Columnist to Leave 'The Lutheran'; Editor Listening to Concerns
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Walter M. Wangerin Jr., longtime columnist for The Lutheran, the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will cease writing his column by the end of 2000, the magazine's advisory committee was told at its April 14 meeting here. The committee consists of...
ELCA Board Approves Social Ministry for Congregations Plan
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- To help equip congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for "Christ-centered service," the board of the church's Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) approved "To Serve as Jesus Served: Making Christ Known Through Social Ministry," a new multi-year plan for the social ministry for congregations...
ELCA Board Reviews Evangelism Strategy Report
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- To help guide the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) evangelism endeavors, the board for the Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) reviewed a report on "A Telling Witness of God's Good News," the ELCA's Evangelism Strategy, at its meeting here March 24-26. The report summarizes the church's...
ELCA Board Accepts Worship Plan
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- To help support ministries of the 11,000 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the board of the church's Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) affirmed the multi-year plan for its worship ministry team at its meeting here March 24-26. The chief goals of the worship...
Lutheran Services in America Honors Senior Volunteerism
CLEVELAND (ELCA) -- Lutheran Social Services of the Miami Valley, Dayton, Ohio, received the Lutheran Services in America (LSA) Award for Excellence in Senior Volunteerism at the LSA annual conference here March 29-April 1. Lincoln Lutheran in Racine, Wis., and Lutheran Home and Services for the Aged, Arlington Heights, Ill.,...
Lutheran Services in America Board Discusses Unions, Church
CLEVELAND (ELCA) -- A canceled conference workshop on unions and a Lutheran church's statement on economic life set the stage for an in-depth discussion by the board of Lutheran Services in America (LSA) here March 29, preceding the LSA annual conference. "We think the conversations ought to occur in an...
ELCA Council Seeks Advice on Constitutions, Takes Other Actions
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will ask the ELCA Conference of Bishops for advice on whether there is a need for a consultation on congregations that do not want to follow the requirements of the church's constitutions for congregations, synods and...
St. Olaf College President Resigns
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Mark U. Edwards, Jr., 53, ninth president of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., will resign from his post effective Oct. 1. St. Olaf is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "I have been honored to serve the St. Olaf...
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Will Speak at ELCA Youth Gathering
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu will address 45,000 high-school-age and adult Lutherans at the Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) this summer. Tutu will be among several speakers at the gathering's two back-to-back events: June 28-July 2, and July 5-9 at the America's Center in...
Bibles Serve as "Best Outreach Tool" for Lutheran Men
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The distribution of the Holy Bible to men has been the best "outreach tool" to date for Lutheran Men in Mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), according to Douglas Haugen. With that in mind, the board for Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM), at its...
ELCA Council Applauds Spanish-Language Television Ads
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) viewed four Spanish-language television advertisements designed to increase public awareness of the church among Spanish-speaking people in the United States and Caribbean. The council received an update on the ELCA Identity Project in which Spanish-language advertisements...
Lutherans Support Famine Relief Efforts in Ethiopia
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- International Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) provided $150,000 this month to support famine relief efforts in Ethiopia, located in eastern Africa. The famine is affecting more than 8 million people in Ethiopia, according to the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for international...
ELCA Council Elects Unit Heads, Board and Committee Members
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) re-elected four people to leadership positions in the churchwide organization. It also elected members to churchwide boards and ratified appointments to advisory committees. The council met here April 7-9. It functions as the ELCA's board of...
ELCA Council Receives Report on 2000 Youth Gathering
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) learned that about 40,000 high-school-aged and adult Lutherans will gather in St. Louis this summer for the ELCA Youth Gathering "Dancing at the Crossroads." The council received an update on the activities of the gathering. The...
ELCA Council Requests Report on Exceptions to Expectations
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) asked the ELCA Division for Ministry to prepare a report on a request to create a process for granting exceptions to the ELCA's expectations of its ordained ministers, which include rules against ordaining gay or lesbian...
ELCA Council Adopts Interim Social Policy on School Vouchers
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a social policy resolution on school vouchers as an interim policy of the church, for possible ratification or amendment by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The policy is meant to guide the public policy advocacy ministry...
Lutheran Seminaries, Colleges and Services Discuss Connections
ST. PAUL, Minn. (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is related to eight seminaries, 28 colleges and universities and 280 social ministry organizations. About 100 representatives of those institutions, bishops and staff of the churchwide organization discussed their relationships with each other and the church -- and...
ELCA Council Sets CCM Implementation Date, Responds to Synods
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Through a series of actions, the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) declared its continued desire to move into full communion with The Episcopal Church. It determined an implementation date for the proposed full communion agreement, "Called to Common Mission" (CCM), and said...
ELCA Council Informed on U.S. Military Operations on Vieques
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) learned that United States military "live-fire" training continues on Vieques, Puerto Rico, causing harm to the island's environment and welfare of its people, according to the Rev. Mario C. Miranda, a council member from Bayamon, Puerto...
ELCA Council Declines Study of Ordaining Gay, Lesbian Lutherans
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) decided "to decline to initiate a study on the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian persons." The suggestion for such a study came to the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly as "information." The Church Council is the...
