Lutherans, Faith Groups Urge Congress to Finish Health Care Reform
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- Fifty-six faith organizations, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), sent a Jan. 26 letter to members of Congress asking them to "take heart and move meaningful health care reform forward." More: http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4421 For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news Twitter: http://twitter.com/elcanews
ELCA Pastor Says Hope and Faith Overshadowed Death in Haiti
CHICAGO (ELCA) - The Rev. Douglas A. Hill, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was walking in the town of Jacmel, Haiti, when the earthquake struck the Caribbean nation Jan. 12. Only 10 kilometers from the quake's epicenter, Hill suddenly found himself surrounded by death and...
ELCA Staff Member Reports Haitians Still 'Living with Hope'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Haitian people are "living with hope," reported Louis Dorvilier, a member of the churchwide staff of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He said despite many difficulties for survivors of the Jan. 12 earthquake, Haitians living in temporary shelters can be heard singing and worshiping...
ELCA, Other North American Lutherans Prepare for Regional LWF Pre-Assembly
GENEVA (LWI) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) Eastern Synod will host this week's North American region preparatory meeting for the 2010 Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The LWF's eleventh assembly will take place in July in Stuttgart, Germany, under the theme "Give Us Today Our...
Lutherans, Moravians Celebrate 10th Anniversary as Full Communion Partners
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church in America will celebrate their 10-year anniversary as full communion partners Jan. 27. To honor the collaborative ministries of the denominations, a reception and service will be held that day...
ELCA Working to Recover Student's Body, Respond to Haiti Earthquake
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is working through members of Congress seeking their help with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Haiti to recover the body of Benjamin Larson, a senior Wartburg Theological Seminary student presumed to have died in the Jan....
Linda Hartke Named President, CEO, Global Refuge
BALTIMORE (ELCA) -- The board of directors of Global Refuge named Linda Hartke as the organizationâ€TMs new president and chief executive officer. Hartke, a Lutheran, begins her new role Feb. 22. More: http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4414 For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news Twitter: http://twitter.com/elcanews
ELCA Members Contribute More than $1.4 Million for Haiti
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As of Jan. 22 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have contributed more than $1.4 million to support recovery efforts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. More: http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4412 For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news Twitter: http://twitter.com/elcanews
Ben Larson, ELCA Seminary Student, Remembered at Memorial Service
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Benjamin Judd Larson's life was "filled with God's peace, a life that was driven by his desire to walk in the footsteps of the one he called Lord," said the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, who preached at a Jan. 22 memorial service for Larson, 25, believed to...
ELCA Wittenberg Center to Move, Establishes New Staffing Arrangement
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Wittenberg (Germany) Center will move its offices to another location in the German city and employ a part-time coordinator who will also represent the ELCA in the observance of the "Luther Decade." More: http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4409 For information contact: John Brooks, Director...
Lutherans Recount Return from Haiti, Faith, Witness of Haitians
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Cheryl F. Meinschein feels blessed that she survived the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti but struggles with the fact that many people, particularly children, did not survive. "Where do you go with that?" she said to the News Service of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...
First LWF Relief Convoy Arrives in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (LWI) -- The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for World Service (DWS) plans to scale up operations and strengthen logistics capacity in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic following the Jan. 20 arrival of the first DWS convoy with urgently needed relief supplies in the Haitian capital of...
ELCA Synod Bishop Asks to Meet with Iowa Congregation President
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The bishop of the Northeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has asked for a meeting with the president of Zion United Lutheran Church, Clear Lake, Iowa, to discuss a disputed congregational vote on a resolution to leave the church. The Rev. Steven...
Brad Hewitt Named President and CEO, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Thrivent Financial for Lutherans announced Jan. 20 that its board of directors named Brad Hewitt as the organization's new president and chief executive officer. Hewitt currently serves as Thrivent Financial's chief operating officer and will succeed Bruce Nicholson, retiring chairman, president and chief executive officer, effective Feb....
Memorial For Benjamin Larson to be Held at ELCA's Luther College Jan. 22
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A memorial service for Benjamin Judd Larson, 25, believed to have perished in the Haiti earthquake, will be held Jan. 22 at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. The service will begin at 2 p.m. Central Time at the college's Center for Faith and Life. Luther is one of...
Lutheran Federation Staff Reports Damage Extends Beyond Port-Au-Prince
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Severe damage from the Jan. 12 earthquake extends beyond Port-au-Prince, Haiti. According to staff of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for World Service (DWS) Caribbean/Haiti program, the towns of Gressier, Carrefour and Leogane, west of the Haitian capital, have also been destroyed. More: http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4404 For information...
ELCA Members, Congregations Contribute More Than $1.2 Million for Haiti
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Individuals and congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have contributed more than $1.2 million to fund relief efforts of ELCA partner organizations working on the ground in Haiti, said the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA Global Mission, in a Jan. 19 conference...
ELCA Groups in Haiti Hope to be Home Soon; Seminary Students Return
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A group from Abiding Hope Lutheran Church, Littleton, Colo., is reported to have left Haiti today by boat headed for the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, a pastor with a Pennsylvania group in Haiti, reports the group hopes to leave the country by plane by Monday, and two Wartburg...
He Spent His Last Breath Singing: Wife, Cousin Remember ELCA's Ben Larson
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The past week for Renee Splichal Larson and Jonathan Larson has been filled with danger, uncertainty, heartache and deep pain as they mourn the apparent loss of Renee's husband and Jonathan's cousin, Ben Larson, 25, in the earthquake in Haiti. The two Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...
Lutheran World Federation Worker Describes Port-Au-Prince, Haiti
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "It looks like a war zone," and "so far no real help is in sight," said Eric Celiz of the situation in earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Celiz is a financial officer of the Caribbean/Haiti program of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for World Service. More: http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4399 For...
