CHICAGO (ELCA) -- MOSAIC, the video magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), features the theme "What is Lutheran worship?" in its Summer 2001 issue. Segments highlight Lutheran congregations with distinct styles of worship around the world.
Many congregations throughout the ELCA are struggling with questions about what is acceptable Lutheran worship and what is not. MOSAIC's summer issue includes discussions of "worship wars" which have evolved in some places. In those cases parishioners want to try something new that will attract new members into the congregation, while others in the congregation prefer traditional forms of worship.
The Summer 2001 issue, available June 1, includes stories of Lutheran congregations in the continental United States, Alaska and Puerto Rico. MOSAIC also includes worship stories from southern Madagascar and the West Bank town of Ramallah, just north of Jerusalem. Their worship styles reflect their cultures and belief systems.
The three MOSAIC segments examine what congregations are doing in worship to maintain current membership and to attract new members:
+ "Surviving the Worship Wars" takes a look at how worship can divide or bring a congregation together. Many congregations debate over questions of style, form, music, leadership and even attire. This segment features a Chicago-area congregation that has not only survived "worship wars" but is thriving.
+ "The Many Faces of Lutheran Worship" explores the question, "Is there a such thing as 'true' Lutheran worship?" This segment includes Lutheran worship examples from the United States and around the globe.
+ "Christian Worship: A Talk with the Experts" reports from Summer of 2000, when the ELCA hosted an event at Chicago's Navy Pier titled "Worship Jubilee 2000, Lifting up Jesus Christ, Yesterday, Today and Forever." MOSAIC includes exclusive interviews with key workshop presenters from the ELCA and other mainline denominations.
MOSAIC is produced and distributed by the ELCA Department for Communication. It is intended for educational use in a variety of congregational settings including Sunday School classes, adult forums, youth groups, women's and men's groups, new member classes, church council meetings, committee meetings and other organizational meetings.
Each issue includes a user's guide, with a synopsis of each segment and discussion questions. MOSAIC is issued quarterly. Annual subscriptions are available through the ELCA Department for Communication. -- -- --
Specific information about MOSAIC subscriptions and the contents of each issue are available on the World Wide Web at http://www.elca.org/co/mosaic or by contacting the ELCA Department for Communication by phone at 800/638-3522 ext. 6009.
Editors: Digital photographs that accompany each story can be requested
by e-mail to mosaic@elca.org or by phone.
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
