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RAMALLAH, West Bank (ELCA) -- The Palestinian people have a chance for peace -- perhaps the last chance -- in the new "road map" proposed by the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations, said the prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in an extraordinary May...

JERUSALEM (ELCA) -- Saying the leaders of Christian churches here are "a sign of hope for Christians throughout the whole world," the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), paid tribute to each for working together to bring peace to the Middle East....

SAVANNAH, Ga. (ELCA) -- Members of the Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives Network (LERN) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) held their annual meeting here May 12-15, during the National Workshop on Christian Unity. A leading topic of the meeting was how agreements the ELCA has reached with other church...

JERUSALEM (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), thanked members of the Lutheran church here for their faithfulness to God and for their efforts to promote a lasting and just peace for all people in the Middle East. The Lutherans'...

JERUSALEM (ELCA) -- The new leaders of the Palestinian people must take responsibility and stop terror attacks against the people of Israel for the new "road map" plan for peace to succeed, said Moshe Katsav, president of the State of Israel, during a one-hour meeting May 26 with the Rev....

JERUSALEM (ELCA) -- The only way to begin to develop a lasting peace for all people in the Middle East is for the State of Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, areas inhabited by Palestinians, said His Beatitude Michael Sabbah, Latin Catholic Patriarch for the...

SAVANNAH, Ga. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), addressed the closing luncheon of the National Workshop on Christian Unity, which met here May 12-15. He expressed gratitude to those who work for Christian unity and named a series of...

JERUSALEM (ELCA) -- Help is needed from members of the U.S. Congress to contact U.S. State Department and Israeli government officials urging them to advise the State of Israel to drop a court case that would enable them to collect an employer's tax from Augusta Victoria Hospital, said Craig Kippels,...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Martha Ellen Stortz, professor of historical theology and ethics, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS), Berkeley, Calif., was named acting president of the seminary, following the May 20 death of the Rev. Timothy F. Lull, PLTS president. PLTS is one of eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Timothy F. Lull, president and professor of systematic theology, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS), Berkeley, Calif., died May 20 of complications following surgery. He was 60. PLTS is one of eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The seminary has announced a funeral...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Timothy F. Lull, president and professor of systematic theology, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS), Berkeley, Calif., died May 20 of complications following surgery. He was 60. PLTS is one of eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "The church has lost a...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), joined with other ELCA leaders here May 12 for an informal dialogue with leaders representing the Commission on Interreligious Affairs of Reform Judaism. After the day-long dialogue at the ELCA churchwide office,...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Calling for "bold leadership," United States church and church organization leaders sent letters May 14 to the prime ministers of the Israeli and Palestinian governments to offer encouragement for the current Middle East peace plan. The letters were delivered two days prior to the first scheduled meeting...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Studies on Sexuality Task Force of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) called together theologians and behavioral and social scientists to gather information, opinion and theological perspective on research regarding sexual orientation when it met here April 25-27. The task force also reviewed study materials...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A new book, "Faithful Conversation: Christian Perspectives on Homosexuality," has been released by Fortress Press, a division of Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The book was commissioned by ELCA seminary presidents, according to a news release from Augsburg Fortress....

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a statement addressing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and its implication for worship, the Rev. Michael L. Burk, director for worship, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, wrote April 23 that concerns about the disease and worship practices "should be met with respect and calm." Recent reports...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Public health and law enforcement officials in Maine ruled the death of Daniel Bondeson, 53, to be a suicide and indicated that a note found in Bondeson's Woodland, Maine, home linked him and possibly others to an arsenic poisoning that killed one and sickened more than a...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod (LCMS), are assessing damage in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee after storms and tornadoes brought death and destruction May 4. "At least 38 people are known dead and...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Changes of seasons are accompanied by devastating storms, according to the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, director of Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Lutheran Disaster Response continues to help survivors recover from hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical storms...

INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Numerous awards were presented here April 29 to publications associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) during the annual convention of the Associated Church Press (ACP). ELCA publications won two first-place awards and one second-place award for overall excellence. "Lutheran Woman Today," the magazine of...