ELCA Joins Inauguration of Christian Churches Together on February 7
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is one of 36 churches and national Christian organizations that will be founding members when Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. (CCT) is inaugurated Feb. 7 at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, Calif. CCT will bring together families of Christian churches...
Middle East Lutheran Bishop Visits U.S., Calls For Peace Among Palestinians
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, Jerusalem, is in the United States this month for a series of speaking engagements at Lutheran institutions and at the Global Mission Festival this week in Winter Park, Fla. Younan...
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...
Ramona Soto Rank, American Indian Leader, Lutheran Pastor, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Ramona Soto Rank, a leader in the Lutheran church on matters concerning American Indians, died Jan. 12. She was 62. An enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes of Oregon, she was an associate pastor for Augustana Lutheran Church, Portland, Ore. Services will be held Jan....
ELCA Consults Young Adult Lutherans of African Descent
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) brought together 32 young adult Lutherans of African descent from across the United States here Jan. 6-7 to encourage them as church leaders and to seek their advice on attracting more young adults and more people of color to the...
'Souper Bowl of Caring' founder encourages Lutherans to raise $1 million
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service According to the Rev. Brad Smith, founder of "Souper Bowl of Caring," Lutherans can raise $1 million to help fight hunger on the day of the National Football League's "Super Bowl Sunday." Souper Bowl of Caring is a national effort among faith groups...
Walter Wietzke, Lutheran Theological Education, Ministry Leader, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Walter R. Wietzke, a well-respected leader in theological education and ministry in the former American Lutheran Church (ALC) and retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), died Jan. 13. At the time of his death, Wietzke, 84, had been living in Golden...
Lutherans Begin 2007 Rebuilding Communities after Natural Disasters
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have started 2007 helping to rebuild communities overseas affected by natural disasters. Through ELCA International Disaster Response, Lutherans have sent $300,000 to support a tsunami rehabilitation program in Indonesia, $50,000 to help fund typhoon-relief operations in the Philippines,...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Joins CUIC Leaders in MLK Statement
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a statement for the annual observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15, several U.S. Christian church leaders urged their congregations to join other congregations in their communities to "discern ways to exercise common witness and common service as together we seek to dismantle...
Bennett, Infelt to get 'Seeds of Hope' awards from Wheat Ridge Ministries
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Wheat Ridge Ministries will honor two members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) with 2007 "Seeds of Hope" awards Feb. 3 in Arlington Heights, Ill. Josselyn N. Bennett, director for poverty ministries, ELCA Church in Society, and the Rev. Charles D. Infelt,...
Membership Changes, New Worship Resources Among Top 2006 ELCA News Stories
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Significant changes in ELCA membership, the release of a new series of worship resources, including a new worship book, continuing attention to cleanup and recovery following natural disasters, and the sudden resignation of a synod bishop were among the top stories in 2006 involving the Evangelical Lutheran...
ELCA's Bethany College names Robert Vogel interim president
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service* The board of directors of Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kan., named the Rev. Robert L. Vogel as the college's interim president beginning Jan. 15. Vogel assumes the role from Dr. Paul K. Formo, president of Bethany College for the past five years. Formo announced...
Women of the ELCA plans German tour of Reformation sites
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Women of the ELCA, the women's organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a trip April 16-30 to Germany. Guided tours of Berlin, Wittenberg, Torgau, Leipzig, Dresden, Eisleben, Erfurt and Eisenach will focus on the lives...
2007 Global Mission Opportunities Begin with Events in Florida, Arizona
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will offer two winter global mission programs in 2007, and one significant Global Mission Event in July. All three events feature worship, music and learning, with emphasis on how the ELCA can "accompany" Lutherans in mission throughout the globe. An...
Thrivent Foundation Awards ELCA Organizations $3 Million
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation awarded 75 grants totaling $4,838,960 through its Charitable Gifting Initiative program -- approximately half to congregations, schools, camps and other agencies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). ELCA organizations received 36 grants totaling $2,247,883; another nine organizations supported by...
ELCA's Barbara Lundblad to preach on 'Day 1' radio program
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service The Rev. Barbara K. Lundblad, associate professor of preaching, Union Theological Seminary, New York, returns to preach Dec. 31 and Jan. 7 on "Day 1," a nationally broadcast radio program accessible via streaming audio and podcast on the Web. Each program includes a...
ELCA Presiding Bishop, 33 Other Leaders Urge Renewed Mideast Peace Efforts
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), joined 33 leaders from Christian, Jewish and Muslim national organizations in calling on U.S. President George W. Bush to make peace in the Middle East a "top priority" for his administration....
ELCA, WCC Organize International Conference on Cruelty
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in partnership with the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, organized a theological conference on cruelty focusing on topics such as genocide in Rwanda and Armenia, apartheid in South Africa, sex trafficking in the Philippines, injustice...
Lutheran ethicists to discuss human sexuality
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The 2007 Annual Gathering of Lutheran Ethicists will take place Jan. 3-5 at the Catholic Conference Formation Center in Dallas. Ethicists, pastors, graduate students and others from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will address the topic of human sexuality. Human sexuality...
ELCA Presiding Bishop, Other Leaders Applaud Passage of Haiti Legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and four other Christian leaders in the United States commended members of the U.S. Congress this week for passing landmark legislation to bring economic opportunity to Haiti, one of the world's...
