Families Face More Flood and Storm Damage Threats
As we move further into the Atlantic Hurricane Season, local families are facing the threats of more flooding and storm damage. They need your support. As Pennsylvania continues to become hotter and wetter, concerns about flooding are rising as residents in Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, and Philadelphia Counties are still dealing with destruction from tornedos [...]
Liberty’s Lutheran Congregational Services Celebrates a Milestone and Expands as an Educational and Social Ministry
Half a Century In and Excited for What Lies Ahead In the coming year, we look forward to looking back on those 50 years. We will dig into the roots of Lutheran Chaplaincy Services of Lehigh Valley (1973), later renamed Lutheran Services of Lehigh Valley (1976). We’ll explore the ELCA’s founding of Lutheran Disaster Response [...]
Caring Support Helps Move Disaster Victims from Despair to Hope
Wandering Through the Wilderness As a disaster case manager, Paulette Obrecht sees her most important role as wandering through the wilderness with survivors. She explains. “You show them that someone cares about what happened, and that allows them to move beyond despair towards hope. “To do the job, you must listen; then, you listen some [...]
Grief Comes in Many Forms
Journeys Through Grief – From Ann’s Perspective Grief is not limited to the death of a loved one. People often experience it with any significant loss – a home, job, one’s health, a relationship, or separation. Ann knows grief in many forms, starting with the death of her younger brother when she was a child. [...]
Grace and Generosity
This story appears in the Spring 2024 issue of At Liberty. Loving hearts, generous souls, and a commitment to helping others filled the United Lutheran Seminary’s Mt. Airy campus this past Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Linda Breckenridge and Volunteers Assemble Hygiene Kits “I’m always looking for opportunities on MLK Day of Service to [...]
Help Disaster Survivors on the Road to Recovery
Pennsylvania is getting hotter and wetter. The second half of 2023 was dominated by storms and flooding rains that left more than 500 eastern Pennsylvania families in need of help. With your assistance, we are helping people connect with resources, but there is much more work to be done. Families affected by flooding from storms [...]
Where Can We Help?
Lutheran Congregational Services (LCS) provides individual counseling, support groups, and a Facebook group for those who are grieving. Most typically, those support groups take place in the Lehigh Valley and are well attended! In an effort to expand these services, last year LCS scheduled a support group outside of that area. When no one registered [...]
How Some Prepare for Christmas with the Advent Devotional
During Advent, Christians prepare their hearts and spirits by contemplating the meaning and celebration of Christmas. They wonder at the significance of Christ’s birth in the world and what it means in their own lives. The Reverend Michelle Wildridge, Chaplain at Paul’s Run, provides copies of the Lutheran Congregational Services' Advent Devotional to residents. During [...]
Summer Storms 2023
Summer storms are causing deep heartache and trauma around the world. Here at Lutheran Congregational Services, our hearts and prayers go out especially to families in Hawaii who are still facing terrible uncertainties about the fate of loved ones. The Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is working [...]
A Model for Recovery and Resilience
Community and the relationships that connect them become crucial catalysts to the work of Lutheran Disaster Response – Eastern PA (LDR-EPa). Such was the case when Tropical Storm Isaias devastated the community of Eastwick, a neighborhood in southwest Philadelphia, in August of 2020. Flooding and high winds damaged many homes. Roofs were blown off. People [...]
Building Equity in Long-Term Recovery
When disaster strikes, Julia Menzo, Director of Community Outreach, must decide when and how to respond so that resources are utilized fairly, especially for those with the greatest barriers to recovery. She consults her local partners in disaster relief work to answer those questions and more. Recovery looks different for each individual, family, and community. [...]
Preparing Hearts for Advent
Lutheran Congregational Services’ Advent Devotional book is filled with stories and reflections from volunteers based on the biblical texts of the Advent season. We asked a few to share their experience. Every few years, I'm asked to write a page for the Advent Devotional for Lutheran Congregational Services. I participate as a way to support [...]