The annual Christmas greeting by leaders of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) has become a holiday tradition symbolizing the full communion partnership the two churches have enjoyed since 2001.

In their 2014 Christmas video message, Bishop Susan Johnson, National Bishop of the ELCIC, and Fred Hiltz, Primate of the ACC, reflect on a year marked by turmoil and violence around the world – one that makes the message of the Prince of Peace more relevant than ever.

Amidst widespread human suffering in areas from Nigeria to Iraq and from Gaza to Ukraine, Hiltz offers the hopeful message of the Christmas story, quoting Isaiah 9:6: “A child is born, to us a son is given, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Evoking the spirit of the season, Johnson expresses hope that the coming year may see “peace in our hearts, peace in our homes, peace in our communities, and peace in the very many places around the world that are in so desperate need of the message” of Jesus Christ.

Through their full communion partnership, the ACC and ELCIC retain each church’s independence while maintaining a deeper bond through joint worship, co-operative ministries and the exchange of liturgies and clergy.

View the 2014 Christmas message here: http://youtu.be/EDCt-I7sMxI
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 145,376 baptized members in 594 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Leaders from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada have written to the two churches, calling on church members to publically recite the promise to “never commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women”.

The text from the letter follows. A pdf version of the letter can be found here.

November 25th marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is followed by the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence which ends on 10 December, United Nations Human Rights Day.  Statistics continue to reveal the awful truth that no country rich or poor, dictatorship or democracy has come close to eradicating gender based violence.  It is a global issue.

This year the world has witnessed horrific atrocities in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Gaza and Sudan.  It is well documented that the majority of innocent victims of war are women and children.  By far the greatest number of human beings trafficked for the sex trade are women and girls.

The Lutheran World Federation has launched the theme for the 500th anniversary commemorating the Lutheran Reformation in 1517 – “Liberated by God’s Grace”.  Three subthemes for the commemoration focus on Salvation – not for sale, Creation – not for sale and Human Beings – not for sale.  The Lutheran churches invite all churches to participate in this resolve in addressing human trafficking.  

The Anglican Communion Office has recently launched an initiative “Anglicans Ending Gender Based Violence”.  It urges the churches “to not remain silent about this tragedy but to speak up and take action in addressing it”.  It calls us “to provide safe space for victims of violence”, and “to promote and model safe, equal, respectful relationships between men, women, girls and boys”.  It calls the churches “to teach young men and women to honour themselves and each other as human beings cherished equally by God.”

As Canadians, many of us were horrified by the November 7th beating of Rinelle Harper, a 16 year old Grade 11 student in Winnipeg.  Viciously beaten and thrown into the Assiniboine River, she managed to crawl out of the river upstream, only to be beaten again and left unconscious.  Thankfully she was found, hospitalized and is recovering.  She came so very close to being numbered among the more than 1000 missing or murdered aboriginal women in Canada, but she survived.

Her beating is a stark reminder of the brutality suffered by so many aboriginal women and girls.  According to the Federal Government Report “Invisible Women: A Call to Action” (March 2014), aboriginal women and girls are two times more likely to be victims of domestic abuse and three times more likely to be the target of a violent attack.  The report calls for action through all levels of government in increasing police and emergency measures services, and in increasing the number of shelters, safe houses, and second stage housing for those escaping violence.  It also addresses the need in Canadian society at large to break the silence about gender based violence.

Throughout the “16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence” initiative, thousands of people will gather in vigil in public squares, at town halls, Band Council offices and provincial legislatures.  We will light candles in memory of all victims of gender based violence.  We will pray for all who remain imprisoned in its vicious cycles, for all making an escape, and for all who counsel and empower them in reclaiming their dignity and their life itself.  We will be invited to make the promise associated with these sixteen days, “I will never commit, condone or remain silent about violence again women”.  A group of Canadian men wrote this promise in response to the horrific murder of fourteen young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal on December 6, 1989.  Now it is made in more than sixty countries around the world.

While the promise is particularly for men to make, it is in truth a promise all of us can and ought to make as people of faith – for in every respect it reflects our baptismal vow “to respect the dignity of every human being”.

Accordingly we call the Church, on one of the Sundays within the sixteen days to a public reciting of this promise, “I will never commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women”.

Fred J. Hiltz
Archbishop and Primate
The Anglican Church of Canada

Mark MacDonald
National Indigenous Anglican Bishop
The Anglican Church of Canada

Susan C. Johnson
National Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 145,376 baptized members in 594 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

On November 22, Lutherans and Anglicans are called to lift up National Housing Day 2014, learn more about the issues contributing to poverty, homelessness and substandard housing, and advocate for changes.

Inadequate housing and homelessness impacts a growing number of Canadians. An estimated 400,000 people are without access to a healthy place to live. These numbers continue to increase despite economic growth and prosperity here in our country.

“Our churches have a faithful record of working with and for people who are homeless or who struggle to find affordable housing,” says Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) National Bishop Susan C. Johnson. “But still home ownership and even affordable rental options are out of reach for many. We are called to support the agencies and programs that address these issues, as well as explore and advocate for new approaches to address poverty and homelessness.”

At the 2013 Joint Assembly, the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and the ELCIC unanimously endorsed a shared commitment to learning, action, advocacy and prayer concerning homelessness and affordable housing.

“Every day and night thousands of children, women and men are fed and housed by the churches in partnership with social agencies. This is holy work,” says Anglican Archbishop Fred Hiltz. “We press on with the call for a comprehensive national housing strategy reflecting the 2012 commitment of all members of Parliament ‘to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to adequate housing’ for all people living in Canada.”

Several resources have been prepared by the ELCIC and ACC to assist churches and their members in lifting up National Housing Day on November 22. They include:

• Homelessness and Affordable Housing: A Backgrounder
• A Prayer for those who are homeless and precariously housed

If you are in the Toronto area, consider participating in the Come & See Pilgrimage where you can visit local churches committed to working alongside those who experience inadequate housing.

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 145,376 baptized members in 594 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Seeds, song, patience, justice—these are some of the images invoked in a series of Advent reflections offered by the leaders of the four Lutheran and Anglican churches in full communion in Canada and the United States: National Bishop Susan Johnson (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada), Archbishop Fred Hiltz (Anglican Church of Canada),

Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori (Episcopal Church).

These Advent reflections represent a modest but visible sign of what our churches can do together rather than separately. Through them our prayers will be united across international and denominational boundaries. They are offered in the same spirit as a series of Epiphany devotions produced for 2013 by members of the Joint Anglican-Lutheran Commission in Canada and the Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee in the United States.

Congregations are invited to download and reproduce these reflections for use as bulletin inserts during each of the four Sundays of Advent, or to otherwise make them available to their members.

Download all four weeks as one document:

• Single sheet: black and white or colour
• Booklet form: black and white or colour

Advent 1:

• Single sheet: black and white or colour
• Booklet form: black and white or colour

Advent 2:

• Single sheet: black and white or colour
• Booklet form: black and white or colour

Advent 3:

• Single sheet: black and white or colour
• Booklet form: black and white or colour

Advent 4:

• Single sheet: black and white or colour
• Booklet form: black and white or colour

You can also learn more about our full communion agreement here.

In a letter issued today, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) National Bishop Susan C. Johnson encourages individuals and congregations to join with others throughout the Lutheran communion and pray for churches and communities affected by the Ebola crisis in Central and West Africa on Sunday, September 28.

The text of Bishop Johnson’s letter follows. A pdf version of the letter can be viewed here: https://www.elcic.ca/Documents/20140925PastoralletterEbola.pdf

September 26, 2014

Dear friends in Christ,

This Sunday, September 28, churches throughout the Lutheran communion are invited to join in prayers of solidarity for churches and communities affected by the Ebola crisis in Central and West Africa. I encourage you, individually and within your congregation, to hold in prayer our sister churches in this region this coming Sunday, and as you are able.

According to the World Health Organizations, over 2,900 deaths from the Ebola virus disease have been confirmed in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Lutheran World Federation General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge, speaking about the request for a day of solidarity in prayer says, “As we explore collaborative ways of supporting our brothers and sisters in these countries, let us continue to uphold them in our prayers. When one part of the communion is sick, mourning, suffering and distressed, this pain is shared by the entire communion.”

Bishops from Lutheran churches in the affection regions have expressed their appreciation for the global call for prayers. Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone Bishop Thomas J. Barnett says, “We give thanks to God for sparing mercies and for the knowledge that there are others out there who continue to be with us in prayers.”

I invite you to please join me in praying this Sunday, September 28 for churches and communities affected by the Ebola crisis in Central and West Africa, with this or another petition:

Loving God, we lift up before you all the people, churches and communities affected by the Ebola crisis in Central and West Africa. Grant comfort and healing to all who suffer and all who mourn. We give you thanks for those who are providing care for those in need. Amen.

 

I also invite you to make donations to Canadian Lutheran World Relief who is working with partners, including the Christian Health Association of Liberia, to mitigate against and prevent further Ebola infections while encouraging the highest standard of health care for the people of Liberia. You can make donations at http://clwr.donorshops.com/product/0A12F05/ebolaoutbreakresponse.php

 

Yours in Christ,

The Rev. Susan C. Johnson
National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 145,376 baptized members in 594 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

A statement from the heads of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Anglican Church of Canada, and The Episcopal Church, on Friday, September 19,  2014. To find this document in PDF format, click here.

We are united as Christian leaders in our concern for the well-being of our neighbors and God’s good creation that provides life and livelihood for all God’s creatures. Daily we see and hear the evidence of a rapidly changing climate. Glaciers are disappearing , the polar ice cap is melting, and sea levels are rising. incidents of pollution- created dead zones in seas and the ocean and toxic algae growth in water supplies are occurring with greater frequency. Most disturbingly, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising at an unprecedented rate. At the same time we also witness in too many instances how the earth’s natural beauty, a sign of God’s wonderful creativity, has been defiled by pollution and waste.

Many have reacted to these changes with grief and anger. In their outrage some have understandably focused on the neglect and carelessness, both in private industry and in government regulation, that have contributed to these changes. However, an honest accounting requires a recognition that we all participate both as consumers and investors in economies that make intensive and insistent demands for energy. In addition, as citizens we have chosen to support or acquiesce in policies that shift the burdens of climate change to communities that are most vulnerable to its effects. People who are already challenged by poverty and by dislocation resulting from civil war or famine have limited resources for adapting to climate change’s effects.

While an accounting of climate change that has credibility and integrity must include our own repentance, we find our hope in the promise of God’s own faithfulness to the creation and humankind and in the liberation that comes from God’s promise.

God, who made the creation and made it good, has not abandoned it. Daily the Spirit continues to renew the face of the earth. All who care for the earth and work for the restoration of its vitality can be confident that they are not pursuing a lost cause. We serve in concert with God’s own creative and renewing power.

Moreover, we need not surrender to political ideologies and other modern mythologies that would divide us into partisan factions – deserving and undeserving, powerless victims and godless oppressors. In Christ we have the promise of a life where God has reconciled the human community. In Christ God sets us free from the captivity of blaming and shaming. God liberates us for shared endeavors where we find each other at our best.

While the challenge may seem daunting, the Spirit ‘s abundant gifts for service empower us to find common cause with people who exercise countless insights and skills, embodied in hundreds of occupations and trades. We have good reason to hope in all the ways God’s grace is at work among us. We can commend ourselves to the work before us with confidence in God’s mercy.

Opportunities to act imaginatively and courageously abound in all our individual callings. The Holy Spirit’s work in us leads us as faithful consumers and investors in a global economy to make responsible choices to reduce energy use, carbon emissions, and the wasteful consumption of water and other natural resources. As citizens, we have voices to use in educating children about the climate and in shaping public and corporate policies that affect the environment. The Spirit has also given us our voices to contribute our witness to public discussions of just and responsible use of natural resources.

We also have the resources and responsibility to act together for the common good, especially for those most vulnerable to the effect of climate change in the spirit of the seventh Millennium Development Goal, “to ensure environmental stability”. World leaders will meet this month in New York for a Climate Summit, and in December in Lima, Peru, to discuss global cooperation on climate change. Working under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), participants in the UNFCCC’s negotiations hope for an agreement in 2015 that will move toward reduction of carbon emissions, development of low carbon technologies, and assistance to populations most vulnerable to the effects of a changing climate.

We encourage you to take the initiative to engage decision-makers in this godly work in all areas of public life – in government and business, in schools and civic organizations, in social media and also in our church life. We are not powerless to act and we are not alone. “We have the power of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling Spirit of Christ to give us hope and courage.”

The present moment is a critical one, filled with both challenges and opportunity to act as faithful individuals and churches in solidarity with God’s good creation.

Bishop Elizabeth Eaton
Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church

The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz
Primate, Anglican Church of Canada

Bishop Susan Johnson
National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

In a letter to the church sent out today, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) National Bishop Susan C. Johnson encourages ELCIC members and congregations to, “consider making time between now and October 1 for an intentional time of prayer, reflection and action for climate justice.”

Several resources for individual and congregational use are included in the letter to the church.

The text of Bishop Johnson’s letter follows. View a pdf version here: https://www.elcic.ca/Documents/201409ClimateAction.pdf

September 11, 2014

Dear friends in Christ,

Grace to you and peace in the name of Christ our Saviour!

I am writing today to invite you and your congregation to consider making time between now and October 1 for an intentional time of prayer, reflection and action for climate justice.

As I travel across our church and visit with our partners, I am aware of how many people share a concern for climate justice. Most recently, at the June 2014 Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council meeting member churches were challenged to increase awareness of climate justice issues.

On the first day of each month, I – along with many people in our church and globally – participate in a fast (#fastfortheclimate) and pray for climate justice and for the people most affected by climate change. This regular discipline keeps climate justice issues close to my heart and mind.

Government leaders from across the globe will be meeting in New York City for a one-day United Nations climate summit on September 23. There is a growing movement to encourage the work of these leaders, both with prayers and with a massive, united call for climate justice and a strong climate treaty. This includes a Global Day of Action on September 20-21.

Through our ecumenical partners, there are a variety of ways for you to engage these matters:

• Consider participating in the People’s Climate March (peoplesclimate.org/global) on September 21 as a way of expressing a united call for climate justice. KAIROS has several suggestions for engagement (kairoscanada.org/sustainability/climate-justice/peoplesclimatemarch/).
• On Sunday, September 21 – consider what could take place at your congregation through worship, prayer and reflection. Citizens for Public Justice (cpj.ca), in collaboration with the Canadian Council of Churches, have created resources for faith communities (cpj.ca/climate) specifically related to the UN Summit.
• Join me in prayer on the first of every month through the #fastfortheclimate campaign. Visit the Canadian website for climate fast (climatefast.ca).
• Share your good practices for becoming sustainable and eco-friendly, on the LWF Climate Justice Facebook page (facebook.com/LWFforclimatejustice?ref=br_rs).

Climate change is an issue that involves us all. I encourage you to consider ways to get involved both individually and with your congregation in prayer, reflection and action for climate justice.

Yours in Christ,

The Rev. Susan C. Johnson
National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 145,376 baptized members in 594 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Have you heard of the #icebucketchallenge? View ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson’s #icebucketchallenge video.

Excitement is high for the upcoming gathering of hundreds of Canadian Lutheran and Anglican youth at CLAY 2014. From August 14 to 17, upwards of 600 of the most passionate and talented 14- to 19-year-olds from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada, will convene in Kamloops, BC.

CLAY is held every two years and is one of the strongest showings of full communion relationship between the ELCIC and ACC.

This iteration of CLAY features worship, fellowship over food, service-based learning events, inspiring keynotes, and late night high-energy and low-key social times. Youth will further work on a national youth project on the right to water among First Nations, explore their relationship with social media through the lens of faith, and discern together what church means in this time and place.

Participants will enjoy a range of experiences of God, church, and their faith from ancient forms of worship to collaborative multimedia explorations of issues of concern to youth.

CLAY 2014 invites all those who gather to consider the theme “Worth It.” This simple, but evocative, theme challenges participants to consider what secular culture considers ‘worth it’ and what a rich Christian faith might value instead.
 
Devon Goldie, the Anglican representative on the planning team, is thrilled CLAY 2014 is finally on the horizon, “I love reconnecting with the national Anglican-Lutheran youth community. It’s such a blessing to be able to learn, worship, work and play with like-minded people. Totally WORTH IT!”

Hannah Shirtliff, communications coordinator for the gathering planning team, shares in the enthusiasm for the upcoming gathering. “I’m excited to see CLAY 2014 is finally here,” says Shirtliff, who is also excited for what youth will take away with them from the gathering. “I hope youth will come away with a deeper relationship with God and a deeper appreciation of their own home church community and the wider church community. And I really hope it inspires them to get more involved with their own churches, and the wider church as well!”

It is not just the youth who are gearing up for CLAY! Sara Stratton, Member Relations/Campaigns Coordinator at KAIROS, is eager to join in as leader of a ministry project on responsible resource extraction. “Participants will have the opportunity to learn more about the impact of Canadian mining on a community in Guatemala, to reflect on their role in it as consumers, and to think about how their faith compels them to challenge injustice,” she says. “That’s really what KAIROS is all about, and to get to do it at CLAY, with this engaged and dedicated new generation of church leadership is a fantastic opportunity.

To keep in touch with the happenings in Kamloops follow:

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/claygathering
Twitter: @claygathering
Instagram @claygathering
Storify http://storify.com/claygathering

Those who are interested can also search for social media content using the #clay2014 hashtag and read longer blog posts from youth participants at claygathering.ca.

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 145,376 baptized members in 594 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) National Bishop Susan C. Johnson wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper today and called on the Government of Canada to provide leadership to end the crisis in Gaza. In her letter, Bishop Johnson urged the government to build a strategy on Gaza to address: "the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities; the protection of civilians ensuring respect for international humanitarian law, respecting the principles of distinction and proportionality; the need for humanitarian access for life-saving and emergency assistance which is urgently needed, among them medicines, water and repairing of electricity and water infrastructure; and the need for a long lasting solution to this conflict."

A pdf version of the letter can be viewed here: https://www.elcic.ca/Documents/20140801ELCIClettertoPrimeMinisteronpeaceinGAZA.pdf

The text of the letter follows:

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

August 1, 2014

Email: pm@pm.gc.ca

Re: Seeking your immediate attention to end the crisis in Gaza

Dear Prime Minister,

On behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), I am writing to ask for your attention and leadership to end the crisis in Gaza.

Reports from our partner churches and agencies indicate that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire, and needs commitment from the international community to ensure protection and safety of civilians and all objects protected by international humanitarian law such as hospitals and clinics, schools and places of worship. To alleviate the suffering of people in this conflict, which has also seen fighting in the West Bank and Jerusalem, unconditional humanitarian access needs to be provided.

The world cannot remain silent; neither can it afford to be neutral when people are dying with little attention given to the international principles of distinction and proportionality in warfare. The number of casualties among women and children continues to rise every day. These are not just statistics; they are innocent and precious lives that need to be preserved. The people of Gaza continue to live in fear of their own lives. The war on both sides must end now. It seems likely that it will not happen without significant international pressure, pressure which the Government of Canada needs to provide.
 
The widening gap of the psychological barrier between the Israelis and the people of Gaza cannot be allowed to continue and be passed on to future generations. This is detrimental to finding a peaceful solution to the crisis and contributes to creating security risks of both regional and global proportions. There will be no peace in Gaza, if there is no peace in Israel, and vice versa.

We call on the government to build a strategy on Gaza in view of the following considerations:

The need for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
The protection of civilians ensuring respect for international humanitarian law, respecting the principles of distinction and proportionality.
The need for humanitarian access for life-saving and emergency assistance which is urgently needed, among them medicines, water and repairing of electricity and water infrastructure.
The need for a long lasting solution to this conflict.

At our 2009 National Convention, the ELCIC adopted a “Resolution on Peace in the Holy Land” (https://elcic.ca/Public-Policy/documents/600.52009-ELCICResolutiononPeaceintheHolyLand.pdf.) that formally commits our church to promote peace in the Holy Land and to regularly pray for peace for all people in the region, especially the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). As National Bishop, I have personally visited the Holy Land several times. I count ELCJHL church leaders among my friends and I have been inspired by their vision for community development that leads to hope and peace. News of death, war and destruction touches my heart most deeply and lends urgency to my prayers.
I urge you to offer leadership for peace.

Yours in Christ,

The Rev. Susan C. Johnson
National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

c.c. The Honourable John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Honourable Thomas Mulcair, The Leader of the Official Opposition
Justin Trudeau, MP, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
Elizabeth May, MP, Leader of the Green Party of Canada
Mario Beaulieu, Leader of the Bloc Québécois

—————————————————————–
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 145,376 baptized members in 594 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.