News

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- First Lutheran Church, Princeton, Ill., has won the Annual Accessibility Award of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for its current building accessibility projects and its inclusion of persons with disabilities in worship, leadership and other activities. The award includes a $1,000 prize, a certificate and...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Because of changes in estimated income, the churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will reduce its spending for the current fiscal year, according to a July 17 message from ELCA leaders to employees. The total reduction required for the current fiscal year is...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) reported a total of 5,099,877 baptized members in 10,766 congregations at the end of 2001. That figure represents a decrease of one half of one percent or a reduction of 26,042 baptized members from the 5,125,919 members listed in 2000,...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Income for the 10,766 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 2001 reached nearly $2.5 billion. Total receipts amounted to $2,452,431,397, up nearly $65 million or 2.7 percent from 2000, the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, reported in the annual tabulation of 2001...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod (LCMS), continues to organize recovery efforts after tornadoes and floods struck 68 counties in southern Illinois this past spring. Two people died and dozens of others were injured...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Arthur R. Taylor and the board of trustees of Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., negotiated Taylor's departure as president, and Dr. David M. Long Jr. resigned as chair of the board of trustees. The actions came at a special meeting of the Muhlenberg College board of trustees July...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Mission Investment Fund (MIF) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has announced new interest rates effective July 1 for its adjustable-rate and fixed-rate investments. "ELCA congregations, their members and ELCA-related institutions that invest in the Fund earn interest on their financial resources while they...

PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected a new president, launched a new three-year theme and acted on resolutions designed to enhance the work of the women's organization. These actions were among many taken by 500 delegates who met July 8-14 at the Women...

ST. PAUL, MINN. (ELCA) -- A Multicultural Music Festival with the theme "One Voice, Many Cultures," focused on ways to incorporate music from different cultures into congregational worship. The festival, hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was June 27-30 at Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn. The festival...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod (LCMS), is organizing recovery work in central and southern Texas after torrential rains and flooding killed 12 people earlier this month. "For the second time in two years...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod (LCMS), is organizing recovery work in central and southern Texas after torrential rains and flooding killed 12 people earlier this month. "For the second time in two years...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A relatively new Internet tool called "The Fisher's Net" is offering seminarians and people interested in studying theology an alternative to sitting in a classroom and listening to a lecture. The Fisher's Net is "an e-learning group that delivers online courses and Web-based resources to theological learners,"...

PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- The gifts that Christians are given from God are meant for the sake of the community, the Rev. April Ulring Larson, bishop of the LaCrosse Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said to about 3,200 women July 13 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center....

PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Delegates attending the Fifth Triennial Convention of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a budget for 2003 and acted on proposed amendments to the organization's constitution. Delegates also acted on resolutions from synodical women's organizations and individuals. Women of the ELCA's Triennial Gathering...

PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Delegates to the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Fifth Triennial Convention voted overwhelmingly to authorize the Women of the ELCA executive director "to lodge a protest in the strongest possible terms" to the U.S. government over its decision to deny a woman from...

PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Thousands of Lutherans walked through 'Unity Village' at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Fifth Triennial Gathering. Unity Village was designed to display the works and resources of the many units, ministries, institutions and agencies of the ELCA....

PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- In a perfume-scented room, 150 young women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered to curl and braid hair, and apply body glitter and tattoos while discussing some of life's tough issues like depression and anxiety, preventing sexual exploitation and the role of motherhood at...

PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Delegates attending the final business session July 13 of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Fifth Triennial Convention acted on resolutions related to legislation on the federal welfare program and responses to terrorism. Women of the ELCA's Triennial Gathering is meeting here July...

PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Fourteen Lutheran women from Brazil, Egypt, Estonia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Palestine, Sudan and Tanzania traveled from their homes here to attend Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Triennial Gathering at the Pennsylvania Convention Center July 8-14. Women of the ELCA's three-year...

PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- More than 3,200 participants of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Fifth Triennial Gathering had the opportunity to attend more than 30 workshops on a variety of topics designed to explore the theme, "Listen, God is Calling." Women of the ELCA's Fifth Triennial...