ELCA Convenes Summit on Youth and Young Adults
ATLANTA (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), who are committed to supporting and nurturing the Christian faith lives of children and young adults, gathered for the third annual "ELCA Summit on Youth" here Feb. 5-8. The summit brought together 770 young people, professional youth workers,...
ELCA Joins International Effort to Acknowledge Landmine Treaty
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- An international treaty to destroy land mines in stockpiles and dismantle mines already in the ground will officially take effect March 1. Churches from around the world, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will ring bells to celebrate the outlaw of land mines and to...
ELCA Bishop's Statement on Jasper, Tex. Verdict
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "The Texas jury that rendered a guilty verdict against the white supremacist who so horribly murdered James Byrd Jr. has fulfilled its obligation to stand for justice. My prayers and those of many others in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are with the families involved...
Lutherans Support "Statistical Sampling" in 2000 Census
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA) in Washington, D.C., is asking President Clinton, U.S. Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley, and members of Congress to "include statistical sampling in the decennial census." The U.S. Constitution requires that citizens be counted every 10 years to determine the...
Lutheran-Orthodox Dialogue Issues 'Common Statement'
CHICAGO (ELCA) Talks between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas have arrived at "A Lutheran-Orthodox Common Statement on Faith in the Holy Trinity." The 13-paragraph communique explains the emphasis of both traditions on the Nicene Creed and draws...
ELCA Pension Board Increases Medical Benefit Limit to $2 Million
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Board of Pensions voted to increase the maximum lifetime medical benefit limit to $2 million at their quarterly meeting here Feb. 6-7. The proposed $2 million lifetime limit, an increase of $1 million from the current limit, would be...
ELCA's 'Initiatives for a New Century' Are Well Underway
CHICAGO(ELCA)-- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are expanding plans for the ELCA's "Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century." In 1997 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly selected seven significant areas of ministry for the 21st century. Leadership teams were formed early last year to provide overall guidance...
ELCA Communicator to Chair NCC Communication Commission
NASHVILLE, TENN. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Eric. C. Shafer, director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Department for Communication,= was re-elected Feb. 10 to a four-year term as chair of the Communication Commission of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. = (NCC). Commission communicators...
ELCA Will "Develop Leaders for the Next Century"
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Team leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) initiative to "develop leaders for the next century" have awarded $57,900 in grants to 34 congregations, synods, projects and = agencies of the ELCA. =20 A goal of the initiative is to develop leaders that will "minister...
CORRECTIONS: Opposition to Lutheran-Episcopal Proposal Organizing
In a story issued Feb. 12 by the ELCA News Service, dateline Mahtomedi, Minn., please delete paragraph #24 (#7 from the bottom). The paragraph reads: Granquist called the historic episcopate "a failed = paradigm."=20 "It has not worked for the Episcopal Church, and it won't work for us," he said....
Twenty-Two Lutherans in the 106th Congress
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- There are 22 Lutherans in the 106th Congress of the United States, according to the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C., the federal public policy advocacy office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Nine of the 17 Lutherans in the U.S. House are...
Statement of ELCA Presiding Bishop at Close of Impeachment Trial
"With the end of the impeachment trial in Washington today, a difficult = chapter in our history is over. We have weathered a crisis that has tested our nation's = system of checks and balances. I join with other leaders in faith communities in = calling for prayer.=20 We must...
Opposition to Lutheran-Episcopal Proposal Organizing
MAHTOMEDI, Minn. (ELCA) -- While expressing support for a relationship of "full communion" between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Episcopal Church, almost 200 Lutherans gathered here at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church and resolved that the current Lutheran proposal, "Called to Common Mission," is not the way...
Trinity Lutheran Seminary Unveils Holocaust "Remember" Project
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, breaks ground Feb. 14 for "Promise for Life," a project memorializing the Holocaust -- the systematic annihilation of millions of Jews and other "undesirables" by the Nazi regime and its collaborators during World War II. Trinity is a seminary of the Evangelical...
Now More than 61.5 Million Lutherans in the World
GENEVA (ELCA) -- The number of Lutherans worldwide rose from 61.2 million in 1997 to 61.5 million in 1998, with significant increases registered in Africa, while Europe showed a general reduction in numbers. The number of Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches remained steady at 124 as did that of...
Two ELCA Global Mission Events Change Locations
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Planned locations for two of three Global Mission Events for 1999 have changed since initially announced. The Division for Global Mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) sponsors the events each year. "Walking Together into the Next Century" is the theme for the 1999 Global...
Bishop Anderson, Cardinal George Discuss Consensus of Joint Declaration
PARK RIDGE, Ill. (ELCA) -- Representatives of the Lutheran World Federation and the Vatican are expected to sign the proposed "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" this year, saying condemnations of the 16th century no longer apply and declaring consensus on an important issue that has divided Lutherans and...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Signs Letters Opposing Confiscation ID
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), this month signed letters of support for church leaders in Jerusalem who oppose the Israeli policy that has resulted in confiscations of Jerusalem residency cards from Palestinians. Since 1996 there has been...
ELCA Identity Project off to an Exciting Start
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Identity Project, designed to raise awareness of the 5.2-million member denomination among several generations of unchurched people, has generated considerable excitement around the church, the advisory committee for the church's Department for Communication was told during its annual meeting here....
ELCA Teams up with Other Churches for 'Souper Bowl' Sunday
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Denver Broncos of the National Football League was not the only team victorious on "Super Bowl Sunday," Jan. 31.=20 Homeless shelters, food pantries and other services also won, thanks to more than 9,000 churches in the United States, including congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...
