News

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Ann E. Hafften, 45, has resigned as director for news and information of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) effective Sept. 18. She will become director of communications for Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., beginning Sept. 21. Luther is a seminary of the ELCA. "We are...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Jack R. Ohle, 51, took office July 1 as the 15th president of Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa. He succeeds former president Robert L. Vogel, who retired June 30 after 18 years of service. Wartburg is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Ohle left his...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As Hurricane Bonnie receded to a tropical storm Aug. 28 and moved slowly back over the Atlantic Ocean, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) along the North Carolina coastline were glad they "dodged the bullet," but many are under psychological stress as damage assessment...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Action by Churches Together (ACT) has been in regular contact with its members in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) since the rebellion was launched throughout the country. Christian Aid and Dutch Interchurch Aid, ACT members, are providing emergency assistance throughout areas of South Kivu and...

LISLE, Ill. (ELCA) -- More than 165 communication professionals of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered here Aug. 27-30 to share views on communication issues, examine technologies for effective communication and receive training for launching the ELCA's nationwide identity campaign. "The process of communication can be seen as...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is launching a nationwide identity campaign to raise awareness of the Lutheran church among people not associated with any church and to reinforce positive views of the ELCA among its members. The campaign, which is being unveiled to a conference...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The leaders of the two largest Lutheran church bodies met here Aug. 17 to start making plans for formal discussions between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson played host to LCMS President A.L. Barry....

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is launching a nationwide identity campaign to raise awareness of the Lutheran church among people not associated with any church and to reinforce positive views of the ELCA among its members. The campaign, which is being unveiled to a conference...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will begin distributing grants in February for innovative urban ministries of the ELCA thanks to a $1-million grant from the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation, Minneapolis. The money will help the church's Division for Outreach launch a 10-year emphasis, "In the City...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lynn Doto and her husband decided to send their 3-year-old son to Lutheran Church of the Cross Day School, St. Petersburg, Fla., a school of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), instead of a secular private school or a public school. Doto wants her son to...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Lutheran Disaster Response is responding to the needs of people affected by the flooding along the Rio Grande River in Texas and Mexico Aug. 24," said the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, director for Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Myrna J. Sheie, 52, Anoka, Minn., has been named executive assistant to Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America effective Oct 1. "Myrna Sheie will bring a depth of experience and numerous gifts to this position," Anderson said. "I am confident that...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Continuous rains since March have caused extensive flooding in 20 provinces of central and southeast China. Action by Churches Together (ACT) has described these flood waters as "the worst in living memory." The flood has reached levels unseen since the 1954 floods which killed more than 30,000...

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (ELCA) -- Partee Boliek traveled from Phoenix, Md., to Allentown, Pa., on a Saturday morning because he knew his ancestors seven generations back received Holy Communion from the hand of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. Two hundred and fifty years ago, in August 1748, Muhlenberg brought together representatives of 10...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert E. Wandersee, a missionary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was killed in a robbery-related attack Aug. 7 on a highway outside Jos, Nigeria. Wandersee was struck by bullets when the car in which he and two Nigerian passengers were traveling came...

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) - Noting health care costs nationwide are rising rapidly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Board of Pensions will raise contribution levels for the church's health plan in a range of 10 to 16 percent in 1999. The Trustees of the Board of Pensions met here Aug. 6-7....

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The response to "Dial Bishop Anderson," recorded telephone messages from the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), "reached beyond our expectations with an overwhelming average of 4,000 calls each month," according to the Rev. Eric C. Shafer, director for...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Korean Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colo., this year became the first organized Korean congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "Korean Lutheran Church began as a non-denominational fellowship called the Korean Church of Jesus Christ in 1991," said the Rev. Pongsak Limthongviratn, ELCA director for...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The synod of the Northern Province of the Moravian Church voted Aug. 9 to approve a proposal establishing full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran group in the United States. The Rev. R. Burke Johnson, newly elected president of the Provincial...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Action by Churches Together (ACT) members in Nairobi are planning a coordinated response to the Aug. 7 bombing disaster there. ACT has issued an appeal for $150,200 to address immediate and long-term needs of primary and secondary victims of the bomb blast and alleviate lasting trauma-related psychological...