ELCA Task Force Makes Recommendation on Ministry Policies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 15-member Task Force for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Studies on Sexuality released Feb. 19 a "Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies" for the professional leadership of the church. On the basis of study and "listening to this church," members of the task force...
Lutheran Pastors, Rescue Workers Respond to Buffalo Plane Crash
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Stephen C. Biegner heard the Feb. 12 crash that claimed 50 lives when a commuter airplane plunged into a nearby home in suburban Buffalo, N.Y. "I got over there as fast as possible and started praying," said Biegner, a pastor at Zion Lutheran Church, Clarence...
Janet Morgan Riggs Named President of ELCA's Gettysburg College
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- On Feb. 6 the trustees of Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pa., appointed Dr. Janet Morgan Riggs as the college's 14th president. Riggs has served the college as interim president since March 2008 when Dr. Katherine Haley Will resigned. Gettysburg is one of 28 colleges and universities of the...
Ohio Lutherans Keep Hope Alive in Depressed Economy
CHICAGO (ELCA) - John Bacher learned two things from his dad: paint and wallpaper. Bacher runs the northeast Ohio store his dad opened 45 years ago. His father profited from the steel industry boon that thrived in Trumbull County until the 1970s. General Motors also opened a plant and grew...
Walter May Named Executive for ELCA Synod, Constituent Relations
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Walter S. May Jr. will become executive assistant to the presiding bishop and executive for synodical and constituent relations for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on Feb. 16. He succeeds the Rev. Kathie Bender Schwich, who on Feb. 2 became vice president of...
Lutheran Pastors Offer Hope to Church Members Facing Job Losses
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Tom Hansen is the interim pastor of a Minnesota congregation with numerous members losing jobs and homes. "I feel horrible for what people are going through," said Hansen, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, North Branch. "I also feel pretty helpless." Other pastors are telling similar...
Lutheran Rural Ministry Conference Focuses on 'Renewable Energy' March 1-3
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Finding renewable energy through shared ministries is the topic of the 2009 Rural Ministry Conference March 1-3 in Dubuque, Iowa. Held annually, the conference examines issues and themes relevant to the well-being of rural communities and the ministries of rural churches. "By shared ministries I mean any...
Lutheran Memorials Celebrate the Life of Former President Robert Marshall
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Memorials have been planned to celebrate the life of the Rev. Robert J. Marshall, biblical scholar and president of the former Lutheran Church in America (LCA), who died Dec. 22 in Allentown, Pa. He was 90. A funeral was held Jan. 3 in Burlington, Iowa. In 1962...
Lutherans Team-Up for 'Souper Bowl of Caring'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As football fans watched the Pittsburgh Steelers seal a victory Feb. 1 in the NFL's "Super Bowl" game, faith groups also triumphed that day in a championship of their own -- the "Souper Bowl of Caring," a national effort that raises millions of dollars for hunger-fighting organizations....
ELCA, Episcopal Church Top Leaders Ask Israel about Bishops' Denied Visit
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The top leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church sent a letter to Israel's ambassador to the United States expressing "grave concern" and requesting help to determine why a Lutheran bishop and an Episcopal bishop were denied entry to Gaza Feb....
Lutheran, Anglican Bishops Denied Entry to Gaza
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), and the Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, were denied entry to Gaza Feb. 4, according to a news release from the ELCJHL. The bishops were traveling...
Ice Storm a Test of Faith, Kentucky Lutherans Say
CHICAGO (ELCA) - John Rogers of Paducah is without electricity, heat and hot water more than a week after the deadly Jan. 27 ice storm that struck Kentucky. "There was so much ice that you could hear the trees crack," he said of the storm. "It sounded like shotgun blasts."...
Lutheran Feminist Theologies a Topic Between Church, Academy
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran feminist theologians have been writing and working in Lutheran and non-Lutheran institutions for a long time, according to Dr. Mary Streufert. But feminist theology is not a conversation topic that happens often between church and academy despite decades of formal and informal work in the field,...
Ethiopian Church Honors ELCA Pastor, Teacher and Bible Translator
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (ELCA) -- For more than 40 years the Rev. Loren F. Bliese, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), worked in Ethiopia -- planting churches, helping to educate future pastors and overseeing the translation of the Bible into more than 20 Ethiopian languages. His...
Economic Downturn Impacts Lutheran Social Ministry Organizations
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A Lutheran social service agency in Florida is operating on a deficit for the first time in 10 years. A social ministry organization in California reported that many families in the Santa Clarita Valley are sleeping in their cars. In Iowa philanthropy is being hurt, not only...
'Hearing the Word' Topic for Expanded ELCA Lecture Series
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Hearing the Word: Lutheran Perspectives on Biblical Interpretation" is the theme for the 2009 Hein-Fry Lecture Series of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Usually the ELCA's eight seminaries host two or three speakers in the series each year, but this series will expand to five...
Robert Schaefer Named ELCA Executive for Worship and Liturgical Resources
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert G. Schaefer will become executive for worship and liturgical resources of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) effective March 1. Since 2004 Schaefer has been assistant to the bishop of the ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod, based in Tampa, Fla. He succeeds the Rev. Michael...
ELCA Task Force Concludes Work on Social Statement, Ministry Standards
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Task Force for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Studies on Sexuality finalized its work on a proposed social statement on human sexuality, and it finalized a report with recommendations on ministry standards regarding possible changes to policies that preclude pastors in committed same-sex relationships...
ELCA Presiding Bishop, Others Urge Diplomacy to Maintain Gaza Cease-fire
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a Jan. 27 letter to U.S. President Barack H. Obama, U.S. Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders called for "urgent U.S. diplomacy" in cooperation with Egypt and others to ensure that an effective and sustainable cease-fire is maintained in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The Rev. Mark...
Journal of Lutheran Ethics focuses on human rights, genetics
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The February 2009 issue of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics (JLE) features discussion papers on the topic of human rights. "Violations of human rights are often violent, so advocating for and supporting human rights vigorously is one important way to help bring about...
