ELCA Board Urges Careful Responses to Terrorism
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Division for Global Mission (DGM) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) called on the church to urge the U.S. government to consider carefully its responses to terrorism. The board adopted a resolution on the subject as the U.S. government is "contemplating...
Lutheran-Mennonite Dialogue Begins
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dialogue between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Mennonite Church U.S.A. has begun. An Anabaptist-Mennonite school, Goshen College, hosted teams from both churches Feb. 21-24 in and around Goshen, Ind. Overcoming a contentious and sometimes bloody history will be a theme of this first...
Malagasy Churches Supported by Three U.S. Church Leaders
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a joint letter issued March 19, leaders of three U.S. Protestant church bodies, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), pledged to carry their concerns about a continuing election controversy in Madagascar to U.S. government officials. U.S. church leaders also asked Malagasy church officials how...
ELCA Bishops Call for End to Armed Conflict in Liberia
VANCOUVER, B.C. (ELCA) -- The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) called on the U.S. government to help bring an end to armed conflict in the West African nation of Liberia. The conflict has resulted "in a dire humanitarian situation" because of the displacement of...
Church Leaders Welcome U.N. Resolution on Palestinian State
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- Leaders of several U.S. churches -- including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) -- welcomed the U.N. Security Council passage of a U.S.-initiated resolution proclaiming support for a Palestinian state, according to a March 14 news release from Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP). The...
Bushkofsky Named Director for Women of the ELCA
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Linda Post Bushkofsky, 43, Chaska, Minn., was named the fourth executive director for Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the women's organization of the church. Women of the ELCA's executive board elected Bushkofsky during its meeting here March 14-17. She will assume her new...
ELCA Boards Appoint Task Force for Studies on Sexuality
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Boards of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Church in Society and Division for Ministry appointed a 13-member task force to assist the Rev. James M. Childs Jr., director of the ELCA studies on sexuality. The boards acted in a joint session here March...
ELCA Bishops Hear Positive Financial Report for Fiscal 2001
VANCOUVER, B.C. (ELCA) -- Current operating fund income exceeded expenses by $3.3 million in fiscal year 2001 for the churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA treasurer, in a report to the ELCA Conference of Bishops. Receipts to the ELCA churchwide organization totaled...
ELCA Bishops Told LWF Remains in Prayer in Wake of Sept. 11
VANCOUVER, B.C. (ELCA) -- The trauma of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States is "still deeply rooted," in the United States, said the president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The Rev. Christian Krause assured the ELCA Conference of Bishops that LWF members throughout the world continue...
ELCA Bishops Hear Early Plans for Sexuality Studies
VANCOUVER, B.C. (ELCA) -- Saying "we are engaged in the discovery of our God-given capacities as church," the Rev. James M. Childs Jr. discussed with the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) early plans for studies of homosexuality and human sexuality. The Conference of Bishops...
ELCA Bishops Protest Israeli Occupation of Bethlehem School
VANCOUVER, B.C. (ELCA) -- The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a resolution "vigorously" protesting the Israeli military's occupation of a Lutheran school in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. The bishops' resolution also deplored "all acts of violence against innocent civilians." The ELCA...
Israeli Troops Reoccupy Bethlehem Lutheran School
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The property of a Lutheran grade school in the West Bank town of Bethlehem was occupied by Israeli military forces March 9, resulting in damage to some of the school property and building. The Israeli troops later withdrew, only to return around noon on March 11, said...
Lutherans Assess Personal Power and Stewardship
LISLE, Ill. (ELCA) -- Patterns of giving in the church not only vary over time but may be influenced by a parishioner's faith journey and "stage of personal power." That idea was expressed as Lutheran stewardship leaders met here Feb. 28-March 3 for "At the Heart: Stewardship and Power," a...
ELCA Board Conducts Business of Outreach
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Division for Outreach of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) emphasized maritime, rural, new and renewed ministries of the church while conducting its first business session of 2002 here March 1-3. Dorothy Baumgartner, chief administrative officer for Trinity Lutheran College, Issaquah, Wash.,...
ELCA Board Affirms Principles for Outreach to Unchurched
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Division for Outreach of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) affirmed five principles for the ELCA's outreach to the unchurched. Chair Dorothy Baumgartner said board members received a paper, "a work in progress," which offers "a fresh model for leading the church...
Jerusalem Lutheran Bishop Calls for World Response to Violence
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem has called on the world community to pray and act on behalf of Palestinians and Israelis who are being "victimized" by a deadly cycle of violence throughout Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The call was part of an urgent message March...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Calls for Conservation in Energy Plan
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The U.S. Congress should not adopt an energy policy based on "short-term regard for long-term solutions," said more than 1,000 religious leaders who signed a Feb. 12 statement addressed to members of Congress. Among those who signed "An Interfaith Call for Energy Conservation and Climate Justice" was...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson's Easter Message
No God-forsaken places! That is the good news of Christ's resurrection. Women went to the tomb grief stricken. They must have felt that in Jesus' death God had forsaken them. An angel startled them with earth-shaking news: "Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was...
Lutheran Schools Week Recognizes Learning Ministries
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Some 230 elementary and secondary schools, and 2,000 early childhood education centers operated by congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will celebrate Lutheran Schools Week March 4-10, 2002. About 20,000 teachers work with 250,000 students who attend ELCA-affiliated schools and early childhood education centers....
Peace Prize Forum Focuses on the Republic of Korea, March 8-9
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- David Halberstam and Sung Chul Yang will address the 14th annual Peace Prize Forum, "Striving for Peace: Who is Responsible?" March 8-9 at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D. Augustana is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Students attending the...
