CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Details of services for the Rev. Will L. Herzfeld, a former Lutheran presiding bishop, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and civil rights and community activist, have been announced. Herzfeld, 64, died at a local hospital May 9 of cerebral malaria, which he contracted while in Africa last month.
Two services are planned. One will be held here at 10 a.m., May 18, at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Luke. A second service will be held at 3 p.m., June 9, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Oakland, Calif., where Herzfeld served as pastor for 19 years.
At the time of his death, Herzfeld was associate executive director for the ELCA Division for Global Mission (DGM). He was presiding bishop of the former Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, a predecessor church body of the ELCA, from 1984 to 1987. Herzfeld was the first African American to serve as presiding bishop of a Lutheran church. He was also a leader in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, while pastor of a Lutheran congregation in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
CHICAGO SERVICE MAY 18
The Rev. H. George Anderson will preside at the "Service of Holy Communion in Remembrance of the Rev. Will Herzfeld," May 18. Anderson was ELCA presiding bishop from 1995 to 2001, and considered Herzfeld a trusted adviser, said the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary. Almen helped organize arrangements for the service for Herzfeld.
Preaching will be the Rev. Albert P. "Pete" Pero, Jr., professor of theology and cross-cultural studies, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), one of eight ELCA seminaries. Pero and Herzfeld were longtime friends, Almen said.
Assisting ministers will be the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, executive director, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries, and the Rev. David G. Abrahamson, pastor, Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Luke.
Lectors will be Sandra Holloway, DGM director for global mission education and stewardship, and the Rev. Rafael Malpica-Padilla, DGM director for international programs and planning. The Rev. James Kenneth Echols, LSTC president, will be intercessor. LSTC's Gospel Choir will sing.
Several people are expected to speak in remembrance of Herzfeld, including the Rev. Bonnie L. Jensen, DGM executive director. The Rev. N.P. Phaswana, bishop of the Central Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa, will speak on behalf of the Lutheran bishops in Africa and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The LWF, based in Geneva, Switzerland, is a global communion of 133 Lutheran churches in 73 countries representing more than 60.5 million of the world's 64.3 million Lutherans.
OAKLAND SERVICE JUNE 9
A memorial service, "A Celebration for the Life of Will Herzfeld," will be held on Herzfeld's birthday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. On June 9, Herzfeld would have turned 65, said the Rev. Julius Carroll, pastor of Bethlehem.
Preaching will be the Rev. J. Alfred Smith, pastor of Allen Temple Baptist Church, Oakland. Smith was a close friend of Herzfeld and a partner in social justice efforts in Oakland, as well as in the African countries of Namibia and South Africa, Carroll said.
Bethlehem's choir will sing and four African American clergy will participate in the liturgy, Carroll said.
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
