ELCA Communication Officer, Others, Respond To TV Ad Rejection
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In the wake of the CBS and NBC television networks' refusal to air an advertisement from the United Church of Christ (UCC), communication officers from several religious denominations and organizations decried the "arbitrary standards of the network gatekeepers" that kept the ad from being broadcast. In a...
Twenty Lutherans in the 109th Congress
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- When the 109th Congress of the United States is sworn in Jan. 3, it will include 19 Lutherans -- 10 Democrats and 9 Republicans, according to the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, Washington, D.C., the federal public policy advocacy office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...
ELCA's Winter 2004 Mosaic Television On 'Women In The Early Church'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Women in the Early Church" is Mosaic Television's Dec. 1 release, a 30-minute documentary shot on location in places such as Rome and The Vatican that examines the roles of women in the church and how they influenced the formation of Christianity. Mosaic Television is a quarterly...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson's 2004 Christmas Message
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the...
Atlanta ELCA Pastor to Preach on 'Day 1'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Bradley E. Schmeling, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, Atlanta, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), returns as the featured speaker Dec. 5 on "Day 1," the nationally broadcast award-winning radio program. The program includes a brief interview with the speaker....
'Luther' DVD, VHS Available From Augsburg Fortress Nov. 30
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Luther," the big-screen historical biography of one of the most controversial religious figures in history, is available beginning Nov. 30 from Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the Minneapolis-based publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), according to a news release from the publisher. The motion picture,...
ELCA Council Receives Draft Report On Renewing Worship
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received a first draft of a report on "Renewing Worship in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America" and made the report available throughout the church for response. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors...
Lutherans Provide A Solution To Avoid Holiday Shopping Rush
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- To give to "the person who has everything" and people who have very little this holiday season, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) offers some "alternative" gift-giving ideas. Through the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, members of the church have the opportunity for one-stop shopping that honors...
ELCA Council Selects 2009 Assembly Site, Adopts Ethics Policies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) designated the Minneapolis Convention Center as the site of the 11th ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 17-23, 2009. It also adopted ethics policies for churchwide boards and employees, addressed possible future health plan changes and determined a...
ELCA Council Sets Stage For Decisions On Sexuality
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In 2005 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is to consider whether or not the church should bless same-gender relationships and whether or not it should allow people in such relationships to serve the church as professional lay and ordained ministers. At its last scheduled meeting...
ELCA Council Approves, Transmits Churchwide Redesign Proposal
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved a final report and recommendations on restructuring the ELCA churchwide organization. It transmitted to the 2005 ELCA Churchwide Assembly the report and recommendations for final consideration. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors...
ELCA Council Adopts Revised Process To Authorize New Ministers
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted the 2004 edition of the "Candidacy Manual of the ELCA," which guides the church's candidacy process, including ways it screens potential pastors and professional lay ministers. The board of the ELCA Division for Ministry revised...
ELCA Council Lifts Lutheran World Federation Action On Sudan
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) "raised up" a September 2004 resolution of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) that calls for solidarity with survivors of violence in Darfur, Sudan. It also encouraged the 5 million members of the ELCA to pray for...
ELCA Council Recommends Assembly Rules, Acts on Amendments
Friends: Please replace the story, "ELCA Church Council Commends Rules, Amends Governing Documents," issued Nov. 16, with the revised story that appears below. The revision is intended to clarify actions of the Church Council. We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes. Thank you for your consideration. John R. Brooks...
ELCA Council Adopts Report On Churchwide Governance
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a final report and recommendations regarding changes in governance of the churchwide organization as part of the church's planning initiative. It asked that the church's leadership recommend to the council's April 2005 meeting "any additional...
ELCA Council Adopts Policy On Genetically Modified Organisms
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a social policy resolution on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the food supply. The policy directs the church's advocacy on "legislative action, trade policies, patent laws, hunger relief and development measures, shareholder actions and policy...
ELCA Vice President Recounts Visit With West Bank Lutherans
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Carlos Pena, vice president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and chair of the ELCA Church Council, told the council about a one-week tour of Israel and the West Bank that he took in September. The ELCA Division for Global Mission organized the visit to...
ELCA Council Elects Board And Committee Members
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected Kaanaeli Mukundi of Chicago to fill a vacancy on the board of the ELCA Division for Church in Society (DCS). The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority...
ELCA Council Hears Presiding Bishop Ask 'What Does It Mean?'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The death of Yasser Arafat, the recent U.S. presidential campaign and election, and multicultural challenges facing the church prompted the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to ask, "what does all this mean?" in his report Nov. 11 to the ELCA Church Council....
LWF Leaders Praise Arafat For Support Of Palestinian Christians
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), based in Geneva, Switzerland, paid tribute to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat as a strong supporter of the religious rights and freedoms of Palestinian Christians and "always attentive to their place and importance in the Holy Land," according to a statement issued...
