Have You Heard

As people of faith, we are called to give of our time, talent, and treasure for a greater purpose. Bread for the World invites you to use your voice to help end hunger.

Every year, Bread for the World (BFW) organizes churches, community organizations, and people of faith from across the country to write letters and emails to their members of Congress who have the power to impact the policies and programs that can end hunger.

Your letter matters. Your letter, joined with the voices of thousands of advocates across the country, is an expression of faith and hope, urging U.S. decision makers to pursue a world without hunger. God uses these letters to change hearts and minds, and again and again, Bread for the World wins help and opportunity for our neighbors who face hunger.

Millions of children in the U.S. live in households facing food insecurity. Globally, almost 45 million children suffer from severe hunger, and nearly half of all preventable deaths among children under five are attributed to malnutrition. Child hunger is a local and a global problem, but together, we can make a difference. 

Despite progress over the past few decades, the world continues to lose more than two million young children to malnutrition every year.¹

In 2023, USAID nutrition programs reached more than 39 million women and children globally with critical nutrition interventions.

Ask your senators and representatives to fully fund and strengthen the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and provide robust funding for global nutrition programs.

How to Participate in BFW’s 2025 Offering of Letters

Click here to visit bread.org/OL — then it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Step 1: Look up your elected officials – Just fill in your information and the elected officials will populate.

Step 2:  Check the box that says, “Yes, this is an Offering of Letters” and enter “Our Savior Lutheran Church, Hanover, NH.”

Step 3: Write Your Message: The information is already prewritten and you can personalize it.

Tips for an Effective Letter

• Ask for a specific action, using your own words or this sentence:  “I urge you to fully fund and strengthen WIC, and provide robust funding for global nutrition programs.”
• Give reasons for your request and make it personal.
• Share a personal reason or story that motivated you to write.
• Show your commitment: “I am helping by…but I also urge you fully fund and strengthen these pro-family, life-affirming nutrition programs.”

Once you’ve written your letter, please email Wendy or Paul Manganiello that you’ve participated in this year’s offering of letters. Thank you!

In her Christmas message, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton calls our attention to the word “joy” in the angel’s proclamation to the shepherds. “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of a great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.’” (Luke 2:10-11). Eaton reminds us that the message of Christmas is joy, not happiness. Happiness is transient and humanmade. But joy given by God is deep and strong and unshakable. “Joy is a sign of the reign of God…Perhaps that is why in the middle of the night, to terrified shepherds, outside of a small town, God chose to send the angels to announce the birth of Jesus. No distraction. No interference. Just the simple, deep, profound gift of true and lasting joy.”

In anticipation of Election Day in the United States, Bishop Eaton reminds us that “civic engagement through political and nonpolitical processes is how we live into our baptism and share Christ’s love as we work to make a difference in our communities and strive for justice and peace across the globe.”

July 16, 2024

For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us (Ephesians 2:14). 

Just a few weeks ago in my June column for Living Lutheran I wrote, “I can’t think of an election cycle more fraught and divisive than this one. People all across the political spectrum claim that life as we know it is on the line. It’s not possible to agree to disagree—one must decide and put a stake in the ground. There is the potential for violence.” That potential is now a reality after last weekend’s shooting at a Trump campaign rally that killed Corey D. Comperatore and injured other attendees. I am thankful that former President Trump’s injury was minor and pray for his recovery alongside those affected. 

I also wrote, “But division and violence don’t have to be our inevitable future.” I believe this and that God calls this church to say a definitive “no” to political violence now and in the future. Political violence has a long history but no place in democracy. This church belongs to God, and our unity in Christ is a grace-filled and healing gift in a fractured society. As the ELCA we have theological and community resources to meet this moment through worship, discipleship and civic engagement. 

In the face of violence, God’s resolve for peace in human communities is unshakable. In proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ’s forgiveness, healing and new life, the church addresses the ultimate root of violence. God calls us as church together in this moment to hear and embody this good news by embracing our identity as peacemakers through active civic engagement grounded in our baptismal identity and our institutional witness to foster justice, racial and social equity, reconciliation, and healing with compassion and imagination.   

Last weekend’s shooting has distressed and destabilized our nation. Political violence breeds fear and can set in motion cycles of violence that will further shatter us. Consider how, as individuals and communities in our life together, you will: 

·        Confess and confront the violent tendencies within ourselves and our society.  

·        Resist use of dehumanizing language about people with different political leanings.  

·        Build bridges of curiosity and compassion with people who think differently. 

·        Find ways to cultivate the practices of nonviolence in civic life. 

Our inevitable future belongs to God. In this certainty and bound together in Christian hope, consider how you can join me in ongoing prayer and actions for our nation, a peaceful election season, the safety of candidates for office, and a bold and life-giving witness of our church in the time ahead. 

In Christ,

  

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton  
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America    

A prayer from Worship Resources for a National Election 

Holy God, 
out of your great love for the world, 
your Word became flesh to live among us 
and to reconcile us to you and to one another. 
Rekindle among us the gift of your Spirit 
that we might live as one new humanity in Christ, 
dismantling the walls that divide, 
ending the hostility between us, 
and proclaiming peace to those who are near 
and to those who are far away; 
through Christ Jesus, in whom we all have access, 
in the one Spirit to you, 
both now and forever. Amen. 

(Holden Prayer around the Cross, p. 132-33)

Judi Dixon and Lynn Zeltman were elected as voting members to the New England Synod.  We can say that it was an interesting experience! Thank you for allowing us to represent OSLC.

The assembly was held June 6 to June 8,  at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA.  This year’s theme was Journey Forward, and the primary task was to elect a new bishop for our synod. Bishop James Hazelwood has served as our bishop for two six-year terms and he is retiring.  He plans on doing some teaching part-time, and will be leaving for a sabbatical of six months in Europe.  He will be riding his bicycle most of the time!

For the first time, the election process was conducted electronically, with ballots being emailed to registered representatives.  This is still a work in progress, but I am sure that it took a great deal to get the prior paper ballot system working efficiently and things will get better each time there are new elections.  Altogether there were five ballots for the position of bishop with over 420 votes being cast during each ballot. In the interim, there were hymns and prayers and opportunities for socializing and Bishop Hazelwood shared some very good jokes.

Pastor Kyle was preidentified as a candidate in the first ballot. It was very clear that there were just a few candidates with a great deal of support from the assembly.  In particular, The Rev. Sara Anderson, an Associate to the Bishop, and The Rev. Nathan Pipho, Pastor of Trinity Lutheran in Worcester, Massachusetts, consistently received many votes.  Ultimately, The Rev. Nathan Pipho (pronounced pee-poh, as in Home Depot) was elected bishop with a final vote of 261 to 164. He will take office on August 1, 2024 and the details of his installation are still being worked out, but it will be helped at Trinity Lutheran Church in Worcester, MA.

Additional elections were held to fill positions on the Synod Discipline Committee (4 members),  the Churchwide Assembly (9 members) , and the Synod Council (16 members).  Pastor Kyle was re-elected as Secretary to the Synod. The 2025 Synod budget was also approved.

We had a chance to get together with our fellow representatives  from New Hampshire on Friday evening for dinner.

There were a lot of tables in the hallway for different organizations.  We had a favorite:  a jigsaw puzzle that we helped put together at the Camp Calumet booth, which had the bonus of what seemed to be a never-ending supply of homemade fudge.

The Synod Assembly ended on Saturday morning with workshops and choir practice, followed by an address by Bishop -Elect Nathan Pipho and a festival Eucharist.

God bless.

Lynn Zeltman and Judi Dixon

Links to the recordings:

Thursday  https://vimeo.com/event/4312912/5ee8e19b36

Friday  https://vimeo.com/event/4312918/7deb15b9ea

Saturday  https://vimeo.com/event/4312920/ca4a419d2e

This next year promises to be full of electoral tension and political turmoil. Let’s stay grounded in our faith together! Check out the offering from United Lutheran Seminary below, but don’t register yet! If you might be interested in participating, please email Pastor Kyle by June 3.