Need help now
Most people find a church website at two in the morning. They are not browsing. These pages are written for that hour. Everything you need is right here, ready to read now.
Someone is dying
Prayers to say at a bedside, including the commendation, the prayer that entrusts someone to God at the end. You can pray these. You do not need a pastor and you do not need to do it well.
Open the prayers Right nowA baby or a person needs baptizing and there is no time
Any Christian may baptize in an emergency. Here is exactly what to say and do, in six lines.
Open the instructionsSomeone has died
What happens in the first hours, who to call, and prayers for a household in the middle of it.
Read nowTalk to an actual pastor
Everything else on this page is teaching. If what you need is a person, this is how to reach one.
Reach a pastorAsking for communion at home
Most congregations will bring it to you. Almost nobody knows to ask. Here is the email, written for you to copy.
Copy the emailThe Lutheran tradition has five centuries of writing for exactly these hours. The library indexes it by what is happening to you, not by century. →
If you are in immediate danger (a medical emergency, an unsafe home, or thoughts of harming yourself), please do not wait for a website. In the United States, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or 911 for a medical emergency. Outside the US, findahelpline.com lists a crisis line for almost every country. We will still be here afterwards.
Pregnant, or a new mother, and not okay? Call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262). It is free, any hour, in English or Spanish. More for new mothers.