Three Lutherans Die in American Airlines Plane Crash Nov. 12
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- At least three members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) were on board American Airlines Flight 587 (Airbus A300) when it crashed Nov. 12 in the Rockaways neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., shortly after takeoff from the John F. Kennedy International Airport. All 260 people aboard...
ELCA Council Hears Financial Report; Hunger, Disaster Funds up
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Total operating revenue for the churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was $53.3 million -- up $910,000 for the first eight months of the current fiscal year when compared to the same period one year ago, said Richard L. McAuliffe, ELCA treasurer. McAuliffe...
ELCA Council Re-Elects Thompson, Names Committee Members
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected Else Thompson to a second four-year term as director of the ELCA Department for Human Resources. The council also made appointments to several churchwide boards and committees. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of...
ELCA Council Affirms Plans to Address Issues of Sexuality
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) affirmed the way two divisions of the church are responding to calls from the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly for a social statement on human sexuality and a churchwide study on homosexuality. The churchwide assembly said the...
Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Organizations Work to Diversify
CHICAGO (ELCA) Lutheran camp directors and other outdoor ministry staff from across the United States are positioning themselves to broaden and diversify programs and leadership for effective ministry. About 150 outdoor ministry professionals gathered for "Rock the Boat: Tools for a Changing World," an outdoor ministry conference the Evangelical Lutheran...
World Council of Churches Delegation Visits ELCA, Other Churches
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A seven-member delegation of international church leaders from the World Council of Churches (WCC) met with United States church leaders at the churchwide offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) here Nov. 9-10. The WCC delegation was sent as a "living letter" of compassion to...
ELCA Council Hears Update on Disaster Response in New York
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has received about $3 million in financial gifts from its members in response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, said the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, director for Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), in a report Nov. 9 to the ELCA...
Lutherans Continue Relief Work after Tropical Storm Allison
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, provided $50,000 in November to support recovery efforts in Houston, after floods resulting from Tropical Storm Allison struck an area from Texas to Florida June 9-10. "Houston was the...
ELCA Council Adopts Message on Commercial Sexual Exploitation
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a message on commercial sexual exploitation "to raise awareness of the industry that sexually exploits vulnerable persons, principally women and girls, but also men and boys." The council called on Lutherans "to examine how this...
ELCA Council Hears New Presiding Bishop's Concerns, Reflections
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, people are experiencing a time of "searching questions" and "haunting fears," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Hanson also said members of the ELCA have remained "rooted in our baptismal...
ELCA Supports 40 Horizon Internships for Seminarians
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) helped arrange seminary internships in 40 churches and other ministry settings from Oregon to the U.S. Virgin Islands and around the world this academic year. The ELCA Horizon Internship Program provided the necessary funding for the internships. A master of...
ELCA Council Elects Christina Jackson-Skelton as Treasurer
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected Christina Jackson-Skelton to a six- year term as ELCA treasurer. Jackson-Skelton, 36, will assume the role of treasurer Feb. 1, succeeding Richard L. McAuliffe, who has served as ELCA treasurer since 1992. McAuliffe announced earlier...
ELCA Council Elects Charles Miller Executive for Administration
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected the Rev. Charles S. Miller to a six- year term as executive for administration and executive assistant to the presiding bishop. Miller, 58, executive director of the ELCA Division for Church in Society, succeeds the...
ELCA Board Makes Recommendations in Light of Sept. 11 Attacks
TECHNY, Ill. (ELCA) -- The board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Global Mission (DGM) discussed and made recommendations on the church's response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, international perspectives on the tragedy, and the U.S.- Afghanistan conflict. The board met Oct. 18-20 at Divine...
'Meet Bishop Hanson' Video Now Available from ELCA
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A new video, "Meet Bishop Hanson," is available through the Department for Communication of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The 11-minute video features exclusive interviews with the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, and his spouse, Ione Agrimson Hanson. Hanson, who was elected presiding...
ELCA Board Reviews Youth, Worship, Stewardship, Evangelism Plans
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- To help enhance the ministries of 10,816 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the board for the church's Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) authorized an open review of a preliminary draft on "principles for worship," endorsed a new multi-year plan for youth ministries and...
ELCA Issues First Draft of Statement on Health, Health Care
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Health, Healing, and Health Care: First Draft of a Social Statement" is now available on the World Wide Web and will be available within weeks from Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The document is the first draft of...
ELCA Publisher, Churchwide Unit Relationship Improving, Board Told
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Leaders of Augsburg Fortress, publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and the ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) have agreed on a strategy to improve the working relationship of the two units, according to the Rev. Marvin L. Roloff, president and chief executive...
Women of the ELCA Contributes Gift to Support ELCA Mission
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- To support the mission and ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Women of the ELCA -- the women's organization of the church -- extended a $641,938 gift to the ELCA. Among other actions, the amount of the gift was announced at the Women of...
Lutheran Relief Agency and Others Call for Aid in Afghanistan
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran World Relief and four other faith-based humanitarian agencies in the United States are calling for aid for Afghanistan, separate from military and partisan activities. In a Nov. 1 statement the agencies urged compliance with three humanitarian principles in order to ensure effective aid. Lutheran World Relief...
