News

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutherans in Florida are now cleaning up after severe thunderstorms and tornadoes swept through central Florida Feb. 2. According to Danielle Kearney, search and rescue efforts are complete and 20 people have been confirmed dead. Between 1,500 and 2,000 homes were damaged and/or destroyed in Lake, Seminole,...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Describing the past six months as "a disaster for Palestinians and indeed the whole Middle East," the Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem urged U.S. Lutherans to join their Middle East brothers and sisters and say they are "fed up" with stigmatization, bloodshed, hatred and occupation affecting both Israelis...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutherans in Florida are standing by to respond after severe thunderstorms and tornadoes swept through central Florida, killing 19 people Feb. 2. The storms prompted Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to declare a state of emergency for Lady, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia countries, according to CNN. According to...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Task Force on Education of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is in the process of completing "Our Calling in Education," a proposed social statement on education for the ELCA. The 16-member task force met here Jan. 26-28. The proposed social statement will be forwarded...

WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), joined five other Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders in a meeting Jan. 29 with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Representing the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered a diverse group of 88 members "engaged in scholarly work in the field" of biblical education from Vacation Bible School to doctoral seminary programs. The consultation, "Book of Faith: Lutherans Read the Bible," used two keynote addresses, four personal...

WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- As the U.S. Congress debates its response to the dispatch of additional troops to Iraq, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), sent a message Jan. 26 to ordained and professional lay leaders of the ELCA, asking them...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) called together about 20 scientists and ethicists, politicians and activists, farmers and others here Jan. 20-21 to discern an initial agenda for the work of a task force charged with developing a social statement on genetics and biotechnology for the...

by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service* The Committee on Public Education and Literacy of the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) called for major changes and full funding of the "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) law that members of the 110th U.S. Congress will consider for reauthorization. Donna Braband,...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is one of 36 churches and national Christian organizations that will be founding members when Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. (CCT) is inaugurated Feb. 7 at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, Calif. CCT will bring together families of Christian churches...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, Jerusalem, is in the United States this month for a series of speaking engagements at Lutheran institutions and at the Global Mission Festival this week in Winter Park, Fla. Younan...

by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service The Mission Investment Fund (MIF) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) announced new interest rates for the fixed- and adjustable-rate investments that are available to ELCA congregations and their members, synods and ministries related to the church. Interest rates went into effect...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Ramona Soto Rank, a leader in the Lutheran church on matters concerning American Indians, died Jan. 12. She was 62. An enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes of Oregon, she was an associate pastor for Augustana Lutheran Church, Portland, Ore. Services will be held Jan....

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) brought together 32 young adult Lutherans of African descent from across the United States here Jan. 6-7 to encourage them as church leaders and to seek their advice on attracting more young adults and more people of color to the...

by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service According to the Rev. Brad Smith, founder of "Souper Bowl of Caring," Lutherans can raise $1 million to help fight hunger on the day of the National Football League's "Super Bowl Sunday." Souper Bowl of Caring is a national effort among faith groups...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Walter R. Wietzke, a well-respected leader in theological education and ministry in the former American Lutheran Church (ALC) and retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), died Jan. 13. At the time of his death, Wietzke, 84, had been living in Golden...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have started 2007 helping to rebuild communities overseas affected by natural disasters. Through ELCA International Disaster Response, Lutherans have sent $300,000 to support a tsunami rehabilitation program in Indonesia, $50,000 to help fund typhoon-relief operations in the Philippines,...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a statement for the annual observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15, several U.S. Christian church leaders urged their congregations to join other congregations in their communities to "discern ways to exercise common witness and common service as together we seek to dismantle...

by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Wheat Ridge Ministries will honor two members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) with 2007 "Seeds of Hope" awards Feb. 3 in Arlington Heights, Ill. Josselyn N. Bennett, director for poverty ministries, ELCA Church in Society, and the Rev. Charles D. Infelt,...

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...