A letter from bishops of the ELCA to the Church

Rev. Yehiel Curry succeeds Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, who served for 12 years and was the first woman to lead the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

First African American presiding bishop, Bishop Yehiel Curry, installed by the ELCA. His predecessor was the first woman presiding bishop. And this is a progressive mainstream denomination? @ericowens.bsky.social www.cbsnews.com/news/luthera...

Welcome Central States Synod, ELCA in Kansas City, Missouri. “Traveling the way of Jesus, who commanded his followers to love one another as Christ has loved, and believing that all persons are created in the image of God, this synod welcomes people of every ... www.reconcilingworks.org/news/

Bp. Simon issues a pastoral letter on political violence. "As Christians--Lutheran Christians--we must meet this moment of division and unrest with a servant heart. To paraphrase Martin Luther, God doesn’t need our peacemaking, but our neighbor does." www.css-elca.org/post/pastora...

ELCA statement on Supreme Court ruling allowing racial profiling in immigration enforcement - Living Lutheran

He who is in love with his vision of community will destroy community. But he who loves the people around him will create community wherever he goes. —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Deadline Sept. 15. #ELCA World Hunger Education Grants support work that: educate ELCA congregations, groups, &/or synods to better action & engagement re hunger & poverty; encourage sustainable participation in work of World Hunger beyond the conclusion of project. blogs.elca.org/worldhunger/...

Statement from #ELCA #Minneapolis Area Synod Bishop Jen Nagel: “As people of faith, we are called to peacemaking towards a vast reduction of gun-related violence. The pervasiveness of #gunViolence in the U.S. is not a reality we should accept.” #Lutheran mpls-synod.org/news/in-tend...

Before being elected bishop, I was a campus pastor in two separate calls. Conversations like this one are the reason we campus pastors love what we do. #ELCA

#ELCA ACTION ALERT Urge your members of Congress to conduct oversight over ICE detention facilities & demand humane conditions. During August opportunities exist to meet with federal elected officials locally to use your voice. “I was in prison & you visited me.” -Mt 25 give.elca.org/page/86777/a...

Estimates show that 18,500 children have died in Gaza. That’s roughly one per hour since the also-horrific October 7 attacks. This campaign of violence and starvation simply has to stop.

Give justice to the weak and the orphan. Maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy. Deliver them from the hand of the wicked. —Psalm 82

Statement by Bp. Budde (EDOW) and Dean Hollerith (WNC), Rabbis of DC congregations, and UMC, ELCA, and PCUSA leaders: cathedral.org/blog/dc-reli... ⚓

Mark your calendars for the Rostered Ministers Gathering on July 6-9, 2026 in Indianapolis! All ELCA deacons, pastors and bishops are invited. More information will be available in the coming months!

“As people of faith, we cannot abide losing the basic right to provide care and compassion,” Bishop Brenda Bos of the ELCA’s Southwest California Synod, a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement. religionnews.com/2025/07/28/f...

So true.

Well, @thelepper.bsky.social I can tell you nothing has changed!

Just gonna take a moment to celebrate the sartorial excellence that Deacon John Weit brings to his work. Those bow ties are killer! #elcacwa25

Via @yonat.bsky.social: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America elects first Black presiding bishop, calls Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide —> religionnews.com/2025/07/31/e...

LWF congratulates Rev. Yehiel Curry who has been elected as the new presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Curry is the first Black presiding bishop of the ELCA. #LutheranWorld 📷: MCS/ELCA Gaby Valladolid

Information for #ELCACWA25 for Rev Yehiel Curry’s installation service as ELCA Presiding Bishop in Minneapolis in October: www.elca.org/about/church...

"We need ELCA chaplans because ELCA chaplains are unrestricted in whom they can serve." Every time the Army does something annoying or a fundy chaplain pisses me off, I remember that I'm here for the Soldiers, not the bureaucracy or the other chaplains.

Bishop Curry has some big shoes to fill, but ain’t nobody gonna ever have the stage presence of our beloved ELCA Secretary, Deacon Sue Rothmeyer. #ELCACWA25

So very excited by the election of the Rev. Yehiel Curry as the next presiding bishop of the ELCA. Church, let’s pray for our new bishop and be ready to dig in and work together as we follow Christ into God’s future. #elcacwa25

As we hear from the final candidates on the question of encouraging leadership among both lay and ordained leaders, I’m reminded of the time one of my campus ministry students said, “Every time you pastors say the word ‘layperson’ I hear the word ‘muggle.’” #elcacwa25

All of them. All at once. That’s the reality.

Earlier this year, I and others in the Conference of Bishops did some public reflecting on a new presiding bishop of the ELCA. There’s a lot of chatter this week about leadership, the state of the church, and who will lead us. I’m worried we’re forgetting that we follow Jesus, not the bishop.

And we’re off. Plenary Session One has begun. Introductions, learning how to use our voting decides, and, soon, the nominating ballot for Presiding Bishop. #CWA2025

The ELCA Church Council, Synod Vice Presidents, and the Conference of Bishops are convening for the first official meetings of the 2025 Churchwide Assembly. Most voting members will arrive tomorrow. Gonna be a big week for our church! #CWA2025

Ainsley and I flew from Buenos Aires to Chicago, arriving here yesterday around noon. I’m staying in Chicago for a few days as part of the New Bishop Formation retreat at our Churchwide office. Please pray for these leaders as they learn more about the office into which they’ll soon be installed.

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus welcomes Council members from around the world to Addis Ababa from 11 to 16 June. The Council will decide on the venue for the LWF Fourteenth Assembly and discuss the work of the global communion. #LutheranWorld

This also explains why we are often exhausted. It’s becoming more and more difficult to step away from everything. We are not meant to be on emergency status 24/7/365. If you can, friends, unplug. Go for a walk. Cook something while listening to music. Garden. Clean. Be good to yourself.

As a leader in the church, I can’t tell you how incredibly toxic this belief is. Yes, there are times when a direction must be chosen and decisions made, but truly good leaders welcome input and even challenges when needed. Wise leaders incorporate wide perspectives and practice active listening.

Spending some of the weekend in Kansas City for the Central States Synod Assembly, where a new bishop will be elected. Come, Holy Spirit!

This is the ELCA Bishop in upstate New York relating what happened to one of our ELCA pastors. These are intimidation tactics against those of us questioning what this administration is doing. Some good advice as well when they do show up…

This is a somewhat misleading headline. No, the ELCA Church Council did not propose a reconsideration of the substantive meaning behind our current social teachings on human sexuality, but this is because proposed action in 2025 is an editorial revision only. There is a second step to this process.

Insist on love? Sounds good to me! 💕

Are you wondering how to meet the moments in which we now live? I and some of my colleague bishops have some thoughts about that. youtu.be/dZzvhQDSLCs?...

For the record: 1. Autism is not an epidemic. 2. Autism is not contagious. 3. Autism is not caused by environmental toxins. 4. Autism is not caused by vaccines. There is an overwhelming amount of research proving all of the above.

History rewritten to lessen discomfort, erase culpability, or support a pre-determined narrative is no longer history: it is propaganda. This cannot be allowed to happen. ALL people who support the recording of history and learning from the mistakes of our past should stand against this.

I’ve been in Chicago since Thursday for the spring meeting of the ELCA Church Council, our denominational governing body. These faithful servants are passionate, wise, and dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the future of this church we love. #onechurchtogether

Thankful for this statement by my colleague, Bishop Craig Satterlee of the North/West Lower Michigan Synod. www.mittensynod.org/news/bishop-...

Don’t buy today. Give the greedheads a taste of their own medicine.

"One of the greatest joys of ministry for me at least is walking with God’s people and being present with and witnessing the moments when a Child of God or another disciple has an Epiphany. You know an “ah-ha” moment..."