Allan Bjornberg re-elected bishop of ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service The Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg, 58, was elected to a third six-year term as bishop of the Rocky Mountain Synod the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at its assembly April 28-30 in Albuquerque, N.M. Bjornberg was elected April 29 on the third...
ELCA World Hunger Appeal exceeds and sets new goal
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The 2005 World Hunger and Disaster Appeal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) earned more than $55.4 million, the largest amount collected in the appeal's history. The total includes more than $17 million in undesignated contributions for the ELCA World Hunger...
William Rieke, former president, Pacific Lutheran University, dies
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service William O. Rieke, who served as president of Pacific Lutheran University (PLU), Tacoma, Wash., from 1975 until he retired in 1992, died April 22 of cancer. A service of remembrance and celebration was held April 28 at PLU, one of 28 colleges and...
Military Chaplaincy, Ongoing Ministries Focus of ELCA-LCMS Meeting
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) discussed military chaplaincy issues and reviewed the status of various ministries within their churches when they met April 6 here at the churchwide office of the ELCA. The leaders met as the Committee...
Lutheran campus ministry staff seek to expand their global experience
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service Seeking to expand their global experiences, about 16 Lutheran campus ministry staff members are planning a two-week travel seminar to Namibia and South Africa, Aug. 1-15, 2006. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is present on the campuses of more than 180...
Floyd Schoenhals re-elected Lutheran bishop of Arkansas-Oklahoma
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service The Rev. Floyd M. Schoenhals, 65, was elected to a third six-year term as bishop of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at its assembly April 20-22 at the Southern Hills Marriott Hotel, Tulsa, Okla. He received 112...
Case closed on Lutheran church arsenic poisoning in Maine
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Maine State Police concluded April 18 that Daniel Bondeson acted alone three years earlier, when he put arsenic in the coffee at Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church, New Sweden, Maine, killing Walter Reed Morrill and poisoning more than a dozen other church members. Later that...
James H. Burtness, ELCA pastor, scholar, teacher and writer, dies
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The Rev. James H. Burtness, 77, died April 10 of injuries sustained from a serious fall in January. A pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Burtness was a noted scholar on the life and work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German...
Lutherans continue disaster assessment in Tennessee
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) continues to assess the needs of people in Tennessee after another series of violent storms and tornadoes struck the state April 7. As many as 23 tornadoes touched down in Tennessee, killing 12 people. LDR, a national ministry of...
David Hetland, renowned liturgical artist, dies
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service David J. Hetland, 58, died April 16 after a decade of battling primary pulmonary hypertension. He died after returning home in Fargo, N.D., from Easter worship. Born in Grand Forks, N.D., Hetland graduated in 1969 from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. Concordia, one of 28...
Lutherans offer fair-trade chocolate for Easter
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service In an effort to secure fair wages and better living conditions for cocoa farmers and their families in West Africa, Lutheran World Relief (LWR) and SERRV International are offering fair- trade chocolate through the LWR Chocolate Project. The project features seven varieties of...
ELCA Bishops Speak at Events Supporting Just Immigration Reform
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- Three bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) spoke April 10 at events held across the country in support of just immigration reform. The Rev. Theodore F. Schneider, bishop, ELCA Metropolitan Washington D.C. Synod, spoke at a rally held on the National Mall in...
ELCA Council Adopts Proposal for Multi-Year Emphasis on Scripture
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a proposal "for a multi- year special focus among members, congregations and synods ... on the authority and interpretation of Scripture." The proposed emphasis has the working title "Book of Faith: Lutherans Read the Bible."...
Faith & Values Media now to include Islamic groups
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Trustees of Faith & Values Media voted April 6 to open the organization's membership to Islamic groups and individuals. Until then membership was limited to groups and individuals of Jewish or Christian traditions. Inner-Attainment TV, Inc., Annandale, Va., became NICC's first Islamic member. "This...
ELCA theologian delivers Pontifical Biblical Institute lecture
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service The Rev. Karl P. Donfried delivered the McCarthy public lecture on April 4 at the Pontifical Biblical Institute (PBI) in Rome. "Rethinking Paul: On the Way Toward a Revised Paradigm" looked at Pauline theology in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Donfried is a...
ELCA Council hears from ecumenical journey participants
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service Members of the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and an advisory bishop who took part in an "ecumenical journey" March 13-29 to meet with world church leaders in Geneva, Istanbul, Rome and London, shared their impressions about the...
Lutheran Disaster Response coordinators discuss managing relief work
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The expectations of Lutherans who coordinate relief operations following a natural disaster have significantly increased in light of some "extreme" natural disasters in the United States, according to Heather L. Feltman, executive director, Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR). In light of these expectations more...
ELCA Council allows synodically authorized ministers to officiate marriages
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted to allow synodically authorized ministers to officiate at marriage services where such a practice is permitted by law. The council, which met April 1-2 in Chicago, said such ministers may only...
Lutherans Respond to Severe Weather in Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Severe storms and tornadoes struck 15 counties of western Tennessee April 1-2, killing at least 23 people and injuring 75 others, 17 of them critically. Storms also swept through Illinois and Missouri, adding to what has already been a disastrous spring for the middle of the country,...
ELCA Council elects clergy, lay leader to fill vacant positions
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected leaders to fill vacant positions on the Church Council, a churchwide committee and a program committee of the church. The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the...
