ELCA Ecumenical Education Team Named
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A committee responsible for education regarding Lutheran-Episcopal relations has been appointed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The group met Jan. 13-14. The ELCA's 1997 Churchwide Assembly mandated "education opportunities" in the church, stating that the ELCA recognizes the need to understand its own doctrine, creeds...
Lutheran Ethicists Don't Have All the Answers
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- More and more Americans are expecting the church to provide the moral answers to their social problems, while the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) must do more to help its members make their own ethical decisions. About 30 Lutherans tackled those among several tough issues they...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Visits Palestinian Lutherans
JERUSALEM (ELCA) --The Rev. H. George Anderson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), together with Lutheran and ecumenical leaders, took part in the consecration Jan. 5 of the Rev. Munib A. Younan as Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and Palestine (ELCJ). The service...
Lutheran Camps Develop Leaders for the Future
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The outdoor ministry team of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is exploring "ways to design camp systems that offer a caring and compassionate response to people," said Mark D. Burkhardt, ELCA director for outdoor ministries, in an interview. "Lutheran camps will work to develop a...
ELCA Ordained Women of Color Envision a "New Community"
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Fifty-four of the 86 women of color serving as pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) or studying in ELCA seminaries spent "a very powerful weekend" envisioning a church and a society "that is no longer racist, sexist, classist or even ageist" and visualizing their...
Lutheran Students Compare Freedom
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- Under the theme "Free for All: A Capitol Celebration of Democracy and Grace," Lutheran students from across the country met Dec. 31- Jan. 5 in Washington, D.C. for the 75th anniversary gathering of the Lutheran Student Movement-USA. Joel Christenson, 20, Virginia Miliary Institute, Lexington, was elected...
ELCA Pension Board Interest Crediting Rate
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Board of Pensions unanimously recommended that interest crediting rates for retirees be increased in 1998. This means that both the bond fund and balanced fund reserves that provide income for retirees will be credited at a higher rate of...
ELCA Congregations Featured for Christmas TV
ELCA CONGREGATIONS FEATURED FOR CHRISTMAS TV "Welcome in the Child," a special Christmas Eve worship program, has been produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for the National Council of Churches of Christ. The program, offered by ABC-TV to local affiliate stations on Dec. 24, features Antioch Lutheran, Christ...
ELCA Members Honored by Luther Institute
FOUR ELCA MEMBERS HONORED Four members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America were honored for their contributions to church and society by The Luther Institute. The four honorees were the Rev. Dr. Yoshiro Ishida, president of the newly-established Kyushu Lutheran College, Kumamoto, Japan; the Rev. Dr. Conrad Bergendoff, a...
ELCA'S Presding Bishop's Christmas Message
H. GEORGE ANDERSON'S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE "Peace on earth" must become more than the song of angels. It must become the everyday motto of human beings who make decisions and choose leaders. The Christmas story tells of one who came so that all of us might live in peace. Yet Jesus...
ELCA Lutherans Learn to Share Faith
LUTHERANS LEARN TO SHARE FAITH The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has produced two resources, "Connections: Faith and Life" and "Sharing Your Faith with Friends, Relatives and Neighbors," designed to help adults be "faith-sharing Christians" every day of the week. The resources focus on the relationship between faith and life...
Cooper-White to Lead ELCA Synodical Relations
COOPER-WHITE REAPPOINTED TO LEAD SYNODICAL RELATIONS The Rev. Michael Cooper-White, 47, was re-appointed to a second four-year term as director of the Department for Synodical Relations for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at a meeting of its Church Council in Chicago Nov. 14-16. The Department for Synodical Relations provides...
ELCA Communicators Gather in Pittsburgh
ELCA COMMUNICATORS GATHER IN PITTSBURGH About 140 people who tell the stories of mission and ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gathered in Pittsburgh Nov. 20-21 for the 1997 ELCA Communicators' Consultation. The 140 communicators work in the ELCA's 65 synods and other organizations of the church. The...
ELCA Addresses Clergy Sexual Abuse
ELCA TO PROVIDE RESOURCE ADDRESSING CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's strategy for responding to sexual abuse in the church has resulted in the preparation of a new resource notebook. "The major project for our work over the past several months has been completing a phase of...
ELCA Lutherans are Making Christ Known
PITTSBURGH (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America willexplore how it will transform its congregations into vital faith communities through 21st century media and with a warm welcome. About 850 clergy and lay leaders gathered here for "Making Christ Known: Congregations for the 21st Century," Nov. 21-23. "Our world...
Stephen Carter Speaks to ELCA Lutherans
"God doesn't want us to live our faith just for ourselves. God wants us to share with the world how different we are because of our Christian faith," constitutional scholar and best-selling author Dr. Stephen L. Carter told leaders gathered for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's "Making Christ Known"...
Women of the ELCA Head Meets with Clinton
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- Catherine I.H. Braasch, executive director of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, discussed President Bill Clinton's racial initiatives at a White House breakfast Nov. 20, together with other religious leaders. "In the coming year the president wants to discover the best ways to address...
Martin Marty to Head Concordat Writing Team
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Martin E. Marty, Chicago, will head up the writing team that will undertake a revision of the "Concordat of Agreement," on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Also on the team authorized by the ELCA Church Council are the Rev. Todd W. Nichol,...
ELCA Joins Global Debt Reduction Effort
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will participate in the "Jubilee/USA Campaign" based on action taken the ELCA Church Council at its meeting here Nov. 14-16. "Jubilee 2000 is a worldwide grassroots movement aimed at creating a fresh start for impoverished nations as our world enters a...
ELCA Worship Team Plans for Future
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The mission of the worship team of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is to "lead, encourage and support the worship of God" in the church, the Rev. Paul R. Nelson, director for worship, told members of the ELCA's Church Council. The council heard the worship plan...
