News

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Religion Communicators Council (RCC) honored several Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) communicators March 27 at its annual DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards program in Boston. The Women of the ELCA video "Created in the Image of God: A Community of Women" earned a Best of Class distinction,...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) sent "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust," a proposed social statement for the ELCA, and a "Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies" to the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly for consideration. The Church Council is the ELCA's board...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Responding to an overall decline in mission support funds, the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) reduced the churchwide organization's current fund spending authorization for 2009 by $5.6 million to $76.8 million. Its action, taken without comment, resulted in elimination of a number...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) launched a national television "brand campaign" March 30 on national cable channels and in selected television markets. A second campaign will follow beginning May 11. "The purpose of the ELCA brand campaign is to grow awareness of the Evangelical Lutheran...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Oak Grove Lutheran School, Fargo, N.D., canceled classes and activities March 30-April 3 as the school community continues to deal with flooding, snow and cold temperatures. Oak Grove is a school of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). It serves students from prekindergarten to grade 12....

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Northwestern Minnesota Synod, Moorhead, and the church's Eastern North Dakota Synod, Fargo, are closed as residents in both states deal with record-breaking floods. The ELCA Northwestern Minnesota Synod is located on the campus of Concordia College, one...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As residents in North Dakota rush to prepare for record-breaking floods, Lutherans there are doing what they can to protect rural and urban communities. According to the National Weather Service, many rivers in the state are at flood stage. The Red River is predicted to crest at...

"Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified ... has been raised." Mark 16:6 When Mary Magdalene, Mary and Salome came to the tomb, their hopes and fears intersected. They wondered aloud about the impossibly large and heavy stone that presented an obstacle to their immediate plans. Worse, what they thought lay...

WASHINGTON (ELCA) - The Rev. Callon W. Holloway Jr., bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Southern Ohio Synod, Columbus, was one of seven witnesses who testified before the U.S. House Energy and Environment Subcommittee on March 25 in a congressional hearing, "Preparing for Climate Change: Adaptation Polities and Programs."...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Children, youth and teenagers can play an active role in ending hunger. The Rev. Stacy K. Johnson, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), hopes that young Lutherans understand that as Christians they are called to work for an end to hunger in creative,...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Starting new congregations is a priority for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), but developing a congregation from scratch can be a frenzied experience. According to the Rev. Justin A. Grimm, emotions are minute-to-minute in mission development work. "There are highs and lows that come right...

Please replace the text of the ELCA News Service story "Lutheran Theologians Respond to ELCA Task Force Documents," issued March 20, 2009, with the revised text below. We request that the original story be discarded and not used. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- After three attempts in five weeks, three bishops from Jerusalem were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip March 10 to visit churches and humanitarian projects. The three were the Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), the...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) continue to encourage members of their respective synods to become familiar with two documents released by the Task Force for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality. In February the task force released a proposed social statement on human sexuality....

CHICAGO (ELCA) - When Liz Kourtesis of Florida heard that 37,000 Lutherans -- mostly teens -- were heading to New Orleans this summer to help hurricane survivors, she raced to add her name to the volunteers. She's a hurricane survivor, too. Kourtesis, 19, lives in South Florida, also walloped by...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Hoping to encourage other church leaders and lessen the stigma and discrimination that often surrounds HIV and AIDS, most members of the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) participated in HIV screening March 5 here at the Lutheran Center. The ELCA Conference...

ITASCA, Ill. (ELCA) -- As economic uncertainty continues, responding "quickly and strategically" to changes in income will be critical to the continued financial stability of the ELCA churchwide organization and its capacity to sustain its mission and ministries, wrote Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA treasurer, in a March 7 written report to...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Mission personnel of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) serving in the Republic of Madagascar have evacuated the island due to recent civil unrest. Madagascar is located off the southeastern coast of Africa. According to BBC News, Madagascar President Marc Ravalomanana and opposition leader Andry Rajoelina...

ITASCA, Ill. (ELCA) -- Noting that 2009 is "a difficult year," the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) reported March 7 to the ELCA Conference of Bishops, focusing on the effects of the economic downturn on the ELCA, as well as two documents released Feb. 19...

by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Three seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received a $215,000 grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation, Appleton, Wis., and Minneapolis. The three seminaries are working with schools of business and ELCA social ministry organizations to start the Intersections Institute, a...