As “The Village Church with a Global Mission,” Christ the King Church lives out our mission by collaborating within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and through many organizations that have a global impact:
Christ the King Lutheran Church members have a long history of serving the impoverished and the hungry, the homeless and the disenfranchised. We also have a long history of advocating on behalf of “the least of these.” (Matt. 25:45). We make a difference when we raise public awareness and encourage our global leaders to make smart and effective policy decisions.
The Justice Advocacy Ministry Team continues to offer a monthly opportunity to members of the congregation to advocate (generally via email) on a justice issue. Justice issues highlighted during the course of last year were wide-ranging, with particular emphasis on the top justice advocacy priorities for the ELCA: Caring for Creation, Poverty/Hunger, Providing Hospitality, and Seeking Justice and Peace. Consider supporting Bread for the World, or supporting any number of ELCA advocacy efforts. For more information, contact Lisa Brenskelle at brenskelle@aol.com.
Companionship with the Church in Central African Republic and Peru
Christ the King Lutheran participates actively in our synod’s companion synod relationships with the Evangelical Lutheran Churches of Peru (IL-P) and of the Central African Republic (EEL-RCA). In these partner relationships, we walk together as Christians in shared mission in the world, supporting each other through prayer and in ministry, and by learning about each other through travel and other means of communication.
A contingent from our congregation visited this village school in the Central African Republic. Though the facilities were minimal and space crowded, the children feel privileged to be there and are eager to learn.
Christ the King Church has specifically supported the EEL-RCA ministries of education, health care and women’s development. We have welcomed two bishops and other visitors from the EEL-RCA and so far, two of our members have traveled to the Central African Republic (CAR). Click here for more information about the relationship with the CAR and the Gulf Coast Synod’s support. One month a year, this partnership is the focus of a mission offering. Get involved with CAR. Practice your French! For more information contact Carolyn Jacobs at carojacobs@comcast.net.
Click here for more pictures of the Church in the CAR.
In Peru, Christ the King Church has developed a partnership with four small Lutheran congregations in the town of Trujillo. A youth trip, led by ministry staff and several other adults was the first connection with Trujillo and there has been numerous trips to get to know these congregations better. For more information about the Peru companionship, see http://www.gulfcoastsynod.org/JusticePeruTrips.html. One month of the year, Peru is the focus of our mission offering. Please join our congregation’s Peru Team. Spanish speakers are especially welcome!
Purchasing a CTK t-shirt for $15 was one way to contribute to the End Malaria Campaign.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) End Malaria Campaign
The ELCA has met our goal of $15,000,000 to eradicate malaria in our eleven companion synods in Africa. To partially accomplish this goal, each synod was asked to partner in this effort by raising funds towards this goal. Our synod, the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast synod, accepted this challenge and met the goal of $150,000. Christ the King Church was chosen as a “first responder” because of our strong leadership in the synod, our current commitment to and awareness of the needs in global mission, and our ability to accomplish great things.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Disaster Response
ELCA Disaster Relief helps to bring God’s comfort, healing and renewal to those affected by disasters. And when the dust settles and the headlines change, Disaster Response stays to provide ongoing assistance to those in need. The ELCA is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of churches and agencies engaged in humanitarian assistance and development. By working with and through agencies such as ACT, Lutheran World Relief, Church World Service, and Lutheran World Federation, the ELCA Disaster Response is able to ensure that relief and assistance will be provided efficiently and effectively by organizations already on the ground and working in the various world communities. Christ the King Lutheran Church members have contributed thousands of dollars to the relief efforts in Indonesia, Haiti, Chile, and most recently Japan.
Christ the King Church is a ONE Lutheran congregation. ONE is a grassroots advocacy organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease by raising public awareness and pressuring political leaders to support smart and effective policies and programs that are saving lives and improving futures. Backed by a movement of over 2 million ONE members and 100 of the world’s leading non-profit, advocacy and humanitarian organizations, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran World Relief, ONE achieves change by holding world leaders accountable for the commitments they’ve made to fight extreme poverty. ONE campaigns for better development policies and more effective aid and trade reform. It supports greater democracy, accountability and transparency to ensure policies to beat poverty are implemented effectively. ONE doesn’t ask for money; ONE asks for your voice.
Christ the King Church has supported ELCA Missionary David Brondos in Mexico City for almost 15 years. Rev. Dr. Brondos is a seminary professor at the Theological Community of Mexico.
Students and professors at the Community come from a wide variety of churches, including not only Lutherans but Roman Catholics, but also mainline Protestants, and people from Pentecostal and independent churches. It includes men and women from different socio-economic backgrounds as well, including some who come from rural and indigenous settings. Virtually all students serve in congregations over the weekend and therefore are learning in an academic setting and a ministry setting at the same time. And with the addition of the distance and on-line learning David has created, the seminary is able to extend learning opportunities even further.
David comments, “As a seminary professor, my greatest satisfactions come from seeing the students whom I have helped to prepare share the gospel in many different contexts, with joy and enthusiasm, in spite of the many challenges and limitations they face. What brings them to make the sacrifices necessary to study at the Theological Community is a real love and passion for serving others in ministry. It is wonderful to work among students who share that spirit.” For more information, here is a copy of Brondos News.