News

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The barriers between economic and social classes impede the work of the Church. That's one idea to be examined Feb. 3-May = 3=20 on the eight seminary campuses of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) during the 2000 Hein-Fry Lecture Series, "Class Matters: Mission Across Unseen...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) who are committed to strengthening the Christian faith lives of youth and young adults will gather for the "Youth Extravaganza 2000" Feb. 4-7 at the Marriott Pavilion Hotel in St. Louis. "The extravaganza is an annual training event...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "This was a first-time acquaintance for all of us," said Dr. Robert C. Holland, Bethesda, Md., newly elected chair of the advisory committee for corporate social responsibility of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The Lutherans met Jan. 14-15 with = their counterparts on the social...

SALISBURY, N.C. (ELCA) -- Winston-Salem, N.C., a city rich in Moravian heritage, is an ideal setting for a festive celebration honoring a full communion agreement between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Moravian Church in America. Church dignitaries from across the United States and as far away...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Ruth J. Sovik, 71, a former deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), died Jan. 12 in Minneapolis after a long illness. Sovik and her husband, the Rev. Arne B. Sovik, were retired and...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- John Hume and David Trimble, 1998 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, will address the 12th annual Peace Prize Forum, "Striving for Peace: Risk and Reconciliation," Feb. 18-19 at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn. St. Olaf is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Martin Luther's action to nail his 95 theses to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517, which challenged some practices of the Roman Catholic Church and sparked the Protestant Reformation, was the most significant religious story of the past 1,000 years, according to results of a...

RIVER FOREST, Ill. (ELCA) -- About 30 volunteers and synod and churchwide staff met here, exchanged ideas and developed strategies to place and keep "Lutheran Vespers," the radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), on the air in their communities. The Jan. 7-9 Lutheran Vespers Networking Conference...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) held a forum Jan. 6-8 to highlight the church's activities, plans and aspirations for multicultural ministry in preparation for a new millennium. About 80 lay leaders, clergy and staff of the ELCA's churchwide offices and 65 synods met here for...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Not only will teams of the National Football League prepare for "Super Bowl Sunday," Jan. 30, 2000, but so will 5.2 million members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The difference between congregations of the ELCA and professional football teams is that Lutherans plan to...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran=20 Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), is participating in recovery efforts in Owensboro, Ky., after a tornado struck there Jan. 3. Initial assessments indicate more than 110 homes were destroyed and more than 250...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Joel L. Cunningham, president of Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa., will become vice chancellor and president for the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., in July. Cunningham served as president of Susquehanna -- one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Team leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) initiative to "develop leaders for the next century" have awarded $74,172 in grants to 17 congregations, synods, organizations and projects of the ELCA. A goal of the initiative is to develop leaders that will "minister to an...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Seven of the 65 synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have announced plans to retire in 2000. Synod assemblies elect or re-elect bishops to six-year terms. Bishops serve as synods' chief pastors, exercising administrative oversight of the synods' work; they are also members...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Playing in the Light: Our Changing Faith," a television documentary featuring members of "the post-modern generations" discussing their faith, won a Bronze Award in the category for Television and Cable Production Awards, Religious Programs, at the "Worldfest-Flagstaff" film festival Nov. 5-14, 1999. In the documentary, nine young...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Martin E. Carlson, Roseville, Minn., a former executive director of the Office for Administration and Finance in the Lutheran Church in America (LCA), died Dec. 31, 1999. Carlson, 89, died of pneumonia following surgery. On Dec. 23, 1999, the Rev. Hebert E. Nottbohm, Minneapolis, died...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The historic signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in Augsburg, Germany, by representatives of the Vatican and Lutheran World Federation was the most significant news event involving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 1999, said the staff of ELCA News and...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Under the theme, "WHY2K? It's About Time to Celebrate, Reflect, Dream and Act," Lutheran students from across the country met here Dec. 29-Jan. 2 for the 30th national gathering of the Lutheran Student Movement-USA (LSM-USA). More than 350 students and Lutheran campus ministry staff met to "reflect...

DAIRY FARMERS MAY LOSE FARM BUT NOT FAITH: ELCA ADDRESSES RURAL CRISIS by: Melissa O. Ramirez They are a husband-and-wife team with a handful of dairy cows in western Wisconsin. While their marriage is a 45-year romance, Larry and Rachel Ecklor's dairy farm has been everything but an affair to...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), in partnership with Wheat Ridge Ministries, is offering financial assistance to Lutheran congregations to encourage development of support services for immigrants and refugees. Competitive grants are available through the LIRS Bernthal Fund for Congregational Involvement, said William C. Tremitiere, director, LIRS...