It’s mid-January—time to think about Lent!

What?! But we just turned the calendar to a new year!

Yes, but even with a late Easter this year (maybe the snow will be gone by then!), now is a perfect time to think about and plan for how you and your congregation will incorporate hunger issues into your Lenten practices. And you are not alone. There are some wonderful new resources available to help you:

1. A free 2011 World Hunger Lenten Series, “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread,” is available online. It was created by members of the Upper Susquehanna Synod and provides comprehensive materials for Bible studies, worship services, drama/dialog sermons, children’s sermons, meal ideas, table prayers, take-home family devotions, and fundraising ideas.



Placemats from ELCA World Hunger

2. The ELCA World Hunger program also has new materials for your use. The placemats are especially appealing—you can download them in two sizes and then have copies made locally for use at your soup suppers or other meals, to send home with children in your Sunday school, or to use for tables/trays in the local senior facility you support. 

Find these and other resources at www.elca.org/hunger/lent.

2011 new year's resolutions for ending hunger

Many of us make New Year’s resolutions each January 1, but few of us manage to keep those resolutions much into the new year. Hopefully these resolutions for working to end hunger in God’s world will be ones that you can keep well into 2011. Ending hunger is possible but it takes each of us, reaching out both with charity and advocacy to bring that about. Resolve today to:

1. Pray each day for those who hunger as well as for those who are working to alleviate and end hunger around the world; ask God to nudge you in new ways you may be involved in ending hunger.
2. Commit to six hands-on thing to help those who are hungry in your community this year. Maybe it’s volunteering for Meals on Wheels or serving a shelter meal. Perhaps it’s contributing to and/or volunteering at your local food shelf. Or maybe it’s encouraging a youth group or Scout troop to collect food for local needs. Ever consider contributing an equal amount to a local food shelf as your bill when you dine out?
3. Commit to six advocacy actions in the coming year. You may want to designate three of them to be on the state level and three on the federal level. Be alert to information from the from the Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy in Minnesota (LCPPM) and the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC) for state issues. And watch for information from the ELCA’s World Hunger program and Bread for the World (BFW) to guide you in federal advocacy on a timely basis.