'Story of the ELCA' Theme of Spring 2003 MOSAIC

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The spring 2003 issue of MOSAIC, the video magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), tells the story of the formation of the ELCA, featuring interviews with key leaders of predecessor church bodies. The video became available March 1.
This year the ELCA marks its 15th anniversary. The church came into existence on Jan. 1, 1988, through the merger of the American Lutheran Church (ALC), the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) and the Lutheran Church in America (LCA).
Included in the program are portions of interviews with the Rev. James R. Crumley Jr., bishop of the former LCA from 1980 to 1987; Dr. Dorothy Marple, coordinator of the Transition Team for a New Lutheran Church from 1986 to 1988; the Rev. Rev. Robert J. Marshall, LCA president, 1973 to 1978; the Rev. David W. Preus, president of the former ALC, 1973 to 1987; the late Rev. Jacob A. O. Preus, president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), 1969 to 1981; and the Rev. John H. Tietjen, president of the LCMS Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, 1969 to 1974. In 1974, he led a walkout at the seminary and later was president of Christ Seminary-Seminex. Tietjen served briefly as the first bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan Chicago Synod before he resigned in a disagreement with the synod council over his nominees for staff positions.
Others in the program include members of the Commission for a New Lutheran Church, some of whom are now ELCA staff, and the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary since the church was formed.
The merger that formed the ELCA "is the result of a process that [had] been in action ... 10 years," David Preus said in the program. "I continue to feel that we would have done much better taking a slower course."
"We could not depend on our Lutheran national heritage any longer," said Tietjen in his MOSAIC interview. "We were becoming a truly American church."
When the AELC, ALC and LCA merged, the dismantling of existing church structures in favor of the new ELCA was difficult for many people, according to the documentary.
"It was tough on people," Marple told the MOSAIC crew. "It was not so tough on me, because I had made a choice not to become a part of that new structure. But, it certainly was true with a number of people."
The "Story of the ELCA" also examines how the ELCA's churchwide office was located in Chicago, and includes some comments on the church's future.
Melissa O. Ramirez, associate director for news, ELCA Department for Communication, is host of MOSAIC.
MOSAIC is produced and distributed by the ELCA Department for Communication, and is available in VHS and DVD formats. 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.
MOSAIC is broadcast Sundays at 10 p.m. Eastern Time on direct broadcast satellite through Dominion Sky Angel on the Faith TV Network, available through most cable satellite providers. Some ELCA colleges and universities carry MOSAIC on local cable channels.
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 content of each issue are available on the Web at http://www.elca.org/mosaic or by contacting the ELCA Department for Communication by phone at 1-800/638- 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