ELCA Presiding Bishop Calls for Careful Response to Hamas' Victory
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), joined 35 Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders in a nationwide appeal, urging President George W. Bush to make Israeli-Palestinian peace an urgent priority for U.S. policy in the coming months. In...
ELCA Publishing Ministry Exceeds 2005 Sales Goal by $2 Million
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress, the Minneapolis-based publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), achieved a $1 million increase in product sales from 2004 to 2005, and exceeded its 2005 sales goal by more than $2 million. This was the first time in 10 years the publisher...
Stewart Herman Jr., Former Seminary President, LWF Leader, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Stewart W. Herman Jr., president of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) from 1964 until 1971, died Feb. 16 in Greenport, N.Y., following a long illness. Herman, 96, a retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and author, was well-known...
Lutheran World Federation Welcomes Common Christian Assembly
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Leaders of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) welcomed an invitation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) to consider entering into plans with other Christian world communions for a common assembly in the next decade. The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, LWF president and presiding bishop of the...
2006 Rural Ministry Conference to be held March 5-7 in Iowa
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The 25th Annual Rural Ministry Conference will be held March 5-7 at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. Under the theme "Living with Hope in an Age of Fear," participants from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and other denominations will consider questions...
Rev. Donald Hallberg receives outstanding executive award
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The Rev. Donald M. Hallberg, president for the Foundation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and executive director for ELCA Development Services, is the 2006 recipient of the Association of Lutheran Development Executives (ALDE) Outstanding Executive Award. Hallberg received the award...
About 40,000 teenage and adult Lutherans will gather this summer
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service As many as 40,000 high-school-age and adult Lutherans from around the world are expected to attend the 2006 Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) July 5-9 and July 12-16 in San Antonio, Texas. Under the theme "Cruzando: Journey with...
ELCA continues to raise millions of dollars for Katrina relief
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service To date the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has collected about $24 million to support Hurricane Katrina relief operations. With more than $3 billion raised nationwide thus far, the ELCA is listed as one of the larger organizations garnering more than $10...
Lutheran World Federation claims 66.2 million members
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service The 140 member churches, 10 congregations and one recognized council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) report a total 66,214,048 members in 78 countries in 2005. That's an increase of 280,000 or 0.43 percent from 2004. LWF churches had 65.93 million members in 2004...
College-Age Lutherans Head to U.S. Gulf Coast for Spring Break
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Some Lutheran college students are planning to spend their spring break this year in the U.S. Gulf Coast mucking out homes, tearing down drywall and bleaching moldy walls in an effort to rebuild homes damaged during the 2005 hurricane season. Through "What a Relief!" -- an opportunity...
James Morrison, Executive Director of Oaks Indian Mission, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- James Morrison, executive director of Oaks Indian Mission, Oaks, Okla., died Feb. 13 in Tulsa, Okla., from blastomycosis. He was 56. Oaks Indian Mission is a social ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), serving as a child care organization licensed by the State of...
ELCA to Study 'First Call' Congregations with Lilly Endowment Grant
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will study the characteristics of congregations that call new pastors to their "first call" into ministry following completion of their seminary educations. Lilly Endowment Inc., Indianapolis, a private philanthropic foundation, is providing a $525,000 grant for the project, "The Vocation...
Eight years, four months is the average call for pastors
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have spent an average 8.32 years in their current call, according to a graph prepared Jan. 27 by ELCA Research and Evaluation. Numbers were rounded for the chart, but not for calculating the median, mean...
Rev. Susan Gamelin to preach for 'Day 1' international audience
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service The Rev. Susan L. Gamelin, Emmanuel Lutheran Church, High Point, N.C., will be the guest preacher twice on the "Day 1" radio program -- Feb. 26 and March 5. Both programs include a sermon by Gamelin and a five-minute interview with her conducted by...
Webcast of 8th Annual Four Chaplains Service on Feb. 19
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service St. Mark by the Sea Lutheran Church, Palm Coast, Fla., will be the site of the 8th Annual Four Chaplains Service on Feb. 19. The ELCA congregation co-sponsors the event with the American Legion Post #115 of Flagler County, Fla. The program will be...
Paul Pribbenow Named President of ELCA's Augsburg College
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of regents of Augsburg College, Minneapolis, elected Dr. Paul C. Pribbenow Feb. 10 to be the 11th president of the college, one of the 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Pribbenow, president of Rockford (Ill.) College, will succeed Dr. William...
ELCA Task Force on Human Sexuality Begins Anew
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Task Force on Human Sexuality met here Feb. 2-5, welcomed six new members and began discussing which topics to include in study materials to help the church develop a social statement on human sexuality by 2009. The work of the...
ELCA Presiding Bishop, LWF President Urges Resolution of Hospital Tax Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), urged U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to ask Her Excellency Tzipi Livni, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, for resolution of a...
ELCA Grand Canyon Synod Appoints Alton Zenker Interim Bishop
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Grand Canyon Synod Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) appointed the Rev. Alton Zenker to serve as interim bishop, effective Feb. 15. The council's appointment was made in consultation with the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop. Zenker, 72, is a former...
Online registration opens for 2006 GME at Amherst, Mass.
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service Online registration opened this week for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's 2006 Global Mission Event (GME), July 27-30 at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said Anne Basye, associate director for global resource, ELCA Global Mission. The theme for this year's GME is...
