News

The ELCA's first comprehensive campaign, Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA, is celebrating the completion of its first year with nearly $45 million raised, representing 23 percent of the five-year, $198 million Jan. 31, 2019, goal. In addition, the campaign has received another $3.4 million in current gift commitments and $10.8 million in planned gifts commitments to the priorities of the campaign.

The ELCA Conference of Bishops gathered here March 5-10 to continue their conversation and consideration on this church's proposals to form one unified roster of Word and Service. The conference also considered an array of topics ranging from theological education to mission support, from immigration reform to the means of grace, from the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 to Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA and more.

Some members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) joined civil rights activists, faith leaders and elected officials, including President Barack Obama, in Alabama March 7-8 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march.

As a church that believes the good news of Jesus Christ provides “the freedom and the courage to boldly participate in what God is up to in the world,” members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are making plans for the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation in October 2017.

Kathryn L. Johnson has been named director of ELCA Ecumenical andInter-Religious Relationseffective September 2015.

In an endeavor to learn, share and deepen dialogue with Christian partners around the world, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton led a delegation of ELCA leaders Feb. 1-13, 2015, to meet with religious leaders in London, Geneva and Rome.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton expressed her condolences and offered support and prayer to the "Coptic Church family" following the news of the martyrdom of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya at the hands of ISIS terrorists.

Seeking to renew and revitalize their ministry, youth and family workers from across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered in Detroit Jan. 30 – Feb. 2 for the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s 19th-annual Extravaganza.

In her first visit to the Middle East as ELCA presiding bishop, the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton led a delegation Jan. 11-17 to meet with leaders and members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land – a companion church of the ELCA. The delegation also met with political and religious leaders, including a meeting with the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) provided nearly $400,000 in humanitarian assistance to help support ELCA partners who serve the thousands of unaccompanied minors coming to the United States from countries in Central America. The funds were disbursed through Lutheran Disaster Response to Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and Lutheran Social Services of the South.

Jody Horner will become the 16th president of Midland University in Fremont, Neb. The university’s board of directors announced its unanimous election of Horner Dec. 17. Midland is one of the ELCA’s 26 colleges and universities.

In her Christmas message, the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said “The hope of Christmas was fulfilled on Good Friday. The cross is part of Christmas.”

In an effort to continue this church's commitment to racial justice, some ELCA congregations participated in Solidarity Sunday Dec. 14 with prayer and engagement with other denominations using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, ELCA presiding bishop, and the Rev. Jessica Crist, bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod and chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops, celebrate the appointment of the Rev. Libby Lane to serve as bishop of Stockport – the first woman bishop in the Church of England.

The White House announcement that the United States will renew diplomatic relations with Cuba, as well as take steps toward the long-standing U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, came as welcome news for some ELCA members and leaders.

The Rev. Claire Burkat, bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, offered a pastoral message in response to the Dec. 15 shootings that left six people dead and one person severely injured. The suspected gunman was found dead Dec. 16.

John I. Williams Jr. will become the 12th president of Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., effective July 1, 2015. Muhlenberg is one of 26 colleges and universities of theELCA.

In a Dec. 5 video message on racial justice, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton said, “Our nation and our church have been and remain deeply besieged by racism. Following the decisions by grand juries in Ferguson and New York, it has become clear that we have different experiences of life in this country. We continue to struggle. We continue to struggle in our conversation about race in our congregations, communities and places of business, even at our kitchen table.”

The presiding bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Episcopal Church commemorate World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, “as a time to remember those whose lives were forever changed because of HIV and AIDS.”

In response to the St. Louis County grand jury decision Nov. 24 not to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, ELCA presiding bishop, offered a word of prayer and hope.