Anderson to Retire as President of Trinity Lutheran Seminary
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Dennis A. Anderson, 62, president of Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, announced he plans to retire Nov. 30, 2000. Anderson made the announcement at the Nov. 4-6 meeting of the seminary's board of directors. Trinity is one of eight seminaries of the 5.2-million member Evangelical...
Lutherans Ready to Spread the Gospel in the New Millennium
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- About 900 lay leaders and clergy from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) learned how to transform congregations into "vital faith communities," reach and serve greater numbers of people and invite others into a "deeper walk with Jesus Christ" at the 1999 ELCA Domestic Mission Conference,...
Jerusalem Lutheran Congregation Joins Protest
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- An English-speaking Lutheran congregation in Jerusalem joined with most other Christian churches there and closed its doors Nov. 22-23, in protest of the Israeli government's decision to allow construction of a mosque on a half-acre plot of land outside the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. The...
ELCA's Grand View College Names Henning as President
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of trustees of Grand View College, Des Moines, Iowa, elected Kent L. Henning, 41, of Kenosha, Wis., president Nov. 19. Grand View College is a four-year liberal arts institution, one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Henning will...
ELCA Communicators Work to Rebuild Honduran Villages
Luis Alonzo Madrid, a celebrant of the Word (lay leader) in Corralitos, Honduras, wept as he spoke to Lutheran volunteers and villagers who crowded into a makeshift chapel. "We have no way to thank you, except for the love that is in our hearts." A group of volunteers from the...
ELCA Congregations Gain Training on Immigration
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Four congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gain training to respond to the legal immigration needs in their communities. Members of La Sagrada Familia Lutheran Church, Chicago; Chinese Life Lutheran Church, Alhambra, Calif.; Grace Lutheran Church, Washington, D.C.; and San Miguel Lutheran Church, Fort...
ELCA Council Adopts Message on Suicide Prevention
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a "Message on Suicide Prevention" Nov. 14 and called on units of the church to incorporate the spirit of the message in their work. Plans call for the message to be distributed to all ELCA...
Beekmann to Retire as President of Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Darold H. Beekmann, president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa., announced he will retire from that position on July 31, 2000. Gettysburg is one of eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "I have been honored to serve the church...
Lutherans Organize, Elect Leader to Resist CCM
ST. PAUL, Minn. (ELCA) -- Lutherans dissatisfied with a proposal to enter into full communion with the Episcopal Church met here Nov. 15-16 and agreed to form their own organization. The 408 delegates and participants to the "Word Alone National Gathering I" also elected the Rev. Roger C. Eigenfeld, 59,...
ELCA Congregations Register Dissent from Ecumenical Decision
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Two congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have registered their dissent from a decision of the ELCA's 1999 Churchwide Assembly to enter into "full communion" with The Episcopal Church and to adopt the "historic episcopate." One Lutheran congregation has voted to leave the ELCA;...
ELCA Council Receives Plans for a New Evangelism Strategy
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are developing a new strategy for evangelism, mission and outreach for the next 10 years. Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson told the ELCA Church Council the new strategy will be ready for consideration by the 2001 ELCA Churchwide...
ELCA Health Care Cost-Sharing Approved
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The ELCA Board of Pensions trustees, at a Nov. 5-7 meeting here, approved a move to price the ELCA health plan more competitively and to confine cost-sharing among congregations as one interdependent church. The ELCA Church Council will act on the new rate structure at its April...
ELCA Council Hears Reforms for Church Health-Care Funding
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "The perception that the costs are high is fairly accurate," John G. Kapanke told the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Kapanke, president of the ELCA Board of Pensions, Minneapolis, gave an interim report on the Board's efforts to reform the costs of...
ELCA Council Asks for Data on Possible Study on Gay Ordination
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) asked the ELCA Department for Research and Evaluation to prepare a "feasibility report" regarding a possible study on the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian people. The feasibility report, to be brought to the council at...
ELCA Council Pledges Support for Understanding, Reconciliation
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) acknowledged the concerns expressed by some members of the church with regard to this summer's adoption of a proposal for full communion with the Episcopal Church. The council pledged "to listen and to support efforts to...
ELCA Council Celebrates the Ordination of Women
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved a resolution encouraging celebrations in various settings during 2000 to honor the 30th anniversary of the ordination of Lutheran women in North America. The council met here Nov. 12-14. It functions as the ELCA's board...
ELCA Council Engages in Ministry among People Living in Poverty
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- At its spring meeting, the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) established a designated fund of $3 million for the church's ministry among people living in poverty, and authorized the ELCA's presiding bishop to allocate funds for global and domestic mission. The council...
ELCA Council Approves $300,000 Contribution to the NCC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is making a one-time allocation of $300,000 to the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC) to help the organization resolve what the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, described as a $3.5 million...
ELCA Council Receives Report on the Church's Initiatives
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is "midway" through its four-year program, "Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century," the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the church, told the ELCA Church Council Nov. 12. The council met here Nov. 12-14. It functions as the...
ELCA Council Elects Church Members to Boards and Committees
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected its executive committee and several other church members to fill vacancies on ELCA boards and committees. It also ratified a slate of candidates to serve as trustees of the ELCA Mission Investment Fund. The council...
