“God so loved the world …”

One of the best-known verses in Scripture begins this way, reminding us of God’s unmerited, unmitigated, unending love for all people and creation.* The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a church body committed to love. In a world where hate, division and judgment are as infectious and deadly as the plague, we believe that love — love rooted in the death and resurrection of Jesus — is the cure.

We aren’t talking about the fleeting love of romance. We’re talking about love that never ends. Love that stands at the margins and in the shadows. Love that wraps its arms around those who are lost and broken. Love that seeks the dignity of every person on earth. Love that demands justice for all. Love that embraces even enemies. Love that forgives. Love that heals. Love that saves.

Jesus showed us the ultimate picture of love when he died on the cross for you, me and all creation. The ELCA is committed to reflecting God’s love with action.

Speaking of God’s love made real, that’s what we’re calling our commitment. GOD’S LOVE MADE REAL is shorthand for the ELCA’s vision statement and encompasses all the ways our congregations, synods and ministries are helping the world around us know the love of God in Jesus.

This work is about the ELCA’s part in a world experiencing the difference God’s grace and love in Christ make for all people and creation. The whole church, together, is called to share that grace and love in word and deed, because God’s love is real.

Here are a few among countless examples of how God’s love is being made real across our church:

• a congregation’s “bold” decision to reconstruct a food pantry to help increase their capacity to serve more people
• a Christmas-in-July celebration for a single mom and her five children experiencing homelessness
• a Queer youth poetry open mic event
• a partially gutted parsonage that was renovated to provide long-term housing for survivors of human trafficking
• an ecumenical ministry group that developed a community center that feeds people with meals and spiritual connections

Our goal is to engage faithfully in God’s world. We know that this work happens in every part of our church and is woven into the fabric of who we are and who we are called to be.

Every day, through every part of this church — from the churchwide organization to our ministries abroad — we live that promise. Our continued commitment to supporting and serving you helps to make a difference in God's world. We hope that the grace and love of God is experienced by all our neighbors and siblings in Christ.

‍

“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

John 3:16