An update on the voter integrity bills we tracked through the 2022 legislative session. The bill tracker and analysis on civic engagement and voter integrity is courtesy of Arizona Faith Network and their team of legislative analysts.

We are called to conversation and prayer around our role as U.S. residents and as people of faith in ensuring our election systems promote dignity and respect for all. We are called to act by speaking out as advocates and engaging in local efforts to guarantee the right to vote to all citizens.

This Community Gardens How-To Guide is filled with wisdom harvested by congregations whose community gardens have become vital parts of their ministry. 28-pg guide includes practical tips on logistics, crafting a vision and incorporating your garden into the life of your congregation. ELCA World Hunger.

July 5 at 11:59 pm is the last day to register to vote in the AZ primary on Aug. 2. Arizona will hold its primary election Aug. 2, along with the states of Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington. Arizona’s general election is Nov. 8, at the same time as the rest of the nation.

Plan ahead for August! ELCA Advocacy provides timely questions and talking points based upon ELCA Advocacy priorities of hunger, housing and homelessness, infrastructure and climate change, U.S. Asylum and Immigration Policy, Tribal/U.S. Government relations and more.

Are you interested in working to alleviate hunger in Arizona? Your voice matters! If you have experience or interest in working with hunger advocates to strategize for the 2023 legislative session in Arizona, now is the time to make a difference.

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.