Apply by July 31, 2022! Manna Grants are intended to support new and continuing projects in the Grand Canyon Synod that work to alleviate hunger and address the root causes of hunger, and which demonstrate a commitment to diversity and inclusion in leadership and decision-making.

June 2022. ELCA Advocacy publishes monthly updates from Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices (SPPOs) ~ LAMA included ~ in the ELCA Advocacy BLOG each month.

By June 30, Faith-based Sign On Letter: Help stop cyclical homelessness by supporting Housing First, a strategic model that helps stop cyclical homelessness and keeps the most vulnerable stably housed. From ELCA Advocacy.

Join Arizona Faith Network and partners from their Voting Rights Coalition across Arizona for their Summer Signature Kickoff to save Democracy. We bring the petitions and train you!

Hunger advocates from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C. on June 6-7 for the 2022 Bread for the World Advocacy Summit. LAMA director Solveig Muus joined colleagues for the two days of worship, training, strategy, fellowship and advocacy on Capitol Hill. And signtseeing.

The Vitalyst Health Foundation announced on Friday that Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA) and its Arizona Hunger Policy Workgroup partners was awarded a 2022 SPARK Grant. The $20,000 grant was one of eleven SPARK Grants awarded by Vitalyst this year.

ELCA Social Message “Community Violence” urges us to become more involved in countering the reality and fear of violence in our communities and our neighbors’ communities, pursuing justice and seeking peace no matter how long the journey or complex the challenge.

ELCA Resources on gun violence include “A 60-Day Journey Toward Justice in a Culture of Gun Violence,” as well as an easy-to-use guide and appendix noting key documents and actions and a gun violence litany.

PURPLE: America, We Need to Talk tells the story of everyday Americans with opposing viewpoints confronting their disagreements head-on and discovering the humanity and concerns that lie behind each other’s positions.

The 2022-23 Hunger Advocacy Fellow placed with LAMA will serve as a member of the staff of this ELCA-affiliated State Public Policy Office as a full-time contract employee. This is a paid position, including health insurance. The position begins in September 2022.

If you look back at a time you felt directionless, does that memory still present the same feelings in your current context? Reflect using this devotional from an ELCA World Hunger Advocacy Fellow Sandra Roper on how a "new thing" may be shaping in your life.

Faith Leaders Sign On by Friday, May 20: If Congress were to make the current $2,000 Child Tax Credit fully refundable and available to all low-income families, the number of children experiencing poverty would fall by an estimated 20 percent.

We once thought big about hunger. Can we do it again? Opinion by E. J. Dionne of The Washington Post.

Last spring, "Like many, my plans had been derailed, and the way forward seemed especially unclear," says ELCA World Hunger Fellow from Lutherans Engaging in Advocacy Ministry NJ. "It was during this time that my 'new thing' sprung forth..." Read #newthing devotional reflection at https://blogs.elca.org/.../devotional-first-learn-next-do/

The ELCA’s social statement entitled Abortion is grounded in the conviction that “Christians are united in Christ through faith with both the freedom and obligation to engage in serious moral deliberation.” It was adopted by the 1991 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

The Arizona Fair Elections Act will take down barriers to voting for all Arizona citizens, make the vote-by-mail list permanent again, reduce the influence of money on our elections and bar legislators from overriding election results.

Sign the Democracy Pledge to support policies that ensure all Arizonans can cast a ballot that counts.

The ELCA Social Statement on Civic Engagement is underway. Let your voice be heard! What issues should be included in the ELCA’s next Social Statement on Church, State, and Civic Participation? What concerns do you have about where the church currently stands on civic engagement, and where should the church be headed?