ORLANDO, Fla. (ELCA) - The 2005 Churchwide Assembly of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) heard greetings
from Jill M. Schumann, the president of Lutheran Services in
America (LSA), an umbrella organization for nearly 300
independent Lutheran health and human service organizations in
3,000 communities across the United States and the Caribbean. The
$7 billion organization provides services to nearly 6 million
people annually - about one in 50 Americans.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of
the ELCA, is meeting here August 8-14 at the World Center
Marriott and Convention Center. About 2,300 people are
participating, including 1,018 ELCA voting members. The theme for
the biennial assembly is "Marked with the Cross of Christ
Forever."
Schumann, who was recently named for a third year in a row
to the Non-Profit Times magazine list of the 50 most influential
people, reported for the eight-year-old Baltimore-based
organization. She said that LSA's focus is to provide a
coordinated Lutheran identity for the many member organizations
and to connect the social ministries with each other and
congregations.
Schumann invited voting members to visit the LSA Web site
(www.lutheranservices.org) to view a national database of social
ministry services, which is searchable by type of service and
location. Describing a new initiative for LSA, Schumann asked
voting members to support a national Lutheran affordable housing
initiative. "Lutherans have an enormous presence in housing," she
said, describing how congregations are also getting involved in
housing issues "by developing, building or staffing places that
people can call home." LSA launched a multi-phase housing
initiative designed to survey LSA members and Lutheran
congregations to gather information about existing housing
efforts. "This is no small task," she continued, "so please let
us know of Lutheran congregations involved in affordable
housing."
Finally, Schumann introduced a new project called "Trading
Graces," a nationwide "signature event" to be based on the
electronic auction Web site eBay. "Lutheran social ministry
organizations will be gathering items and services to auction,"
explained Schumann, "and we'll list them all on our Web site
preview gallery." The "first annual" auction is slated to take
place following a February 26-March 8 preview. "The project is
called Trading Graces," she said, "because everyone has something
to give."
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Information about the ELCA Churchwide Assembly is at http://www.elca.org/assembly/05 on the Web.
For more information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
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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
