Membership Changes, New Worship Resources Among Top 2006 ELCA News Stories

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Significant changes in ELCA membership,
the release of a new series of worship resources, including a new
worship book, continuing attention to cleanup and recovery
following natural disasters, and the sudden resignation of a
synod bishop were among the top stories in 2006 involving the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
The top stories were determined by the ELCA News Service,
ELCA Communication Services. Staff include John R. Brooks,
director, Melissa Ramirez Cooper, associate director, and Frank
F. Imhoff, associate director.
Top stories, listed in no particular order, were:
+ ELCA membership drops 80,000 from 2005 to 2006: Baptized
membership in the ELCA dropped to 4.85 million in 2005, the Rev.
Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, reported. That figure
represents a decrease of about 1.62 percent or a reduction of
79,653 baptized members since the previous year, he said. Almen
attributed the drop to a decrease in the number of new members,
the disbanding of 31 ELCA congregations and cleaning of
membership rolls in many congregations.
+ Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) released Oct. 3: A new
series of worship resources -- in a new worship book and in
electronic form -- was released, and early sales were brisk.
Nearly 600,000 volumes of the ELW were ordered in 2006.
+ ELCA provides emergency funds to Middle East hospital,
agency: ELCA International Disaster Response released a $100,000
grant March 31 for emergency financial support of Augusta
Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem. The hospital, operated by
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), was facing a financial
crisis because a significant source of its funding through the
Palestinian Authority (PA) was lost. Many Western governments
withheld financial support of the PA because its new political
leadership was affiliated with Hamas, which many believe is a
terrorist organization. Based in Geneva, the LWF is a global
communion of 140 member churches in 78 countries, representing
66.2 million Lutherans.
International Disaster Response sent $30,000 Aug. 1 to
support the work of the Contact and Resource Center (CRC), an
institution designed to enhance the future of people living with
disabilities in Lebanon. Located in Beirut, the CRC is a
companion ministry of the ELCA. Its staff was affected by the
war between Israel and Hezbollah. The ELCA sent $75,000 to
support individuals and communities as they rebuilt homes and
businesses in the wake of the fighting.
+ "What A Relief! brings young people to U.S. Gulf Coast
region: Some 1,100 college students -- many of them from ELCA
colleges and universities -- went to the Gulf Coast region to
help clean up following the devastating 2005 hurricane season.
The students went to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi
to muck out houses and apartment buildings and remove debris from
beaches, parks and neighborhoods.
+ Two women elected bishops; one hospitalized: the Rev.
Claire S. Burkat was elected May 6 as bishop of the ELCA
Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, Norristown, and the Rev.
Elizabeth A. Eaton was elected Dec. 2 as bishop of the ELCA
Northeastern Ohio Synod, Cuyahoga Falls. Their elections brought
to nine the number of women serving as bishops in the ELCA.
Meanwhile, the Rev. Margarita A. Martinez, bishop of the ELCA
Caribbean Synod, Dorado, P.R., was hospitalized Aug. 24 in Park
Ridge, Ill., and disclosed she was being treated for cancer. She
appointed the Rev. Francisco L. Sosa, a former bishop of the
synod, as acting bishop during her treatment.
+ ELCA Grand Canyon Synod bishop resigns: The Rev. Mark S.
Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, announced Jan. 26 that Michael J.
Neils resigned as synod bishop and as an ordained minister of the
ELCA. Hanson explained in a letter to the ELCA Church Council
and ELCA Conference of Bishops that Neils resigned "after
admitting to sexual misconduct with an adult woman and reporting
that conduct to me." The Grand Canyon Synod Council appointed
the Rev. Alton Zenker interim bishop. Zenker retired in 2000
after serving as bishop of the ELCA Central/Southern Illinois
Synod, Springfield. The Rev. Stephen S. Talmage, pastor of Peace
Lutheran Church, Peoria, Ariz., was elected My 26 as Neils'
successor and assumed the new role Aug. 1.
+ ELCA leaders call for fair and just immigration reform:
Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr., president, Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Service (LIRS), Baltimore, Hanson and 54 ELCA synod
bishops sent a statement March 27 to U.S. Senators, calling for
fair and just immigration reform. Their statement appeared in the
March 28 issue of "Roll Call" -- the newspaper of the U.S. Capitol.
+ Presiding bishop available for second term, secretary
declines another term: Hanson told the ELCA Conference of Bishops
in October that he will be available for re-election to a second
six-year term as presiding bishop when the ELCA Churchwide
Assembly meets here at Navy Pier in August. Almen told the
conference he would not seek another term as ELCA secretary this
summer. When he leaves office Oct. 31, Almen will have served
more than 20 years as secretary, a post to which he was re-
elected three times.
+ ELCA presiding bishop continues travels as LWF president:
Bishop Hanson was a special guest as Lutheranism marked its 300th
anniversary in India, preceded by a visit to Indonesia where he
spoke at a post-tsunami seminar for Lutherans and Muslims. In
August Hanson was a panelist at the International HIV/AIDS
conference in Toronto. In October and early November, he visited
Lutherans in Hungary and Romania, his first official visit as LWF
president to churches in Europe.
+ Youth Gathering draws 40,000 to San Antonio: Every three
years, the ELCA Youth Gathering meets over a two-week period. In
2006 the site was San Antonio, attracting about 40,000 young
Lutherans and adult leaders. The theme of the gathering was
"Cruzando: Journey with Jesus." Cruzando is a Spanish word for
"crossing." The Lutherans participated in worship, heard a
variety of speakers and music, attended learning sessions and
performed community service. About 800 people attended a
Multicultural Youth Leadership Event, 60 people attended a
Definitely-Abled Youth Leadership Event, and more than 300
delegates attended the Lutheran Youth Organization convention.
In addition 19 youth dancers from the Al Raja Palestinian
Folkloric Dance Troupe, based in Ramallah, West Bank, traveled to
the United States in the summer, performed throughout the country
-- including the ELCA Youth Gathering -- and made appearances in
ELCA congregations, at key ELCA events and other ministry sites.
+ Retired ELCA pastor dies following CO leak at Roanoke
College: An autopsy confirmed July 17 that the Rev. Walter J.
Vierling, 91, Pearisburg, Va., a retired ELCA pastor, died July
14 of carbon monoxide poisoning. Vierling was staying in a
dormitory at the ELCA's Roanoke College, Salem, Va., while
attending a conference sponsored by the ELCA Virginia Synod. A
carbon monoxide build-up early July 14 at the "Sections" -- three
connected dormitories on the campus -- sent more than 100 people
to Salem-area hospitals for evaluation. Investigators said the
carbon monoxide leak was caused by a failure in a natural gas-
powered water heating system. The college installed carbon
monoxide monitors in all residence halls and in all other campus
buildings.
+ Significant 2006 obituaries:
Ronald Schulz, hostage in Iraq, St. John Lutheran Church,
Jamestown, N.D.; memorial service Jan. 14
James Morrison, executive director, Oaks Indian Mission, Feb. 13
The Rev. Stewart Herman Jr., seminary president, LWF leader,
Feb. 16
Charlotte Fiechter, executive director, Women of the ELCA,
March 10
Marshall Stross, director of