LAMA Kick Off at St. John’s Lutheran Church
Pastor Peter Perry presiding over service
Last Sunday, LAMA Director Solveig Muus and myself, Hunger Advocacy Fellow Autumn Byars, visited St. John’s Lutheran Church in Glendale for a LAMA Kick off. Our visit, in which we spoke during service and led an Adult Forum hour, was a wonderful chance to reconnect with old friends and make new ones!
If you are at all familiar with St. John’s, you know that they are a congregation deeply committed to justice and service. From their food pantry to their shower ministry for the unhoused, this is a congregation who is truly engaged in their community. St. John’s has been involved with our ministry since the very beginning— even giving us one of our very first LAMA Liaisons ever in Diane Arnst!
Pastor Peter Perry gave a sermon on justice and peace for the second Sunday of Advent, which dovetailed perfectly into the discussion of our work! A theme has emerged in the last several months at the LAMA office: that we, as followers of Christ, must make sure that we are oriented towards justice, in addition to charity. While making sure that our neighbors’ immediate needs are met, we should also work to create a world where people do not have to rely upon charity. At the end of St. John’s 8:30 am traditional service, I was given the chance to speak to the congregation about the ways in which we help congregations work towards justice.
During the Adult Forum, Solveig and I gave a presentation about LAMA’s history and work, sharing our call to advocacy as a way to serve our neighbors. We spoke at length about our upcoming Lutheran Day at the Legislature on Jan. 18th. We provided materials for St. John’s congregation to share their stories with their elected officials and added several more contacts to our network. Our forum audience was so wonderfully engaged and passionate, truly welcoming us as another resource to use for the betterment of their community.
During the 11:00 am contemporary service, Pastor Perry invited me to speak before his sermon. I shared about the exciting forum hour we had just shared, and introduced our office to those who hadn’t attended the presentation.
It was wonderful to get to visit one of our oldest partners, and share our work with new faces! Thank you so much to Pastor Perry, the congregation at St. John’s, and to everyone who attended our forum, asked us questions, and decided to get more involved. We are excited to have you as part of our LAMA community, and we are honored to be able to assist you in your service to your community.
St. John’s congregation
If YOUR congregation would like to host us for a LAMA kick off or an advocacy presentation during service, a small group, or a special event, please reach out to our office!
