Lutheran Publications Win Honors from Associated Church Press
INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Lutheran, the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), took home four "Best of the Christian Press" awards from the Associated Church Press convention May 6-8 for work in 2008. Other ELCA magazines -- Lutheran Partners and Lutheran Woman Today -- each received two...
Lutherans Call for Immigration Reform Before End of 2009
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutherans are urging the Obama Administration to reform immigration enforcement actions, and for Congress and the president to enact "fair and humane" immigration reform before the end of 2009. In a May 12 statement, 16 synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran...
ELCA Pastors, Family Tale, Lead to Motion Picture
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Felix "Uncle Bush" Breazeale sat in the front passenger seat of the hearse headed to his funeral. In back was the coffin he'd made himself from walnut. The 73-year-old recluse was a man of few words but not even close to death on that hot June day...
ELCA College Alumna Freed from Iranian Prison
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- News of a Lutheran college alumna's release from an Iranian prison on May 11 was met with cheers of joy and prayers of gratitude across the nation's largest Lutheran denomination. American journalist Roxana Saberi, 32, was convicted of espionage and sentenced to eight years in prison by...
Lutherans Provided Funds, Engaged in Recovery Work in 17 Countries
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service In partnership with Lutheran churches and ecumenical agencies around the world, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) engaged in relief and recovery work in 17 countries in 2008. Through the church's International Disaster Response, more than $1.5 million was distributed...
ELCA Book of Faith Initiative Embraces Online Social Network
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are reading and discussing the Bible as part of the church's Book of Faith initiative. That discussion is being propelled with Internet technology. An estimated 2,400 members have signed on to the Book of Faith social network --...
Women of the ELCA opens registration for cross-cultural immersion
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is offering a cross-cultural immersion experience Sept. 9-13 with the Chippewa Cree Tribe at the Rocky Boy Reservation in the Bear Paw Mountains near Box Elder, Mont. The program is limited to 13 participants, and...
LDR 2008 annual report now available as an e-report
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service To help tell the story of its work in 2008, Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) has made its annual report available online as an "e-report." LDR is a collaborative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The e-report...
ELCA Provides Funds to Help Disinfect Schools in Mexico
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is providing $3,000 in an effort help clean public schools and assist low-income families purchase disinfectants to safeguard against influenza in Mexico. The ELCA sent the funds to Amextra, an ELCA companion ministry in Mexico. The funds will be used...
Lutheran Seminarians Support Task Force Recommendation
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In an open letter to the 65 synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Lutheran seminarians expressed their support for a recommendation that would allow Lutherans in committed same-gender relationships to be included on professional church rosters. On Feb. 19 the Task Force for...
Darrel Colson Named President of ELCA's Wartburg College
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Wartburg College's board of regents announced May 4 that Dr. Darrel D. Colson, provost and dean at Centenary College, Shreveport, La., will become the 17th president of the liberal arts school in Waverly, Iowa, on July 1. Wartburg is one of 28 colleges and universities of the...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Speaks to Antipoverty Activists
WASHINGTON (ELCA) - The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), spoke to more than 1,200 faith-based and antipoverty activists here at the Mobilization to End Poverty event, April 26-29. He called on participants to "hold each other accountable" for the work they...
Small Town Lutheran Impacts World with Big Heart
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Maryn Olson grew up in an Iowa town of 300 people, but her world is anything but small. Although not yet 30, many consider her a model of "faith in action" because of her tireless work battling social injustices rooted in a compassion for others. At Olson's...
Stephen Marsh Elected Bishop of ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Stephen G. Marsh was elected May 2 to a six-year term as bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Southeast Michigan Synod. Marsh was elected at the synod assembly at First English Lutheran Church, Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. He is the synod's assistant...
Lutherans Grapple with Response to Deadly Flu Virus
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Rebecca Bourret was vacationing at a resort in Cancun, Mexico, when the deadly swine flu broke out some 800 miles away in Mexico City. She's back in Massachusetts now preparing for Sunday worship. "We weren't near Mexico City at the time we were there, so...
Young Lutherans, Others Gather for Kenyan Peace Summit
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- More than 200 interfaith youth from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Tanzania and the United States gathered April 13-18 at the Kenya Youth Peace Summit in Nairobi. Under the theme "Embrace Peace, Fulfill Dreams," the summit addressed issues facing young adults as well...
Three ELCA Pastors Embark on Bamboo Bicycle Trek to Help End Hunger
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Three 60-year-old best friends are on a "mission from God." They plan to stop at 65 cities, covering 13,000 miles in 100 days -- all on a bamboo bicycle built for three. Their mission is to help bring an end to world hunger. The friends will begin...
ELCA Issues Statement, Resources about Worship and Influenza
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In response to public concerns about the swine flu, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) issued a guide for congregations -- "Worship in Times of Public Health Concerns." The church also provided resources to help individuals and families safeguard against influenza. The April 30 statement advises...
Two ELCA leaders call for immigration reform in a new book, 'They Are Us'
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service Two leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are calling on Americans, Lutherans in particular, to "welcome the stranger," making a case for immigration reform in their new book, "They Are Us." The book is co-authored by the Rev. Stephen P....
ELCA Seminary Prepares Military Chaplaincy Program
COLUMBIA, S.C. (ELCA) -- Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary has a unique opportunity. It's just minutes away from Fort Jackson, soon to be the hub for training chaplains for the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy. Fort Jackson has long been home to the U.S. Army Chaplain School. Now a larger...
