ELCA Mission Builders Completed 10 Projects in 2000
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Mission Builders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) completed 10 projects in 2000 and has applications for another 12 in 2001, according to the program director, Dean Hiner, North Platte, Neb. Mission Builders builds or rehabilitates church-related facilities. Since 1986 about 175 Mission Builders have...
Lutherans and Episcopalians Celebrate New Relationship
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- In a "house of prayer for all people," the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) celebrated its new relationship of "full communion" with The Episcopal Church in a gala worship service here at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 6 -- the day Christian churches around...
ELCA Lectures Explore Christian Mission Among 18-30 Year Olds
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Spiritual But Not Religious: Reaching 'Lost' Generations" is the theme of a series of lectures to be presented February through May on the eight seminary campuses of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Tom Beaudoin and the Rev. Roland D. Martinson will present the 2001 Hein-Fry...
Lutheran Leaves Legacy of Faithful Stewardship Education
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (ELCA) -- Arthur L. Larson, a man who routinely gave away 70 percent of his income and more, died Dec. 21 at age 93 in Orlando, Fla., and left a legacy of support for seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He was an employee of...
Lutherans Support Relief Efforts in Alabama
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), is participating in recovery efforts in Alabama after tornadoes struck four counties there last month. Tornadoes killed 11 residents of Tuscaloosa County and one person in Geneva County....
Lutheran Young People Engage in Virtual Forum on Vocation
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Using Web-based and interactive video technology, high- school and college-age Lutherans from across the United States will engage in a month-long "faith journey" on the Internet beginning Jan. 10 and two real-time video conferences on Feb. 24 and Mar. 3. The virtual forum is called "Paths Unknown:...
Wenzel to Retire as Director of ELCA Seminary Program in Austin
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. August E. Wenzel, a former Lutheran bishop, will retire Jan. 31 as third director of the Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest (LSPS), Austin, Texas. Wenzel headed the program for half of its 26-year history. Wenzel, 64, was born near Rockdale, Texas. He is a...
Lutherans Commit to Living Faithfully in a Violent World
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ELCA) -- Lutherans can live faithfully in a violent world but not without effort, participants learned at "Living Faithfully in a Violent World: Congregations and Communities Working Together to End Violence," a conference hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) here Dec. 8-9. Spousal, sexual,...
Lutheran Students Gather for a "Faith Odyssey" in New Orleans
CHICAGO (ELCA) Under the theme "2001: A Faith Odyssey," 450 Lutheran college and university students and campus ministry staff from across the country will meet in New Orleans, Dec. 28-Jan. 1, 2001, at the Fairmont Hotel for the 31st national gathering of the Lutheran Student Movement-USA (LSM-USA). Students and campus...
Emerging Lutheran Leaders Plan, Train, Work for Social Justice
ATLANTA (ELCA) -- Back-to-back events here provided worship, workshops and conversation among people identified as "emerging leaders" of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) addressing social justice issues. About 30 attended "Strategic Planning for Transformation" Nov. 30, and a total of 60 attended "Emerging Leaders: Working for Social Justice"...
ELCA-Roman Catholic Dialogue Continues to Compare, Contrast
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Work continued in exploring the Lutheran and Roman Catholic traditions and their resources in history, scripture and theology for resolving continuing issues that stand in the way of full communion. Representatives conducting the 10th round of talks between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the...
Lutherans Organizing Congregations Attend Intensive Trainin
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Eighteen Lutherans came here from eight states for an intensive course designed for congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) that have organized in the past six months or are involved in a significant transition. The ELCA Division for Outreach sponsored the conference Nov. 16-18....
Twenty Lutherans in the 107th Congress
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- There are 20 Lutherans in the 107th Congress of the United States, according to the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C., the federal public policy advocacy office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Eight of the 16 Lutherans in the U.S. House are...
North American Lutherans Discuss Mission at Historic Meeting
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (ELCA) -- Participants in a historic Lutheran World Federation (LWF) North America consultation identified trust and relationships as the fundamental issues facing churches and congregations in their mission efforts. For the first time, representatives of the North American member churches of the LWF met here Nov. 29-Dec. 3...
Lutherans, United Methodists Prepare for Dialogue
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The United Methodist Church (UMC) are preparing for a new round of talks aimed at a relationship of full communion. The Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg, bishop of the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, and Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, ecumenical officer...
Peace Delegation Meets with Israeli Leaders, Issues Final Statement
JERUSALEM -- On its last day in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, an ecumenical peace delegation of American church leaders met with the mayor of Jerusalem, officials at the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the top Palestinian leader in Jerusalem and issued a final statement at a press conference. The...
Ecumenical Delegation Exposed to Complexity of Mideast Issues
ECUMENICAL DELEGATION EXPOSED TO COMPLEXITY OF MIDEAST ISSUES 00-297-JS* JERUSALEM --Shaking off the vestiges of jet lag, a delegation of 26 church leaders representing 12 U.S. denominations and organizations waded into the thicket of Middle East issues December 8, talking with those who are most directly affected by the increasing...
Christians Will Not Desert Holy Land, Delegation Hears
JERUSALEM -- "The number of Christians in Palestine is dwindling so much that the situation is becoming dangerous," Armenian Patriarch Torkom II told a visiting delegation of church leaders from the United States during a conversation Dec. 9. "But we are here, and we will be here in the future,"...
Arafat Warns That the Palestinians Are Facing a Disaster
GAZA CITY -- "We are facing a disaster," a grim-faced President Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Authority (PA) told a visiting delegation from the United States during a morning conversation. "Sorry you are coming in such crucial circumstances as we face more aggression. In spite of that, we are doing...
Starvation Threatens Palestinian Villages, Vatican Official Warns
JERUSALEM -- In a conversation with a peace delegation from the United States, the Vatican's representative in Jerusalem warned that there could be starvation within a month in Palestinian villages isolated by the fresh outbreak of violence. While most attention focuses on the political struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, Father...
