Prominent African American Lutheran Died
GROVER C. WRIGHT DIED A prominent African American Lutheran, Grover C. Wright, Philadelphia, passed away Feb. 3 at the age of 80. Wright is credited with recognizing the talents of and bolstering many of the people of color now serving as pastors and lay leaders in the Evangelical Lutheran Church...
Reich Receives Lutheran Economic Study
in Washington, D.C. She presented him with a copy of "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread: Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood For All," a 117-page document being used in the ELCA's 11,000 congregations to facilitate a study on economic life this year. "I think he immediately sensed the significance of some...
Lutheran College Received $650,000 Grant
HOWARD MILLER CENTER Thiel College, Greenville, Pa., has received a $650,000 grant to complete phase two of the renovation and expansion of the Howard Miller Center. The four-story, 100,000-square-foot center houses the college's dining facilities, student services and Livingston Hall, a women's residence hall. "The grant will be used to...
Lutheran College $80 Million Fund-Raising Campaign
$80 MILLION FUND-RAISING CAMPAIGN FOR AUGUSTANA Augustana College officials announced Jan. 22 "Tradition and Promise: The Augustana Campaign," an $80 million fund-raising campaign expected to last through the end of the century. Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., is one of 28 colleges and universities associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church...
ELCA Congregations Learn From Each Other
ELCA CONGREGATIONS LEARN FROM EACH OTHER Over 100 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gathered Jan. 23-25 in Las Vegas for "New Ideas for a New Day," an evangelism "teaching congregation" conference sponsored by the ELCA's Division for Congregational Ministries. Pastors, associates in ministry and other lay leaders...
ELCA Vision for Mission
VISION FOR MISSION More than 13,500 leaders from across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have responded to the Vision for Mission appeal with gifts totaling $1.2 million. The Vision for Mission Fund provides an opportunity for individual members of the ELCA to make gifts over and above congregational giving...
Lutheran Agencies Moving to Baltimore
LUTHERAN AGENCIES MOVING TO BALTIMORE Lutheran World Relief (LWR) and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) will move their offices from New York to Baltimore. They currently share office space with the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). In late January and early February,...
Lutherans Oppose Balanced Budget
LUTHERANS OPPOSE BALANCED BUDGET The Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C., has added its support to an open letter opposing a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. LOGA, the federal public policy advocacy office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is one of 125 signers of...
Lutheran Seminary Faculty Endorses Full Communion
LUTHERAN SEMINARY FACULTY ENDORSES FULL COMMUNION About 20 theologians on the faculty of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) unanimously adopted a statement endorsing a proposal for full communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church, and a similar proposal for full communion between...
Lutheran, Catholic Church Leaders Meet
LUTHERAN, CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADERS MEET The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb will participate in a historic forum Feb. 20 to speak on "The Common Statement on Justification by Faith" as proposed by the Roman...
Lutheran Men Planning Events
LUTHERAN MEN PLANNING EVENTS Lutheran Men in Mission, the men's organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is making plans for five regional gatherings this summer. The gatherings will focus on "men building relationships with family and other men," said Doug Haugen, LMM director. Meeting under the theme "Building...
ELCA Presiding Bishop's Easter Message
ELCA PRESIDING BISHOP'S EASTER MESSAGE "The resurrection of Jesus opens the door to a larger world than the one we live in every day. We see friends die and they are gone, but God has shown us that it is possible for them to live in a new way. We...
Lutheran Ethicists Compare Notes
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Initial work on "a multi-authored volume on how Lutherans do ethics" was the center of attention for more than 30 Lutheran ethicists Jan. 9-10 at the Frairhurst Retreat Center in Cincinnati. The fourth annual Lutheran Ethics Gathering preceded the meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics (SCE)....
ELCA University Library Receives $350,000
BLOUGH-WEIS LIBRARY RECEIVES $350,000 Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa., has received a $350,000 grant to help transform the Blough-Weis Library into a more powerful center of information access, technology support and teaching resources. ?The resources provided by this challenge grant will go a long way toward helping the university overcome the...
ELCA Lecture Series Explores Ecumenism
ROOT AND FACKRE EXPLORE ECUMENISM A traditional lecture series and an innovative video-conference will examine ecumenical discussions and decisions engaging the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America this year. The Hein-Fry Lecture Series takes two prestigious speakers to the campuses of the ELCA?s eight seminaries. Dr. Michael Root, an ELCA scholar...
Lutheran Named Religion News Service Editor
ANDERSON NAMED RNS EDITOR David E. Anderson, 55, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, became editor of the Religion News Service (RNS) on Jan. 1 in Washington, D.C. He succeeds Joan Connell, 49, who will continue as RNS senior editor after moving to Seattle. "Dave Anderson has...
Lutherans Remember the Hungry
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY: REMEMBER THE HUNGRY January 26 is more than Super Bowl Sunday. It?s Souper Bowl Sunday. Hundreds of congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will join an interfaith effort to remember ?those who are without even a bowl of soup.? The Rev. Brad Smith, Spring Valley...
ELCA Horizon Internships Approved
HORIZON INTERNSHIPS APPROVED At least 32 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are providing educational settings for seminarians through the church?s Horizon Internship program -- from Los Angeles to Goodridge, Minn., from Boston to San Antonio, Texas. Another 10 congregations are on a waiting list. A master of...
ELCA College Enrollment Rising
ELCA COLLEGE ENROLLMENT RISING Enrollment figures are rising for the 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In the fall of 1996 full-time enrollment grew by 0.6 percent from 44,036 to 44,301. This gain of 265 students takes into account the enrollment at Upsala College, East...
ELCA Pension Funds Enter Market Valuation
PENSION FUNDS MAKE SMOOTH TRANSITION TO MARKET VALUATION Timing couldn?t have been better for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America?s Board of Pensions and much of the $3.6 billion in assets it manages for pastors and other church employees. The pension board ushered in the new year by converting $1.6...
