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ATLANTA (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America interested in youth ministry participated in workshops about youth leadership and other aspects of youth ministry during the ELCA Youth Gathering here The ELCA Youth Gathering is meeting here at the Georgia Dome and Georgia World Congress Center in...

ATLANTA (ELCA) -- Participants attending the 2003 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering must do what they can to serve others and share their wealth, said the Rev. Barbara K. Lundblad, Bible study leader for the Gathering. She urged the participants to make real the theme of the...

ATLANTA (ELCA) -- High-school-age Lutherans from across the country and around the world are trotting around "The Globe" at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering here. The Gathering is meeting July 16-20 and July 23-27 at the Georgia Dome and Georgia World Congress Center. The two events...

ATLANTA (ELCA) -- "The question I would like for us to consider, one that seldom gets the attention it deserves, pertains to the nature of our belly buttons. Are you an in-ee or an out-ee?," the Rev. David J. Vasquez, campus pastor, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, asked 23,000 high-school-age and...

ATLANTA (ELCA) -- All over town high-school-age and adult Lutherans took part in service events July 17-19, a component of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering. The ELCA Youth Gathering is meeting here at the Georgia Dome and Georgia World Congress Center in two back-to-back events: July...

ATLANTA (ELCA) -- High-school-age youth and adult Lutherans at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering can learn about South Africa through a workshop called "The Real Story" at the Georgia World Congress Center and the Georgia Dome here. There are several workshops on a variety of topics...

ATLANTA (ELCA) -- Teenagers and bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met together in small groups here to discuss a variety of spiritual, social and church issues. Their session called, "Get It Off Your Chest," is part of the Learning Village here at the ELCA Youth Gathering....

ATLANTA (ELCA) -- "You have literally come from all over the world to do 'ubuntu,' to do life," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) during the opening ceremony of the ELCA Youth Gathering "Do life! Ubuntu," July 16 at the...

ATLANTA (ELCA) -- About 40 participants, parents, caregivers, volunteers and staff gathered to celebrate the talents and abilities of youth with disabilities at the Omni Hotel here July 13-16. The Definitely Abled Youth Leadership Event (DAYLE) preceded the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering. The 11 participants, all...

ATLANTA (ELCA) -- More than 750 high-school age Lutherans of color and or whose primary language is other than English gathered July 13-16 here at the Sheraton Hotel for worship, speakers, music, fellowship and fun. Under the theme, Bathed in His Image: Washing Away MYLES of Hate, young people gathered...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. John W. Bachman, author, former college president, retired church communicator and pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), died July 7 at the age of 87 in Minneapolis. "John Bachman was this generation's pre-eminent Lutheran student and practitioner of the art of communication,"...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Naw-Karl Mua, Light of Life Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn., a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was released July 9 from a Laotian prison and reunited with his family in St. Paul on July 10. Detained since June 4, he and...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) serving as voting members to 2003 synod assemblies addressed several topics, according to reports from early assemblies on file here with the ELCA Department for Synodical Relations. Topics included gambling, ecumenical agreements, mission plans, evangelism and homosexuality within...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Luther," a motion picture about the life of Martin Luther, will be released nationwide Sept. 26 in theaters. Co-produced by Minneapolis-based Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Neue Filmproduktion of Berlin, the film will open in more than 300 theaters in 45 major markets. Luther, a German church...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Gemechis Desta Buba is the featured speaker Aug. 24, Sept. 28 and Nov. 2 on "Day 1," a nationally broadcast radio program. Buba is pastor of Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Church, Atlanta, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Buba studied theology in Ethiopia...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Paul J. Dovre was named interim president June 30 of Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., by the board of regents. Dovre, a former president of the college, began his duties July 1. Concordia is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) awarded $122,100 domestically and $61,543 internationally for a total of $183,643 in grants to support a variety of projects targeted at supporting families and communities. The Women of the ELCA Grants Program selection committee chose 50 recipients this...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A Laotian court convicted the Rev. Naw-Karl Mua, Light of Life Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn., a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), of "use of warfare items or ordnance" and "obstructing an official in the performance of his duty" in a trial June...

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 efforts after tornadoes struck Minnesota and Nebraska, and after forest fires broke out in parts of Arizona this month. Zion Lutheran Church, Buffalo Lake,...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, associate executive director for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Global Mission, was elected June 28 to a four-year appointment as executive director of the division effective August 1. As executive director, Malpica Padilla, 46, will oversee a global...