Income of ELCA Congregations Exceeded $2 Billion in 1997
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Income for the10,889 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 1997 was $2,006,953,384, up $133,397,469 or 7.12 percent from 1996, reported the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary. Of total congregational receipts, $1,384,266,794 was received in regular, unrestricted offerings -- up 3.88 percent. For...
Lutherans Confront Farming Crisis in North Dakota
"We just keep waiting and waiting, hoping that the price of grain will go up." "We live on a family farm, southwest of Wing, North Dakota. It was the farm Delbert, my husband, was born and raised on. Part of our house is about 100 years old," said Arlene Olson,...
ELCA Sets Hearings on its Economic Life Statement
3 Augustana Lutheran Church, Denver 3 Glade Run Lutheran Services, Zelienople, Pa. 11 Faith United Lutheran Church, Iron, Minn. 17 Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash. 17 Ken-Crest Centers, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. 17 Nora Lutheran Church, Gardner, N.D. 18 Macksburg Lutheran Church, Canby, Ore. 24 Central Lutheran Church, Des Moines, Iowa...
Lutherans Join the War Against Drugs
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "The nature of chemical and substance abuse have changed in this country. Current trends show that drug use among children is rising, with the average age falling below 20," said Loretta E. Horton, director of social ministry for congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)....
Thousands of Lutherans Challenged to 'Communicate Hope'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutherans in the United States are known for their songs, theology and potlucks. They're known for their social services, refugee resettlement and disaster response. They may not be so well-known for their bold, public witness of Jesus Christ in their own neighborhoods, speaker after speaker told Global...
Plans for the ELCA's Initiatives Are Taking Shape
ELCA (CHICAGO) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has begun planning for new ways to deepen worship life, teach the faith, witness to God's action in the world, strengthen one another in mission, provide a safe place for children, connect with youth and young adults, and provide leadership development....
Lutherans Respond to Southeastern Ohio's Storms
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response is reacting to widespread damage and destruction to 23 counties in southeastern Ohio as a result of recent flash floods and tornado-force winds. Damage assessment continues and some communities are still inaccessible, reported the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, director for Lutheran Disaster Response, a...
Missouri Synod Convention Critiques Relations with ELCA
ST. LOUIS (ELCA) -- The 60th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) expressed its regret and disappointment with ecumenical decisions the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) made in 1997. Convention delegates met here July 11-17 and dealt in various ways with relations between the two churches. The...
Lutherans Break Ground in Baltimore
BALTIMORE (ELCA) -- About 250 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) gathered in Baltimore's Inner Harbor on July 6 to break ground for a new Lutheran Center. Situated on a prime piece of property across from a major Inner Harbor tourist...
Lutherans Aid Papua New Guinea's Tidal Wave Victims
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- An earthquake-triggered tsunami (tidal wave) off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea killed as many as 3,000 people July 17. Seven heavily populated villages in the West Sepik region were washed away by the 23-foot waves, leaving more than 6,000 homeless. "Most of the people who...
Lutheran Men Have New Role in Church and Family
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Men's ministry is about how men and women work and live together out of mutual reverence for Christ," said Douglas Haugen, director for Lutheran Men in Mission, the men's organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Lutheran men are defining their roles in church and...
Lutherans Consider Women, Children and Welfare Reform
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "I heard you say that you want to undertake this awesome task because you are Christians," Sheila Radford-Hill told about 80 church, public and private professionals who came June 26-27 to the central offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) "to reaffirm, modify and prioritize...
Mission Specialists Examine Missionary Task
ST. PAUL, Minn. (ELCA) -- About 140 mission specialists from around the world gathered here at Luther Seminary for an ecumenical Congress on the World Mission of the Church, June 23-27, to re-examine the Christian missionary obligation and particularly the mission responsibility of the North American Christian community. The Rev....
Lutherans in North and South America Share a History
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Angel Furlan, president of the Iglesia Evangelica Luterana Unida (United Evangelical Lutheran Church) in Argentina and Uruguay, said his church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will continue their long history of work together. Furlan, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, spoke to ELCA participants in...
"Times of Change for Lutheran Disaster Response"
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), will move to the ELCA's churchwide offices here the week of July 13. The ministry began in 1988 in Allentown, Pa. "Sometimes it seems that the only constant...
Hallmark and Henson Join Lutheran Cable Venture 'Odyssey'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is welcoming news that Hallmark Entertainment and the Jim Henson Company are joining the National Interfaith Cable Coalition (NICC) and Liberty Media Corporation in ownership of the Odyssey Channel on satellite and cable television. The ELCA is one of about...
ELCA Lectures Address Ethical Challenges
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- One Lutheran theologian identified physician-assisted suicide and welfare reform as two critical issues Christians will probably face in the 21st century. Another Lutheran theologian said Christians should be ready to discuss publicly any uneasy feelings they may have about biomedical ethics and technology. The eight seminaries of...
Lutheran-Roman Catholic Declaration Makes History
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "This does more than just open a new chapter in Lutheran-Roman Catholic relations. It really starts writing a new book," said the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) approved a "Joint Declaration...
Lutheran-Reformed 'Full Communion' Becomes Official
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ELCA) -- "Full communion" between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) became official June 17 during the Presbyterian General Assembly when Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick declared official the vote of the presbyteries approving the accord. Kirkpatrick called the full communion agreement, which...
Wollersheim Elected Lutheran Bishop of Northern Illinois
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Gary M. Wollersheim, 47, was elected bishop of the Northern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) during the synod's assembly June 19-20 at Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill. He received 355 votes to 72 for the Rev. Donna Hacker Smith and...
