News

We of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America join with people around the world in praying for the ministry of Pope Leo XIV. We rejoice with the people of the Roman Catholic Church, especially those in our communities, as they joyfully receive their new shepherd.

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On this Easter Monday, we of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America join with people around the world in heartfelt grief at the death of Pope Francis, and we celebrate his life eternal in Jesus Christ.

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Over the past week we have engaged in a solidarity visit with the people and ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), concluding with Palm Sunday celebrations. We have experienced the strength of the Lutheran Christian community, which serves the people through worship, diakonia, education, health care, environmental stewardship and gender justice.

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The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered at the Lutheran Center in Chicago, April 3-6. The council serves as the ELCA churchwide organization’s board of directors and interim legislative authority between meetings of a churchwide assembly. The council’s work, grounded in faith in Jesus Christ, focused on actions that will go before the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Phoenix, July 26-Aug. 2.

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ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton has issued a video message for Transgender Day of Visibility. In the video, Eaton speaks out against the inhumane actions by legislatures and executive orders while also speaking directly to the transgender and nonbinary community.

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We stand united as people of faith in our commitments to welcome the stranger and to care for the most vulnerable – commitments rooted in our common understanding of our Creator’s love for all and call to serve our neighbors.

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Recently, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem issued an urgent plea to the global church, “A Humanitarian Plea From the Churches of Jerusalem: Defending the Dignity andPresence of the People of Gaza.” I write to uplift the timely and crucial words of these beloved siblings in Christ in Jerusalem and to call on our church to respond in prayer, action and solidarity.

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The board of trustees of United Lutheran Seminary (ULS) has voted to transfer the institution’s endowment fund, valued at approximately $100 million, to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Foundation’s Endowment Fund Pooled Trust, also known as the Ministry Growth Fund.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton has issued a video message in response to the executive order on immigration that rolled back guidance to immigration authorities in protected areas such as places of worship, schools and hospitals.

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ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton has issued a video message in response to false allegations made by Elon Musk about illegal payments made to Lutheran organizations.

Over the past few days, ELCA leaders and ministry partners have shared with me the immediate impacts of recent executive orders focused on immigration. I have heard about families frightened of being torn apart and from congregations fearful that their churches can no longer offer safety or support to their immigrant neighbors. I have heard from faith partners ordered to stop services to refugees and from businesses upended by workforce disruptions.

On Monday, our nation witnessed the peaceful transfer of power central to our democracy, followed by sweeping actions by the incoming Trump administration. Facing such changes, we receive guidance through Martin Luther's words in the Large Catechism.

In observance of the 2025 National Day of Racial Healing, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in partnership with Augsburg Fortress Press, will host a free online educational event Tuesday, Jan. 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Central time.

The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered at the Lutheran Center in Chicago, Nov. 14-17. The council, which serves as the ELCA churchwide organization’s board of directors and interim legislative authority between meetings of a churchwide assembly, focused much of its work on preparations for the ELCA 2025 Churchwide Assembly.

​Twenty-five years ago today, Catholic and Lutheran representatives gathered in Augsburg, Germany, to sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), thereby resolving once and for all a central theological conflict of the Reformation.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has received a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish Curious Christian Children: Reimagining Kids in Worship, a new initiative of the ELCA's Ministry with Children.

​The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will celebrate World Food Day and the 50th anniversary of ELCA World Hunger during a special online event, Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. The event will be hosted by the Rev. Amy Current, bishop of the Southeastern Iowa Synod, and Imran Siddiqui, ELCA vice president.

​The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met Sept. 24-28 at the Lutheran Center in Chicago. The conference, an advisory body of the ELCA, comprises 65 synod bishops, the presiding bishop and the secretary.