Blog
ELCA World Hunger Gathering by Frances Dobbs, LOPPW Hunger Advocacy Fellow
I attended the ELCA World Hunger Leadership Gathering for the first time this year. Going into the gathering, I was haunted by a verse, “For you always have the poor with you” (Matthew 26:11). Perhaps for many advocates, this message can be chilling. It has been 50 years of ELCA World Hunger, and at this […]
Oppose SB-916 by Rev. James Holmberg
When I first read the text of SB-916 I thought this must have come from some other time and place where basic compassion, decency, and the love of neighbor were completely unknown, and society had focused its fear on a faceless “other” who was perceived as a threat. But no, this bill was from our […]
Should we talk about climate change with so much else happening?
My name is Evan Sadlon, and this Fall I will start my senior year at UW-Madison. I joined the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin this summer to primarily focus on climate change. The mission, “Care for God’s Creation,” stands out to me as instrumental in not only protecting and sustaining the environment, but […]
Rev. Mae Jean Zelle puts on her science hat
After all the comments about the weather at church yesterday I have to put on my old science teacher hat for a minute to talk about why record April snowfall in Wisconsin is a result of climate change (aka global warming) and not evidence against it. Here goes: Measurements of the temperature of sea and […]
Health and Climate Change by Eleanor Siebert
At the beginning of the period that I was learning more about malaria and the plasmodium parasite, I did not connect this issue to climate change. As the Zika Virus stories emerged with their possibly devastating results, I began to connect the two stories. They are two very different diseases, one a virus and one […]
Our Water by Eleanor Siebert
I am assuming that most of us remember the shocking stories of lead contamination in the drinking water of Flint Michigan. Eight thousand plus children under the age of six with elevated levels of lead at this critical stage in their developing bodies were detected in this area of this state. Are you aware that […]
Our Winters are Warmer by Bob Lindmeier
Our Winters Are Warmer by Chief Meteorologist Bob Lindmeier, member of SCSW Care for God’s Creation Team I’ve been a broadcast meteorologist for almost 38 years. During this time, I’ve had an opportunity to talk to many people about their perception of how the climate has changed since they were a child. This is especially […]
Convening a Constitutional Convention – Who and What would be at Risk?
Written by Rev. Matthew Schlake-Kruse, St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Earlier this year, I attended a play whose premise surmised that since everything partisan and political seemed destined toward either gridlock or stalemate, a constitutional convention to start over from scratch in a new effort toward democracy was the proposed solution. At first, […]
Human Trafficking by Deb Martin
Human Trafficking by LOPPW Council Member Deb Martin, Oshkosh LOPPW has made anti-sex trafficking one of our legislative priorities since 2014. The U.S. Department of Justice describes trafficking as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for labor or other services through the use of force, fraud or coercion, for the purpose […]
What does your conscience tell you? What does the church have to say?
Recently a state senator asked me if I was flying solo or representing the teachings of the ELCA when I talked to him about the problem of climate change. He wanted to know because he was a member of the ELCA as well. I got to explain that our church accepts the overwhelming data that […]
