ELCA Assembly Participants Discuss Ideas on Rural Ministry
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- There is hope for rural ministry, said members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), but congregations must share ideas and educate others about the rural crisis. ELCA participants in the 2001 Churchwide Assembly discussed rural ministry in a hearing Aug. 9. The churchwide assembly, the...
ELCA Assembly Discusses Homosexuality in Well-Attended Hearings
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Hundreds of voting members and visitors came to talk and listen at two Aug. 9 hearings on "Homosexuality in the Church." Each 45-minute forum was moderated by ELCA Church Council member Ellen Maxon, Milwaukee. Only voting members had voice at the two hearings. The churchwide assembly, the...
ELCA Assembly Prompts Gay and Lesbian Meetings
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- A non-traditional congregation of 142 people gathered in a traditional sanctuary of Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral here for a midday festival worship during the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 9. The Rev. Deborah D. Conrad of Indiana- Kentucky Synod preached and Bishop Kenneth R. Olsen, ELCA Metropolitan...
ELCA Assembly Honors Outgoing Presiding Bishop
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was honored Thursday with the Servus Dei Medal at the ELCA's churchwide assembly. The award honors retiring ELCA officials, a tradition from predecessor church bodies. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA,...
ELCA Assembly Hears of Unfinished Business in Bishop's Final
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Evangelism and ministry with the poor are unfinished tasks facing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson in his report to the churchwide assembly. It was his final report as presiding bishop, as a new ELCA bishop will be elected at...
ELCA Assembly Adopts First Five Memorials
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- A memorial about Israeli-Palestinian relations drew the most discussion when voting members adopted five memorials Aug. 9 at the churchwide assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug 8-14 at the Indiana...
ELCA Assembly Hears Report of Vice President and Church Council
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Dr. Addie J. Butler, vice president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), gave a report of the Church Council to the 2001 Churchwide Assembly. As vice president, Butler chairs the Church Council. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here...
ELCA Roundtable Celebrates Women in Church Leadership
INDIANAPOLIS -- Almost 600 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) -- including 16 men -- met here Aug. 6-8 for the first ELCA Women's Leadership Roundtable. They celebrated the growing number of women in positions of leadership across the Lutheran church, including 30 years as clergy, and...
ELCA Assembly Meets with the Seven Nominees for Presiding Bishop
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Voting members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly engaged the seven remaining nominees for ELCA presiding bishop in a special question-and- answer forum on Aug. 9. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 8-14 at the...
ELCA Assembly Opens with Service of Holy Communion
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The 2001 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly opened with a service of Holy Communion. The Rev. H. George Anderson, ELCA presiding bishop, presided over the Eucharist, and the Rev. Susan R. Briehl, Spokane, Wash., delivered the sermon. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority...
ELCA Assembly Hears First Ballot Results for Presiding Bishop
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Rev. James A. Nestingen, professor of church history, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., received 108 votes on the first ballot for presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Nestingen received 11.31 percent out of 948 valid votes cast. The churchwide assembly, the chief...
ELCA Assembly Learns Worship Efforts to Be Strengthened
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have started a five-year process that will lead to new worship resources. Participants in the churchwide assembly heard a report Thursday about myriad efforts to deepen worship life in ELCA congregations. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority...
ELCA Assembly Adds Forum for Nominees for Presiding Bishop
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The churchwide assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) agreed to a proposal from a voting member to add a question-and-answer forum for the seven remaining nominees for presiding bishop. The session will take place in the late afternoon hours Aug. 9. The churchwide assembly,...
ELCA Assembly Welcomed by Indiana-Kentucky Synod Bishop Stuck
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Bishop James A. Stuck welcomed the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) churchwide assembly meeting with a call and response, "God is good: All the time." Stuck greeted the assembly on behalf of the 240 congregations, 85,000 members of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod. "Our hundreds of volunteers are...
ELCA Assembly Hear Results of Second Ballot for Presiding Bishop
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Rev. Donald J. McCoid, bishop of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), took the lead on the second ballot with 201 votes -- 19.74 percent of the 1,017 valid votes cast -- over other nominees for presiding bishop of the...
ELCA Bishops Pledge Financial Gifts to 'Stand with Africa'
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a resolution supporting "Stand With Africa: A Campaign of Hope," and pledged to provide individual financial gifts to the campaign in addition to their regular commitments to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal. The Conference...
ELCA Leaders Receive Presentation from Lutheran Fraternals
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Church Council and Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received a special presentation on the proposed merger between Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL), based in Appleton, Wis., and Lutheran Brotherhood (LB), based in Minneapolis, at its meeting here Aug. 7-8. The...
ELCA Leaders Hear Preview of 2001 Churchwide Assembly
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) --The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will chair the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 8-14 at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis. Anderson highlighted some significant components of the assembly during meetings of the ELCA Church Council and ELCA Conference...
ELCA Assembly Agenda to Include Same-Sex Union Discussion
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- This may be the first time voting members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will discuss same- sex unions at a churchwide assembly, said the Rev. H. George Anderson, ELCA presiding bishop. At a news conference Monday, ELCA leaders highlighted same-sex unions as one of...
ELCA Council Elects New Committee Members
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Church Council elected four people to the Advisory Committee for the ELCA Department of Communication and two people to the Steering Committee for the ELCA Commission for Women. The Church Council met August 7-8 at the Westin Indianapolis Hotel. Elected...
