INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Bishop James A. Stuck welcomed the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) churchwide assembly meeting with a call and response, "God is good: All the time." Stuck greeted the assembly on behalf of the 240 congregations, 85,000 members of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod. "Our hundreds of volunteers are taking their time to be here to greet and care for the voting members as Christ is in our midst," he said.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 8-14 at the Indiana Convention Center. There are more than 2,000 people participating, including 1,040 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known: Sharing Faith in a New Century."
"Each volunteer is wearing a pedometer to measure the distances walked throughout the assembly and have gathered pledges for each mile to support the ministries of World Hunger and the Stand With Africa appeal," Stuck said. "A synod is a shared journey, and as we walk together into our church's future, we journey as well with the poorest of our brothers and sisters in Christ." Volunteers reported walking between six and 17 miles the first day in which the assembly was set up.
"The gift of a butterfly handcrafted in our companion synod of Chile," given to each voting member, "represents the interconnectedness of society today and the outreach emphasis of our synod vision," said Stuck. "Outreach is of primary importance in the synod with 30 mission initiatives, 17 mission developers and redevelopers and $2.5 million from our Mission 2000 supporting them living out the 'Making Christ Known' message of the assembly."
Other items of business Aug. 8, included adopting the agenda for the assembly and the ecclesiastical first ballot for the election of the presiding bishop. -- -- --
Information about assembly actions is at http://www.elca.org/assembly/01 on the ELCA's Web site. Recorded updates during the assembly are available by calling 773/380-2477.
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
