ELCA Mission Investment Fund the 'Pick of the Week' on CNBC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Mission Investment Fund of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will be in the spotlight on CNBC, a financial news channel on cable television, the mornings of March 2 and 5. The Fund will be Terry Bradshaw's "Pick of the Week" and will be the...
ELCA Board Receives Short-Term Plan, Congregational Typology
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In the midst of transition, the board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) laid out a short-term strategic plan when it met here Feb. 20-22. The board also learned about a typology of ELCA congregations and attended to other business....
Lutheran World Federation Protests Wall in Middle East
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- To protest against the construction of a wall designed to separate Israel from Palestinian territories in the West Bank, the executive committee of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) adopted the statement, "Break Down the Walls," on Feb. 22. The statement was issued while hearings about the construction...
Lutheran Vespers Moves to New Affiliates in Twin Cities
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Vespers, the radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will debut Feb. 29 on two new stations in the St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minn., radio market. Management and staff of KSTP 1500 AM, and WFMP, 107.1 FM, have been anticipating the debut of Lutheran Vespers,...
Jimmy Carter Keynotes Peace Forum at ELCA's St. Olaf College
NORTHFIELD, Minn. (ELCA) -- The United States has "failed miserably" in sharing its wealth with other people in the world, and there's no sense in this country of wanting to be more benevolent and more caring toward others, said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to a packed auditorium here at...
A Banner Year for the ELCA Mission Investment Fund
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- 2003 was a banner year for the Mission Investment Fund of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). To the Mission Investment Fund, a banner year is good for investors in the Fund, for borrowers from the Fund and for the mission of the church, according to...
Peace Requires Action, Risk, Say Lutheran College Forum Speakers
NORTHFIELD, Minn. (ELCA) -- A former U.S. president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, a former prime minister of Norway and director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), leaders of an international organization that lends money to impoverished people and the director of an interfaith youth social-action organization brought different...
ELCA Presiding Bishop, Jerusalem Bishop Meet Congressional Reps
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In an extraordinary off-the-record meeting, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and the Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (and Palestine) (ELCJ), met Feb. 11 with members of Congress and congressional staff in...
Lutheran Stewardship Specialists Examine New Way of Working
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Stewardship leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) examined a new way to organize their work and reflected on where stewardship ministry is headed in the church, when they met here for the Stewardship Leadership Conference Feb. 5-8. Under the theme, "We Say Yes!" about...
Former President Carter to Address St. Olaf Nobel Forum
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- When St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., hosts the 16th annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum Feb. 20-21, hundreds of people will gather to discuss how they can contribute to worldwide peace. Among those who will address them is former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, winner of the 2002 Nobel...
Istanbul Trip Reaffirms Orthodox Commitments, Says ELCA Bishop
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) said a recent trip to Istanbul, Turkey, to meet with world leaders of the Orthodox Church, reaffirmed the commitment of the Orthodox to "Christian community and peace in the world" and their commitment to caring for...
Lutherans Among Most Valuable Players on Super Bowl Sunday
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The New England Patriots' Tom Brady, named "Most Valuable Player" at the NFL 2004 Super Bowl, was not the only award-winning performer on Feb. 2. Thousands of faith groups, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), also marched to victory that day. Members of the ELCA...
ELCA Seminary Lecture Series to Examine 'Evangelism Today'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Proclaiming the gospel is one reason many Lutherans give for having a Lutheran Church, but they have a harder time describing how that happens outside a Sunday morning sermon. The eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will host the 2004 Hein-Fry Lecture Series,...
ELCA Task Force to Lead Study of 'Many Facets of Education'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A 16-member task force of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Church in Society (DCS) got a glimpse of the enormity of its work to help develop a social statement on education for the church, when it met here Jan. 30-Feb. 1. The second...
ELCA, LWF Leaders Visit Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul
ISTANBUL, Turkey (ELCA) -- The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) praised His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Batholomew for his great concern for care of the environment, and said that people of faith appreciate the patriarch's leadership often carried out "in the face of adversity." The...
ELCA, Orthodox Leaders Discuss Wide Range of Issues
ISTANBUL, Turkey (ELCA) -- Relationships domestically and internationally between Lutherans and Orthodox Christians were described as "very good" by Lutheran and Orthodox Christian leaders who met here Jan. 27. The Lutheran delegation included leaders of the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), based...
ELCA Youth Ministry Workers Gather for Extravaganza 2004
NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) - Youth workers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered here for the eighth annual "Extravaganza" Jan. 22-25. The conference, which drew about 550 participants, provided training and continuing education for youth ministry professionals from ELCA congregations and ministries. Extravaganza 2004 was sponsored by the...
ELCA Board of Pensions, Mayo Clinic Offer Health Risk Assessment
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions, Minneapolis, and Division for Ministry are teaming up with Mayo Clinic Health Management Resources, Rochester, Minn., to offer ELCA leaders, employees and family members use of the Mayo Clinic Health Risk Assessment at http://www.elcaforwellness.org/ on the Web...
Lutheran Disaster Response Continues in 10 U.S. States
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The director of Lutheran Disaster Response called 2003 "a year of superlatives" when describing the nature of disasters as "worst, largest, most intensive, highest and most widespread." Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), responded...
ELCA Celebrates 5th Anniversary of 'A Formula of Agreement'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is marking the fifth anniversary of "A Formula of Agreement" with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ. The "full communion" agreement is not a plan to merge but allows the churches to share...
