Global Links November 2021

Latest news and stories from Global Mission

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November 2021

Lutheran Women Leaders Reach Milestones Around the World

The Women’s Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi (ELCM) greets the Rev. Munkhondya (left). Photo: David Mang’enda/ALCINET

The Rev. Bertha Godfrey Munkhondya recently became the first woman ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi (ELCM). Munkhondya is originally from Chisenga, in the Chitipa District of Malawi, and will serve as associate pastor of the ELCM cathedral in Lilongwe. She studied theology at the Tumaini University Makumira in Arusha, Tanzania, with the help of an ELCA International Leaders Program scholarship. Read more about the Rev. Munkhondya here.

On Oct. 16, the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (ECACP) voted to allow women to be ordained as pastors. The motion passed 45 to 13 with one abstention. Presiding Bishop Jerzy Samiec of the ECACP said: “I believe it’s a good decision and we will see good fruits come of it. It has been a long process for the church, and now we will find a way of walking together into the future.” Read more about the landmark decision here.

News Around the World

In early October, leaders from the world’s religious communities gathered in the Vatican ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Forty faith leaders – including the Rev. Martin Junge, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) – joined Pope Francis in signing an appeal to governments and decision-makers to take more ambitious action and cooperate more effectively to reduce global warming. Delegations from the ELCA and the LWF are attending the COP26 U.N. Climate Change Conference from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Read more here.

Mission Personnel

Young Adults in Global Mission 2022: Community Awaits!
After a two-year pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program is getting ready to send volunteers out into the world again! Applications are now open for the 2022-2023 program year. Young adults aged 21 to 29 can apply for an international service year that will shape their faith, career, identity and understanding of how they fit into God’s work in the world. YAGM volunteers will begin in August 2022 and will be placed in one of nine country programs. The deadline to apply is Feb. 1, 2022, and priority will be given to those who apply before Jan. 15, 2022.

Read more and apply here.

Get Involved

TOMORROW: Get to know the new International Women Leaders scholarship recipients at a virtual meet and greet! The event will take place tomorrow, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. Central time. Join us here via Zoom to meet 10 new students from partner churches around the world. Email any questions about this event to Rahel Williams at Rahel.Mwitula-Williams@elca.org.

We are hiring! Join us as we walk and work with our companions. Positions include: facilitator and educator in English as a Foreign Language, Colombia; co-directors and chaplains of baptismal site, Jordan; communications consultant, Kenya; and YAGM country coordinators in Senegal, Rwanda, Madagascar, Cambodia, Central Europe, Argentina/Uruguay, Mexico and Jerusalem/West Bank. Check out the ELCA global opportunities job board and apply now!

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