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ST. OLAF IS PEACE CORPS' TOP VOLUNTEER For the second consecutive year St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., has been named the top collegiate source of Peace Corps volunteers, based on the number of its graduates who joined in 1996. St. Olaf is one of 28 colleges and universities of the...

PENNSYLVANIA LUTHERAN AGENCIES MERGE The Lutheran Home of Topton, Pa., and Lutheran Welfare Service, Hazelton, Pa., have affiliated as Lutheran Services Northeast (LSN). The merger became official in July after months of negotiations and corporate decisions. "To a world that is asking the church, 'What have you done for us...

GUSTAVE W. WEBER DIED The Rev. Gustave W. Weber, 11th president of Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa., died July 12 at the age of 89. Weber was credited with holding one of the longest tenures among all college presidents in Pennsylvania when he retired Aug. 31,1977, after serving more than 18...

LUTHERAN CAMPUS MINISTRY TURNS 90 Lutheran Campus Ministry, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ministry for college and university students celebrates 90 years of "reminding students of their baptism" and extending an "invitation to leadership for the church tomorrow." Campus ministry began in 1907 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison,...

ELCA MISSIONARIES MEET=20 About 30 missionaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America met = July 20-24 at Texas Lutheran University, Seguin, Texas, for a conference = on Lutheran missionary efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean. = Participants engaged in Bible study, shared information about international= ministry, compared work...

ELCA PENSION BOARD SETS 1998 HEALTH PLANS' RATES Trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Board of Pensions unanimously recommended that there be no increase in contribution rates for non-retired members in 1998. This means the percentage of salary that congregations contribute toward members' pension, medical, survivor and disability...

LUTHERANS PRODUCE "THE REAL MEAL DEAL" The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has produced a resource, "The Real Meal Deal," that approaches hunger issues from a new perspective. "Amidst the dismal realities of hunger today we have overlooked the fact that God's abundant goodness has provided enough for everyone," said...

ECHOLS TO BE INSTALLED IN CHICAGO The Rev. James K. Echols, 46, will be installed as president of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago on Nov. 9 at Rockefeller Chapel in Chicago. He succeeds the Rev. William E. Lesher, who retired June 30. Echols is the first African American...

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- Rebecca D. Lawrence, 17, Chicago, was elected president of the Lutheran Youth Organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. LYO delegates elected Lawrence at their fourth triennial convention here July 24-26. The convention also voted to establish a Definitely Abled Advisory Committee, to support ecumenism,...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- About 2,600 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gathered from around the world for two Global Mission = Events with the theme =22Look to Jesus -- Run the Race.=22 Similar events = took place July 10-13 at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill., and July 17-20 at...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is set to meet in its biennial Churchwide Assembly Aug. 14-20 at the Philadelphia Convention Center. The assembly will vote on three proposed ecumenical agreements and a new set of guidelines for sacramental practices. The 1,045 voting members will gather under...

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- More than 28,400 teen-agers are bound to make an impression. The Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America brought them here July 23-27 along with 6,900 adults. What seems to have impressed the city the most was the generosity of young Lutherans. "We love...

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- Rebecca D. Lawrence, 17, Chicago, was elected president of the Lutheran Youth Organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. LYO delegates elected Lawrence at their fourth triennial convention here July 24-26. The convention also voted to establish a Definitely Abled Advisory Committee, to develop a...

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- "You are children of God," the Rev. Gladys G. Moore, Jersey City, N.J., told thousands of young people at the Louisiana Superdome. "We were born to manifest the story of God that is within us. This manifestation exists in everyone," she said. Moore preached on the...

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- It will be hard to call Generation X selfish after learning that 25 tons of non-perishable food items and more than $325,000 were collected from 30,000 high school students during the worship offerings at the triennial Youth Gathering held by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- "The one strength I have that casts a shadow over all else is that God is on my side," said Rebecca D. Lawrence, 17, Chicago. "That's strength. There is nowhere that God will ever put me that he won't be there with me. His grace is...

TEEN-AGE VISITORS' LABOR SHOWS WHERE HEARTS ARE by Leslie Williams The Times-Picayune NEW ORLEANS -- July 25 -- Applying the biblical directive to love thy neighbor, thousands of teens in town for a Lutheran youth gathering fanned out across New Orleans for cleanup projects from the Desire and Florida neighborhoods...

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- Thousands of young people left New Orleans, heading home at the close of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Youth Gathering here July 23-27. "Jesus will be waiting for you when you get home," the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, told them....

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- Journey. Walk on. Experience something new while pondering paths already taken. That is the intent of the "treks" offered at the 1997 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering. 30,000 teens convened July 23-27 to learn more about God, community and themselves. For two days...

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA)-- Youth of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America remembered their Baptism on the Mississippi River and explored Christ's gifts of hope through activities and conversations at "Hearts on Fire," a "trek" at the ELCA's Youth Gathering here July 23-27. The gathering theme was "River of Hope." About...