News

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), terminated 34 employees Nov. 12, said the Rev. Marvin L. Roloff, Augsburg Fortress president and chief executive officer, in a memorandum to employees. The staff reduction is part of a significant reorganization and downsizing...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Initial test marketing of a proposed Christian magazine for women has exceeded expectations, said an Augsburg Fortress news release on Nov. 11. The Minneapolis-based company is the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and is in the early stages of developing the new...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In response to disasters in India, Mexico and Taiwan, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are sending $150,000 to the church's International Disaster Response to support relief work in those countries. Coordinated through the ELCA Division for Global Mission (DGM), International Disaster Response provides...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (ELCA) -- Some 300 Lutherans met here Nov. 5-7 to discuss the continuing challenges of building a multicultural church into the new millennium. The meetings were part of the 1999 Multicultural Mission Institute, an educational program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "It's time for a...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "We need to get Africa back on the map," said Belletech Deressa, ELCA director for international development and disaster response, at the Division for Global Mission board meeting Oct. 21-23 in Mundelein, Ill. At the meeting the board called for a "review and evaluation of ELCA commitments...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its World Hunger Appeal this year. Members of the church are praying, conducting "services of recommitment" and planning activities and offerings in celebration of the appeal during a special 25-day period Nov. 1-25, 1999....

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Carl E. Thomas, 69, former chief executive officer, Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, died Nov. 1 at Bon Secours Hospital in Grosse Pointe, Mich., following an extended illness. Thomas was hailed as the "dean of social ministry organizations" by the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Ronald D. Martinson, 64, senior pastor at Central Lutheran Church, Anchorage, Alaska, was elected bishop of the Alaska Synod, one of 65 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Martinson was elected Oct. 30 by voting members of the Alaska Synod assembly, which...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Philip D. W. Krey, 49, was elected president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia by the seminary's board of trustees Oct. 27. Krey will succeed the Rev. Robert G. Hughes, who will leave the post to resume teaching at the end of 1999. The...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lay leaders and clergy from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will learn how to transform congregations into "vital faith communities," reach and serve great numbers of people and invite others into a "deeper walk with Jesus Christ" at the 1999 ELCA Domestic Mission Conference, "At...

AUGSBURG, Bavaria, Germany (ELCA) -- "By this act of signing, the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) confirm the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in its entirety." Once LWF General Secretary Ishmael Noko read these words aloud Oct. 31 here in St. Anna's (Lutheran) Church, 10...

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is in the early stages of developing a new Christian magazine for women. However, the potential new publication has already resulted in a response from Women of the ELCA, which produces a Christian...

BALTIMORE (ELCA) -- Nearly 700 people attended the dedication of the new "Lutheran Center at Christ Church" in downtown Baltimore Oct. 24. The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), led a host of church and public officials in a special dedication service...

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will reorganize its operations January 1, 2000, into specific market and business groups. The move will likely result in a reduction of positions, said Charles C. Halberg, executive vice president and chief operating...

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Board of Trustees for Augsburg Fortress Publishers elected the Rev. Marvin L. Roloff to a second four-year term as president and chief executive officer during its regular meeting here Oct. 21-23. Augsburg Fortress is the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Roloff,...

BALTIMORE (ELCA) -- The Committee on Lutheran Cooperation, a group that includes top officials of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) met here Oct. 25. The officials discussed a variety of current concerns and issues. The meeting was held here to mark the...

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Through the first eight months of 1999, Augsburg Fortress Publishers has experienced an operating loss of $211,000; however, the company's general financial position is strong as it prepares to reorganize its operations, said George W. Poehlman, vice president for finance and treasurer. The financial news was reported...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Four primary goals or "end statements" Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will lift up in the years 2002-2005 are families, leadership, spirituality and stewardship. The executive board for Women of the ELCA, the women's organization of the church, selected the end statements at...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Carla June Hochhalter, the mother of a Columbine High School student severely wounded in last April's shooting at the school, was remembered by family and friends at an overflow funeral service attended by 650 people Oct. 27 at Christ Lutheran Church, Highlands Ranch, Colo. Hochhalter, 48, ended...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Ministry will continue to study issues related to homosexuality, especially the possible ordination of gay or lesbian Lutherans. Several conversations and actions taken during the division's board meeting here Oct. 14-17 "reflected a desire to continue a discerning...