Site Help

Tips on how to use the new ELCA Web site

Change is good! We've redesigned and restructured our site to give you a streamlined, consistent experience. The site contains content from and about every unit, program, and ministry of the ELCA Churchwide Organization, as well as some information from and about synods, congregations and ministry partners.

Visit the sitemap for an alphabetical listing of content areas and corresponding URL shortcuts.

To access content on the previous ELCA Web site, visit http://archive.elca.org. If you know the full Web address, replace "www" with "archive" and you will be directed to the appropriate page.

If you wish to record feedback or report broken links, visit http://www.elca.org/feedback.


With so much great information, we've organized the site into four main areas.

Here you'll find general information about our church, its history, leaders, and organization. In the Churchwide Organization section, you'll find a direct link to every program and service unit, and every office of the ELCA Churchwide Organization.
 Learn about the ELCA's traditions, theology and statements -- and find resources on prayer and beliefs. If you're new to the church, this is a great place to start. You'll find a glossary of terms and other resources for learning more about our faith tradition.
From disaster relief to advocacy, the ELCA is actively engaged in helping neighbors throughout the world. In Stories of Faith in Action. You'll find amazing stories of how this church is reaching out in many different ways. Through education, ministries and evangelical outreach, we are called to continually deepen our faith. Here you can find information on Lutheran schools, vocation and specific ministries of the ELCA, like youth, young adult, and multicultural ministries and more.


Some other helpful ways to navigate:

ELCA.org Spotlight ELCA.org Search ELCA.org Find a Congregation
Look for Spotlights on the top-level pages to show you featured content, including the latest stories and events. The Search tool, at the top of every page, has been improved to return more accurate and specific results. We've also provided ways to quickly find a congregation, find a person, or find an organization, such as a campus ministry, school or camp.


Finally, you may notice that in some cases, content has not yet been moved from our old site, and you will be redirected there. Please bear with us as we continue to transition to our new site platform, working to improve and enhance the new ELCA.org.

To access content on the previous ELCA Web site, visit http://archive.elca.org.


Free Web Tools

These tools will help you best view content on this site.

Video and Audio Tools
To view all the video and audio on the ELCA.org site, you will need to have Flash and RealPlayer installed. These plug-ins, along with instructions for how to install them, are available for free from their respective Web sites.

Flash

Adobe Flash
   - Download Flash		 RealPlayer

Real Player
   - Download RealPlayer


Document and Form Tools
Throughout the site, you'll find various types of documents and forms for download. To best ensure that you will be able to use them, please make sure you have these tools installed, available for free.

Adobe

Adobe Reader
   - Download Adobe Reader





Formatta Filler is the form tool used throughout ELCA.org. See the notes below for versions and platforms.

    Windows
    You can install Formatta Filler for FREE on any PC to complete, save, and send ELCA forms.
    Formatta Filler - Full (3.17 MB)
    This version is larger than the version below but includes a spellchecker and dictionary.
    Formatta Filler (1.6 MB)
    This is a smaller version which will download faster for those who have dial-up access.

    Macintosh
    You can install Formatta Filler for Mac for FREE on a Macintosh using OS X v.10.3 or later.
    Complete and save ELCA forms with further functionality and enhancements coming in the
    near future.

Download instructions for Mac users
If you are using a Macintosh and are unable to open a downloaded PDF, Word or Formatta document from ELCA.org:
    1. Hold down the CTRL + click on the link to obtain a drop down menu.
    2. Select "Save Target as..."
    3. Change the file extension from ".ashx" to the appropriate file extension (".pdf" for Adobe Acrobat, ".doc" for Word or ".pff" for Formatta files).