You have found the hunger blog for the Saint Paul Area Synod a.k.a. "Seasonings for the Synod". Yes, it is a bit of a stretch but the title does relate to food and so to hunger. We hope to use the blog to bring you current information about the state of hunger in the synod, in Minnesota, in the U.S. and in the whole of God's world. That will mean sharing resources of all kinds, linking to sites that will help educate and challenge you, and learning from you as you respond to the blog yourselves. May it truly season our hunger work together.
Resources
This is already the time to be thinking about the coming holiday season. (The stores are, why not Lutheran Christians?)
And that might mean an Alternative Gift Fair for your congregation, encouraging gift giving in new ways this year. Giving gifts for Christmas is most appropriate. God gave us our Savior on that day. But for many of us, gift giving has become almost a way of life - - we shop and shop some more for gifts that really don't quite touch the recipient as we would like.
Consider that in 2007 the average shopper spent $859 for holiday gifts! While the figure was cut in half in 2008 as the recession began, it is still a sizable amount of money. IF that money were shared in the fight against hunger, disease, and poverty, think of the difference it would make. It only takes $125 to set a woman up with a microloan to start a new business or $200 to help establish a community vegetable garden. How would you spend $859 to change the world? Would your aunt appreciate knowing that her "gift" was ten chicks to help a family start an egg business? Bet that would warm her heart more than yet another sweater in her drawer.
The ELCA Good Gifts Fair Planning Guide will help you set up an Alternative Gift Fair. It comes complete with ste-by-step instructions, bulletin inserts, crafts, activities and a poster to help in your planning. And gifting is not limited to Christmas -- there are ideas for Advent, Lent, VBS and more. You can get a copy FREE; the Order code is: ELCADS1017.Events
Dale and Vernita Kennen (Incarnation, Shoreview), members of the synod Hunger Work Group, attended a recent ELCA Hunger Leaders' Gathering in Detroit. Mark Peters, Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy in Minnesota, also attended. Programming included worship; field trips to community groups, immigrant services, congregations and more; workshops in abundance; and shared information from ELCA World Hunger staff as well as residents of Michigan. You may want to ask them to share some of their new learnings and their experiences with you.
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| ELCA Hunger Leaders at the gathering in Detroit. |
Ponderings/Musings
"The power of the future lies not in the hands of those who believe in scarcity but of those who trust God's abundance."
- - Walter Brueggemann
