ELCA Council Commends 'Evangelical Lutheran Worship' to Congregations
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) commended "Evangelical Lutheran Worship" -- a new primary worship resource -- to the church's 10,657 congregations for use as an "enriching addition" to ELCA worship patterns. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and...
Lutheran Leaders Focus on Joint Ministries, Theological Discussions
BALTIMORE (ELCA) -- Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) focused on joint ministries in international relief and development, welfare of refugees and human services here at their semiannual meeting. They also discussed an upcoming round of dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church....
ELCA Council Elects Daniel Lehmann Editor of 'The Lutheran'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected Daniel J. Lehmann Nov. 11 to a four-year term as editor of "The Lutheran," the magazine of the ELCA. Lehmann's appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2006. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors...
Lutherans Active In Disaster Relief In Indiana, Florida, Gulf Coast
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response is organizing spiritual care teams and volunteers to help repair and rebuild homes in Evansville and Newburgh, Ind., after a Nov. 6 tornado killed more than 22 people and destroyed property and land there. Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church...
Hanson, Noko Represent Lutheran World Federation In Audience With Pope
VATICAN CITY (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president, Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and the Rev. Ishmael Noko, LWF general secretary, Geneva, met here Nov. 7 with Pope Benedict XVI as a prelude to regular meetings between staff of the LWF and the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian...
ELCA Invests in Horizon Internships for 28 Seminarians
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) helped arrange seminary internships in 28 churches and other ministry settings from Seattle to Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina, this academic year. The ELCA Horizon Internship Program provided the necessary funding for the internships. A master of divinity is the minimum degree...
Lutherans 'Talk Turkey' This Thanksgiving
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions, Minneapolis, and ELCA Vocation and Education are asking Lutherans to "talk turkey" this Thanksgiving. Talk Turkey is a health and wellness campaign of the church that focuses on families sharing their health history and identifying hereditary risk...
ELCA Fund for Leaders in Mission Awards 32 Scholarships
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Sixteen first-year students at the eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) began the 2005-2006 academic year with full-tuition scholarships, and another 16 students had partial-tuition scholarships through the ELCA Fund for Leaders in Mission. The Rev. Andrea DeGroot- Nesdahl, bishop of the ELCA...
John Adam, Former Bishop of ELCA Slovak Zion Synod, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. John Adam, former bishop of the Slovak Zion Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the former Lutheran Church in America (LCA), died Oct. 27 at a Danbury, Conn. hospital. Adam, 76, lived in Danbury. A funeral service is planned for Nov....
ELCA 'Davey And Goliath's Snowboard Christmas' on DVD
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Starlight Home Entertainment, Inc., Los Angeles, will release "Davey and Goliath's Snowboard Christmas" Nov. 15 on DVD. The one-hour, stop-motion animation special is the 2005 Aurora Award "Best of Show" winner and a 2005 Telly Award finalist. "Through the...
ELCA Bishops Urge Congress to Oppose Budget Reconciliation
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- All 65 synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), plus the presiding bishop, are urging members of the U.S. Congress to oppose any attempt to move forward on the budget reconciliation measures the lawmakers are now considering. Earlier the ELCA announced that 52 bishops...
ELCA Allocates $675,000 to Aid Survivors of Disasters Worldwide
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) allocated $675,000 to help people affected by natural and human-made disasters around the world, according to Dr. Belletech Deressa, director for international development and disaster response, ELCA Global Mission. ELCA International Disaster Response sent $200,000 to Church World Service (CWS),...
ELCA Presiding Bishop's Statement on the Life of Rosa Parks
It is with a sense of great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Rosa Parks, a courageous woman whose resolve focused our nation's attention on civil rights. It is my hope and prayer that as we remember Rosa Parks' life, her legacy might provide an occasion for us to...
Lutheran Pastor from New Orleans to Help Debut Television Program
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Patrick Keen, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, New Orleans, will be part of the first one-hour "New Morning" television program on the Hallmark Channel on Oct. 31. Keen, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was interviewed days after Hurricane Katrina scattered his congregation...
Women of the ELCA Executive Board Welcomes, Adjusts, Changes
ROSEMONT, Ill. (ELCA) -- The executive board of Women the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the church's women's organization, met here Oct. 20-23 and welcomed a special unit, considered adjusting the time frame of its next major events and changed the way it will undertake anti-racism training. Most units...
Lutheran Men in Mission Takes First Steps in Three-Year Plans
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The first meeting of the Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM) board after the 2005 LMM Assembly and Gathering was a time of orientation and planning. Many of the board's four officers and nine regional representatives were new to their three-year positions when they met here Oct. 21-23....
Lutherans Continue Damage Assessment Following Hurricane Wilma
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response continues to assess damage and identify the immediate needs of people and communities just hours after Hurricane Wilma struck the southwestern coast of Florida on Oct 24. Lutheran Disaster Response is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri...
ELCA Publisher Cautiously Optimistic as 2005 Nears End
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress, the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is more than $1 million ahead of its 2005 sales forecast through September, the board of trustees learned when it met here Oct. 14-15. The news is a significant departure from past financial reports....
ELCA Announces Two Leadership Appointments
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- During its meeting here Oct. 20-23, the executive board of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) appointed Linda Post Bushkofsky to serve another four-year term as executive director of Women of the ELCA beginning Aug. 1, 2006. The Rev. Charles S. Miller, executive for...
ELCA Presiding Bishop, LWF President Focuses on Ecumenism
SAO LEOPOLDO, Brazil (ELCA) -- Some people find it confusing that Lutherans are involved in many different "full communion" relationships, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson said in a panel discussion on ecumenism here Oct. 13. "I always say that's because our confessions call us to seek deeper unity in the...
