Secretary of State Clinton highlights the work of ELCA-related ministries
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted the vital work of Lutheran social ministry organizations in welcoming refugees to the United States, during her Dec. 7 address at the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugee's ministerial conference in Geneva. In her presentation to world leaders, Clinton shared a...
ELCA, Episcopal presiding bishops remember lives lost to HIV, AIDS
CHICAGO (ELCA) - Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Episcopal Primate Katharine Jefferts Schori said World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 is "an opportunity for us to remember the 30 million lives that have been lost to the deadly pandemic." In their...
Presiding bishop says ELCA is deeply rooted in God's mission
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In his report to the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson said that the ELCA is "a church deeply rooted in God's mission (and) in the belief that Christ frees us all to serve our neighbor and seek...
ELCA Board of Pensions announces name change to Portico Benefit Services
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Board of Pensions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will begin doing business as Portico Benefit Services, effective immediately. The trustees of the ELCA Board of Pensions approved the name change during their November meeting and recommended that the ELCA Church Council amend Continuing...
ELCA Church Council responds to actions of the 2011 Churchwide Assembly
CHICAGO (ELCA) - The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) acted on several recommendations in response to actions of the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The council, which serves as the ELCA's board of directors, also approved revisions to the 2012 current fund spending authorization and considered...
ELCA Board of Pensions Trustees announce annuity adjustment for 2012
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Trustees of the Board of Pensions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) announced adjustments in 2012 ELCA Participating Annuity payments and the interest crediting rate for bridge accounts. The Board of Pensions is a separately incorporated ministry of the ELCA. The trustees made the decision...
ELCA bishop visits White House to discuss Israeli-Palestinian conflict
CHICAGO (ELCA) - The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), attended a Nov. 8 meeting at the White House as part of a group of ecumenical faith leaders. They asked that the United States take a stronger stance in its opposition to...
First ELCA member installed as National Council of Churches president
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Kathryn M. Lohre was installed as president of the National Council of Churches Nov. 9 at a service held at the Lutheran Center here. A member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Lohre is the first Lutheran and ELCA member to serve as president of...
ELCA bishops call state immigration laws 'shortsighted'
CHICAGO (ELCA) - Nearly 60 of 65 synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) expressed their concern over new state immigration laws in Nov. 2 letters to President Barack Obama and members of Congress. In their letter, the synod bishops asked that both Congress and the administration...
ELCA presiding bishop calls for immigration reform
CHICAGO (ELCA) - In Nov. 1 letters to President Barack Obama and members of Congress, the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has called for comprehensive immigration reform and support for the DREAM Act (the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act), legislation that would...
ELCA members respond to record-level rainfall in Central America
CHICAGO (ELCA) - Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are responding to record-level rainfall in Central America that has caused flooding and mudslides in rural and urban areas. Through ELCA Disaster Response, $23,000 has been allocated for Lutheran companion churches in Guatemala and Nicaragua to address immediate...
Roth to be installed bishop of ELCA Central/Southern Illinois Synod Oct. 15
CHICAGO (ELCA) - The Rev. Dr. S. John Roth will be installed as bishop of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Oct. 15. ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson will preach and preside at the installation. "I am overwhelmed by the trust the people...
ELCA bishops value ecumenical partners, consider critical mission topics
CHICAGO (ELCA) - "We are exceedingly grateful" for the two churches' full communion partnership, the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori told the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Conference of Bishops during its meeting here Sept. 29-Oct. 4. The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the...
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Lutheran African peace activist
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Leymah Roberta Gbowee, a Lutheran Liberian peace activist, has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The announcement came Oct. 7 from Oslo, Norway. Gbowee, a member of the Lutheran Church in Liberia, is responsible for organizing a non-violent women's movement that brought an end to a 14-year...
Registration for the ELCA’s 2012 Youth Gathering to open
Online registration opens Oct. 9 for the 2012 Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The gathering will be July 18-22 in New Orleans with the theme of “citizens with the saints.” The ELCA hosts churchwide youth gatherings every three years. Registration opens online only at 2:00...
ELCA presiding bishop says building trust is key work of this church
CHICAGO (ELCA) - The task before leaders of this church is to build communities of trust among people of faith, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He said ELCA members and leaders have a unique opportunity to make this their...
ELCA Fund for Leaders honors 2011-2012 scholarship recipients
CHICAGO (ELCA) - As part of its commitment to supporting seminary students preparing for ministry, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Fund for Leaders honored 19 seminarians with full-tuition scholarships for the 2011-2012 academic year. The students were honored Sept. 30 at a banquet attended by ELCA synod bishops,...
Jessica Crist elected chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Jessica R. Crist, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Montana Synod, Great Falls, Mont., was elected Oct. 1 to serve as chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops. Crist, who will serve a four-year term, is the first female synod bishop ever...
ELCA Bishop extends support for Lutherans in Jordan, Holy Land
CHICAGO (ELCA) - The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Mark S. Hanson, sent a letter on Sept. 22 to Bishop Munib Younan and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), expressing the support of this church for a two-state solution of...
Kreiss to be installed as bishop of ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Dr. Donald P. Kreiss will be installed as bishop of the Southeast Michigan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on Sept. 24 at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson will preach and preside at the...
