CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Two pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) the Rev. Karen L. Bloomquist and the Rev. John A. Evenson have been appointed to positions with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).
The LWF is a global communion of 131 member churches in 72 countries, representing 59.5 million of the world's 63 million Lutherans. Its highest decision-making body is the assembly, held every six or seven years. Between assemblies the LWF is governed by a=20 49-member council which meets annually, and its executive committee. The LWF is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Evenson, 58, who has worked with the Lutheran Church in Great Britain as an ELCA pastor serving an English-language Lutheran church overseas, became director and editor-in-chief of the LWF Office for Communication Services effective August 1.
Evenson has worked in print and electronic media for more than 30 years. He has worked with churches and their related agencies in Africa, Europe and North America, and has been involved with ecumenical discussions concerning the Anglican, Congregational, Methodist, Reformed and Roman Catholic churches. He also has experience in fund raising, international affairs, human rights issues and pastoral care.
Ordained in 1971, Evenson served as pastor of Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church, New York, and as a radio-television producer for the American Bible Society, New York. From 1973 to 1984 he was director for interpretation for the former Lutheran Church in America.
Evenson is married to Alwina W.M. Coetze. They are the parents of two children.
The LWF appointed Bloomquist director of the LWF Department for Theology and Studies.
Bloomquist, 52, has been serving the LWF as a specialist in church and social ethics questions and as acting director of the LWF Department for Theology and Studies since August 1999. For 12 years she had been the director of studies for the ELCA's Division for Church in Society, where she helped write several ELCA statements and documents on social positions.
Bloomquist also served the ELCA as pastor of Faith American Lutheran Church, Oakland, Calif., and St. Philip Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, N.Y. She was a part-time associate professor of theological ethics at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, and assistant professor of church and society at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). LSTC and Wartburg are ELCA seminaries.
Bloomquist and her husband, the Rev. William R. Strehlow, are parents of a son.
[*Michael N. Hoffman is a senior at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan. This summer he was an intern with ELCA News and Information.]
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
