Go & Tell the Story

 Shared by Rev. Steven Neal, pastor at St. Marks, St. Paul St. Mark's Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Nebraska, like many other churches, started off the pandemic by asking, "How can we help?"   A few of their hard working volunteers answered the call. 4 dedicated women from the congregation began making masks and since early April, have made 3,000 masks. They have distributed them all, completely free of charge. The masks have been available in the narthex of the church for anybody who would like one.  They have also made masks for businesses in town to provide for their employees. They even made masks and custom-ordered reusable gowns out of blue tarp for the local hospital and clinic. These personal protection items can be sanitized and used as needed. All of it was given to those in need of these supplies for free. St. Mark's, which is located right across the street from the K-12 school grounds, had taken full advantage of the opportunity to serve their community i...

  Sent in by Gina Rawlings, Office Administrator and Rev. Sandra Braasch, pastor at Salem Lutheran, Dakota City Salem Lutheran in Dakota City has participated in God's Work, Our Hands for years.  Their members have joined in several different projects for this annual day of service and have enjoyed making a difference in their community.  2017- As part of their work for this ELCA service day, adults and youth of Salem Lutheran Church partnered with members of the United Asian Lutheran Ministry to tie Lutheran World Relief Fleece Tie Blankets as an act of love, to help provide warmth and comfort for those that are most vulnerable. These blankets get distributed to orphans, the elderly, those who are homeless or disabled, and people displaced from their homes. A total of 15 blankets were made and tied from the loving hands and hearts of the 20 volunteers and the entire congregation.   In addition to the LWR project, 25 adults and youth from Salem Lutheran Church a...

 Shared by Messiah Lutheran, Grand Island Messiah Lutheran in Grand Island, as a congregation truly appreciates serving their community. The entire church participates in big community events for God's Work our Hands. In the past they have transformed their entire downstairs into a community "free" garage sale and farmers market.  One year they held a community block party and their youth had a Lemonade stand that raised money for flood victims.  They have made pies and delivered them to all the fire departments. Volunteers also made sack lunches and took them to some of the local parks that shelter the homeless.  Their Youth started making "Bags of Grace" (bags filled with personal hygiene products) during a past God's Work our Hands event and passing them out. Since then, they have been asked to make over 200 of them every year by Hope Harbor so they can be distributed at one of the events they host. Messiah's youth group is not a large group, but Cour...

 By Bishop Brian Maas I know—officially, it’s the other way around. “God’s Work. Our Hands.” Has become an effective tag line for our ELCA. Theologically speaking, the ‘official’ sequence is correct. For disciples, all things start with God. But every now and then, theologians are permitted to upend things to invite new—or renewed—perspective. So often, I perceive people thinking along the lines of, “God’s got work to do, and we’re volunteering to do it.” Nothing wrong with that, except that it sort of ends up sounding like we’re doing God a favor. In fact, God is doing us the favor—which is why I think it’s good to turn the phrase around every now and then. And because doing so renews attention to our reality, and to its roots in the story of God’s people. Our Hands. God’s Work. Take a look at your hands for a moment. Seriously. Do it! What do you see there? Soft, clean, flawless skin? Callouses? Arthritically-bent knuckles? Scars? Interesting intersecting patterns of lines? Now ...