Advocacy

For more information about our ongoing advocacy efforts at Trinity, please visit this week's Trinity Weekly

Letter from the Lutheran World Federation expressing solidarity and support to

ELCA Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry

We see your struggles and we stand with you. That was the message sent by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary, Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt, to leaders of the ELCA as they respond to a growing climate of political polarization and violence in their country.

In a letter addressed to ELCA Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry, Burghardt writes of her “deep concern and heartfelt solidarity as you navigate a season of profound challenge, pain and uncertainty in the United States of America. We join our voices to yours and give thanks for your courage in condemning aggressive enforcement tactics, your faithful accompaniment of immigrants and refugees, your refusal to let fear silence the gospel.”

Burghardt affirms “when fear replaces neighborly love, when enforcement becomes violence, when entire communities live in terror, the body of Christ must respond. This is the prophetic witness the church is called to embody.”

“The global communion prays for you, for those who grieve, those detained and deported, communities living in fear, those who protest, and for leaders who choose justice over violence.”

“We pray for healing and for the courage to love even when it comes at a cost,” Burghardt concludes. “May the God of peace sustain you with wisdom, courage and hope.”

Urge Congress to Take Action Regarding ICE

Congress is currently discussing the FY26 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, a broad bill that funds both immigration enforcement and disaster response. Take this opportunity to share your community’s priorities for the common good – supporting projects that help us prepare for and respond to disasters, advancing accountability for immigration enforcement, and opposing unchecked increases in funding for ICE immigration detention.

Ask Congress for funding that ensures Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staffing levels and enables programs to appropriately respond and holistically recover from disasters. Ask Congress to work together to prioritize accountability for ICE, not to add funding for actions that are harming our communities.

“Those in authority owe an account of how they are using that authority and the resources that have been entrusted to them,” reads the ELCA social statement on Faith and Civic Life (p. 18), and we can encourage this trust be used for the common good. Make your message to Congress more impactful by personalizing it with your values and experiences.

Global Refuge Reports: What is operation PARRIS and what can you do about it?

As most people know, the process of seeking safety in the United States for families forced to flee their homes is extensive and difficult. Refugees admitted to the United States by the government undergo years of processing, in-person interviews, security checks, and medical screenings before setting foot on U.S. soil.

But now, under a new initiative called Operation PARRIS, thousands of refugees in Minnesota are the target of an intensive Department of Homeland Security (DHS) operation to reexamine their status under U.S. law—part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to relitigate, reconsider, and second-guess previous grants of refugee status.
What does this mean? Families who followed all of the rules and were lawfully admitted to the U.S. may now be at risk.

Lutheran Bishops Issue Joint Statement Supporting Greenlandic People

To our dear siblings in Christ,

As the national bishops of Lutheran churches in the United States, Canada and Denmark, we wish to send the Greenlandic people our full support in an unusually difficult situation. We pray for and encourage our own congregations and people to pray for and stand with Greenland and the Greenlandic people who want to maintain their independence. We pray for peace and respect between nations.

We unreservedly support the Church of Greenland and Bishop Paneeraq Siegstad Munk, whose statement has been quoted in several media outlets: “This is a question of human rights, dignity, and respecting international laws and treaties. We are a small people, but we are not invisible. Our future is not something to be decided over our heads. We have language, culture, ancestors, children, and a future tied to this place. We are people, not property. Greenland is not land to be bought. It is our home and it is not for sale” (Christian News, Jan. 14)….

We invite you to write to your elected leaders and tell them to respect the independence of Greenland and the Greenlandic people.

In Christ,

Rev. Dr. Larry Kochendorfer, National Bishop of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Rev. Yehiel Curry, Presiding Bishop of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Rt. Revd. Henrik Stubkjær, Bishop of Viborg - Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark

To read the full statement and learn how to take action, please visit the Trinity Weekly or Online Bulletin.

Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and Genocide in Gaza

Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago hosted Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, pastor, theologian, and academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College in Bethlehem, West Bank, for a public conference on his latest work, Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza on March 26, 2025. In his book, he challenges mainstream Christians’ uncritical embrace of the modern State of Israel and challenges us to realign our beliefs and actions with Christ – who can be found not among perpetrators of violence, but with victims buried under the rubble of war. View the video of his speech below.

Keep investments in clean energy for individuals and churches.

U.S. electricity demand is projected to rapidly increase through the end of the decade. To meet this need and enhance resilience against natural disasters, the Department of Energy estimates the United States must double the size of its power grid in the next decade – a challenge requiring robust investments in affordable, renewable energy sources. The clean energy tax credits passed under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) (IRA) are essential for supporting this transition and meeting the power requirements of a growing economy. Before the IRA, these credits’ predecessors enjoyed long-standing bipartisan support for their benefits to communities around the country. This Action Alert is an opportunity to take advocacy action as part of your Lenten practice. Our baptismal calling to "serve all people," following the example of Christ, has urgent meaning as our progress in addressing climate change and the healing and wholeness of God’s good creation are threatened.

Tell your members of Congress to oppose repealing the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy investments in the upcoming budget reconciliation bill.

Take Action Now!

Bread for the World Offering of Letters (WIC and Global Nutrition)

Thanks to all who participated in this year’s Offering of Letters. Last Sunday they were dedicated and on Monday sent to your representatives and senators. A total of 64 letters were sent by snail mail and email.

Staff from Bread for the World will be visiting members of Congress and as time goes on, we will learn more about the fate of the WIC program and global nutrition programs. The continuing resolution that was recently adopted for this fiscal year (FY25) has included full funding for all eligible WIC recipients and maintains U.S. global nutrition funding at the FY24level.

The Administration, however, has halted the disbursement of global nutrition funding. Although a judge has found this action to be illegal and unconstitutional, it is unclear whether the action of Congress will be honored by the Administration. The Administration’s budget request for FY26 is expected to include deep spending cuts. Advocates must continue to urge the Administration to see that full funding for WIC ensures a healthy start for children in the U.S., and that dollars spent compassionately to address hunger around the world not only save lives but wins friends.

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