Prayers 2

February 2010 Issue First Reminder

16 Pray for the presidents of ELCA colleges and universities as they gather for their annual meeting at the Lutheran Educational Conference of North America (LECNA). Pray especially in thanksgiving for many years of faithful service by Ralph Wagoner, who is retiring in June 2010 as the executive director of LECNA, having served in that capacity since retiring as the president of Augustana College, South Dakota.

17 Ash Wednesday

As we enter Lent keep in your prayers all the volunteers who donate their time and talents to your congregation.

18 Pray for Don Huber as he begins his leadership of the “Stewards of Abundance” project, following his retirement as academic dean of Trinity Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. The project will explore options for reducing seminarian indebtedness and sustainable financing for the ELCA’s system of theological education and pastoral ministry.

19 Praise God for the witness of Pastor Jeffrey Truscott. His classes in liturgy and theology at Trinity Theological College in Singapore equip students from many Asian countries to cultivate a worship life that will shape their faith communities.

20 The Evangelical Lutheran Education Association (ELEA) is an organization serving the approximately 1700 schools and early childhood education centers of the ELCA. Pray for Gayle Deny, its executive director, and the board of ELEA, as they work to improve this church’s day school ministries with children.

21 1^st Sunday in Lent

O God, you who stand in the midst of the silent ones, bless the churches of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Malta, and their ministries among children, workers, the sick and the elderly.

22 Lutheran Partners, a magazine for leaders in the ELCA, will cease publication with its March/April issue. Pray with thanksgiving for the 20 years of ministry of Lutheran Partners and the faithful service of its departing editor, Bill Decker.

23 Remember, Jenifer Brown, Matthew Linden, and Carolyn Stypka who are serving as English teachers in Tokyo and Kumamoto, Japan, as part of the J-3 program of the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church.

24 Pray for strength, guidance and openness for all who are part of harmful systems like racism and sexism, that we might recognize the barriers in our lives that keep us from fully loving and serving our neighbors and living out God’s call in our lives.

25 Pray that the Holy Spirit continues to guide, direct and inspire the ELCA South Carolina Synod’s newest outreach ministry, Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey in West Columbia. Only 1 ½ years old, the ministry already has 100-140 people in weekly worship and has conducted 23 baptisms.

26 Pray for the many young people participating in the Young Adults in Global Mission program. Today we remember Joe Beasley, Amanda Dahlseng, Marta Diehm, Elayna Dush, Traci Hawkins, Edwin Johnson, Dana Olson, Amy Pennenga, Kristina Rogers, Rebeckah Selnick, Rebecca Truland, Whitney Wallace, and others who serve in a variety of social ministry settings in Great Britain.

27 Give thanks to God for Cathryn Proctor, serving as an intern at the American Church in Berlin, Germany, and studying at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Ask that her experiences in these contexts shape her future ministry.

28 2^nd Sunday in Lent

We give you thanks, O God, for signs of your presence and activity among the people of Germany and France. Continue to bring vitality, we pray, to the churches, that the awakening that happened with the Reformation may live on in ongoing renewal

Pastor's Message