Here is your preview:

·         Expressing thanks to Senators Kelly and Sinema, and Representatives Schweikert and Gallego for their support of the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement

o   Sample New Journey thank you letter

o   Background documents (2)

·         Urging legislators AGAIN to fully fund SNAP and other nutrition programs, as well as sustainable farming systems and protections for farm and food workers.

o   Bread for the World reported on September 12, 2024 that “new data just released by the USDA shows that in 2023 more than 47 million people, including nearly 14 million children, experienced food insecurity. This is up from 44 million people, including 13 million children, the year before and is the highest rate since 2024.”

o   ELCA update, September 5, 2024: “Ahead of Election Day, it is critical that lawmakers continue to hear that hunger, our food systems, and the vitality of our rural communities and our environment are of core concern for Lutherans across the U.S. In particular, highlighting the need to preserve and boost support for BOTH hunger programs AND our farming communities should be a critical priority – as these have become one of the last major points of contention in negotiations.” Read more at Farm Bill Engagement Updates - ELCA Advocacy » ELCA Advocacy - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

o   Sample New Journey letter

o   ELCA summary for legislators 23FarmBillLeaveBehind.pdf (elca.org)

14 Propositions! The November 2024 Arizona Ballot will be LENGTHY:

Tuesday, October 7 is the deadline for registering to vote (all forms of voting). Check your status and encourage family, friends, and neighbors to check theirs as well. Every vote counts!

Come, let us sing to the LORD;
 let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
 let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

(Psalm 95:1-2; NRSV)

Lift your voice and sing in the New Journey Choir! The choir, under Jamie Asmus’ direction, rehearses on Sunday mornings at 9:15 am from September through May.

All are welcome to join the choir and enrich our worship experience in song.

People of New Journey,

As we approach November 7, and navigate the complexities of this election cycle and beyond, our Grand Canyon Synod is committing to provide resources that foster understanding, respect and unity within our church communities.

Visit the Grand Canyon Synod’s Church & Society page for resources on navigating political discussions, information about Christian Nationalism, voting rights and civic participation, and to learn about upcoming events from the ELCA and the ecumenical community related to Church & Society.

The ELCA is developing a social statement on civic life and faith, the relationship of the church and state, and related matters, as called for by the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

The feedback period will be open until September 30, 2024.

To download a copy of the draft social statement, click here.

Provide feedback on the social statement by clicking this link and filling out the task force’s survey.

All are invited to participate in a joint choir experience and life your voice in song in honor of World Communion Sunday, October 6 at 9:30 am with our friends at The Fountains UMC. We will bring our communities together for a joint choir piece: “A Place at the Table.” Click here to listen to the song on YouTube.

Anyone from New Journey who would like to participate in the joint choir opportunity for World Communion Sunday is encouraged to join rehearsal on Sunday, September 29 at 11:30 am at The Fountains UMC.

In honor of World Communion Day, the people of New Journey Lutheran Church and The Fountains UMC are worshipping and communing together on Sunday, October 6 at 9:30 am at The Fountains UMC.

THANK YOU to all who participated in God’s Work. Our Hands. Sunday on September 8. Our small, but mighty crew prepared 24 Kindness Kits for CircletheCity.org and packed 200 lunches for Arizona Faith Network’s Wesley United Methodist Church heat respite center in South Phoenix. We also contributed food for the Islamic Speaker’s Bureau of Arizona 9/11 Memorial Multi-Faith food drive, with our contributions going to Extended Hands Food Bank.

Each year, on Pentecost Sunday, we hear the church’s birth story. It’s a joyful and festive day in which worship spaces are adorned in vibrant reds, and amazing images and sounds bring to life the frenetic energy of the Spirit’s activity in and through the church.

We are excited to announce our upcoming ministry team meetings!

These gatherings are a wonderful opportunity to come together, share our progress, and plan for the future. Your presence and input are invaluable as we continue to grow and serve our community.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Here are the dates for September:

• Stewardship—September 3

• Executive Council—September 5

• Congregational Council—September 10

With the energy from the recent ELCA Young Adult Gathering still buzzing, there’s a new chance for young adults in the Phoenix area to connect and grow. Starting this September, young adults from the Grand Canyon Synod can join monthly events focused on connection, fun, and spiritual growth.

What’s on the social ministry calendar for the balance of 2024?

9/29/24: 5^th Sunday letter-writing – We will likely include thank you letters to our U.S. legislators for their continuing support of HR8940, Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement as well advocacy on crucial hunger legislation. If you have other ideas, please let Kris Bartanen or Liz Peterson know.

Mid-December: Imagine East Mesa School “Angel Tree” gifts.

The New Journey fourth lunch pack wraps up the NEVC 2024 summer heat respite collaborative project, which has provided over 2,600 lunches, individual servings of electrolyte power, and 5+ pallets of water to save lives in our greater community. Funded by a generous grant from NEVC partner, Ascension Lutheran Church, the project’s success has benefitted from generous gifts of volunteer time for shopping, preparation, packing, delivery, and distribution.

Dear fellow members of New Journey Lutheran Church,

The dictionary defines stewardship as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.“  As faithful followers, we recognize the wisdom in the book of Peter, 4:10-11:

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

Like many of you I find it hard to believe that we are more than halfway through the year and as we approach the season when we celebrate important holidays and milestones it is important as “careful managers” that the Council report on the progress of our 2024 Mission Spending Plan.

The Phoenix Connectors of the Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest are a network of dedicated volunteer leaders across Phoenix and Southern Arizona. Their unwavering commitment to service is vital in linking congregations with the mission to uplift and support those in need.

Pastor Gallen and New Journey Lutheran Church,

Without question, the most rewarding part of my work over the past year as your Interim Director for Evangelical Mission has been walking alongside more than a dozen strategic and ethnic-specific ministries across our synod. This role has provided me with a wonderfully unique opportunity to serve as a mentor, advocate, grant writer, evaluator, consultant, and friend to some of the most innovative and courageous leaders and faith communities you will ever meet.

Last month we welcomed Autumn Byars in worship to learn more about her work as an ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow this last year. Thank you, Autumn, for saying “yes” to sharing with us. We are blessed by your sharing and, through you, our communities know more fully God’s dream for a longer table where all are fed and nourished.

It’s “all hands on deck!” for God’s Work. Our Hands. Sunday, September 8:

New Journey’s 10:00 a.m. service will include 3 hands-on projects. Please join us for a joyful and difference-making morning as we, together:

·         Pack 200 lunches to be delivered to Wesley United Methodist Church in South Phoenix, one of 14 sites of Arizona Faith Network’s 2024 heat respite project. Like Grace Lutheran, and their partner First United Church of Christ, in Central Phoenix – where New Journey’s first 600 lunches of the summer were distributed – WUMC serves persons experiencing homelessness at their location and via smaller nearby hubs. Wesley’s heat respite coordinator noted last week: “Thank you so so much for all this. You guys have no idea how this has helped carry things.”

·         Pack 24 Kindness Kits for Circle the City. Circle the City provides healthcare to individuals facing homelessness in Maricopa County. New Journey is joining with Northeast Valley Consortium partner, Christ the Lord – Carefree, to provide the kits so that those who receive care are able to take with them useful personal care items to bolster their health and well-being. This project is funded by a grant from Thrivent and a private donation.

·         Once again, bring non-perishable food items for the annual Islamic Speakers Bureau of Arizona 9/11 memorial food drive. Our food donations will go to Extended Hands Food Bank, here in Fountain Hills. ISBA notes that this multi-faith event “demonstrates that the same spirit that drove the first responders and others to care for complete strangers on 9/11, is still alive by uniting our communities to provide food for the most needy.” The EHFB website lists mac ‘n cheese, fruit, peanut butter and jelly as high need items. The 9/11 drive site also lists additional items that can be contributed. If you bring items on Sunday 9/8, please place them in or near the EHFB barrel which will be placed in the worship area.

On Sunday, August 25, our community will welcome Autumn Byars in worship to share about her experiences as the first Hunger Fellow to be placed in the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry of Arizona (LAMA) office.

You might be wondering: what is a Hunger Fellow?

It is a year-long experience through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that involves “leadership development and faith formation with impactful advocacy that move us (God’s church) towards an end to hunger and a just world where all are fed.” To learn more about the ELCA’s Hunger Advocacy Fellow program, click here.

The Northeast Valley Consortium’s 2024 Heat Respite lunch topped 2,000 lunches on Monday, August 12 as the location for delivery moved from Grace Lutheran Church and First United Church of Christ in central Phoenix to Wesley United Methodist Church and nearby heat respite hubs in south Phoenix. Grace's pastor, Rev. David Sivecz, provided the following note of thanks to all who have participated in the project to-date.