ELCA Assembly Hearing on Rural Ministry Alliance
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- Rural leaders from across the country gathered for a hearing on the Plan for Rural Ministry Alliance at the 2003 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Sandra LaBlanc, ELCA director for rural networking and resourcing, explained the details of the plan to nearly...
ELCA Assembly Encourages Negotiated Solution in Holy Land
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- The Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Aug. 12 voted overwhelmingly to encourage a negotiated solution in the Holy Land and to endorse a declaration signed last year by religious leaders in the Holy Land that calls for an end to violence there....
ELCA Assembly Learns about Evangelism Strategy
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- "Sharing Faith in a New Century: A Vision for Evangelism in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America" was presented Aug. 12 to the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 11-17 at the Midwest Airlines Center....
ELCA Assembly Holds Evangelism Strategy Hearings
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- During the hearing sessions of the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on Aug. 12, voting members were able to discuss with one another questions and concerns about the proposed evangelism strategy of the church. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of...
ELCA Honors Vice President Addie J. Butler
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) - Upon completion of six years of service as vice president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Dr. Addie J. Butler was presented with the Servus Dei Medal at the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The Servus Dei Medal is given to honor retiring officers of the...
ELCA Assembly Honors Zimbabwe Church, Early American Lutherans
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- The ELCA Churchwide Assembly today remembered the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe and the life and work of two pastors important in early American Lutheran history. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 11-17 at the Midwest Airlines Center. There...
ELCA Assembly Hears First of Presiding Bishop's Reports
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, presented the first of the ELCA's new strategic directions, evangelism outreach, at the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. Each day of the assembly the presiding bishop will focus on one of the strategic directions....
ELCA Assembly Adopts Rules of Organization, Agenda
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- Voting members at the first plenary session of the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted rules of organization and the week's agenda, offered acclamation for the presiding bishop's opening homily and were welcomed by the host synod. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is...
ELCA Bishops Discuss Mission Support Needs
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- The Conference of the Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) discussed declining mission-support funds to the churchwide organization from synods, and asked its executive committee to develop a plan for continuing discussion on the topic. The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body,...
ELCA Council Elects Advisory Committee Members
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- The church council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected three people to the advisory committee for "The Lutheran," the magazine of the ELCA. Council members elected the three Aug. 10, in their meeting preceding the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 11-17. Elected to six-year terms...
Presiding Bishop Offers Overview of ELCA Assembly
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- At an Aug. 11 news conference, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA Presiding Bishop, and ELCA Vice President Addie J. Butler highlighted the ELCA strategic plan, the studies on sexuality and the importance of lay leadership. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is...
ELCA Council Delays Establishment of Two Commissions
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) authorized a delay in requests for the establishment of an ELCA commission for "sexual minorities" and a commission for "children and families" until the churchwide organization's strategic plan is implemented. The Church Council is the ELCA's...
ELCA Treasurer Expresses Concern For Mission Support Decline
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- Mission support income to the churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was $26 million through June 30, a decrease of $1 million from one year ago and $1.5 million lower than budgeted. The decrease of funds from congregations through synods "continues to be...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Says Keep Partner Church Decisions in Context
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- Decisions of the recent General Convention of the Episcopal Church -- a full communion partner of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) -- must be kept in their proper context, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop. Legislative actions of full communion partners "ultimately...
Svennungsen Elected Fund for Theological Education President
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Ann M. Svennungsen, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was elected president of the Fund for Theological Education July 22 in Atlanta. Svennungsen, most recently of Trinity Lutheran Church, Moorhead, Minn., succeeds James L. Waits, who retires at the end of...
ELCA Board of Pensions to Sponsor Assembly Fitness Events
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Run, walk 'n' roll for your health," an early morning outdoor event sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions will take place Aug. 12-16 during the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The ELCA Board of Pensions, which has sponsored exercise events during the...
Income for ELCA Congregations Grows to $2.5 Billion in 2002
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Income for the 10,721 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 2002 was nearly $2.5 billion, according to statistics compiled by the ELCA Office of the Secretary. Total receipts amounted to $2,493,316,925 -- up nearly $41 million or 1.7 percent from 2001, the Rev....
Lutherans Provide Funds for Relief Efforts in Liberia
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) contributed $50,000 of the church's International Disaster Response Fund to support relief efforts in Liberia. "Even as peacekeepers are being deployed, days and weeks of battle between rebel forces and government over control of Monrovia, the capital of...
LWF Post-Assembly Visits Affected By Visa Denials
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Post-assembly visits were hindered after the Canadian and United States governments declined to issue visas to some 50 participants of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, Manitoba, July 21-31. The post-assembly visits, extensions of the LWF assembly, were to take place in 22 sites...
Lutheran Retirement Fund Continues to Benefit Needy
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Ten years after its inception, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Special Needs Retirement Fund (SNRF) is still working to support retired clergy, professional church workers and surviving spouses with financial need. The SNRF supplements the income of retired pastors and others who are living below...
