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Welcome

Welcome to the website of the Evangelical Lutheran Parish Nurse Association! We seek to be the light of Christ as we integrate faith and health in the ministry of parish nursing. Here you will find information about parish nursing, tools to assist you in your ministry, as well as updates on our progress and activities. May God bless you with peace and joy!

National Board Members from across the US enjoy meeting together
in Chicago for a retreat, September 2019

Nancy Roberts, Nancy Deetz, Andy West, and Carolyn
at our ELPNA Display, Westberg 2019

Coronavirus Information

We will be posting various links to information about the Coronavirus as they come to our attention. Please click on this link to find all the updated information:

http://www.elpna.org/resources/general-resources.php

Sharing our Covid-19 Stories

By Marilee Tollefson

"God will generously provide all you need." II Corinthians 9:8

In these sad, lonely and frightening days of the Coronavirus, we often feel out of control. But God continues to remind us of His presence, and His Love. At church we have had to curtail our visits and deliveries to parishioners, but our call and card ministries are thriving. Donations of medical supplies and equipment are down, which is depriving many of necessary items for home care. This week, one of our members had a desperate need for a knee scooter because of a serious foot infection , preventing him from bearing weight on his foot. When he called, I said they are rarely available, and we hadn't had one in for weeks or longer. Within the hour, I received an email from someone in the community, reporting they were recovered from foot surgery, and wondered if we were in need of a knee scooter! Praise the Lord for answered prayer!

Only the next day, we accepted a rare donation of a tub bench and a rollator, received outside the building, 6 feet distance and masks between donor and parish nurse. They were wiped down and put in storage in our medical space. Within the hour, John, a dedicated PT from the Visiting Nurses Association, called saying, " I know it's a long shot these days, but I have a needy patient in need of a tub bench and rollator. Any chance you might have even 1 of them?"

These are just tiny reminders of our need to maintain our Faith and Hope in a time when we become discouraged. In our daily prayers, we continue to ask for God's loving protection over all in the time of Covid 19.

Summary of The International 7th Annual

Caring for the Human Spirit® Conference and the

2020 Westberg Symposium

This was held virtually April 20-22 due to the Coronavirus restrictions.

Please click below for summaries of the presentations.

https://www.spiritualcareassociation.org/conference-summaries-2020.html

GRANTS AVAILABLE FOR STARTING A PARISH/FAITH COMMUNITY NURSE MINISTRY!!

Greetings from the Evangelical Lutheran Parish Nurse Association (ELPNA

We have an exciting opportunity for Lutheran congregations who would like to start or develop a parish nurse ministry within their faith community. Members of the ELPNA have long been supportive of new parish nurse ministry start-ups and are acutely aware of the challenging financial situations of congregations. In response to this need, the ELPNA will annually provide start-up funds for a minimum of two (2) Lutheran congregations. Congregations can request up to $750.00 as a start-up grant.

Comments from other congregations that have a parish nursing ministry:

Pastor Cheryl Mathison – St. Philip the Deacon

We are so grateful to have our parish nurse at St. Philip the Deacon. Her creative energy, passion for health and deep faith help us to reach out to more people in new ways. We are so thankful for the grant, which has helped us to meet the needs of this large faith community.

Connie A. Miller, Senior Pastor, Saint Luke Lutheran Church, Silver Spring, Maryland

I have served here at Saint Luke for 20 years and have had an amazing Parish Nurse/Director of Caring Ministries for 18 of those years and cannot imagine being in ministry at Saint Luke without her. What a resource, vital partner in ministry for our entire staff, and a wholistic health adviser and medical professional connection for the wider church and community. I can say first hand that Parish/Faith Community Nurses are sheer gifts from God.

We are asking for your assistance in publicizing the information to Lutheran congregations. Grant applications are due by December 1st, 2020 via an electronic submission process. The awards will be announced by within a month of receipt of application with funds issued within the 30 days of approval of the grant. Application forms are available on the ELPNA.org website.

We are pleased to be able to award these grants to promote and support parish nurse ministry.

Blessings,
The ELPNA Board

Click here for the application

Click Here to download our Brochure!!

The ELPNA National Executive Committee
Carol DeSchepper, Chair (Region 3) cjdeschepper@gmail.com
Marie Wiegert, Co-Chair (Region 3) mariewiegert@hotmail.com
Andrea West, Secretary (Region 2) amwestrn@yahoo.com
June Sand, Treasurer (Region 3) djsand@comcast.net

Updated 5/21//20