Lutheran World Leader Joins in Call to End Middle East Violence
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The leaders of three global church organizations -- including the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation, Geneva -- have called for an end to the fighting in Lebanon and Israel and conflict in Gaza. The church leaders issued a joint public statement Aug....
ELCA Board of Pensions offers health campaigns
by Katherine R. Hinck*, ELCA News Service The Board of Pensions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is sponsoring a variety of health initiatives in the next months, including "Here I Step: A Journey to Reformation," a six-week walking and wellness campaign, said Tammy Devine, ELCA Wellness Coordinator....
ELCA to Hold U.S. Farm Bill Listening Sessions
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- Staff of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Washington Office will be touring the United States during the next few months, hosting listening sessions to help shape ELCA advocacy efforts around the U.S. Farm Bill. The Farm Bill is scheduled to come before the U.S....
ELCA Rural Ministry Gathering Emphasizes Networking
SELINSGROVE, Pa. (ELCA) -- About 100 people met here at the annual gathering of the Small Town and Rural (STaR) Ministry Alliance, emphasizing networking to address rural concerns through special interest groups known as "affinity groups." The alliance represents more than 5,800 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA)...
ELCA offers ecumenical resources about full communion partners
by Katherine R. Hinck*, ELCA News Service The Office for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) recently completed a series of downloadable bulletin resources that provide factual information about the ELCA's five full-communion partnerships and one interim eucharistic agreement. "The new bulletins are simple, concise and...
ELCA Supports People with Disabilities in Lebanon
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- International Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) sent $30,000 Aug. 1 to support the work of the Contact and Resource Center, an institution designed to enhance the future of people living with disabilities in Lebanon. Located in Beirut, the CRC office has moved...
ELCA Membership Drops 1.6 Percent to 4.85 Million in 2005
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) reported a baptized membership of 4,850,776 in 10,549 congregations in 2005, according to the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary. That figure represents a decrease of about 1.62 percent or a reduction of 79,653 baptized members since 2004, he said....
Income for ELCA Congregations Almost $2.7 Billion in 2005
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Income in 2005 for the 10,549 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approached $2.7 billion, according to statistics compiled by the ELCA Office of the Secretary. Total receipts amounted to $2,676,901,588 -- up 2.94 percent or almost $76 million from the previous year. The...
ELCA 'Global Fest' brings together church mission personnel
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service International and domestic mission personnel from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and the Episcopal Church gathered together July 29 for "Global Fest" at the 2006 ELCA Global Mission Event. Co- sponsored by the Episcopal Church...
Nobel nominee featured at closing of ELCA Global Mission Event
by Katherine R. Hinck*, ELCA News Service Closing worship at the 2006 Global Mission Event (GME) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) featured Nobel Peace Prize nominee Wahu Kaara, a video presentation and global music. Co-sponsored by The Episcopal Church and endorsed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...
Former Lutheran dies in Seattle shooting
by Katherine R. Hinck*, ELCA News Service Pamela Waechter, a former Lutheran and major contributor to the Jewish community, was killed July 28 at the Jewish Federation building, Seattle. Waechter was working at the Jewish Federation building that afternoon when a man entered the building with a gun. He shot...
Lisandro Orlov, Bono Highlight ELCA Global Mission Event Session
AMHERST, Mass. (ELCA) -- The church must be the place where all people can find their home including those who are often outcast, said the Rev. Lisandro Orlov, United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina and Latin American regional coordinator, Lutheran World Federation (LWF) HIV/AIDS campaign. Orlov was a speaker to...
Lutheran, Episcopalian global workers pray for peace in the Middle East
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service Unable to return home to Lebanon from the United States since July 16, Barakat Rahme, development officer, Contact and Resource Center (CRC), Beirut, said he is "worried about everything," particularly his family members "who are displaced (from their homes) somewhere in the mountains"...
ELCA Global Mission Event offers international learning experiences
by Katherine R. Hinck*, ELCA News Service Participants of the 2006 Global Mission Event (GME) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) had the opportunity to attend more than 80 Global University workshops. Co-sponsored by the Episcopal Church and endorsed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the event...
Chinese Christian artist delivers message of peace to GME
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service He Qi, a renowned contemporary Chinese Christian artist, delivered a message of peace through art to about 1,300 participants of the 2006 Global Mission Event (GME) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Co-sponsored by The Episcopal Church and endorsed by the Evangelical...
Lutherans, Episcopalians prepare for global mission work
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The 2006 Global Mission Event (GME) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America offered four all-day workshops -- known as "global tracks" -- July 28 on the topics of asset mapping, cross cultural relationships, hunger and sustainable development. The workshops, designed to equip...
Presiding Bishops Hanson, Griswold Address ELCA Global Mission Event
AMHERST, Mass. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Chicago, invited participants at the opening celebration of the ELCA Global Mission Event (GME) here July 27 to "join in the struggle to accompany one another as we walk in the...
ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod interim bishop to take office Aug. 1
by Katherine R. Hinck*, ELCA News Service The Northeastern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) named the Rev. Lee M. Miller, former bishop of the ELCA Upstate New York Synod, to serve as interim bishop beginning Aug. 1. Lee Miller succeeds the Rev. Marcus J. Miller...
Family Calls Off Search for Lutheran Youth Ministry Director
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- On the evening of July 23 the family of Jon Francis, youth ministry director, Ascension Lutheran Church, Ogden, Utah, decided to call off the search for Francis who went missing July 15 in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains. Francis, 24, left the Luther Heights Bible Camp near Ketchum, Idaho,...
ELCA seminary acquires Luther Institute in Washington, D.C.
by Katherine R. Hinck*, ELCA News Service The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettsyburg (LTSG), Pa., acquired the Luther Institute, Washington, D.C., when the 24- member board of the Luther Institute voted June 27 to approve affiliation with LTSG, according to a July 21 seminary news release. LTSG is one of...
