Lutheran groups and individuals volunteer for hurricane recovery
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa., one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), reports that a group of 24 students, faculty and staff is spending the university's winter break in the Gulf Coast area to assist with disaster recovery...
Thrivent Financial grants $4.9 million to 75 Lutheran organizations
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Charitable Gifting Initiative recently awarded almost $4.9 million to 75 Lutheran organizations, including $2 million to 32 organizations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Congregations, congregation coalitions, regional divisions of the three largest Lutheran church bodies, small church bodies,...
Lightworks Program Distribution to represent ELCA's Davey and Goliath
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service The ELCA has signed with Lightworks Program Distribution (LPD), a division of Faith & Values Media, to represent the "Davey and Goliath" property for broadcast to U.S. stations, the international broadcast market and other merchandising and licensing opportunities. ELCA Communication Services just completed...
Lutheran Disaster Response Gets $6 Million UMCOR Grant
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A $6 million grant was awarded to Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) by "Katrina Aid Today," a national consortium of social service and volunteer organizations. LDR is one of 10 organizations to receive grants through the program, chosen from nearly 30 nonprofit disaster response agencies that applied. Katrina...
Winter 2005 Mosaic Television on 'Introducing The Old Testament'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A video presentation about the Old Testament, its authors and history, is available to congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "Introducing the Old Testament" -- the winter 2005 release of Mosaic Television -- was recorded in Israel, the West Bank and Egypt, and features...
ELCA Presiding Bishop's Statement on Passage of Budget Reconciliation Bill
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, released this statement today following U.S. Senate passage of the budget reconciliation bill: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) steadfast opposition to the budget reconciliation process has had a direct impact in the U.S. Congress....
Lutheran Students to Focus on Service, Social Justice at LSM-USA
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- More than 250 college-aged students will focus their time and energies on worship, service and social justice when they meet in San Diego Dec. 28-Jan. 1, 2006 for the annual gathering of the Lutheran Student Movement-USA (LSM-USA). The theme of this year's gathering is "Out of the...
One Year After Tsunami, ELCA Funds Support Variety of Projects
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In the year since the tsunami disaster caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean, gifts to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for this disaster exceed $11 million. Nearly half of the $11 million has been approved or proposed for a variety of recovery projects...
Luedtke to leave post as California Lutheran University president
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service Dr. Luther S. Luedtke, president of California Lutheran University (CLU) since 1992, will leave in 2006 to be president and chief executive officer of Education Development Center (EDC), Newton, Mass. EDC is a $100 million nonprofit organization dedicated to improving education, health care...
ELCA Presiding Bishop's Statement on Remarks by the President of Iran
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and president of the Lutheran World Federation, released this statement today on recent remarks by the President of Iran: "In recent days, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, has been widely quoted as saying the Holocaust...
'Joy To The World' to air on at least 75 percent of ABC-TV affiliates
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service "Joy to the World," a television program produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is expected to air on at least 75 percent of ABC-TV stations, said Ava Odom Martin, director for public media, ELCA Communication Services, and the program's producer....
ELCA Member Ronald Schulz Held Hostage in Iraq
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Ronald A. Schulz, a member of St. John Lutheran Church, Jamestown, N.D., a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was taken hostage on or about Nov. 25 in Iraq. An Iraqi insurgent group claimed Dec. 8 to have killed Schulz, but the claim could...
New Round in U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue Opens
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Focusing on the theme, "The Hope for Eternal Life," a new round of the U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue began here, 40 years after the first talks between the two religious traditions began. More than 20 Lutheran and Roman Catholic leaders and theologians participated in the first meeting...
Lutherans Seek Comprehensive Immigration Reform
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Almost everyone in the United States would agree that the country's immigration system is broken; the debate begins when they consider the many possible ways to fix it, according to Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr., president, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS). LIRS supports The Secure America and...
ELCA congregations worship in 37 languages
A December 2005 Report From The Evangelical Lutheran Church In America (ELCA) Research and Evaluation unit says the church's 10,585 congregations worship in 37 languages: American Sign Language (ASL), Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Cantonese, Cree, Creole (French), Danish, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hmong, Hungarian, Indonesian, Inupiat, Japanese, Korean, Latvian,...
Gifts for ELCA hurricane response reach $20 million
by John R. Brooks, ELCA News Service Financial gifts in response to U.S. Gulf Coast hurricanes in 2005 have reached $20 million, said Kathyrn Sime, director, world hunger and disaster appeal, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Notable gifts of $1 million were contributed by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans through...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Thanks Members of Congress
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), sent a thank-you letter Dec. 6 to members of Congress who voted against spending cuts to human services programs such as Food Stamps and Medicaid in the budget reconciliation process. "I wish...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Wants Funding Increase to Eradicate Global Poverty
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Chicago, joined 12 other religious leaders representing Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith traditions in a meeting Dec.1 with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The faith leaders met with Rice to urge...
Lutheran World Federation Issues 'PositHIVe Church'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In advance of Lutheran World Federation (LWF) commemorations of World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, Lutheran World Information, Geneva, Switzerland, issued "PositHIVe Church," a full-color 28-page document highlighting the global Lutheran communion's concerted response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Articles were contributed from Lutheran churches around the world, including...
Hallmark Channel to Air 'Davey and Goliath's Snowboard Christmas' Dec. 18
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Hallmark Channel will broadcast "Davey and Goliath's Snowboard Christmas" Dec. 18 at 7 a.m. Eastern/Pacific. "Snowboard Christmas," a one-hour, stop-motion animation television special from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), made its broadcast debut on Hallmark in 2004. "Davey and Goliath" is a property of the...
