Income for ELCA World Hunger Appeal Exceeds Goal by Millions
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Income for the 1999 World Hunger Appeal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) surpassed the previous year's total by more than $3.4 million. The appeal collected more than $16 million in 1999 -- a record amount for the appeal -- and $12.5 million in 1998....
ELCA Bishops Adopt Pastoral Letter on 'Called to Common Mission'
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (ELCA) -- In an effort to maintain unity in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the ELCA Conference of Bishops adopted a pastoral letter March 6 on the implementation of a full communion proposal with The Episcopal Church. The bishops' letter, seen as risky by some...
Bruce Halverson Elected President of ELCA Augustana College
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Bruce R. Halverson, Tallahassee, Fla., will become the 22nd president of Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., Aug. 1. Augustana is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Halverson succeeds Dr. Ralph H. Wagoner, who is retiring this summer as president...
Yale Ecumenical Conference Lauds Lutheran-Catholic Declaration
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Lutheran-Catholic Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was the focus of an international ecumenical symposium Feb. 4-6 at the Yale University Divinity School and the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, New Haven, Conn. Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed and Roman Catholic leaders attended "The Yale Conference on...
Lutherans Work Together to Provide Disaster Response
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran congregations and volunteers from four rural counties in southwest Georgia are working together to provide emergency assistance after three tornadoes struck the area in mid-February. Lutheran Disaster Response -- a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) --...
Lutherans Help Deliver Hay to Mid-atlantic Farmers
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- More than two dozen train cars of hay from the Midwest will be delivered in early March to help hundreds of farmers in Ohio and mid-Atlantic states feed their livestock. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Domestic Disaster Response, along with other disaster response groups, is...
Lutherans Begin 'Year of Education for Nonviolence'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is preparing to participate in the "Decade for a Culture of Nonviolence" (2001-2010) with a "Year of Education for Nonviolence." The Lutheran Peace Fellowship is conducting 11 training events, and a special task force is coordinating other projects across the...
ELCA Responds to Floods in Mozambique and South Africa
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) sent emergency assistance to people in Mozambique Feb. 24, after Cyclone Eline stranded hundreds of thousands of people there. The cyclone deteriorated living conditions in Mozambique, after two months of heavy rain produced extensive flooding there and in South Africa....
Professor Calls for Rejection of "Milwaukee Proposals"
CHICAGO (ELCA)-- A member of the Lutheran drafting team that wrote the current proposal for full communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church called for immediate rejection of proposals that could modify its implementation. Dr. Michael Root, professor of systematic theology, Trinity Lutheran Seminary,...
ELCA Board Addresses School Vouchers, Other Social Issues
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A social policy resolution on school vouchers for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has been recommended by the ELCA Division for Church in Society (DCS). The DCS board met here Feb. 24-26, proposed the ELCA Church Council adopt the voucher resolution, and addressed a number...
More Changes Proposed for ELCA Health Plan
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions approved health plan changes in pharmacy, dental, chiropractic and managed mental health care coverage for almost 50,000 ELCA pastors and employees, when they met here Feb. 4-6. The ELCA Church Council must approve the changes...
Lutherans Reflect on Concerns over the Y2K Computer Problem
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Internet connects most of the 11,000 congregations and 65 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), so concerns about computer disruptions when entering the year 2000 (Y2K) were mixed with theological reflections on God's power in times of uncertainty. It is 2000, and Lutheran...
ELCA Receives Funds to Teach the Faith and Deepen Worship Life
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- To support the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) efforts to teach the faith and deepen worship life, the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation, Minneapolis, provided $170,000 for the work of the church's initiatives. "Deepen Our Worship Life" and "Teach the Faith" are two of seven ELCA "Initiatives to...
Lutherans Support Return of Elian Gonzalez to His Father
CHICAGO (ELCA) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) supports the return of Elian Gonzalez to his father in Cuba. Gonzalez, 6, was brought to the United States last year after he was found clinging to a life preserver in the waters off the coast of Florida. His mother drowned...
Possible Changes Offered in Full Communion Implementation
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Eighteen people with differing views on a Lutheran proposal for full communion with the Episcopal Church met in an unofficial, facilitated dialogue in Milwaukee Feb. 16-18. The group approved a "Common Ground Resolution" suggesting "a possible path" in implementing the full communion proposal that could enable those...
ELCA Youth Organization Implements Open Space Technology
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In an attempt to connect with "young people in the pew," the Council of Synod Lutheran Youth Organization Presidents (CSLYOP) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has implemented a new plan called "open space technology." More than 95 high school- and college-age Lutherans gathered here...
Augsburg Fortress Announces New Staff Appointments
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), announced appointments Feb. 21 of three current staff members to new responsibilities. The company named the Rev. Henry F. French vice president of the academic and professional development strategic business group, Keith Moore...
"Legacy" Stewardship Materials Available from Augsburg Fortress
LISLE, ILL. (ELCA) -- "Legacy: That Your Faith May Live," a new stewardship resource and educational series, is now available to congregations and stewardship leaders through Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The CD-ROM (compact disc) materials were presented for the first...
ELCA Division Explores the Future of the Church in Society
LISLE, Ill. (ELCA) -- To erase hunger from the face of the earth and to draw clear connections between the Christian gospel and justice are some of the goals Lutherans brought to a strategic planning session here Jan. 22-24. Staff of the Division for Church in Society (DCS) of the...
ELCA Members Learn More about Specialized Pastoral Care
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has taken a significant step in learning more about individuals who serve ministries in chaplaincy, counseling and clinical education. Representatives from ELCA ministries in specialized settings met here Feb. 11-13 to examine results of a survey that revealed the reality...
