News

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lay leaders and clergy from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will learn how to transform congregations into "vital faith communities," reach and serve great numbers of people and invite others into a "deeper walk with Jesus Christ" at the 1999 ELCA Domestic Mission Conference, "At...

AUGSBURG, Bavaria, Germany (ELCA) -- "By this act of signing, the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) confirm the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in its entirety." Once LWF General Secretary Ishmael Noko read these words aloud Oct. 31 here in St. Anna's (Lutheran) Church, 10...

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is in the early stages of developing a new Christian magazine for women. However, the potential new publication has already resulted in a response from Women of the ELCA, which produces a Christian...

BALTIMORE (ELCA) -- Nearly 700 people attended the dedication of the new "Lutheran Center at Christ Church" in downtown Baltimore Oct. 24. The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), led a host of church and public officials in a special dedication service...

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will reorganize its operations January 1, 2000, into specific market and business groups. The move will likely result in a reduction of positions, said Charles C. Halberg, executive vice president and chief operating...

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Board of Trustees for Augsburg Fortress Publishers elected the Rev. Marvin L. Roloff to a second four-year term as president and chief executive officer during its regular meeting here Oct. 21-23. Augsburg Fortress is the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Roloff,...

BALTIMORE (ELCA) -- The Committee on Lutheran Cooperation, a group that includes top officials of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) met here Oct. 25. The officials discussed a variety of current concerns and issues. The meeting was held here to mark the...

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Through the first eight months of 1999, Augsburg Fortress Publishers has experienced an operating loss of $211,000; however, the company's general financial position is strong as it prepares to reorganize its operations, said George W. Poehlman, vice president for finance and treasurer. The financial news was reported...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Four primary goals or "end statements" Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will lift up in the years 2002-2005 are families, leadership, spirituality and stewardship. The executive board for Women of the ELCA, the women's organization of the church, selected the end statements at...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Carla June Hochhalter, the mother of a Columbine High School student severely wounded in last April's shooting at the school, was remembered by family and friends at an overflow funeral service attended by 650 people Oct. 27 at Christ Lutheran Church, Highlands Ranch, Colo. Hochhalter, 48, ended...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Ministry will continue to study issues related to homosexuality, especially the possible ordination of gay or lesbian Lutherans. Several conversations and actions taken during the division's board meeting here Oct. 14-17 "reflected a desire to continue a discerning...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The irony of the "full communion" proposal the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has made with The Episcopal Church is that Episcopalians look forward very much to receiving the gifts of Lutherans who oppose the proposal, said the Rev. Duane H. Larson. Larson chaired the annual...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Membership in the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) gives the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) a sense of "church" far beyond its own borders, said the Rev. Duane H. Larson, president of Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. Larson chaired the annual meeting of the U.S.A. National Committee...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Since the end of August, people in eastern North Carolina have endured the impact of three hurricanes -- Dennis, Floyd and Irene -- said the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, director for Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Division for Church in Society (DCS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved a "Message on Suicide Prevention" during its Oct. 14-16 meeting here and transmitted it to the ELCA Church Council with the recommendation it be adopted. The Church Council...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are initiating a "fresh and deeper understanding" of stewardship. ELCA Stewardship and Mission Giving staff unveiled a new multi-year plan, "Stewardship at the Heart of the Church," to the board of the ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM)...

[Please replace "billions" with "millions" in the 11th paragraph, so it reads:] In other business, the Mission Investment Fund board reported that, as of Sept. 1, 1999, the fund balance is larger than $271 million -- $40 million more than a year earlier. Personal interest-earning investments fuel the fund, which...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "For the first time, we are taking a comprehensive approach for Latino ministry," the Rev. Ruben F. Duran told the board of the Division for Outreach of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The board met here Oct. 7-10 and affirmed the church's new Latino Outreach...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A proposal to establish and maintain a regular budget for the development of language- and culture-specific resources and for the translation of important ELCA documents into languages other than English was accepted by the board of the Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Eight "windmills" will produce "electricity" for = the ministry of the Commission for Multicultural Ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The commission's steering committee learned about the eight windmills at its meeting here Oct. 8-9. "Today, about 50 miles inland from the southern coastal...