Muhlenberg College President Leaves, Board Chair Resigns
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...
ELCA Mission Investment Fund Announces New Interest Rates
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...
ELCA Women Elect President, 'Listen to God's Call'
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...
Worship, Multicultural Music Focus of ELCA Festival
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...
Lutherans Organize Recovery Work in Texas
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...
Lutherans Organize Recovery Work in Texas
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...
Fisher's Net Offers Seminarians More Learning Opportunities
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,"...
ELCA Women Urged to 'Spread the Seed'
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....
ELCA Women Adopt Budget, Amendments, Resolutions
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...
ELCA Women Protest Exclusion of Tanzania Woman
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...
ELCA Women See Churches' Ministries at 'Unity Village'
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....
ELCA Young Women "See Visions"
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...
ELCA Women Act on TANF, Terrorism Resolutions
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...
ELCA Women, International and Ecumenical Women Gather
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...
ELCA Women Muse "God Is Calling" Theme in Workshops
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...
ELCA Women Complete Leadership Team for 2002-2005
PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Delegates to the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Fifth Triennial Convention elected three officers and 17 members of the executive board July 12 to complete the organization's leadership team for 2002-2005. Mary Ellen M. Kiesner, Menomonee Falls, Wis., was elected July 11 to...
ELCA Women Support Philadelphia-area Ministries
PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Participants attending the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Fifth Triennial Gathering gave hundreds of children's books and packages containing a variety of personal care items, such as soap and linens, to Philadelphia-area ministries. Known as "in-kind" gifts, the items are intended for the...
ELCA Women Learn about Project H.O.M.E.
PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Forty-five women attending the Fifth Triennial gathering of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) took time to learn about Project H.O.M.E., a community program in the North Philadelphia area. Women of the ELCA's Triennial Gathering is meeting here July 8-14. The organization's three-year theme,...
ELCA Women Are Part of 'God's Building Plan'
PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are now "bonded," the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl said to more than 3,200 women from across the United States and around the world gathered here July 12 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. DeGroot-Nesdahl, bishop of the ELCA South Dakota...
ELCA Women Kick-off Thrift Store Renovation Project
PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- About 50 women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) used hammers and scrapers July 11 at a Convention Without Walls session at part of Women of the ELCA Fifth Triennial Gathering here. The women were the first to begin renovation work on a newly purchased...