Get Involved!

LAMA recognizes that most congregations tend to be more active in acts of mercy than acts of justice. Handing out food at a soup kitchen seems more straight forward than advocating for school breakfast programs. LAMA encourages congregations to do both acts of mercy and acts of justice!

Find out how you and your congregation can get more involved with mercy and justice work through the Grand Canyon Synod Hunger Leaders Network (GCS HLN) or becoming a LAMA Liaison.

The Grand Canyon Synod Hunger Leaders Network

This network is comprised of leaders from offices, congregations, and ministries around the Grand Canyon Synod who are working to alleviate hunger. We provide each other with support, ideas, collaboration, and partnership on our various projects. We also share resources from ELCA World Hunger and the Synod, such as grant opportunities and toolkits. Our goal is to have a Hunger Leader from every ministry and partnership join our network.

Who can be a Hunger Leader?

• Anyone working within the Synod to address hunger in their community

• Every church in the GCS is involved with some sort of feeding ministry or food distribution program, from in-house food pantries to ongoing partnerships with local food banks and shelters. Hunger Leaders are the people who operate, run, publicize, donate to, and partner with these programs.

• Being a Hunger Leaders doesn’t require any specific training; we want to support the work YOU are already doing!

Monthly Meetings: Hunger Leaders are asked to participate in a monthly meeting on the last Tuesday of every month. During these synod-wide meetings, we….

• Hear from community partners about the anti-hunger initiatives they work on

• Hear from various churchwide offices about resources, projects, and programs related to our work

• We also take time to share about our own ministries and collaborate on projects.

Hunger Leaders Network Database

• For the last year, the team has been building a database of the various anti-hunger initiatives and feeding ministries throughout the Grand Canyon Synod. Has your congregation filled out the survey yet? Click here to tell us what you’re doing!

LAMA Liaisons

Every congregation or faith community is unique. Each has its own set of leaders, committees and ministries. How best to engage the advocacy ministry in congregations varies greatly, which is why LAMA seeks a Congregational Liaison for each congregation.

Core Functions: Congregational liaisons are asked to do the following core functions:

• Ask the congregational leadership to include LAMA news, events and resources in bulletins, newsletters or other materials.

• Participate in at least one meeting a year with legislators and invite others to participate

• Invite congregation members to do some advocacy before or during the Arizona legislative session (January - May).

  • Writing letters

  • Sending emails

  • Signing a petition

• Participate in Lutheran Day at the Legislature

• Participate in the annual LAMA Summit

Additional Functions: If able, the liaisons are invited to:

• Encourage civic engagement – registering to vote, help getting out the vote, completing the census (all non-partisan activities).

• Connect interested members of your congregation with key LAMA program areas

  • Hunger and associated food security issues (equity, housing, homelessness, etc.) – Do you have a caring committee or outreach team?

  • Community-based Senior Support – Do you have a health ministry or want to form one?

  • Equitable distribution of COVID-19 relief – Do you want to help ensure that everyone receives a vaccination?

  • Welcoming all – Do you want to welcome immigrants in your community or build a partnership with other faith traditions?

• Familiarize yourself and your congregation with the ELCA Social Statements and Social Messages.

• Register for Arizona’s Request To Speak (RTS) system to advocate for legislation from home, and encourage others to do the same

• Be informed – Sign up for LAMA newsletters, ELCA Advocacy Network and learn about ELCA Advocacy efforts,

• Be engaged – Follow LAMA and ELCA Advocacy on Facebook and social media, like and repost events and news

• Encourage the congregation to support LAMA financially through a special offering, inclusion in the budget or a special grant.

LAMA supports Congregational Liaisons:

• Activate Request To Speak accounts at the Capitol kiosks

• Provide materials as needed to distribute and display (posters, brochures).

• Send occasional special resources for congregations.

• Find speakers for programs and events at the congregations or online.

• Connect the congregation with other interested congregations in the area.