ELCA Assembly Hears Greetings, Stories from Federal Chaplain
DENVER (ELCA) -- Military chaplains do more than just "stay with the troops," said Lt. Col. Howard D. Stendahl, in greetings Aug. 22 to the 1999 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly. Stehdahl is an ELCA pastor serving Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. The churchwide assembly,...
ELCA Assembly Asks Drought Aid, Adopts Various Measures
DENVER (ELCA)-- The 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Aug. 21 asked for a variety of efforts from the church to help those in rural America suffering from the effects of the severe drought afflicting many regions of the United States. The churchwide assembly, the...
ELCA Assembly Receive Greetings from Lutheran Interchurch
DENVER (ELCA)-- Representatives from the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) brought greetings to the 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and thanked the ELCA for its partnership. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, met...
ELCA Bishops, Council Discuss Aftermath of Tough Assembly Decision
DENVER (ELCA) -- Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) discussed how they can participate in the "healing process" that must occur among members of the church who may feel "disenfranchised" by the decision of the 1999 Churchwide Assembly to approve a full communion agreement with The Episcopal...
Lutheran Lesbian and Gay People React to Assembly Action
DENVER (ELCA) - "Today's actions by the Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA in Denver represents a missed opportunity to end discrimination against gay and lesbian pastors in committed relationships," said the Rev. Cynthia Witt, president of the Network for Inclusive Vision, San Diego, one of five national organizations affirming lesbian...
ELCA Assembly Recommits to World Hunger
DENVER (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are responding to God's call to feed the hungry and seek justice in the world. The 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly passed a resolution Aug. 21 that encourages the church to recommit to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal. The...
ELCA Assembly Reviews Effects of Ministry Study
DENVER (ELCA) -- In Kansas City, Mo., the 1993 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) struggled through several days of debate and amendments to approve "Together for Ministry," the final report and recommendations of a five-year study of ministry. Six years later, the 1999 ELCA Churchwide...
ELCA Assembly Ends on Note of Reconciliation
DENVER (ELCA) -- The closing minutes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) 1999 Churchwide Assembly were spent addressing concerns that linger across the ELCA after an intense debate over a proposal to enter a relationship of full communion with The Episcopal Church. The assembly approved the proposal Aug....
ELCA Assembly Participants Learn, Interact in Southwest Plaza
DENVER (ELCA) -- While a mariachi band played and Southwest cuisine was served, voting members and participants of the 1999 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly learned about churchwide units and ministry projects at the Festival Plaza built to resemble a marketplace of the Southwest United States. The...
ELCA Assembly Receives Youth Convocation Report
DENVER (ELCA) -- We are the church of now and we are the church of the future, Sarah Helminski, 18, told the 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Aug. 20. Helminski, Epiphany Lutheran Church, Toledo, Ohio, helped deliver the youth convocation report to the assembly....
ELCA Assembly Assembles Stained Glass Window
DENVER (ELCA) -- One thousand two hundred fifty people picked up 1,250 chunks of multi-colored glass, placed them carefully on a pre-mapped = table, which had been readied for a special project of the 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The churchwide assembly, the chief...
ELCA Assembly Acknowledges Ministry in Daily Life
DENVER (ELCA) -- "The priesthood of all believers" is an ancient Lutheran principle, but it is a matter of daily life for 5.2 million members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly received a progress report focusing the church's attention on the work of...
ELCA Assembly Hears Plan to Stay 'In the City for Good'
DENVER (ELCA) -- In Philadelphia the 1997 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) established a program to transform the lives of people inhabiting the hearts of U.S. cities and, in turn, transform their congregations and communities. The ELCA's 1999 Churchwide Assembly received a progress report Aug....
ELCA Assembly Proposes a Social Statement on Health Care
DENVER (ELCA) -- The 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved the development of a social statement on health and ethical challenges of health care Aug. 20. The social statement will be considered by the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative...
ELCA Assembly Hears Greetings from Missouri Synod
DENVER (ELCA) -- The president of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod Aug. 20 cited "law and gospel," which Lutherans historically have held to be the two chief doctrines of Scripture, as a blessing shared by the nation's two largest Lutheran church bodies that otherwise have "very serious doctrinal and theological differences."...
ELCA Assembly Welcomes World, National Council of Churches
DENVER (ELCA) -- Representatives from the World Council of Churches (WCC) and National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC) greeted participants of the 1999 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly. The ELCA is a member of both organizations. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative...
ELCA Assembly Declines to Change Policy
DENVER (ELCA) -- After more than one hour of debate, the 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a resolution "to decline to propose at this assembly any change in the standards for rostered ministry related to non-celibate gay or lesbian persons." The assembly turned...
ELCA Assembly Maintains Abortion Statement
DENVER (ELCA) -- The 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) declined Aug. 21 to tamper with the ELCA's social statement on abortion, which was adopted by the church's 1991 assembly. This year's assembly turned back an effort to amend the 1991 statement by removing language...
ELCA Assembly Participants Break for Community Service
DENVER (ELCA)-- Although the afternoon was free from meetings and plenary sessions, more than 50 participants in the 1999 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly spent their time building Habitat for Humanity homes in metro Denver. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting...
ELCA Assembly Adopts Economic Life Statement
DENVER (ELCA)-- By a vote of 872 to 124, the churchwide assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a social statement on economic life called "Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All: A Social Statement on Economic Life," Aug. 20. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the...
