Lutherans Learn From Bombing
OKLAHOMA CITY (ELCA) -- "One of our assumptions was validated. The church is equipped to respond in times of terrorism," said Elaine Richter, after a Dec. 6-8 training event here, "Responding to Terrorism." Richter is associate director of Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) -- a joint ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran...
Young Lutheran Women Are Leaders
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A three-year experience in international leadership ended recently for Julie Ann Winder, Boston, and Harolyn Light Coffer, Jefferson City, Mo. The two young women are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. They were part of the International Leadership Conference for Young Women, a program of...
Women Wait Longer for First Calls in the ELCA
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Research upholds a widely-held assumption that women in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America wait longer than men for their first job as an ordained pastor, according to a new report. In the ELCA candidates submit their credentials to a synod bishop who advocates for their assignment...
Religious Shareholders Press Texaco
RELIGIOUS SHAREHOLDERS PRESS TEXACO A few hours before the oil company announced a $170 million settlement of racial discrimination lawsuits, religious shareholders met with Texaco Chairman Peter Bijur in the offices of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, New York. More than 70 representatives of religious institutional investors -- ICCR...
The Rev. Franklin E. Sherman Joins ELCA Churchwide Staff
SHERMAN STAFFS INTERFAITH RELATIONS The Rev. Franklin E. Sherman, 68, was appointed associate for interfaith relations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Department for Ecumenical Affairs. The department's director, the Rev. Daniel F. Martensen, said the limited staff position began Nov. 1 and will be reviewed in one year....
John O. Gilbert New CEO for Aid Association for Lutherans
GILBERT NAMED AAL CEO John O. Gilbert, 54, becomes president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Aid Association for Lutherans, a fraternal benefits society based in Appleton, Wis., on Jan. 1. He is currently president and chief operating officer (COO) for AAL. Gilbert succeeds Richard L. Gunderson, 63, who is...
Lutherans Assist with Food for Flood Victims in North Korea
FOOD FOR FLOOD VICTIMS IN NORTH KOREA Action by Churches Together (ACT) is providing relief for victims of flooding in North Korea. ACT officials believe the country will need more than one million metric tons of food aid next year. Harvests are expected to cover domestic requirements for the winter....
North Carolina Lutherans Elect Bolick
NORTH CAROLINA LUTHERANS ELECT BOLICK The Rev. Leonard H. Bolick, 50, was elected Nov. 2 to a six-year term as bishop of the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson announced the election during an assembly in Winston- Salem, N.C., called...
ELCA to Celebrate Ecumenical Decade
ELCA TO CELEBRATE ECUMENICAL DECADE The international "Ecumenical Decade of the Churches in Solidarity with Women" is coming to an end in 1998. The Commission for Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America wants the decade to end with a bang. At its November meeting the ELCA Church Council...
ELCA Hispanic Leaders Meet
HISPANIC LUTHERAN LEADERS MEET Hispanic clergy and lay leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America talked about ways to build a strong Hispanic community within the church at a recent Los Angeles conference, "United in Mission." The group of 163 took the first tentative steps toward developing a unified...
ELCA Seminary President William Lesher to Retire in 1997
LESHER TO RETIRE IN 1997 The Rev. William E. Lesher plans to retire on June 30, 1997, as president of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, a position he has held since 1978. He submitted his resignation to the LSTC board in May to give the board time to...
ELCA Youth Gathering Registers 35,000
YOUTH GATHERING REGISTERS 35,000 Registration for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Youth Gathering opened and closed Nov. 4. The Gathering Advisory Committee closed registration when 39,000 forms were collected opening day. The maximum number of participants allowed to attend the gathering is 35,000. Registrants will be chosen by lottery...
ELCA Pastor Carl Segerammar Dies
CARL SEGERHAMMAR DIED The Rev. Carl W. Segerhammar, 89, a retired bishop of the former Lutheran Church in America and a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, died Oct. 22 of massive heart failure in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Segerhammar was bishop of the LCA's Pacific Southwest Synod from...
ELCA Backs Disaster Relief in Cuba
ELCA BACKS DISASTER RELIEF IN CUBA The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America supports an exemption request to send humanitarian aid to parts of Cuba devastated in October by Hurricane Lili. Much work remains to be done to provide relief there. "The development and relief arm of the National Council of...
Lutheran World Federation Plan North American Desk
LWF DESK FOR NORTH AMERICA Canadian and U.S. Lutherans support a plan to establish a North America desk for the Lutheran World Federation. LWF is a Geneva- based communion of 56 million Lutherans in 122 member church bodies in 68 countries. North America is the only region among the seven...
Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Respond to Aging Society
OUTDOOR MINISTRIES RESPOND TO AGING SOCIETY Leaders of Lutheran ministries outdoors took on issues of an aging America with "Celebrate Life: Outdoor Ministry in Our Aging Society," a conference at Beaver Creek, Colo. The event was developed out of a concern for an aging society, according to its sponsors, the...
ELCA Members Gather for Multicultural Mission
SAN DIEGO (ELCA) -- "We, people of different cultures, make up the Lutheran church," said Jessica Mushala, Lanham, Md., originally from Tanzania. "Making Christ Known: Good News for the World" was the theme for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's eighth annual Multicultural Mission Institute held here Nov. 15-17. The...
Pension Funds on Track for Market Value Conversion
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Balanced and bond funds managed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Board of Pensions are "on track" for converting to market value Jan. 1, 1997, staff reported to the board's trustees at their quarterly meeting here Nov. 2-3. Market value is a price at which both...
Lutherans in 105th Congress
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- There will be 23 Lutherans in the 105th Congress of the United States -- one more than the number of Lutherans who were in the 104th Congress, according to the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, Washington, D.C. Twelve are Democrats; 11 are Republicans. The five Lutherans in...
Hallberg to Lead ELCA Foundation
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Donald M. Hallberg, 56, Itasca, Ill., was elected executive director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Foundation by the executive committee of the ELCA Church Council, meeting here Nov. 7. He succeeds the Rev. Harvey A. Stegemoeller, who retired Aug. 31. The Rev. Melvin...
