ELCA Council Fills Vacancies on Boards, Committees
CHICAGO (ELCA) The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) filled a vacancy on the council and several vacancies on two steering committees. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met...
Some Lutheran Educators Endorse 'Called to Common Mission'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The faculty of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and the president of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C., announced their support for "Called to Common Mission: A Lutheran Proposal for a Revision of the Concordat of Agreement." CCM, for short, is a Lutheran proposal for "full...
Longtime Lutheran Government Liaison in Washington Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert E. Van Deusen, a retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) who served some 30 years as Lutheran church liaison with the federal government, died March 31 in Charlotte, N.C., one day before his 90th birthday. Memorial services were held in...
ELCA Council Sees Draft Agenda of First Missouri Synod Talks
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), shared with the ELCA Church Council a proposed agenda for the first discussions between the ELCA and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and...
ELCA Council Discusses Nomination Process for 'The Lutheran' Editor
CHICAGO (ELCA) The advisory committee for "The Lutheran," the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will meet July 12-13 to interview finalists for the editor's position and make a nomination to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, the ELCA Church Council learned at its April 9-12 meeting here. The...
ELCA Council Hears Archives Move Expected Before June
CHICAGO (ELCA) --The archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is expected to move in May to a new facility in Elk Grove Village, a suburb of Chicago, said the Rev. Lowell Almen, ELCA secretary, in a report to the ELCA Church Council during its meeting here April...
ELCA Explores Other Faith Traditions
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) plan to explore the differences and similarities within Christian and other faith traditions. In a new resource called "Honoring Our Neighbor's Faith," religious groups tell "their own stories" about who they are, what they believe and how they...
Statement by ELCA Presiding Bishop on Crisis in the Balkans
Like most Americans, I have been distressed by the reports of the evolving crisis in the Balkans. The tragic suffering of the Kosovo Albanians, caused by armed attacks and other forms of violence including "ethnic cleansing" conducted by Yugoslav security forces, compels the international community to respond. I regret that...
ELCA Commits $150,000 to Relieve Crisis in Kosovo
CHICAGO (ELCA) The International Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has committed $100,000 to aid the refugee crisis in Kosovo, in addition to an earlier gift of $50,000. The funds were sent through Action by Churches Together (ACT) to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Norwegian Church...
Northeast U.S. ELCA Bishops Support 'Called to Common Mission'
ELCA BISHOPS IN NORTHEAST U.S. PLEDGE SUPPORT OF 'CALLED TO COMMON MISSION' 99-84-JB =20 CHICAGO (ELCA) Seven bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) pledged to support a proposal for full communion with The Episcopal Church and said they would "work and advocate" for its adoption at the...
AAL Initiates "Openings" Grant Program
TUCSON (ELCA) -- Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL) announced it will allocate $488,000 in grants this year to help targeted Lutheran congregations focus on bringing unchurched people to worship. The pilot program called, "Openings," is rooted in the Church Membership Initiative (CMI), a research project conducted from 1991 to 1997....
Lutherans Rebuild after Tornadoes, Hurricanes and Floods
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- This spring Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), continues to provide financial assistance, pastoral care, resources for children and support for = care-givers to survivors of tornadoes, hurricanes and floods.=20 In Arkansas, a record-setting...
ELCA Will Seek New Leaders Within Ethnic-Specific Communities
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) may be losing as many as 20 to 25 percent of its African American pastors because of retirement in the next few years, according to the Rev. W. Arthur Lewis, Atonement Lutheran Church, Atlanta. "Where are the younger ones? We...
Drug Control Policy Director Meets with ELCA Officials
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Barry R. McCaffrey, a member of President Clinton's cabinet, met with officials of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) here April 6 and urged them to help teach young people to resist illegal drugs and underage tobacco and alcohol use. Since 1996, McCaffrey has been director...
Income for ELCA World Hunger Appeal Exceeds Goal
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Income for the 1998 World Hunger Appeal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) surpassed the previous year's total by more than $700,000. The appeal earned more than $12.5 million in 1998, and $11.8 million in 1997. Members of the ELCA "faithfully supported the day-in and...
ELCA to Consider Proposed Statement on Economic Life
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "We of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) here assess economic life today in light of the moral imperative to seek sufficient, sustainable livelihood for all," said a proposed statement the board of the ELCA Division for Church in Society (DCS) approved unanimously when it met...
ELCA Will Model 'Safe Haven for Children' at its 1999 Assembly
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) leadership team for a "Help the Children" initiative will model a "safe haven" for children at the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Denver Aug. 16-22. Safe-haven child-care rooms will be set up for the children of voting members, staff, visitors...
Unglaube Named Director for ELCA Information Technology
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- LaRue Unglaube has been named director of the Department for Information Technology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Unglaube served as a systems analyst from 1988 to1993 and the unit's manager for systems development from 1993 to 1999. She succeeds Kenneth F. Aicher, who recently...
ELCA Seminaries Plan 1999 Commencement Exercises
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The eight seminaries and Texas extension campus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are planning commencement exercises for degree recipients at the close the 1998-1999 academic year. MAY 14 Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa. Speaker: The Rev. Darold H. Beekmann, LTSG President Place: Church...
Palestinian Lutherans Reach out to American Partners
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The leader of Lutherans in the Middle East called on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for continued support as his church works for peace between Israelis and Arabs, for the rights of Christians in Jerusalem and for the welfare of the Palestinian people in Israel. "We...
