ELCA Seeks Congregations To Test New Worship Materials
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is seeking congregations to test a series of provisional worship resources this fall, including proposed liturgies for Holy Communion and a partial collection of hymns new to many Lutherans. The materials were developed through the church's Renewing Worship initiative, a...
ELCA Publisher Raises $105,000 Through Mission Well Project
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Minneapolis, announced that more than $105,000 has been raised through its "Mission Well" project to provide safe drinking water for the people of southern Bangladesh. The Mission Well project is part of "Davey and...
TV Special Chronicles Low-Power Radio, Airs Sept. 26
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "LPFM: The People's Choice," a new documentary to premiere on NBC-TV stations beginning Sept. 26, chronicles how low-power FM radio is bringing diverse audiences closer together and giving new life to declining communities, new strength to neighborhoods and new voices in the marketplace of ideas, according to...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Calls For Bridges Of Understanding, Justice
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), has called on Christians and leaders from different faiths to build bridges of understanding between people, and to work together for...
ELCA Presiding Bishop's Letter Marks Sept. 11
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), sent a letter Sept. 10 to Lutherans in the New York and Washington, D.C., areas in commemoration of the third anniversary of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,...
Jamaica, Cuba, Florida Prepare For Hurricane; Lutherans Respond To Damage
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Hurricane Ivan, a powerful Category 4 storm with winds of more than 140 miles per hour, is taking aim at Jamaica and Cuba, and is on track to hit the Florida peninsula -- which would make it the third hurricane to strike the state in one month....
Lutheran Seminary Installs Director For Baptist Studies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C., welcomed a large contingent of Baptists to an Aug. 26 worship service in the seminary's Christ Chapel to open the academic year and to install the Rev. Virginia C. Barfield as director for Baptist studies. Southern, one of eight seminaries of...
LWF Council Condemns Russian Massacre, Pleads For Sudan Peacekeepers
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) said it was "horrified by the news of the bloodshed" in Beslan, Russia, where more than 300 hostages were massacred last week by an international group of armed insurgents believed to be associated with rebels in the Russian province...
LWF Council Appoints Family, Marriage And Sexuality Task Force
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) appointed an eight-person task force to provide federation members with "helpful background and assistance for discussion within and among member churches on family, marriage and sexuality," according to a news release from Lutheran World Information. The LWF Council is...
Many Needs To Follow Hurricanes, Says ELCA Disaster Response Leader
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- With Hurricane Frances approaching the Florida coastline three weeks after the devastation left by Hurricane Charley, human needs will "multiply considerably," said Heather L. Feltman, director for Domestic Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), a partnership ministry of...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Addresses Lutheran World Council, Reporters
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), reflected on many of the challenges that Lutherans around the world face regarding their Christian faith and political, social, inter-religious and environmental concerns. Hanson addressed the council of the Lutheran World Federation...
ELCA Introduces Print Ads For Congregations
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Department for Communication of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has introduced a series of print ads for congregations to use in their evangelism and outreach ministries, said Kristi S. Bangert, director of internal church communication and marketing, ELCA Department for Communication. The ads are...
Lutherans Prepare For Strong Hit From Hurricane Frances
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Residents in the Bahamas and Florida were making last-minute preparations Sept. 2 for Hurricane Frances, a powerful storm packing winds of 145 miles per hour. The storm was moving through the Bahamas and is threatening the southeast coast of Florida, a state that just experienced the destructive...
ELCA Response To Hurricane Charley Widens
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), a partnership ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), continues its response to Florida residents affected by Hurricane Charley, which struck the state in mid-August. LDR is providing emotional and spiritual care to people who need...
International Students Awarded Lutheran College Scholarships
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has awarded scholarships of $1,500 each to 16 international students attending ELCA colleges and universities. The scholarships, from the Phoebe Herman Scholarship Endowment Fund, were awarded through the ELCA Division for Higher Education and Schools (DHES). Phoebe Herman was an...
ELCA Council Committee Releases Churchwide Governance Draft
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The executive committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Church Council released a draft Aug. 25 of a proposal for governance of the ELCA churchwide organization. The suggestions aim to "strengthen this church for mission," according to the draft proposal. In a separate release on...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Releases Churchwide Restructuring Draft
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), released a draft Aug. 25 of a proposal for restructuring the ELCA churchwide organization. The proposal aims to align the churchwide organization with the ELCA Plan for Mission, adopted at the 2003...
'Good Grandparenting' ELCA's Mosaic Television Fall 2004 Release
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Good Grandparenting" is Mosaic Television's Sept. 1 release, a 30-minute program that examines today's grandparenting roles in a faith context. Mosaic Television is a quarterly video program produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) through the church's Department for Communication. It is intended for educational...
2005 ELCA Health Care Rates To Increase 5 Percent
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- After double-digit increases each year since 1999 for health plan contribution rates, trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions approved an overall rate increase of approximately 5 percent for 2005. At its Aug. 4-6 meeting here, the board of trustees set 2005...
Lutheran Retreat Center In Washington To Reopen August 29
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Holden Village, Chelan, Wash., a Lutheran retreat center threatened by wildfire earlier this month, will reopen with full programming Aug. 29, according to an Aug. 23 news release posted on the center's Web site. Guests and visitors will be welcome beginning Aug. 29, the release said. "We...
