News

AUGSBURG FORTRESS AND GARY AAMODT The Rev. Marvin L. Roloff, president and CEO of Augsburg Fortress Publishers, Minneapolis, announced May 19 that the parties to a matter of litigation have agreed to settle their disputes. The litigation was initiated by Gary Aamodt, former president and CEO of Augsburg Fortress, publishing...

LUTHERANS RESPOND TO TEXAS TORNADO The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is responding to a tornado and heavy storms in Jarrel, Texas, through Lutheran Social Services of the South. The tornado killed 28 people and destroyed 300 homes in Jarrel and Cedar Park in May. Needs assesment is under way,...

ELCA JUNE 1997 Hope Through Faithful Ministry 14-20 Reformed Church in America, General Synod, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 14-21 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 209th General Assembly, Syracuse Convention Center, Syracuse, N.Y. 19-22 Commission for Multicultural Ministries, Phase I Anti-Racism Training Institute, Ramada Plaza Hotel, Rosemont, Ill. 20-21 Division for Congregational Ministries,...

FRAME NAMED PRESIDENT FOR AUGSBURG COLLEGE Dr. William V. Frame, 56, will become the 10th president of Augsburg College, Minneapolis, on Aug. 1. He succeeds the Rev. Charles S. Anderson, 67, who will retire Sept. 1. Anderson served as the college's president for 17 years. Frame is currently the vice...

LUTHERAN WOMEN ENDOW 'KATIE'S FUND' Fifteen women from across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have responded to "Katie's Fund" with gifts totaling more than $3,700. Katie's Fund, established to mark the tenth anniversary of Women of the ELCA, is a permanent endowment fund set up to provide programs, resources...

LUTHERAN TEENS TO NEW ORLEANS The Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will bring together 35,300 Lutherans in New Orleans, making it the largest five-day gathering of young people in the United States. The senior high gathering, "River of Hope," will take place July 23-27, at the...

GOOD NEWS FOR ADA'S YOUTH As 35,300 young people and adults from across the country prepare to attend "River of Hope," a triennial Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, youth affected by the devastating floods of the Red River Valley "do not have the resources or energy...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Sylvia J. Pate, Dayton, Ohio, was elected president of the African American Lutheran Association (AALA) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. AALA is a "partnership" between the ELCA and the African American community. Pate was elected by AALA's 200 members when they met May 21-25, for...

MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- About 280 social ministry organizations operating in about 3,000 locations joined the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in a corporate partnership -- Lutheran Services in America (LSA) -- and named a board of directors. LSA is one of the largest organizations of housing,...

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...

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 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...

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 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...

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...

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 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...

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 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...

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...