ELCA Prepares First Draft of Possible Social Statement on Education
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Task Force on Education of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has written the first draft of a possible social statement on education. The task force met here Jan. 20-22 to apply what it learned while producing a study document and from responses it received...
St. Olaf College Choir conductor receives $200,000 'great teaching' award
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service Baylor University, Waco, Texas, named Anton Armstrong, conductor of the famed St. Olaf Choir, recipient of its 2006 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching -- the single largest award given in the United States to an individual for teaching excellence. Armstrong, Harry...
Lenoir-Rhyne College board extends president's contact
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service The Lenoir-Rhyne College board of trustees extended the contract of Dr. Wayne B. Powell, college president, for three additional years. Powell, 55, assumed office in December 2002 and was given an initial contract through 2008. The board's action extends his contract to 2011....
'Joy to the World' viewership 2.6 million
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service "Joy to the World," a Christmas special on ABC-TV produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was seen by more than 2.6 million viewers in at least 116 television markets, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co., a research and ratings firm....
ELCA Presiding Bishops to Present 2006 Hein-Fry Lecture Series
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Since the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was formed in 1988 by the merger of three Lutheran church bodies, it has been led by three presiding bishops -- the Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom, 1987-1995; the Rev. H. George Anderson, 1995-2001; and the Rev. Mark S. Hanson,...
Lutheran ethicists go public
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service "Lutherans in Public" was the theme of the annual Lutheran Ethicists Gathering, held Jan. 4-6 at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, Ariz. About 40 participants considered the congregations and all other expressions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as they engage and...
Robert Oliver Elected President of ELCA's Augustana College
CHICAGO (ELCA) - The board of trustees of Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., elected Robert C. Oliver Jan. 14 to serve as its 23rd president. Oliver, a retired bank president, is currently a faculty member and department chair at the college. "I want to commend the presidential search committee for...
Lutheran Leaders Analyze the Future of Religious Institutions
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (ELCA) -- Approximately 80 leaders representing colleges, universities, seminaries, outdoor ministries, social ministry organizations, and the synods congregations and churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met here Jan. 12-14 to discuss "The Future of Religious Institutions in American Society," emphasizing the governance of...
ELCA Transforming Program to Transform Urban Ministry
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 1997 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) established "In the City for Good" (ICG), a 10-year initiative to transform lives, congregations and communities in urban settings across the United States and Caribbean. Five years into the initiative, the ELCA Division for Outreach's...
Thrivent awards $80,000 to ELCA's Bethany College to teach young leaders
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service Officials from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Minneapolis, presented an $80,000 grant Jan. 13 to Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kan., to help teach youth to be leaders in church and community. The grant is part of Thrivent's Youth Leadership Initiative grant program and will be...
Historic Film about Lutherans, Civil Rights Named to National Film Registry
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "A Time for Burning," a landmark civil rights film featuring the struggles of Augustana Lutheran Church, Omaha, Neb., and its pastor, the Rev. William Youngdahl, was named to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. The film is one of only 25 films to be...
ELCA presiding bishop to preach 'Huntington' sermon Jan. 18 in New York
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will preach Jan. 18 during an annual commemoration honoring William Reed Huntington at Saint Peter Lutheran Church, Manhattan. Huntington, an Episcopal priest, authored the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, an 1888...
Memorial Service Planned Jan. 14 for ELCA Member Ronald Schulz
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A memorial service will be held this weekend for Ronald Schulz, a member of St. John Lutheran Church, Jamestown, N.D., a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Schulz, 40, who was taken hostage by an Iraqi insurgent group in late November, may have been...
Six students at ELCA colleges receive Rossing Physics Scholarships
Six Students At ELCA Colleges Receive Rossing Physics Scholarships by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Six students at colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received Rossing Physics Scholarships toward educational expenses for the current academic year. Three of the scholarships were for $10,000 each: +...
ELCA, Mayo Clinic Offer 2006 Health Risk Assessment
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions, Minneapolis, and ELCA Vocation and Education are encouraging the church's pastors, professional lay ministers, employees, seminarians and their families to take the third annual Mayo Clinic Health Risk Assessment at http://www.ELCAforwellness.org/ through Feb. 28. Mayo Foundation for...
Susquehanna University estimates regional economic impact at $97 million
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa., one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), reports its economic impact in Central Susquehanna Valley at $97 million for the year ended June 30, 2005, up from $90 million in the previous...
Mission Investment Fund announces new interest rates
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...
Natural Disasters, Assembly Decisions Among Top 2005 ELCA Stories
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Catastrophic natural disasters in the United States and South Asia and much-anticipated decisions made by voting members at the 2005 Churchwide Assembly were among the top news stories in 2005 involving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The top stories were determined by the ELCA News...
Lutheran groups and individuals volunteer for hurricane recovery
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa., one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), reports that a group of 24 students, faculty and staff is spending the university's winter break in the Gulf Coast area to assist with disaster recovery...
Thrivent Financial grants $4.9 million to 75 Lutheran organizations
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Charitable Gifting Initiative recently awarded almost $4.9 million to 75 Lutheran organizations, including $2 million to 32 organizations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Congregations, congregation coalitions, regional divisions of the three largest Lutheran church bodies, small church bodies,...
