ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod Council Names Rave Interim Bishop
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. James A. Rave, Ormond Beach, Fla., has been appointed interim bishop of the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), effective Jan. 1. Rave, 65, is the former bishop of the ELCA's Northwestern Ohio Synod, where he served from 1987 to 1998,...
Lutherans Help Provide Emergency Assistance in Bangladesh
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) contributed $60,000 to the church's International Disaster Response fund to provide emergency assistance to people in Bangladesh, after months of high-speed winds and flood waters caused destruction in the northwestern, western and southern parts of the country. More...
Mitchell Named Interim President for Bethany College
CHICAGO (ELCA) Dr. Mike L. Mitchell, vice president and academic dean, Bethany College, Lindsburg, Kan., will serve as interim president of the college beginning Jan. 1, 2001. Bethany College is one of 28 colleges and universities affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The Rev. Christopher M. Thomforde,...
Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Organizations Build Quality Programs
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran outdoor ministry organizations across the United States are working to improve the quality of their programs with a $775,000 grant from Solutions 2000, a program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL), a fraternal benefits...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Calls for Prayer Vigil for Middle East
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) proposed that the church engage in a continuous prayer vigil for all people suffering from the continuing violence in the Middle East. The Rev. H. George Anderson said the prayer vigil would begin with the first...
ELCA Council 'Applauds' Rural Ministry
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received and "applauded" a report on the church's rural ministry and acted to encourage members of the ELCA to strengthen their commitment to the ministry. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves...
ELCA Council Authorizes Church's Spending (And Other Items)
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved a spending authorization of $83,490,000 for the ELCA in 2001. The council approved the 2001 ELCA World Hunger spending authorization of $14,500,000, and it acted on other items. The Church Council is the ELCA's board...
ELCA Thanks, Pushes Congress for Food Stamp Legislation
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In October, Congress passed two provisions of the Hunger Relief Act, letting states set their own limits on vehicles owned by food-stamp recipients and raising a limit on the cost of shelter for food-stamp recipients. The Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C., applauded that action...
Lutheran-Jewish Panel Welcomes 'Dabru Emet'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In September, a group of Jewish scholars issued "Dabru Emet: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity" in a full-page ad in the New York Times and the Baltimore Sun. A panel on Lutheran-Jewish relations has said the statement "moves Jewish-Christian dialogue to new levels, as together...
ELCA Council Proposes Amendments on Clergy Call Termination
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) proposed constitutional amendments that would make it possible, under certain circumstances, for a congregation to terminate its pastor by a simple majority vote. The proposals will be transmitted to the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly for its...
ELCA Council Elects Board Members; CCM Committee Announced
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected three clergy and one lay person to fill vacancies on boards and advisory committees of the ELCA. Members of a new Episcopal-Lutheran coordinating committee were announced to the council. The Church Council is the ELCA's...
ELCA Council Asks for Report, Suggests Bylaw on CCM Exceptions
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) asked the ELCA Office of the Bishop to consult with other bishops and ecumenical partners about a possible constitutional bylaw that would allow for exceptions to ordination procedures -- procedures required by a full communion agreement...
ELCA Council Hears Presiding Bishop's Vision for Church in 20 Years
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has outlined a vision for the ELCA in 20 years. Anderson shared six characteristics for the future church in his report to the ELCA Church Council Nov. 11. The Church Council is...
ELCA Council Approves Plan to Develop Worship Resources
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- To help address the worship needs of the 5.15 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the ELCA Church Council approved the "Next Generation of ELCA Worship Resources," a new multi-year plan for the church's worship team and Augsburg Fortress Publishers. It also approved the establishment of...
ELCA Council Rejects Clergy Standards Proposal, Wants Discussion
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) agreed with a recommendation from the ELCA Division for Ministry and rejected a proposal that would allow for possible exceptions to its statement of standards for ordained ministers. In this case, the issue dealt with ordaining...
ELCA Council Seeks Peace in the Middle East and Africa
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved a series of actions designed to commit the church to support peace efforts in the Middle East and West Africa. The council also affirmed "Stand with Africa," a campaign intended to raise awareness in the...
ELCA Synod Bishop Declines to File Charges in California Case
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Disciplinary charges will not be filed against a Berkeley, Calif., congregation for its decision to call a person to serve as its pastor who is not on the official clergy roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The decision was announced in a Sept. 29...
Debt Relief Bill Signed; ELCA, Other Churches Play Significant Role
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- President Clinton signed into law Nov. 6 a bill that provides $435 million to cancel international debts of as many as 33 of the world's most impoverished countries. Many churches and related organizations -- including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) -- were part of an...
ELCA Ministry Board Recommends No Exceptions
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A report to the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) asks the council to reject a request for exceptions to expectations the church has of those who serve in its ministry. Meeting here Oct. 13-15, the board of the ELCA Division for Ministry...
ELCA Board Urges Concern for International Conflicts
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Resolutions calling for specific responses from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and its members to violence in the Middle East, in the West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, and in Colombia were adopted by a board that supports the ELCA's international ministry....
