because through the cross and his resurrection, Christ draws us into perfect and intimate unity, or oneness, with God and each other. On the night of his betrayal Christ prayed that all may be one, “as you, Father, are in me and I am in you.” Through the cross and resurrection that unity is perfectly accomplished. In the words of an ancient Easter Sermon, the Risen Christ says to each of us: “You are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.”
Yet, the broken and sinful nature of humanity obscures the reconciliation and oneness achieved by God in Christ. Poverty, disease, hunger, injustice, and unmet human need all are symptoms of the brokenness that hides the glorious restoration made present in our world by Christ.
Thus, Paul tells us, God has “given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5.18) so that we may participate in Christ’s work by making the patterns of our lives and our world revelatory of the peace and reconciliation accomplished in Christ’s death and resurrection. The ministry of reconciliation is the means by which God draws each of us into the love and oneness that passes ceaselessly between the Father and the Son in the communion of the Holy Spirit. Unity of all people with God and one another is the essence of God’s longing for creation, and thus the ministry of reconciliation is the Church’s central calling in the world.
What does the ministry of reconciliation mean in a world where more than one-fifth of God’s people go to bed hungry each night and more than 70 percent of those living in poverty are women and girls? How does a reconciling church respond to the death of at least 15,000 people each day because of AIDS, malaria, or tuberculosis? Is it possible to remain silent when a child is orphaned because of AIDS every 14 seconds?
How can we work for a world that is one with itself and with God? The Millennium Development Goals – the world’s consensus that the end of poverty is possible through country-to-country partnership among an interconnected humanity – give us a clear plan for how to do that.
Christians have a vital role to play in the movement to achieve the MDGs, and the ONE Campaign (something you will read more about in parts II-IV) offers a way to channel our energies in working toward a reconciled world. Working together with ONE voice in advocacy to our elected officials is the fundamental action for fulfillment of the Goals. Other actions are important too, including making our own communities reflective of the spirit of God’s justness and mercy embodied in the Goals, drawing friends into our churches’ witness, and – particularly – praying that God’s reign may be made ever more manifest in the world.
Each of these things embodies a spirit of accompaniment, or solidarity, with all people who were created in God’s image. The MDGs give us a way to do this, and thus, must stand at the heart of how our two churches’ live out our common mission in the world. As we work together to make them a reality, let us be always “ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us” (2 Cor 5:20).
Project Homeless Connect is a subcommittee of the Mayor's Taskforce to End Homelessness. The event is designed to break down barriers and truly connect people to the services they need to escaped homelessness. Project Homeless Connect is a very concrete way that people can make a difference on the issue of homelessness. This is not a charity event, but a systematic change in the way we do business.
TOUCH THE ABOVE BLACK BOX AND LEARN ABOUT THE TOGETHER FOR YOUTH WEEKLY SUPPORT GROUP THAT MEETS AT GLORIA DEI
CLICK CHUM TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING AT CHUM AND THE GABRIEL PROJECT.
"That All May Be One"
A Joint Pastoral Letter and Reflection on Global Poverty and the Millennium
Development Goals (SEPTEMBER 2006)“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17: 20-21)
Brothers and Sisters:
Five years ago The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) entered into a relationship of full communion. As the name of the agreement, Called to Common Mission, makes clear, the unity lived out between our two churches is for the sake of God’s mission in the world. The full flourishing of our world and the human family requires our urgent attention to the fight to end global poverty and build a more peaceful, secure world for all God’s people. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provide the Church and the world with a clear path to do this.
Extreme poverty binds more than one billion of God’s children, depriving them of the abundant life God intends for all. The MDGs are a set of eight targets for eradicating global poverty adopted by the 191 member states of the United Nations, including the United States, out of the conviction that humanity can build a better and safer world if it is willing to unite. The Goals reflect the reality that the resources, strategies, and knowledge to end global poverty exist if only the moral and political will can be built. Christians must play a key role building this will and holding governments accountable for promises made.
A world that meets the Goals would have 500 million fewer people living on less than a dollar a day, 70 percent of whom will be women. More than 400 million fewer people will go to bed hungry each night. The lives of 30 million children currently destined to die before their fifth birthday would be saved. The rise of HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis would be halted, and infection and death rates would begin to decline. The population of orphans in the world – currently numbered at more than 110 million – would begin to decline as well. In short, a world that has achieved the MDGs will be a world that more greatly reflects Christ’s prayer that all be one as he and the Father are one.
This joint pastoral letter comes as the ELCA and The Episcopal Church embark upon new shared commitment to the MDGs, particularly through our collaboration in ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History, a large and growing movement of more than 2.3 million Americans working for the end of global poverty. We hope that by reflecting together on the challenge of global poverty, our communities may be called into deeper conversation, collaboration, and advocacy on this urgent topic. We invite you to consider the four reflections on global poverty that follow, each examining the church’s engagement with the Goals from a different perspective. They need not be read together and, in fact, time between each might invite deeper discernment of God’s calling to the Church at this moment in the life of the world.
As churches that stand in the shadow of the cross – knowing that in God’s kingdom death and sorrow always give way to resurrection and life – we pray that the Spirit may equip us through the deathless love of the Risen Christ for God’s mission of making all things new. In Christ’s peace,
The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
A Movement of Hope for MN Children &Youth
This growing chorus includes the voices of countless Minnesotans dedicated to ensuring that every child and youth in Minnesota has a safe and supportive place to live. Citizens, elected officials, and entire communities will advocate for this shared vision for the good of MN children, youth and families.
The Movement of Hope needs you and your community! As Lutherans, Christians, and members of the great state of MN, we have an essential role to play in building caring communities and supporting the well-being of all.
Together we will publicly lift up our hope and expectations that all children and youth are able to live with dignity, safety and hope.
Is youth and child homelessness a problem in MN? The statistics are chilling—on any given night in Minnesota over 3,200 children and youth are homeless. At LSS we know that homelessness does not have to be a tragedy endured by your youth. We can pool our gifts, service, and voices to ensure that all of MN’s kids are safe and nurtured into positive futures.
Though the statistics are daunting, part of the solution is familiar and accessible—our communities can make a huge difference in solving this problem. The movement of Hope brings communities together so we can all publicly express our hopes for children and youth as we give, serve and advocated.
"Empowered by Christ's love, Gloria Dei reaches out as an inclusive, welcoming church through worship and social action."
