ELCA Sends $50,000 to Aid Kosovo Refugees
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The International Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has sent $50,000 to aid refugees displaced by the crisis in Kosovo. The funds were sent through Action by Churches Together (ACT) to Norwegian Church Aid, which is working directly with refugees in and around...
"2000 Congregations" Discussed by Division for Outreach Board
LISLE, Ill. (ELCA) -- The board of the Division for Outreach (DO) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) heard a revised plan to start 2,000 ELCA congregations in 20 years, beginning in 2,000.=20 The plan was discussed at the board's spring meeting here March 11-14. =20 When originally...
Sandra LaBlanc to Staff ELCA's Rural Desk
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Sandra A. LaBlanc, 49, an associate in ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), becomes the church's director for rural ministry resources and networking on May 1. The ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 1997 asked that a "rural desk" be created to coordinate the church's ministries...
Eight ELCA Bishops Announce Support for "Called to Common Mission"
CHICAGO (ELCA) Acknowledging that not everyone in the Evangelical = Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) favors a proposal for full communion = with the Episcopal Church, eight ELCA synod bishops formally announced = they will support the proposal at the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The proposed agreement, "Called to Common...
Board Discusses Hospitality Report
LISLE, Ill. (ELCA)-- The Division for Outreach board of the Evangelica= l Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) discussed a wide range of issues = related to ministry to gay and lesbian people, and board representatives = met informally with other church officials to discuss ordination of homosexuals during = their...
Gay, Lesbian Ministry Report Completed
LISLE, Ill. (ELCA) -- A report from the Division for Outreach board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on congregational ministry with gay and lesbian people will be sent as information to the 1999 Churchwide Assembly through the ELCA Church Council as part of a series of reports...
Board Discusses Hospitality Report - MARGIN CORRECTED
LISLE, Ill. (ELCA)-- The Division for Outreach board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) discussed a wide range of issues related to ministry to gay and lesbian people, and board representatives met informally with other church officials to discuss ordination of homosexuals during their spring meeting here March...
Eight ELCA Bishops Announce Support for CMM - MARGIN CORRECTED
CHICAGO (ELCA) Acknowledging that not everyone in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) favors a proposal for full communion with the Episcopal Church, eight ELCA synod bishops formally announced they will support the proposal at the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The proposed agreement, "Called to Common Mission," (CCM) has...
Jeffrey Baker, ELCA College President, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Jeffrey D. Baker, former president of Luther College, died of cancer March 22 at his home in Cambria, Calif., at the age of 57. Baker was president of Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, from 1996 to 1999. Luther is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical...
ELCA Communicators Honored by Religion Communicators Council
WASHINGTON (ELCA) The Religion Communicators Council (RCC) gave one of its top awards to the producer of "MOSAIC," the video magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), at the DeRose-Hinkhouse = Memorial Communication Awards dinner here March 18. The RCC gave its "Best of Class" award for non-broadcast...
Hughes Resigns as President of Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert G. Hughes, 62, will return to the classroom after a decade as president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). LTSP is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Hughes announced his decision March 23 to the executive committee of...
ELCA Bishop's 1999 Easter Message
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Without the resurrection, the story of Jesus of Nazareth would never have changed the world. Although we reckon the turning of time from B.C. to A.D. at the birth of Jesus, the real revolution occurred when Jesus rose from the dead. The ancient church realized this profound...
Lutherans Author Book on Genetic Testing and Screening
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has a "reliable and accessible guide into Christian reflection on genetic testing and screening," wrote the Rev. Charles S. Miller, executive director of the ELCA Division for Church in Society, in the preface to a new book, "Genetic Testing and...
Solomonson Named Managing Editor of "The Lutheran" Magazine
CHICAGO (ELCA) Sonia C. Solomonson was named managing editor of "The Lutheran," the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), effective April 1. Solomonson is presently senior editor of the magazine. She succeeds Roger Kahle, who died Dec. 1. "The Lutheran" is fortunate to have someone with Sonia's...
ELCA Bishops Comment on Gay and Lesbian Hospitality Report
TUCSON, Ariz. (ELCA) Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) expressed strong concerns and strong support for an ELCA Division for Outreach report on congregational ministry with gay and lesbian people. The report, "Congregational Ministry with Gay and Lesbian People," from the division's gay and lesbian outreach study...
ELCA Ends '98 Fiscal Year on plus Side
TUCSON, Ariz. (ELCA) Financial results for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 1999, were "most satisfactory," said Richard L. McAuliffe, ELCA treasurer, in a presentation of preliminary figures to ELCA synodical bishops. The churchwide organization of the ELCA had an excess of...
Lutherans Come 'This Far by Faith'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has a new worship resource, "This Far by Faith," developed by theologians, musicians, liturgists and congregation leaders from the African American community of the ELCA and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). The hardbound, 520-page worship resource is now available to...
Salary Guidelines to Be Developed for ELCA School Teachers
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) that operate early childhood education centers will be encouraged to bring staff salaries and health care benefits to a "just and fair level." More than 2,300 of the ELCA's 11,000 congregations operate early childhood education ministries. The board...
ELCA Bishops Pledge Hunger Funds, Honor Retiring Bishops, Editor
TUCSON, Ariz. (ELCA) The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a resolution urging the church to renew its commitment to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal and pledged collectively to increase giving by a total of at least $25,000 to the appeal. The appeal is...
ELCA Supports U.S. Education Savings and School Excellence Act
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board for the Division for Higher Education and Schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) called for Congress to pass the U.S. Education Savings and School Excellence Act of 1999 at its meeting here March 12-14. The board will encourage the Lutheran Office for...
