News

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), announced appointments Feb. 21 of three current staff members to new responsibilities. The company named the Rev. Henry F. French vice president of the academic and professional development strategic business group, Keith Moore...

LISLE, ILL. (ELCA) -- "Legacy: That Your Faith May Live," a new stewardship resource and educational series, is now available to congregations and stewardship leaders through Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The CD-ROM (compact disc) materials were presented for the first...

LISLE, Ill. (ELCA) -- To erase hunger from the face of the earth and to draw clear connections between the Christian gospel and justice are some of the goals Lutherans brought to a strategic planning session here Jan. 22-24. Staff of the Division for Church in Society (DCS) of the...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has taken a significant step in learning more about individuals who serve ministries in chaplaincy, counseling and clinical education. Representatives from ELCA ministries in specialized settings met here Feb. 11-13 to examine results of a survey that revealed the reality...

LISLE, ILL. (ELCA) Successful stewardship in the church must be mission- and vision-focused and requires constant attention and hard work. Those were some of the ideas expressed as Lutheran stewardship leaders met here Feb. 3-6 to learn about stewardship in its broader context. Under the theme "Stewardship at the Heart...

Editors: In the story, "Synod Representatives Discuss Ecumenical Agreements, Dialogues," issued Feb. 16, 2000, there is an incorrect spelling and place of residence for the president-elect of Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives Network (LERN), identified in the second paragraph. The last sentence of the paragraph should be corrected to read: "The Rev....

CHICAGO (ELCA) Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, will host "Mission in Ecumenical View," a March 23 conference to explore possibilities created by "Called to Common Mission" (CCM). CCM is a Lutheran proposal for full communion with the Episcopal Church. Wartburg Seminary is one of eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran...

CHICAGO (ELCA) - Representatives from most of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) 65 synods met here Feb. 11-12 to discuss ecumenism and its connection to the mission and identity of the church. Speakers addressed these issues from national and global perspectives. The representatives are part of the Lutheran...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "It's a little bit like the town of Gettysburg honoring a German for research and writing about the Civil War in America." That's how the Rev. Timothy J. Wengert, a professor at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), said about an honor to be conferred upon...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The spring 2000 edition of MOSAIC, the video magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), focuses specifically on elder care and includes segments on the "sandwich" generation, care options and planning. The spring edition will be available March 1, and includes these stories: + "The...

ST. LOUIS (ELCA) -- Youth workers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), committed to strengthening the Christian faith lives of young people and their families, gathered here for the fourth annual "Youth Extravaganza 2000" Feb. 4-7. The extravaganza is an annual training event sponsored by the ELCA Youth...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Identity Project, a multimedia effort aimed at raising awareness for the Lutheran Church, and specifically, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), grew significantly in 1999. By year's end, 52 of the church's 65 synods had hosted training events, and nearly $1.2 million in matching grants...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) does not intend to assign participants in this summer's Youth Gathering 2000 to the Adam's Mark Hotel in St. Louis, nor will it use any meeting facilities at the hotel, said the Rev. William H. Kees, director of the ELCA...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.(ELCA) -- Two parallel histories converged here Jan. 27, when the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Moravian Church in America celebrated their new agreement, "Following Our Shepherd to Full Communion." After six years of dialogue and study, two provinces of the Moravian Church in America passed the...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Hundreds of congregations, with Sunday morning worship attendance averaging between 100 and 300 people, are experiencing new vitality and growth as a result of the Mid-Size Congregation Transformation Project of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "Congregations with a worship attendance of 100 to 300 people...

CHICAGO (ELCA) - The Rev. Martin L. Yonts Sr., 73, former synod bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and mission developer in the former Lutheran Church in America (LCA), died Jan. 28 in Hendersonville, N.C., after suffering an aneurysm. Yonts, a native of Thomasville, N.C., was elected...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In response to disasters in China, Nicaragua and Venezuela, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are sending $275,000 to the church's International Disaster Response to support recovery efforts in those countries. Coordinated through the ELCA Division for Global Mission (DGM), International Disaster Response provides...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The St. Louis Rams of the National Football League was not the only team to claim victory on "Super Bowl Sunday," Jan. 30. Food pantries, homeless shelters and others can also claim success thanks to more than 11,000 churches in the United States, including congregations of the...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Religion Communicators Council (RCC) has produced a sixth edition of "How Shall They Hear: A Handbook for Religion Communicators." The soft-bound, 166-page resource is now available to all faith communities across the United States. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is one of 70 faith...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Anel G. "Gib" Fjellman, 82, bishop of the Pacific Northwest Synod of the former Lutheran Church in America (LCA) from 1962 to 1983, died Jan. 20 at a Seattle hospital from complications of pneumonia. Prior to becoming bishop, Fjellman served six years as regional director...