Lutherans Support Relief Efforts in Congo, India and Tanzania
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- International Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) provided $50,000 this month to support recovery efforts from war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, $50,000 to assist flood recovery efforts in India and $50,000 for drought and famine relief in Tanzania. Members of the...
Lutheran Theologians Focus on the Cross and Mission
TECHNY, Ill. (ELCA) -- Lutherans believe that God reconciled all conflicts with human beings by becoming human in Jesus Christ, by being executed on a cross and by rising from the dead. The cross was the focal point for theologians of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered here...
Lutherans Host Fall 2000 College Fairs
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will participate in "Lutheran College Fair" programs in 14 states this fall. Prospective students, their families and other interested individuals are invited. Lutheran college admission representatives will be present to discuss academic programs, student life, housing...
Lutherans, Savings and Silk Mean Development in Bangladesh
DUMKI, BANGLEDESH (ELCA) -- On a typical day at a medical clinic in southern Bangladesh, the waiting area is already filled by early morning. Mothers with babies or young children fill the room. The children noisily play with each other. The women, all of whom are draped in colorful saris,...
Stelling and Edison-Swift Announce They Will Leave 'Lutheran
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- After more than 40 years of service in the Lutheran church Nancy J. Stelling, Raleigh, N.C., announced she will retire Dec. 1. Stelling is editor for Lutheran Woman Today, a magazine of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the women's organization of the church....
Augsburg Fortress Announces Agreement with Kerygma
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, entered into a new distribution agreement with The Kerygma Program. Effective immediately, selected resources published under the Kerygma imprint will be available through Augsburg Fortress. The Kerygma Program offers about 20 Bible study courses. First...
ELCA Health Care Costs to Jump, Reflecting National Trend
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- At an Aug. 2-4 meeting here, trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions approved an overall increase of 18.6 percent for 2001 in the revenue collected from congregations and sponsoring employers for the health care benefits plan. "This is the amount of...
ELCA Funds 14 International "MAPP" Projects
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Office of the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved grants for 14 international ministry projects totaling $374,000. The projects, intended to provide direct assistance to people living in poverty, are part of the ELCA's emphasis on Ministries Among People in Poverty (MAPP)....
Two ELCA Pastors Named to LWF Positions
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Two pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) the Rev. Karen L. Bloomquist and the Rev. John A. Evenson have been appointed to positions with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The LWF is a global communion of 131 member churches in 72 countries, representing 59.5...
Lutherans Help Montana Communities Caught in Smokey Wildfires
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response has provided an initial $10,000 grant to Lutheran Social Services of Montana, Missoula, for emergency assistance to communities impacted by smoke and wildfires in the state. Lutheran Disaster Response is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran=20 Church-Missouri...
ELCA Hosts 'FACT' Coalition Meeting; Survey Results Due in 2001
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Nearly 100 people representing 45 religious denominations and faith groups gathered here Aug. 7-9 at the churchwide offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The group discussed preliminary responses from an extensive study of North American religious life aimed at strengthening Christian, Jewish, Muslim and...
Lutheran-Catholic Agreement Focus of Ecumenists
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The North American Academy of Ecumenists (NAAE) will explore possible implications an international Lutheran-Catholic agreement on a key Christian doctrine may have on relations between all Christian denominations. "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification: Ecumenical Implications" will be the NAAE 2000 Annual Conference theme Sept. 29-Oct....
'Mosaic' Fall 2000 Edition Focuses on ELCA Ministries in Bangladesh
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The fall 2000 edition of MOSAIC, the video magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will focus on ELCA-sponsored health care ministries and economic development in Bangladesh. The edition's theme is "Being Christ in Bangladesh." MOSAIC, available Sept. 1, will feature three eight-minute segments on...
ELCA Suomi College Reborn as Finlandia University
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Suomi College, Hancock, Mich., was reborn as Finlandia University on July 1. The university is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The name change is designed to help students, administrators and others connect the institution with its Finnish roots...
ELCA Membership Decreases in 1999
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- With a total of 5,149,668 baptized members in 10,851 congregations, the membership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) remained stable, although decreasing in 1999 about half of one percent -- 0.55 percent. That figure represented a decline of 28,557 baptized members from 5,178,225 in 1998,...
Income for ELCA Congregations Exceeds $2.2 Billion in 1999
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Income for the 10,851 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 1999 was $2,261,204,350 -- up $140,896,720 or 6.64 percent from 1998, the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, reported in the annual tabulation of statistics from congregations. Of total congregational receipts, $1,515,493,949 was...
Arab and Middle Eastern Lutherans Gather in Bethlehem
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Speaking in both Arabic and English, the Rev. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ), said, "If there is no Christianity in the Holy Land, then it will no longer be a holy land." Younan spoke at "Witness and Mission," an international conference...
ELCA Principal Honored by U.S. Department of Education
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Carolyn T. Coffey, principal for Christ Lutheran School, West Covina, Calif., will be honored by the U.S. Department of Education as a "2000 National Distinguished Principal" in an award ceremony this fall in Washington, D.C. Christ Lutheran School is an elementary school of the Evangelical Lutheran Church...
ELCA Announces Recipients of AAL Synodical Initiatives Grants
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Twenty-seven grants totaling $277,500 have been awarded to synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The grants were awarded as part of the Synodical Initiatives Grant Program of Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL). AAL is a fraternal benefits organization based in Appleton, Wis. "The awards...
ELCA 'Horizon' Internship Program Benefits the Whole Church
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Churches and other ministry settings from Alaska to the U.S. Virgin Islands and around the world are providing educational settings for Lutheran seminarians through the Horizon Internship Program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). A master of divinity is the minimum degree required of ELCA...
