News

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

LUTHERANS RESPOND TO NORTHWEST FLOODING An emergency grant of $15,000 has been issued to Lutheran Social Services of Northern California and Nevada in response to a series of winter storms and flooding in northern California, Idaho and northern Nevada. "In the Marysville and Yuba cities of Calif., nearly 100,000 people...

HURTY APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF CHURCH WOMEN UNITED Church Women United (CWU) National President Susan Shank Mix announced Jan. 6 the appointment of Dr. Kathleen Segerhammar Hurty as CWU?s general director, effective May 15. Mix described Hurty as "a warm, intelligent, artistic person who infuses you with her energy and caring....

LUTHERAN COLLEGE NIGHTS In March and April, Lutheran colleges and universities will host seven college nights across Texas, Minnesota and North Dakota. Prospective students and their families, and other interested persons are invited. Lutheran college admission representatives will be present to discuss educational programs, college costs, financial aid and campus...

GUATEMALA CITY (ELCA) -- Now it can be told. When pens scratched the final signatures on peace papers Dec. 29 in Guatemala City, ending 36 years of civil war that claimed 140,000 lives, Lutherans were seen but not heard. No one mentioned the church or the Lutheran World Federation during...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Students, faculty and staff of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's colleges and universities do more than study the problem of inadequate housing for low-income families. Teaming up with Habitat for Humanity, students work to raise funds and contribute their time and talents to the construction of homes...

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe -- Some 100 African and African American Lutheran theologians attended the second Conference of International Black Lutherans (CIBL) Dec. 12-19, 1996, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The theme of the conference was "Poverty and Plenty: Bridging the Gap." "Dispersed Africans are deeply rooted here," the general secretary of the Lutheran...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Under the theme, "A Line in the Sand: Borders, Boundaries and Belief," Lutheran college students from across the country met Dec. 28-Jan. 1 in San Antonio for the Lutheran Student Movement-USA's annual national gathering. Through speakers, worship and small group discussions, 360 students and Lutheran campus ministry...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Ishmael Noko, called on the international community to help Guatemala rid itself of conditions that caused years of conflict and thus "give peace a chance" in the Central American country. Noko welcomed the Dec. 29 signing of the...

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (ELCA) -- A U.S. dialogue of Lutheran and Orthodox Christians has a recommendation that would "acknowledge our mutual confession of the faith." The Dec. 16-18 meeting here concluded with the proposal that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) use the original Nicene Creed in its worship...

a chance" in Guatemala CHICAGO, Dec. 29 (lwi/elca) - The general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Ishmael Noko, called on the international community to help Guatemala rid itself of conditions that caused years of conflict and thus "give peace a chance" in the Central American country. Noko welcomed...

ELCA SUPPORTS A SHARED JERUSALEM The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has added his signature to a full-page ad regarding the city of Jerusalem developed for publication in the "New York Times." Under the headline "Heritage, Hope and Home of Two...

?THE MANGER IS EMPTY? CHRISTMAS SPECIAL ?The Manger is Empty," a dramtic Christmas story by Pastor Walter Wangerin, Jr., is being featured throughout the Christmas season as a special broadcast off ?Lutheran Vespers," the radio ministry program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Master storyteller and popular author Wangerin...

BISHOP H. GEORGE ANDERSON?S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE ?The world needs Christmas to show us how wonderful it is to be remembered, no matter how much or how little we possess. It sensitizes us to the many ways in which the work of others blesses our lives. The world needs Christmas to...

ELCA SUPPORTS A SHARED JERUSALEM The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has added his signature to a full-page ad regarding the city of Jerusalem developed for publication in the "New York Times.? Under the headline ?Heritage, Hope and Home of Two...