Lutherans Communicate With U.S. Elected Officials Via E-Mail
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have moved toward a new way of communicating with elected officials in the United States. Through the church's Web site Lutherans now have the opportunity to identify and write state legislators, members of the U.S. Congress and others...
ELCA Task Force Turns To Recommendations On Sexuality Issues
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) task force for the studies of sexuality met here Oct. 1-3 and began funneling all that it learned since May 2002 into a report and recommendations to the ELCA 2005 Churchwide Assembly. The recommendations will be on whether or not...
ELCA Bishops Told Financial Results 'Mixed'; Mission Support Stable
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Overall financial results for the churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) were "mixed," with income, in general, relatively stable, said Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA treasurer, in an Oct. 2 report to the ELCA Conference of Bishops. Jackson-Skelton reported on the first seven months of...
Lutherans Exceed Goal Of Purchasing 90 Tons Of Coffee
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Challenge millions of Lutherans across the country to purchase 90 tons of "fairly traded" coffee in a year, and not only will they exceed that challenge but work to push it further. Through "Pour Justice to the Brim: The 90-Ton Challenge," Lutherans purchased 99 tons of fairly...
Lutheran Scientists And Pastors Gather For 'Sunday Scientists!'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- About 45 scientists and pastors, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, studied the links between their Christian faith and their vocations and avocations in science and technology. They gathered here Sept. 17-19 for a "Sunday Scientists! Symposium" sponsored by the ELCA Alliance for Faith, Science...
Lutherans Continue Damage Assessment After Hurricane Jeanne
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, continues to conduct damage assessment and coordinate relief efforts in Florida, after Hurricane Jeanne clobbered the state Sept. 25-26. It also continues to organize recovery efforts in several other U.S....
ELCA Presiding Bishop Criticizes Content Of Bush, Kerry Campaigns
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Just a few days before their first presidential debate, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has written an open letter to President George W. Bush and U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, calling on both to change the tone...
More Lutherans Saying 'Yes' To Global Service
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutherans from the United States have been serving around the world for more than 160 years. Global mission continues to be essential for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) today, as the number of new missionaries is on the rise. "We're very grateful that, in the...
ELCA Board Adopts African American/Black Outreach Strategy
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Outreach reviewed, adopted and forwarded an African American/Black Outreach Strategy that has been more than a decade in the making. The board met here Sept. 17-18 to discuss a number of issues and make decisions....
LWF President Hanson To Raise Concerns About Free Trade, Global Peace
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- At the end of a visit to El Salvador, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), affirmed his commitment to transmit to the LWF and the ELCA concerns of Central American...
Lutherans Assess Needs In Caribbean After Tropical Storm Jeanne
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The situation in Haiti is "extremely tough and confusing," according to Michael Kuehn, director of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) program in Haiti. Tropical Strom Jeanne -- now Hurricane Jeanne -- devastated Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands before striking the Dominican Republic and Haiti...
ELCA Bishop Censures, Admonishes Minneapolis Congregation
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Craig E. Johnson, bishop of the Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), sent a letter "of censure and admonition" to Bethany Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, for its decision to call and ordain a person who was not eligible to serve as...
Augsburg Fortress Releases New Davey And Goliath VBS Materials
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), announced the release of two new children's ministry resources featuring Davey and Goliath, characters from the classic television series for children, according to a release from the Minneapolis-based publisher. The resources are "Davey and...
ELCA In Hunger Documentary To Air Beginning Oct. 24 On ABC-TV
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Hunger No More: Faces Behind the Facts," is a new television documentary that examines hunger in the 21st century from a faith perspective and offers possible solutions. The one-hour program, which includes stories about hunger ministries related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is scheduled...
ELCA Task Force On Education Readies Study Materials
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A task force of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) finished its work on materials that will help the church's 10,657 congregations study issues around "a Lutheran vision of education" in advance of developing a social statement on education. The ELCA Task Force on Education completed...
Lutherans Burn Candles In October To Shed Light On Mental Illness
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 9th Annual All-Lutheran Candlelighting for Mental Illness is sponsored in October by the Lutheran Network on Mental Illness/Brain Disorders. The network is a program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The network developed a "litany" -- a series of...
ELCA Assesses Damage, Organizes Recovery After Hurricane Ivan
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) continues to assess damage and participate in relief efforts after Hurricane Ivan struck the central Gulf coast of the United States Sept. 16. "Hurricane Ivan is churning up the southeast after crashing ashore," said Heather L. Feltman, director of Lutheran...
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...
