by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service
A funeral service was held Oct. 31 for Katherine Ann Olson, 24,
who was found dead last week after responding to a baby-sitting
job advertised on the Internet site craigslist.com, reported the
Star Tribune, Minneapolis-St. Paul. A 19-year-old man from
Savage, Minn., has been charged with second-degree murder for
allegedly luring Olson to his home, shooting her once in his
bedroom and abandoning her body in the trunk of her car at a
nearby park, the Star Tribune reported. Olson graduated from
St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., in 2006. St. Olaf is one
of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA).
"We are broken-hearted, but we will support you and stand beside
you as long as this journey takes," the Rev. Craig E. Johnson,
bishop, ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod, told the Olson family at the
funeral. Johnson also read aloud part of a statement from the
Olson family: "The outpouring of grief has come from more places
than we can comprehend," and "we are truly surrounded by 'so great
a cloud of witnesses.'" Olson's father is the Rev. Rolf E. Olson,
pastor of Richfield Lutheran Church, Minneapolis. Richfield
Lutheran is a congregation of the ELCA.
The funeral took place at Christ Presbyterian Church, Edina, Minn.
More than 1,600 relatives, friends, neighbors and others attended
the funeral.
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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
