News

As ministers of the European Union consider a plan this week for countries to receive and settle refugees streaming in from the Middle East and Africa, the ELCA continues to support the humanitarian efforts of its European companion Lutheran churches and partners, as they assist people seeking refuge now and anticipate their needs for the coming winter.

In an effort to deepen relationships and strengthen the intersection of faith and social issues, Lutheran and Episcopal U.S. church leaders will gather in Washington, D.C., Sept. 22-24 for an advocacy convening. As part of this event, leaders will meet with more than 60 congressional offices to advocate for federal funding to protect the environment and to highlight the impact climate change has on people living in poverty.

Six international women have received scholarships to pursue higher education at ELCA colleges and universities as part of the first year of the denomination's International Women Leaders initiative.

Equipped with paintbrushes, shovels, power tools, knitting needles and musical instruments, thousands of members of the ELCA gathered across the country Sept. 13 to lend their hands in service to share God’s love as part of “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday.

The 3.8 million-member ELCA is celebrating a significant milestone in reaching a five-year goal of raising $15 million for the ELCA Malaria Campaign.

The Rev. Wesley Haugen, former bishop of the ELCA Eastern North Dakota Synod, died Sept. 6 in Moorhead, Minn. He was 84.

As Europe continues to absorb hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East this summer, the ELCA is working with Lutheran companion churches and partners in Europe to assist people seeking refuge now and to meet their future needs.

The ELCA presiding bishop is calling on the 3.8 million-member denomination to remain in "prayerful solidarity" as refugees and migrants from the Middle East in record numbers are fleeing war and poverty and seeking refuge in Europe.

The ELCA has participated in flood-recovery efforts for more than a year in Europe's Balkan Peninsula, providing humanitarian assistance to families, farmers and others.

Congregations and synods of the ELCA seeking to revitalize their ministries are receiving additional support through a new grant program made possible by gifts to the ELCA’s Renewing Congregations priority of Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA.

On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States, killing 1,833 people and displacing hundreds of thousands in the Gulf region. In response to the powerful storm, members of the ELCA contributed more than $27 million to Lutheran Disaster Response to help support the recovery efforts and provided thousands of volunteer hours to help rebuild and restore communities along the Gulf Coast.

In response to a statement and call to action from the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton has pledged the 3.8 million-member ELCA to participate Sept. 6 in "Confession, Repentance and Commitment to End Racism Sunday."

In an Aug. 5 letter to U.S. Congress, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton urged for "careful deliberation and consideration" in response to the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action," which "seeks to 'ensure that Iran's nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful.'"

Traveling from as far away as Hawaii and Germany, 70 chaplains from the ELCA convened in Chicago for the annual Chaplain Education and Training Event July 26-30. The chaplains, some of whom have recently returned from deployments in Afghanistan, Colombia and Djibouti, serve in the U.S. military, Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals and federal prisons.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the full communion agreement between the ELCA and the Moravian Church in America.

In an effort to continue understanding the complexity and implications of racism, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton invites the 3.8 million member church to participate in a live webcast Aug. 6 at 8 p.m. (CDT).

Participants of the ELCA Youth Gathering held in Detroit July 15-19 responded to the event’s theme “Rise Up Together” by taking part in neighborhood service projects throughout the Detroit metro area.

Life-changing, amazing, unimaginable, and impactful are some of the words members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) used to describe their experience during the ELCA Youth Gathering meeting here July 15-19.

Gathering under the theme “Called to be a Living Voice,” members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will meet in Atlanta July 19-23 for the ELCA Worship Jubilee and the biennial conference of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians.

Wearing their orange T-shirts and dancing to live music, which reverberated in the streets of downtown Detroit, thousands of youth and adult participants of the ELCA Youth Gathering gathered July 16 at Hart Plaza. They gathered here before boarding buses lined-up for a mile-long, stretching from the Cobo Center to the Joe Louis Arena, to depart for their service work further into the city.