ELCA Churchwide Assembly To Consider 196 Memorials From Synods
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 1,018 voting members attending the 2005 Churchwide Assembly in Orlando, Fla., next month will be asked to respond to 196 memorials summarized in a 112-page report. Memorials are requests from the church's synods asking for action by the Churchwide Assembly on specific issues. There are 65...
Kansas ELCA Congregation Wins Accessibility Award
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- First Lutheran Church, Topeka, Kan., is the winner of the 2005 Disability Ministries Accessibility Award given annually to a congregation by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) that displays commitment to providing care and concern to people who are physically and mentally disabled. Kristine Luber, director...
Lutheran Disaster Coordinators Assess Hurricane Damage In Florida
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Early reports from Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) coordinators in northwest Florida and coastal Alabama indicate that most residents and their property got through Hurricane Dennis "fairly unscathed with some minor damage," said Heather L. Feltman, director, Lutheran Disaster Response and ELCA Domestic Disaster Response. The storm damage...
Women of the ELCA Told That God Loves Boldly
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) -- Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) closed its Sixth Triennial Gathering with worship on July 10. The Rev. Melanie A. McRae, ELCA pastor, spiritual director and chaplain, Methodist Hospital and Park Nicollet Health, Saint Louis Park, Minn., told worshippers about God's extravagant love....
Women Of The ELCA Makes It Possible For Others To Act Boldly
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) -- It's one thing to act boldly; it's another thing to make it possible for others to act boldly. Morning time set aside for inspiration July 9 surfaced thoughts of empowerment at an international gathering of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Women of...
Women Of The ELCA Celebrates 35th Anniversary Of Women's Ordination
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) -- Nearly 2,000 Lutheran women and men attended the "Great Banquet" July 9, a first-time event in which they heard inspirational speakers and music, and observed the 35th anniversary of the ordination of the first Lutheran woman pastor in North America, the Rev. Elizabeth Platz. Platz is...
Women Of The ELCA Dared To 'Dream Big'
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) -- The Right Rev. Vashti Murphy McKenzie inspired and dared Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to “dream big and act boldly.” McKenzie, bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church and president of the A.M.E. Council of Bishops, preached at the organization's “Thankoffering...
Women Of The ELCA Reach Out In San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) - - Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) took part in 15 different servant events throughout the San Antonio area. The projects took place July 7-9. Women of the ELCA's Sixth Triennial Gathering is meeting here July 5-10 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention...
Women Of The ELCA Learn And Relax At The 'Dwelling Place'
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) -- As the San Antonio Police respond to domestic violence calls, they will now be equipped with soft, fuzzy bears to give children involved in the call. On July 8 Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gave the police about 1,400 bears, each individually...
Women Of The ELCA Elects Officers, Adopts Budget, Addresses Issues
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) - Delegates to the Sixth Triennial Convention of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected a vice president, secretary and treasurer to three-year terms July 8. They also completed work on memorials, which are requests for organizational action on various issues from local units....
Women Of The ELCA Elects Executive Board, Adopts Resolutions
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) - Delegates attending the Triennial Convention of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) responded to several social issues, including restoration of a tax exemption for a Lutheran hospital in Jerusalem, and elected 17 executive board members to guide the work of the women's organization...
Ehrenreich Challenges Women of the ELCA To Address U.S. Poverty
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) -- Barbara Ehrenreich challenged Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to help break the cycles of poverty that are built into the U.S. economic systems. The author of the 2001 best-seller, "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America," was keynote speaker July...
Lutheran Women Learn What It Takes To 'Act Boldly'
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) -- After spending the past three years “listening to God's call,” thousands of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are making the transition from listening to learning about what it will take to “act boldly” on their faith and life. Women of the ELCA's...
Women of the ELCA Kick Off Health Initiative
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) - Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) hosted a “4K Run, Walk ‘n’ Roll” here July 7 to kick off a new organizational emphasis on health for women and girls. At least 263 women and men participated in the event, held early in the...
Women Of The ELCA Elects New President
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) -- Carmen K. Richards, Hope, N.D., was elected the new president of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at a July 7 business session at the organization’s Sixth Triennial Convention. Women of the ELCA's Gathering is meeting here July 5-10 at the Henry...
Presiding Bishop Thanks Women, Comments On ‘State Of The ELCA’
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) - The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), thanked delegates to the Women of the ELCA convention here for their faith, for the work they do in congregations and for supporting the wider church with gifts totaling $1.75 million...
Religious Leaders, Including ELCA Bishop, Hope To Influence G8
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The G8 Summit, underway this week in Scotland, "is a challenge to the world's leaders to take decisive action on behalf of those living in extreme poverty," according to a statement from a forum in London attended by more than 35 religious leaders from throughout the world...
Women Of The ELCA Share Common Interests
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) -- From high school principals to global advocates, Lutheran women in these roles and others are sharing and learning from one another how to encourage women in their local settings to “Act Boldly” in their faith, vocation and life. To help bring together women with common interests,...
Women Of The ELCA Urged To 'Anoint' Others
SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) - Women and men should join together to "anoint" others, just as Mary anointed the feet of Jesus Christ, said the Rev. Susan L. Gamelin, in a sermon at opening worship July 6 at the Triennial Gathering of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...
Lutherans Offer Camp Noah, Not An Ordinary Kids Summer Camp
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Among the millions of children in the United States attending camp this summer, about 2,000 of them are doing more than toasting the perfect marshmallow or successfully paddling a canoe across water. At Camp Noah children are not only engaged in summer fun, they're learning emotionally and...
