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ELCA World Hunger

By Pr. Lisa Rygiel

This month has five Sundays in it and that means that we will collect a 5th Sunday Blessing on May 31. On 5th Sundays, we alternate our donations between local and global entities. Our last 5th Sunday blessing went to the Trinidad Soup Kitchen, our next offering will benefit ELCA World Hunger, an entity to which we have given to in the past.

I recently received my Spring 2026 edition of Life Lines, an ELCA publication that highlights the work of ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Response Ministries. The edition was full of articles about the wonderful work done by these entities because of the generosity of good people like you. I wanted to share some of the highlights with you this week and next.

In Peru, you are strengthening a soup kitchen that has been rooted in the community since the 1980s. In rural Tanzania, where U.S. funding cuts have disrupted the supply of medical resources, you have made it possible for doctors to be trained so they can give their neighbors the care they need. In Minnesota, you are enabling a church with a long-standing dinner ministry to grow new ways to feed its neighbors. And in India, you are working alongside a vulnerable coastal community to build resilience in the face of future storms.

In the last year, many of our neighbors have faced new challenges — in addition to the ones they were already up against — as costs have risen and government funding has been cut. Your incredible generosity has allowed our church to honor its commitments to our partners, fill gaps when other organizations cannot, and remain a steadfast, loving presence in these communities.

ELCA World Hunger Daily Bread grants are gifts of up to $500 that go to ELCA congregations and ministries that serve their closest neighbors through existing feeding programs. In 2025, ELCA World Hunger received over 15 times the number of Daily Bread grant applications than in 2024. Your past and future gifts to ELCA World Hunger and Lutheran Disaster Response makes it possible to quickly expand the Daily Bread program.

Thank you!

 

May 24, Pentecost Sunday
10 a.m. Sunday Worship

Announcements

  • Fellowship: Join us after worship Sunday for coffee and conversation. All are welcome.
  • Pentecost Sunday: This coming Sunday is Pentecost, join us wearing red, which is the color for Pentecost Sunday.
  • Wednesday Book Club: The Wednesday Book Club is focusing upon What if Jesus was Serious – A Visual Guide to the Teachings of Jesus We Love to Ignore. It meets at 10:30 a.m. each Wednesday in the Fellowship Hall. You can join at any time, so if you haven’t been able to attend before now, why not consider doing so.
  • Time of Prayer and Coffee: We are invited to join our siblings in Christ from the Methodist church for a time of prayer and coffee at 10:30 a.m. each Thursday at Kangaroo Coffee -in the Marketplace on Commercial Street.
  • 5-Loaves: We will be making 5-Loaves deliveries on Saturday, May 30, with preparations on Friday, May 29. If you can help either day, please let Norine Hazen, Terri Watson, or Jo Moss know. We especially need delivery drivers on May 30 as, due to increased need, we have increased the number of delivery routes. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
  • We’re Here for You: For pastoral care, call Zion’s at 719-846-7785 or send an email: zionsluth@gmail.com.

Save the Dates

  • Zion’s Camp Out: Mark your calendars! We have reserved the group camping area at Trinidad Lake State Park May 31 (Sunday) through Wednesday June 3. Let Pr. Lisa know if you can help lead activities or help coordinate this adventure.
  • Pride Month – June 2026: Zion’s Lutheran will be kicking off Pride Month (June) with a Potluck and Ice Cream Social after worship on June 7.
  • Summer Supper Gatherings: At 5:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each summer month, we will gather in the Fellowship Hall for food and fun. The dates are June 10, July 8, Aug. 12, and Sept. 9. There is a sign-up sheet in the Fellowship Hall for food and activities. If you want to help provide food or to head up an activity, please let Julie Wersal or Jo Moss know.

 

E-formation

This coming Sunday is Pentecost, the fiftieth day of Easter, and we keep the resurrection of Christ by celebrating the Spirit of the Risen Christ in our midst. Jesus Christ has not gone away but is here with us: we stand to greet him as we hear him speak in the gospel reading, and we share in his body in the meal.

John 20:19-23
In the Gospel of John, Jesus appears to the disciples on the day of his resurrection to enact his living power through his gift of the Holy Spirit. Thus, John offers theologically what Luke presented narratively. For John, the resurrection is the empowering of the church by the Spirit. John’s language of divine breath recalls God’s breathing on the first creation.

Acts 2:1-21
Once again Luke presents a narrative to convey meaning. The fire and wind, associated with God’s presence on Mount Sinai, are now experienced in the assembly of believers, and miraculous events, seen in the ministry of Jesus, occur now in the church. Acts is moving the church into all the ends of the earth and Acts 2 begins this multilingual proclamation. Luke cites the apocalyptic vision of the prophet Joel to authenticate the power of God among the leaders of the church. Although some Christians who practice glossolalia tie their ecstatic speech to this narrative, Luke referred instead to actual languages that were spoken in the Greco-Roman world.

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
In about 54ce Paul wrote to the church in Corinth correcting some of their behaviors and calling them to unity in Christ. It seems that the Corinthians had introduced a status system in which some ministries were more valued than others. Paul described an ideal community in which all persons valued each other as manifestations of God’s Spirit for the common good.

Zion's Lutheran Church
zionsluth@gmail.com
719-846-7785