CHICAGO (ELCA) -- On the evening of July 23 the family of
Jon Francis, youth ministry director, Ascension Lutheran Church,
Ogden, Utah, decided to call off the search for Francis who went
missing July 15 in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains.
Francis, 24, left the Luther Heights Bible Camp near
Ketchum, Idaho, where he was serving as assistant program
director this summer, to hike the nearly 10,000-foot Grand Mogul
Mountain but did not return later that evening as expected. Co-
workers reported him missing the next day. After reaching the
summit of Grand Mogul on his solo day hike, searchers found that
Francis signed a log sheet with his name and "Glory to God," The
Associated Press reported. Searchers do not know what happened to
him on the way down.
A native of Stillwater, Minn., Francis graduated from
Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., in 2004. Augustana College
is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America.
According to a Luther Heights Bible Camp news release, the
Francis family held a worship service at Redfish Lake July 23
near the Grand Mogul hiking area and visited Luther Heights Bible
Camp, where Francis was a counselor the past four summers. The
family plans to visit Ascension Lutheran Church before returning
to Minnesota.
---
Information on the search for Jon Francis is at
http://www.ascensionlutheranogden.org/events/JonFrancis.html and
http://www.lutherheights.org/jonfrancis.htm on the Web.
*Katherine R. Hinck is a senior journalism and religion major at
Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D. This summer she is an
intern with the ELCA News Service. Information was provided by
The Associated Press and St. Paul Pioneer Press.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
- - -
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
