ELCA Publisher Expects Positive Financial Results For 2006
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The board of trustees for Augsburg Fortress, the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was told that the publisher expects to finish the 2006 fiscal year in the black for the first time in several years. A factor is the higher-than-expected number of early...
Raymond Olson, former president of California Lutheran University, Dies
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The Rev. Raymond M. Olson, 96, second president of California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, died Oct. 24. California Lutheran is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Olson served as president of the university from 1963...
ELCA Seminary Professor Elected Bishop of Lund Diocese, Sweden
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Antje Jackelen was elected Oct. 17 to become bishop of the Lund Diocese of the Church of Sweden on April 1. Jackelen is an associate professor of systematic theology and director of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science at the Lutheran School of Theology...
ELCA Staff Visit Cairo Program that Helps Provide Nutritious Meals
CAIRO (ELCA) -- Off a bustling main street, a pedestrian bridge over train tracks leads into the El-Sharabya district here. There's a street vendor selling grapes on the corner and a mangy-looking donkey tied outside an apartment building. Despite the 500,000 people who live in this two-square-mile area, the streets...
ELCA Bishops Told Early 2006 Financial Results 'Favorable'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Overall financial results for the churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) were "favorable" for the first seven months of the church's 2006 fiscal year through Aug. 31. Based on those results, the churchwide organization is expected to close the current fiscal year on...
Earl Mummert, ELCA Church Council Member, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Earl L. Mummert, 61, a member of the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), died Oct. 20 at the Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pa. Mummert also served on the ELCA Blue Ribbon Committee on Mission Funding. In an Oct. 23 e-mail to staff...
Lutherans help set world record by "Standing Up" against poverty
by Annie Lynsen, ELCA Washington Office More than 8,500 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) were among the 110,332 U.S. citizens and 23.5 million people worldwide who stood up during worship Oct. 15 to fight global poverty. The "STAND UP" event set a national and global record...
ELCA Bishops Told of Enthusiastic Response to New Worship Book
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Evangelical Lutheran Worship" -- the title of the newly introduced worship book for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada -- has generated orders of 568,000 pew copies through Oct. 6, exceeding early sales forecasts, said the Rev. Michael Burk,...
ELCA Bishops Told of Urgent Need for Health, Wellness of Leaders
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Citing statistics gleaned from health analysis reports, the president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions said the church may not be able to grow unless its professional leaders embrace a stronger health and wellness discipline. John G. Kapanke made the comment Oct....
No Damage to ELCA Churches on Hawaii Following Strong Earthquake
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Murray D. Finck, bishop of the Pacifica Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), reported no structural damage to churches of the ELCA on the islands of Hawaii after a strong earthquake cut power to most of the state Oct. 15. Finck was...
ELCA Presiding Bishop, Secretary Announce Future Intentions
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), announced he will be available for possible election to another six-year term as presiding bishop. Hanson, who was elected presiding bishop at the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, made the announcement as part...
Lutherans offer 'Hope for the Prairie' in the 21st century
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is hosting "Hope for the Prairie: Vital Congregations and Leaders for the 21st Century" Nov. 5-6 in Aberdeen, S.D. The event will focus on the future of Lutheran congregations and ministries in North and South Dakota...
Women of the ELCA endorses Children's Sabbath each October
by Frank Imhof, ELCA News Service Women of the ELCA, the women's organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is one of more than 200 denominations, faith groups and religious organizations observing Children's Sabbath each year on the third weekend in October. The Children's Defense Fund's 15th annual...
ELCA reports survey results on gender issues in ministry
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and its predecessor church bodies began ordaining women in 1970. On the 35th anniversary of that event, ELCA Research and Evaluation conducted a survey "to describe differences and similarities in the ministerial experiences between rostered men and...
Whisenant appointed acting president of LWR
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service Jeff Whisenant, vice president for finance and administration of Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Baltimore, has been appointed to serve as acting president of LWR beginning Nov. 1. Kathryn Wolford resigned as LWR president effective Oct. 31 to become president of The McKnight Foundation,...
Women of the ELCA Raises Up Healthy Women and Girls
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls" is the health initiative of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The women's organization of the ELCA gathered about 60 women and girls for its first Healthy Hearts Event here Sept. 29-Oct. 1. Worship, prayer, singing, yoga, water...
Lutherans Pray, Donate Funds on Behalf of Amish Schoolhouse Tragedy
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Lutheran Disaster Response Network of the Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is urging Lutherans to pray for the Amish community in Lancaster County, Pa., after a gunman invaded the West Nickel Mines Amish School there Oct. 2. Three students died...
Starting New Congregations a Priority for the ELCA
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Starting new congregations in the United States and the Caribbean is a priority of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). According to the Rev. Ruben Duran, "We're in the business of forming healthy, vital and mission-minded communities of faith that see themselves not as an end...
ELCA's Carthage College gets $5 million gift
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service The Tarble Foundation, Los Angeles, gave $5 million to Carthage College, Kenosha, Wis., for development of a sports and performance arena, according to a college news release. Carthage College is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...
ELCA congregations encouraged to 'STAND UP' against poverty
by Annie Lynsen, ELCA Washington Office Congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have an opportunity to help set an official Guinness World Record on Oct. 15 by standing up for a moment during worship. The worldwide 'STAND UP' effort is sponsored by the Millennium Campaign. Established by...
