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...
ELCA Strengthens Variety of Leadership Commitments
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a collaborative ministry project involving many partners the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has provided funding for several initiatives focused on strengthening the church's commitment to multicultural, public life, evangelism and young adult leadership development. In April 2005 the ELCA Church Council designated a total...
Ecumenical Advocacy Days are March 10-13 in Washington, D.C.
by Annie Lynsen, ELCA Washington (D.C.) Office The 2006 Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice will be March 10-13 in Washington, D.C. Under the theme "Challenging Disparity: The Promise of God - The Power of Solidarity," participants will learn about issues important to the religious community and have...
ELCA, PCUSA form Christian publishing partnership
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service Augsburg Fortress, the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and the Congregational Ministries Publishing program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (PCUSA) have entered into a partnership in Christian publishing. Together the two publishers will develop a new lifelong faith...
Lutheran Services in America to Be 'Trading Graces' on eBay
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Services in America (LSA) will host "Trading Graces," its first annual online auction, from noon Feb. 26 to noon March 8 on eBay to benefit Lutheran social ministry organizations across the United States and Caribbean. "Congregations and all sorts of people can partner with Lutheran social...
