Op-Ed by Javier (Jay) Alanis, PhD
“On October 31, 2017 the Lutheran church in its many expressions throughout the world will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. On this day in 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany protesting what he believed were erroneous teachings of the Roman church. By posting these arguments on the church door he was inviting his community to read and debate them with him. He had no idea that this would be the spark that would ignite what would become known as the Protestant Reformation. It was largely due to the invention of the Gutenberg Press that his ideas spread like wildfire throughout Europe and the rest as they say is history.”
To continue reading the full article: On the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
500,000 Miles for the 500th Anniversary
John Laine has been traveling over the past 11 years in his 1998 Chevy Blazer. He describes the process as pulling into a town, spying a church with several cars parked outside (a sign of activity), and asking for a cup of coffee with the pastor. John would tell the pastor the story of the Texas Ramp Project. If the pastor was excited, they would plan to build a ramp sometime soon in town. If the pastor was not so excited, John would say thank you and move on. A pretty simple process.
In 2017, this volunteer-staffed organization plans to build 2,000 wheelchair ramps throughout the state, which equals 5+ ramps per day! That is 2,000 lives changed… 2,000 people able to stay in their own homes and not in state-supported housing… 2,000 people able to live independently without relying on someone else to just get out of their house.
John’s Blazer just passed 500,000 miles in the course of his driving around Texas! That is an amazing number of miles for an amazing ministry. Several NT-NL churches have joined hands with the Texas Ramp Project over the years. If you are interested, you may contact John via jlaine@texasramps.org or 214-675-1230.
To learn more about the Texas Ramp Project:
Open Enrollment Begins November 1
The enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly referred to as Obamacare, for Texas is November 1 – December 15, 2017.
Featured Resources for October
Did you know there are a plethora of resources available to us via the ELCA website?
From Advocacy to Bible Studies, from Caring for Creation to Congregational Communications Tools, from Financial and Grants to Human Resources and Risk Management, from ELCA World Hunger to Lutheran Disaster Response, from Mission Planning and Racial Justice to Stewardship and Worship, and SO MUCH MORE!
You can also hover over the Resources tab toward the top of the website for even more options!
Save the Date
December 3, 10:30am-2pm
Reservations are encouraged but not required: call 940-241-2099 or email bw@briarwoodretreat.org.
Recent Blog Posts
Bishop Gronberg:
(https://www.ntnl.org/the-gap/ – published Oct. 23)
(https://www.ntnl.org/living-echoes-your-love-to-tell-your-praise-to-show/ – published Oct. 23)
Pr. Totzke:
(https://www.ntnl.org/teem/ – published Oct. 27)
Where in the world is?
Bishop Gronberg:
- Oct. 31 – Leading chapel and class at Brite Divinity School
- Nov. 4 – North Texas Reformation Celebration, Fort Worth
- Nov. 5 – 125th Anniversary Celebration, Zion, McGregor
Pr. Totzke:
- Nov. 5 – North Texas Reformation Celebration, Dallas
Pra. Bañales:
- Nov. 1 – First Sagrada Familia, Garland
- Nov. 4 – Stewardship Team – Venture Training
- Nov. 5-8 – ELCA Latin@ Strategy Team, McAllen, TX
Upcoming Events
- Oct. 31: Chapel Service: Reformation with Bishop Gronberg (Brite | TCU)
- Oct. 31: Looking Back & Called Forward: ELCA 500
- Nov. 4-5: North Texas Reformation Celebration
- Nov. 10: (RE)FORMATION: a Film by Shannon Ivey (TLU)
- Nov. 11: Public Witness Team monthly meeting
- Nov. 13: Free Lecture with Anne Lamott (Perkins | SMU)
- Nov. 13-14: The Power of the Story: Perkins Fall Convocation on Creative Communication
- Nov. 14-16: Young at Heart Retreat
- Nov. 18: PLMA, Fall 2017, Course 3
- Nov. 18: MEF Board meeting
- Nov. 19: Lutheran Campus Ministry Trivia Challenge
- Dec. 1-3: Winter Retreat for 4th, 5th, & 6th graders
- Dec. 3: Briarwood Holiday Brunch
- Dec. 9: High School Service Day, DFW and Lubbock areas
- Dec. 9: Public Witness Team monthly meeting
- Through Dec. 15: Bridwell Library Exhibition: Martin Luther in the Age of Print (Perkins | SMU)
- Dec. 27-28: NT-NL Christmas Break Young Adult Retreat
Access our full online Calendar here. Updates made regularly.
Do you have news or announcements to share? Please submit to the Synod office (office@ntnl.org) for consideration for our next NT-NL News.