News

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As football fans across the country watched the Indianapolis Colts gallop to victory Feb. 4 in the NFL's "Super Bowl" championship game, faith groups also trotted to victory in a championship effort of their own -- the "Souper Bowl of Caring," a national effort among faith groups...

by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Sara Cutter, a student at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C., and a candidate for ordained ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is the Lutheran winner of an annual essay contest sponsored by the National Workshop on Christian Unity. Cutter presented...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A discipline hearing committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) ruled Feb. 7 that the Rev. Bradley E. Schmeling be removed from the ELCA clergy roster effective Aug. 15, 2007. Schmeling, who reported to his bishop that he is in a committed relationship with another...

WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- A study guide on global poverty and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Episcopal Church, is available for download and for purchase through Augsburg Fortress. "God's Mission in the World" is intended as a resource for congregations and...

by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service "Trading Graces" -- an online auction on eBay hosted by Lutheran Services in America (LSA) -- will open Feb. 25 and continue through March 22. Now in its second year, Trading Graces is an effort to raise awareness and funds to support Lutheran...

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...