ELCA Social Statement to Address Economic Life
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Congregations, agencies and schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have completed a study that precedes distribution of the first draft of a social statement on economic life tentatively called, "Toward Sufficient Sustainable Livelihood for All." The 15-member task force preparing the social statement for...
ELCA Church Leaders Learn About "Smart Living"
LISLE, Ill. (ELCA) -- "'Smart living' for Christians is both listening to and following Jesus Christ," said Betty Lee Nyhus, director for stewardship and mission giving for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. About 200 people gathered here Feb. 5-8 for the 1998 Stewardship Leadership Conference. The leaders met to...
JAZZ PASTOR, JOHN GARCIA GENSEL DIED
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- One of the most =22off-beat=22 ministries in = American Christianity ended Feb. 6 with the death of the Rev. John Garcia Gensel. = A pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Gensel was named minister to the jazz community of New York in 1965 by...
Arthur Leichnitz Will Serve LWF in North America
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Arthur Leichnitz, Winnipeg, Manitoba, has been nominated to serve as the regional expression officer for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in North America. He is a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC). He will be located in the churchwide offices of the...
Church-State Essays Near Completion
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Religious freedom and church-state relations will be addressed in a new book of essays authored by Lutherans with backgrounds in theology, ethics and law. A nine-member writing team assembled by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met here Jan. 23-25 for the last time before the...
African American Lutherans in Radio
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Fifteen African American congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will develop radio ministries for outreach in African American communities. More than 30 pastors and lay leaders gathered here Jan. 29-Feb. 1 for a training event to learn what radio can do for their congregation and...
Gilbert Furst Will Lead Lutheran Disaster Response
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, 57, Wescosville, Pa., was appointed to direct Lutheran Disaster Response and Domestic Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), beginning July 1. The appointment was announced at a Lutheran Disaster Response board meeting here Feb. 3. Furst succeeds the...
ELCA Lectures to Address Ethical Challenges
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will host a series of lectures on "The Ethical Challenges of the New Century: How Do Christians Respond?" in February and April. Dr. Martha Ellen Stortz, a professor of historical theology and ethics at Pacific Lutheran...
ELCA February 1998 Calendar
ELCA FEBRUARY 1998=20 9-10 Division for Ministry, Theological Education Coordinating Committee, Lutheran Center, Chicago 12 Division for Ministry, Hein Fry Lecture, Lutheran Theologica= l Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa. 13-14 Peace Prize Forum, Jos=E9 Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. 17 Division for Ministry, Hein Fry Lecture,...
Leadership Teams Formed to Guide ELCA's Initiatives
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Leadership teams are now in place to provide "overall guidance" for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's "Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century." The Initiatives adopted by the 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly identified seven key areas as "launching pads" for ministry into the 21st century. The...
Worship Will Inaugurate Lutheran-Reformed Full Communion
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A festival worship service at Chicago's Rockefeller Chapel on Oct. 4 will formally declare that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is entering into "full communion" with three U.S. churches of the Reformed tradition, if the relationship is ratified by presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)....
Lutheran and Episcopal Seminaries Ratify Agreement
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and a seminary of The Episcopal Church have ratified an agreement that outlines "13 avenues of cooperation." Trustees of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) approved the agreement last fall, and trustees of General Theological Seminary,...
Maryland Advocacy Office Is Ecumenical
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The state public policy advocacy efforts of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Maryland are being carried out from a very ecumenical office. Four Christian denominations -- Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian -- are coordinating their work out of the state's first Ecumenical Advocacy Center...
Lutherans Support U.S. Participation in United Nations
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "The people of the United States and, indeed the world, need your strong, active leadership now to restore our government's full participation and leading role in the United Nations," officials of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) wrote Jan. 16 to President Bill Clinton. "The U.S....
Churches Hold Clinton Responsible for Middle East Peace
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and other members of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) sent a letter Jan. 15 to President Bill Clinton, praising him for meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. "As the principal sponsor of the (Arab-Israeli)...
Lutherans Respond to Ice Storms in the Northeast
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Lutheran Disaster Response has arranged for 40 generators to be shipped from Fargo, N.D., to aid people in upstate New York in the wake of winter and ice storms that have caused damage in the Watertown, Redwood and Mooers communities. Lutheran Disaster Response is a cooperative...
Lutheran College Nights
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In March and April, Lutheran colleges and universities will host seven college nights across Texas, Minnesota and North Dakota. Prospective students and their families, as well as other interested people are invited to attend. Lutheran college admission representatives will be present to discuss educational programs, college costs,...
Lutherans Continue Assistance in Sierra Leone
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Action by Churches Together (ACT) has undertaken continued work in the west African nation of Sierra Leone and issued an appeal for more than $2 million to support this work. Following the signing of the Abidjan Peace Accord in November 1996 many displaced people in Sierra Leone...
Super Bowl Sunday is "Souper Bowl Sunday" for Lutherans
(CHICAGO) ELCA -- "On the Sunday when many are tuned to the big football game and celebrating with football parties, we ask that congregations raise awareness and funds for the forgotten hungry," said Dr. Patricia J. Larsen, Tacoma, Wash. Hundreds of congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will...
Funds Needed for Relief Worker Rescue
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Four staff members of agencies related to Action by Churches Together (ACT) were kidnaped in the fall of 1997 while working on relief programs in Chechnya. Hungarian Interchurch Aid and Orthodox Christian Charities are working closely together to ensure their safe release. ACT has issued an appeal...
