ELCA Presiding Bishop, Other Church Leaders Call for Moral Budget in 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), along with leaders of four other Christian denominations, sent a letter March 28 to members of the U.S. House Committee on the Budget, calling for a budget in fiscal year 2007...
'Davey and Goliath' make a public service announcement
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service Davey Hansen and his talking dog, Goliath, have teamed up with Lutheran Disaster Response to send children an important message about disaster. In a special public service announcement produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Disaster Response, Davey reassures...
Memorial held March 27 for 'Rin Tin', a life-saving military dog
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service A memorial service was held March 27 for Rin Tin, a military working dog who died of cancer March 9 at the Lackland Air Force Base, near San Antonio, Texas. The Rev. William G.L. Fisher, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...
New cardinal recalls ELCA 'moment'
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service An 18-member delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met key leaders March 20-24 at the Vatican to learn about the Roman Catholic Church and to further relationships between the two churches. The delegation met with Archbishop William J. Levada, San...
Lutheran Men in Mission and 'Coming of Age'
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM), the men's ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has three emphases: the distribution of Bibles, young men's ministry and inspirational events. To jump start its emphasis on young men's ministry, the Rev. David W. Anderson, the Rev....
ELCA Bishop Speaks at Interfaith Service, Rally for Just Immigration Reform
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Paul W. Stumme-Diers, bishop, Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), spoke here March 27 during a national, interfaith service and rally for just immigration reform. The event began a week in which the U.S. Senate will discuss proposed immigration...
ELCA Delegation Visits Cardinal Kasper, Ecumenical Leadership
VATICAN CITY (ELCA) -- Focusing on "spiritual ecumenism," Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, the Vatican, said the Roman Catholic Church is preparing a booklet on ecumenism with suggestions for how Catholic parishes can express commitment to ecumenism in their local settings....
ELCA Bishops, LIRS President, Call for Fair and Just Immigration Reform
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Chicago, and Ralston H. Deffenbaugh, Jr., president, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), Baltimore, and 53 ELCA synod bishops, sent a statement March 27 to U.S. Senators, calling for fair and just immigration...
Foundation of the ELCA Grant Funds to Children, Elderly Ministries
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Services for the Elderly (LSE) Endowment Fund of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) awarded a total of $295,000 in 2006 to six Lutheran organizations dedicated to ministries and services for and by the elderly. The Lutheran Services for Children Endowment Fund of the ELCA...
ELCA delegation visits Lutheran community in Rome
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service An 18-member delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) visited the Evangelical Lutheran community in Rome, a worshiping community of about 350 members. The community is one of 14 Lutheran congregations in all of Italy, part of the 7,000-member Lutheran Church...
Lutherans Respond to the Risk of Famine in East Africa
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Drought conditions are leading to the risk of famine in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and other countries in East Africa. International Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is responding to the potential risk with funds to help provide for food, medicine, drinking water, emergency...
Vatican Radio journalist interviews two ELCA leaders in Rome
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service A journalist with Vatican Radio, The Vatican's international radio service, interviewed the co-leaders of an 18-member delegation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) March 21 in Rome. The Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, and the Rev. E. Roy Riley, bishop...
Prasanna Kumari Samuel, a leader of NCC in India and the LWF, dies
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The Rev. Prasanna Kumari Samuel, vice president of the National Council of Churches in India, Nagpur, and head of the Department for Women's Studies, Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai, India, died March 16 from a massive cardiac arrest at the...
ELCA Delegation Greets Pope, Presents Icon at March 22 Audience
VATICAN CITY (ELCA) -- An 18-member delegation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) greeted Pope Benedict XVI following his regular weekly audience March 22 here at St. Peter's Basilica. Five members of the ELCA Conference of Bishops presented the pope with an icon of St. Augustine and delivered...
Lutheran Students Discover 'What A Relief!' it is to Help Others
OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (ELCA) -- We're here to restore lives, said Mary Ellen Burke, sophomore, Marquette University, Milwaukee. "I can't say that I've cleaned up all of southern Mississippi, but I can say that I've touched a few lives." Burke is one of 1,100 students who participated in "What a...
Former News Director, Lutheran Church in America, R. Marshall Stross Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- R. Marshall Stross, director of news and information for the former Lutheran Church in America (LCA), died March 17 at his home in Manhasset, N.Y. He was 88. "Marshall Stross was the consummate communicator," said Kristi S. Bangert, executive director, ELCA Communication Services. "While his expertise was...
ELCA Delegation Visits Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch In Istanbul
ISTANBUL, Turkey (ELCA) -- A 17-member delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met here March 17 with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The Lutherans offered official greetings to the patriarch, suggesting he visit the ELCA churchwide office in Chicago, as he did with his predecessor, Patriarch...
ELCA delegation visits Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate, Istanbul
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service A 17-member delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met March 17 with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholow, the world leader of Orthodox Christians, and held an informal discussion with senior staff of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, Turkey. The...
Former Executive Director, Women of the ELCA, Charlotte Fiechter Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Charlotte E. Fiechter, second executive director for Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), died March 10 of natural causes at her home in Mount Prospect, Ill. She was 71. "Charlotte E. Fiechter was, above all, a woman of faith who seized every opportunity,...
ELCA's St. Olaf College Names David R. Anderson President
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- On March 13 the board of regents of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., named Dr. David R. Anderson to become the college's 11th president. Anderson is a professor of English and the provost at Denison University, Granville, Ohio. St. Olaf is one of 28 colleges and universities...
