Lutherans Preaching for Peace
LUTHERANS PREACHING FOR PEACE Pastors, seminary students and lay preachers are taking part in a sermon-writing contest sponsored by Lutheran Peace Fellowship (LPF). The competition "seeks to lift up preaching as a form of peace witness, encouraging attention to peace themes in the Bible," according to Glen Gersmehl, Seattle, LPF...
Lutherans Prepare for Floods
LUTHERANS PREPARE FOR FLOODS A Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) coalition in eastern North Dakota has developed two approaches to cope with possible flooding along the Red River and Sheyenne River and in the Devil's Lake area. The first is to provide information for congregational leaders and individuals about local and...
Lutheran Scholar Moller Died in Thailand
M?LLER DIED IN THAILAND The Rev. Michael F. M?ller, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg, Germany, died from injuries received in a traffic accident while on sabbatical in Bangkok, Thailand. During the brief "Republic of Pastors" that succeeded the communist government in 1990, M?ller served on the...
Luther College Seeks $100 Million
LUTHER COLLEGE SEEKS $100 MILLION Luther College officials approved "Leadership for a New Century," a $100 million capital campaign to end in 2005. Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "Leadership for a New Century" will be a three-component...
Vaaler is ELCA's Interim Human Resources Director
VAALER IS INTERIM HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR Thomas P. Vaaler, Woodbury, Minn., will serve as interim director of the Department for Human Resources and Management Services of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, according to the Rev. Robert N. Bacher, ELCA executive for administration. Vaaler will begin work at the ELCA...
Women of the ELCA Budgets $3.9 Million
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The executive board for Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the women's organization of the ELCA, approved a $3.9 million budget for 1998 when it met here March 13-16. The 1998 budget reflects program expenses of $1.7 million, a gift of $1 million to the...
Magnus to Lead ELCA's Division for Outreach
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Richard A. Magnus, 53, was elected March 21 to a four-year term as executive director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Division for Outreach. With the approval of the ELCA presiding Bishop H. George Anderson, the division's board named Magnus to succeed the Rev....
ELCA Bishops Look to Millennium
LOS ANGELES (ELCA) -- The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, suggested that the bishops of the ELCA write a pastoral letter to congregations on the relationship of the church and the millennium. Anderson spoke to the Conference of Bishops meeting in Los...
ELCA Is "In The City For Good"
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "An initiative for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to revitalize its ministry in urban areas of the United States and the Caribbean" will reach the ELCA Churchwide Assembly this summer in Philadelphia. The board of the ELCA Division for Outreach approved the report, "In the City...
ELCA Is "Called To Be A Safe Place"
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has given its Commission for Women the assignment to "assist this church to create a safe environment for women in this church and society." The commission is coordinating series of programs around the theme "Called to be a Safe Place." "We...
New Plans for ELCA Worship, Outdoor Ministry
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The worship team of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will "lead, encourage and support the worship of God" in the church based on a new plan. The board of the ELCA's Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) accepted the team's plan when it met here Feb. 28-Mar....
Learning is "Life-Long" for Lutherans
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Continuing education means ongoing spiritual formation, theological growth and leadership development, according to a report outlining specific expectations of "life-long learning" for pastors, associates in ministry, deaconesses and diaconal ministers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The ELCA Division for Ministry board approved those expectations when...
Suad Younan: Palestinian Lutheran
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Suad Younan, a leader in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan (Palestine), asked the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Division for Global Mission board to support Palestinian Christians. Younan is the director of the Helen Keller School for the Blind in Jerusalem. The board, meeting here March...
Terry Waite Speaks at Lutheran College
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (ELCA) -- When he met with the hostage takers, Terry Waite was blindfolded, his body was searched, his scars were probed and his teeth were examined. After he was inspected for locating and recording devices, he was given a change of clothing. Waite endured all this, then...
ELCA Bishops Discuss Ecumenical Proposals
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. (ELCA) -- Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, meeting here March 6-11, talked about response in ELCA synods to ecumenical proposals to be considered at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August. The church is scheduled to vote on entering into "full communion" with the Episcopal...
ELCA College Enrollment Rise is Steady
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Full-time student enrollment at the 28 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America colleges and universities rose from 44,036 to 44,310 between 1995 and 1996, a gain of 274 students, "making enrollment the highest it has ever been," reported James Unglaube, ELCA director for colleges and universities. The board...
ELCA Policy to Stress Study Over Statements
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In its first 10 years the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has issued social statements on abortion, the death penalty, the environment, peace, and racism. The ELCA Division for Church in Society (DCS) that developed the statements has drawn up policies saying the study leading up to...
Vocations of Gay and Lesbian Lutherans
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (ELCA) -- The role of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Lutherans in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was the topic of discussion when Lutheran Campus Ministry hosted "The Gifts We Offer, The Burdens We Bear: The Vocation and Ministry of Gay and Lesbian Persons in Church...
Rites Proposed for ELCA Lay Ministers
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board for the Division for Congregational Ministries, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has sent to the ELCA Church Council the proposed rites for the installation and commissioning of associates in ministry and for the consecration and installation of diaconal ministers. The action was taken at its...
ELCA and Bolivian Lutherans Walk Together
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (ELCA) -- The Bolivian Lutheran Church has an ambitious plan to work with migrant people in Santa Cruz, one of Latin America's fastest growing areas. Surrounded by farmland and wide open spaces, this small city southeast of La Paz has experienced an influx of 60,000 peasant farmers...
