The critical situation in Gaza and the ongoing conflict continues to directly impact the ELCA’s Lutheran siblings in the Holy Land, in addition to putting the wider Christian community of the Holy Land at further physical risk. The conflict is also further eroding and destroying the interfaith relationship between all three Abrahamic faiths, which is impacting the ELCA’s interfaith relationships here in the United States.

Read a statement from Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land Bishop Sani-Ibrahim Azar, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada National Bishop Susan Johnson on a visit of solidarity to the Holy Land.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Bishops of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan and the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin have sent out a plea request for a cease-fire for the conflict in the Middle-East.

In anticipation of Election Day in the United States, Bishop Eaton reminds us that “civic engagement through political and nonpolitical processes is how we live into our baptism and share Christ’s love as we work to make a difference in our communities and strive for justice and peace across the globe.”

The Conference of Bishops of the ELCA added its voice to concerns about international situations during its meeting Feb. 27-March 5 at Eaglewood Resort in Itasca, Ill.

The Bishops issued a statement and sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling for a permanent bilateral cease-fire in Gaza and urging the president and legislators “to do everything in their power to bring an end to the current suffering and lay the foundation for lasting peace with justice.”

The conference is an advisory body of the ELCA that comprises 65 synod bishops, the presiding bishop and the secretary.