ELCA Synod Bishops Meet with Members of Congress on Immigration Reform
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Several synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) urged their members of Congress and key congressional staff March 22 to enact comprehensive immigration reform in 2007 that is "humane and for the common good." Specifically, the bishops emphasized that comprehensive immigration reform legislation must:...
LWF Council Calls for Cooperation with Palestinian Leaders, End to Blockade
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) called on the international community to cooperate with the new Palestinian government and to end an international economic blockade. The council asked LWF members to pray on Thursday of Holy Week (April 5) for Christians in the Middle East....
Lutherans Respond to Emergency Situations Overseas
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have provided $825,000 in response to emergency situations in Indonesia, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Zambia through the church's International Disaster Response. Coordinated by ELCA Global Mission, International Disaster Response channels its funds through international church organizations and...
ELCA's Finlandia University Names Philip Johnson President
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- On March 23 the board of trustees of Finlandia University, Hancock, Mich., named the Rev. Philip R. Johnson to become the university's 16th president effective July 1. Finlandia is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "By virtue of his...
Newberry College students spend spring break helping others
by Elliott Cox, Newberry College Six students along with two staff members from Newberry College, Newberry, S.C., gave up their spring breaks to assist Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing to families, and to work at a Lutheran camp in South Carolina. Newberry College is one...
Paul N. Hanson Named Director of ELCA Fund for Leaders in Mission
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Paul N. Hanson, senior pastor at Ascension Lutheran Church, Brookings, S.D., will become director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Fund for Leaders in Mission April 2. Housed in ELCA Development Services, Fund for Leaders in Mission is a church initiative to build...
Sabine O'Hara resigns as president of ELCA's Roanoke College
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service Dr. Sabine O'Hara resigned as president of Roanoke College, Salem, Va., effective June 30. Roanoke College -- with about 1,900 students -- is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. O'Hara, who has served as Roanoke's president...
ELCA represented at Anglican conference on global poverty and HIV
by Annie Lynsen, ELCA News Service The Rev. Callon W. Holloway, Jr., bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was one of three ELCA representatives at the "Towards Effective Anglican Mission" (TEAM) conference March 7-14 in Boksburg, South Africa. Billed as "an international...
Pope Benedict XVI, WCC Congratulate LWF on 60th Anniversary
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a congratulatory greeting to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) on its 60th anniversary, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to the "always fruitful" dialogue between the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church, and the major progress in ecumenical relations after the Second Vatican Council. The LWF is...
ELCA Bishops Receive Goals for Pastor/Chaplains and their Congregations
GALVESTON, Texas (ELCA) -- The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) accepted six goals aimed at providing guidance and support for congregations and their pastors when the pastor is mobilized into military service. The goals are also intended to provide guidance and support to current...
Lutherans Help 'Gut Out' New Orleans by End of Summer 2007
NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- A primary goal among disaster response workers here is to have every house that Hurricane Katrina damaged "gutted" by the end of summer 2007, according to Jessica Vermilyea, Metairie, La., state coordinator for Lutheran Disaster Response. Lutheran Disaster Response is a collaborative ministry of the Evangelical...
LWF President Hanson says Living in Communion is 'Sheer Gift'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- While living in communion takes considerable effort and can appear to even be counterintuitive, countercultural and unnatural at times, it is a "sheer gift," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America....
ELCA Consultation Examines Future of Word and Service Leadership
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The future of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's professional public ministers of Word and service -- associates in ministry, deaconesses and diaconal ministers -- was the focus of an ELCA consultation in February in Delray Beach, Fla. The central question some 64 participants discussed was how...
Lutheran World Federation 60th Anniversary Celebrations on Web March 25
CHICAGO (ELCA) - A live transmission of the celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Lund, Sweden, will be available on the Internet. The celebrations begin with a festive Eucharistic service at 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time) March 25 in...
ELCA Presiding Bishop's 2007 Easter Message
"They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. ... Then they remembered his words." (NRSV Luke 24:2,8) On the first Easter morning, the women entered an empty tomb expecting to find Jesus. They were looking for the body...
ELCA Foundation Awards Fund to Children, Elderly Ministries
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Services for the Elderly (LSE) Endowment Fund of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) awarded a total of $243,000 in 2007 to eight Lutheran organizations dedicated to ministries and services for and by the elderly. The Lutheran Services for Children Endowment Fund of the ELCA...
Lutheran Services in America marks 10th anniversary at April conference
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Lutheran Services in America (LSA) celebrates a decade of service to millions of people during its 2007 conference April 18-20 in Baltimore. It expects 500 leaders in health and human service organizations "to recognize the milestones of the Lutheran contribution to social services over...
Online giving made easy through ELCA Good Gifts
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) seeking to support the mission and ministries of the church financially can donate online through ELCA Good Gifts, formally known as the ELCA Giving Basket. The Giving Basket raised more than $4 million through...
ELCA Bishops Told of Positive Churchwide Financial Results for 2006
GALVESTON, Texas (ELCA) -- Increases in total receipts, including mission support funds, plus a record year for contributions to the World Hunger Appeal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), contributed to overall positive financial results for 2006 for the ELCA churchwide organization, based in Chicago. Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA...
Herman G. Stuempfle Jr., Lutheran Church Leader, Dies
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Herman G. Stuempfle Jr., president of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (LTSG) from 1976 to 1989, died March 13 following a long illness. Stuempfle, 84, a retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was also known for his contributions as a...
