H. George Anderson Visits Lutherans in Flooded Areas
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Riding in Grand Forks, N.D., past street after street with debris piled three to four feet high along the curbs, the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, could only shake his head. Front-end loaders prowled the streets in a losing...
ELCA Women Celebrate 10 Years
ELCA WOMEN CELEBRATE 10 YEARS Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the women's organization of the ELCA, is inviting women of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate 10 years of "grace and mercy." A "Creative Works Contest," contributions to "Katie's Fund" and a "card shower" are three immediate...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Visits Flood Victims
ANDERSON VISITS FLOOD VICTIMS "We will be with you. Whether it takes a year or longer, your church will stay with you," the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, told flood victims in Minnesota and North Dakota. Anderson traveled to Minnesota and North...
Lutheran Ethicist and Theologican Wins Grawemeyer Award
LUTHERAN WINS GRAWEMEYER AWARD Dr. Larry Rasmussen, a Lutheran ethicist and theologian, has won the 1997 Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion, a $150,000 prize. Rasmussen, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, New York. He was...
The Rev. Maria D. Valenzuela Joins ELCA Multiultural
VALENZUELA NAMED DIRECTOR FOR HISPANIC MINISTRIES The Rev. Maria D. Valenzuela has been named director for Hispanic and leadership ministries in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Commission for Multicultural Ministries. She has served as pastor for Cristo Rey Centro Luterano, El Paso, Texas since 1990, and as the Hispanic...
ELCA Seminary Faculty Affirm Ecumenical Proposals
TRINITY SEMINARY FACULTY ON ECUMENICAL PROPOSALS About 20 theologians that make up the faculty of Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, affirmed three ecumenical proposals now before the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with some reservations. The faculty's May 5 "statement is positive in response to the proposals while at the...
Young Lutheran Musicians Perform
YOUNG LUTHERAN MUSICIANS PERFORM Nearly 225 students in grades 8-12 will attend the Lutheran Summer Music program to be held June 22-July 20 at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind. Lutheran Summer Music offers concentrated instruction in instruments and voice, including private lessons with distinguished performers. Students perform in Symphony Orchestra, Concert...
ELCA Lutherans Sponsor Rural Evangelism Serminars
RURAL EVANGELISM IS POSSIBLE "Mission Possible," a one-day evangelism seminar, gathers rural congregation leaders to examine methods for effective outreach in rural and small town communities. Sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, five seminars are scheduled for the fall: Sidney, Mont., Sept. 15; Havre, Mont., Sept. 16; Ritzville,...
Lutherans Oppose Land Mines
LUTHERANS OPPOSE LAND MINES U.S. Lutherans called on President Bill Clinton to make good on a one-year-old promise to ban the manufacture, sale and use of antipersonnel land mines. The Rev. Theodore F. Schneider, bishop of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), delivered...
Marilyn Sorenson-Bush Joins ELCA Multicultural Commission
SORENSON-BUSH: AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE MINISTRIES Marilyn Sorenson-Bush, Cape Canaveral, Fla., has been named director for American Indian and Alaska Native ministries, racial justice ministries in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Commission for Multicultural Ministries effective June 1. Sorenson-Bush, a member of the Sisseton-Wahpaton Sioux Tribe, served as chairperson for...
ELCA Emphasizes Theological Education Beyond the Classroom
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America puts a great deal of emphasis on formal education for its clergy and lay leaders. Now the church is ready to formalize education beyond the classroom. First call theological education (FCTE) is a structured program of theological education for Lutherans in...
Lutherans in Ecumenical Mission
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Christians gathered in San Jose, Costa Rica, to discuss how to carry out Jesus' "preferential option for the excluded" in a global economic system that gives "preferential option to the wealthy" The event was an ecumenical consultation April 26-28, with nearly 200 delegates from North America, Latin...
Lutherans Continue Assistance in Ohio River Valley
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "In the little towns and villages of southwestern Ohio and northern Kentucky, people are still trying to rebuild their homes after the devastating floods in March along the Ohio River and its tributaries," said the Rev. Leon A. Phillips Jr., executive director for Lutheran Disaster Response. "Lutheran...
Lutherans Writing About Genetic Testing
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has assembled a panel of authors to prepare a volume on genetic testing and screening. The group includes "well-established theologians, social ethicists, people who deal with individual ethics -- a genetic counselor, a pediatrician, a clinical geneticist, a chaplain," said the...
Lutheran Social Ministries Cross Bridge
MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- "Transitions: Bridges of Hope" was a theme that speakers found easy to address during the 1997 spring conference of the Association of Lutheran Social Ministry Organizations (ALSMO) here April 17-20. At that conference 350 people saw ALSMO become Lutheran Services in America (LSA). "ALSMO was and is...
ELCA Addresses Inclusive Ministry
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod have developed a coalition to build ministry with individuals who have developmental disabilities. Members of the Lutheran Developmental Disabilities Coalition met here May 3-4 to develop ways in which Lutheran congregations can "catch the vision for...
ELCA Seminary Elects African American President
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. James K. Echols, 45, was elected to be the next president of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC)on May 5. He is the first African American to head a Lutheran seminary in North America. Echols currently serves as dean of the Lutheran Theological...
Lutherans Volunteer to Assist in Flood Cleanup
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "`The Lutherans are here' is usually what people say as Lutheran Disaster Response provides its ministry of hope and hands-on response in disastrous situations," said the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, associate director for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Domestic Disaster Response. And more Lutherans are on...
ELCA Publishing House to Relocate
LOS ANGELES (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will move to a new location in downtown Minneapolis based on an action taken by the board of trustees at its meeting here April 24-26. The publishing house will move to three floors at...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Stresses Baptism at Unity Event
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (ELCA) -- "Grand Forks is inundated, and the one thing they can't get is water," the Rev. H. George Anderson told the National Workshop for Christian Unity here. "Conflicts seem to flood our church. We are awash in raw sewage and debris, amid dangerous currents, and we need...
