News

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Lutheran, magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has named eight "top religion stories in the world" for 1998 and five "top religion stories in the ELCA." The lists were compiled by Willmar Thorkelson, a free-lance writer in Minneapolis, and published in the magazine's...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- When the Rev. Brad Smith at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church, Columbia, S.C., made reference to the National = Football League's "Super Bowl" Sunday as "Souper Bowl" Sunday in his sermon, the senior youth fellowship of the congregation took the pun in earnest. As a result, a national...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- John R. Brooks, 42, becomes director for news and information in the Department for Communication of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on Jan. 4, 1999. He succeeds Ann E. Hafften, who resigned to become director for communications at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., a seminary...

HOUSTON (ELCA) -- The Rev. Carlos E. Paiva, Iglesia Luterana Angelica (Angelica Lutheran Church), Los Angeles, Calif., was elected president of La Asociacion Luterana de Ministerios Hispanos (Lutheran Association of Hispanic Ministries) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America = (ELCA).=20 Paiva was elected by the 60 members of the...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "A Quiet Chamber Kept for Thee," a dramatic Christmas story by the Rev. Walter M. Wangerin, Jr., is being featured throughout December as a special Christmas broadcast of "Lutheran = Vespers," the radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).=20= Wangerin, master storyteller and popular...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- It may be one of the toughest jobs in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) -- listening very carefully to accusations of clergy sexual abuse, providing information about procedures to respond, providing pastoral care for all involved and taking action. The key 130 people who deal...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- It may be one of the toughest jobs in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) -- listening very carefully to accusations of clergy sexual abuse, providing information about procedures to respond, providing pastoral care for all involved and taking action. The key 130 people who deal...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- It may be one of the toughest jobs in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) -- listening very carefully to accusations of clergy sexual abuse, providing information about procedures to respond, providing pastoral care for all involved and taking action. The key 130 people who deal...

ORLANDO, Fla. (ELCA) -- "Worship is like a gas station where people get spiritually tanked up for the week," said Marty Haugen, a liturgical composer from Eagan, Minn. "Liturgy is about invitation and conversion." Haugen spoke to more than 450 musicians, pastors, seminary professors and worship leaders of the Evangelical...

HOUSTON (ELCA) -- "'Preparing the Way' was an event that brought together 62 American Indian and Alaska Native Lutherans from all over across the United States," said Marilyn Sorensen-Bush, director for Native American Ministries in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Commission for Multicultural Ministries. "Preparing the Way" was...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (ELCA) -- Dr. Carl A. Volz, professor of church history at Luther Seminary, died Dec. 3 at his home in St. Paul at the age of 65. Volz taught for 24 years at Luther Seminary, a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and for...

For information contact: Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Director 1-773-380-2955 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html

HOUSTON (ELCA) -- "At its beginnings the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America declared its intention to be an 'inclusive community' and defined the accomplishment of that goal as of having at least 10 percent of its membership be people of color and/or whose primary language is other than English," said...

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico (ELCA) -- Lutherans in Puerto Rico and from around the world celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Lutheran presence in Puerto Rico through a festive worship service here Oct. 31 at the Interamericana University of Puerto Rico. More than 1,000 Lutherans attended the two-hour worship service organized...

for "Alive in Christ: Equipping Congregations for the 21st Century," an event organized by the ELCA's Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM). The Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock and the Rev. Mark R. Moller-Gunderson, DCM executive directors, presented a summary of the best practices of ELCA congregations engaged in effective ministry and...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Daniel C. Tsui, a graduate of Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., received the Nobel Prize for Physics. Augustana is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Tsui is the Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., a fellow of...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Roger R. Kahle, an international journalist who covered Lutheran issues and events for 35 years, died of heart failure Dec. 1 at the age of 55. Kahle was managing editor of The Lutheran, magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and president of...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (ELCA) -- "The Lutheran church in Puerto Rico has become rich in tradition, rich in leadership, rich in service and rich in faith," said the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "It has done this despite many challenges...

HARVARD DIVINITY DEAN STEPPING DOWN 98-41-235-Harvard University Gazette CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Ronald F. Thiemann, dean of the Divinity School at Harvard University here since 1986, announced Nov. 13 that he will step down from the deanship and return to teaching and research. Thiemann is a pastor of...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Luther Institute awarded four Wittenberg Awards "to honor outstanding Lutheran laity and clergy for their service to = church and society" Nov. 20 in Washington, D.C. The four honorees were Bishop April Ulring Larson, Willmar Thorkelson, Shirley D. Peterson Esq. and the Honorable Eckhard Naumarm. Bishop...