by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service
The Deaconess Community of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) elected Sister E. Anne Keffer to a second
four-year term as its directing deaconess April 27 during its
biennial assembly April 25-28 at the Carol Joy Holling Camp
in Ashland, Neb. In the balloting for directing deaconess,
Keffer received 29 votes, Sister Davia A. Baldauf, Mount
Holly Springs, Pa., received 19 votes and Sister Carolyn R.
Hellerich, Lincoln, Neb., received three votes. The community
elected Baldauf, Sister Melinda A. Lando, New York, and Sister
Amy M. Lindquist, St Paul, Minn., to its board of directors.
Keffer is a graduate of Waterloo Lutheran University (now
Wilfrid Laurier University), Waterloo, Ontario, and the
Baltimore Deaconess School, Baltimore. She earned bachelor
of education and master of education degrees from the
University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, and a doctor
of ministry degree from the Graduate Theological Foundation,
South Bend, Ind. Keffer served as a director of Christian
education and youth ministry in urban and rural team ministry
settings across Canada, and as a chaplain on two university
campuses and a retirement home. She was director of the
Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, when
elected directing deaconess of the ELCA Deaconess Community
in 2004.
The Deaconess Community is a community of lay women consecrated
by the church to a ministry of Word and service. Sisters in
the community work in a variety of settings such as health care,
Christian education and social services. Deaconesses are
theologically trained and professionally prepared for their
careers. They are called to ministry by congregations and
synods of the ELCA and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
- - -
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
