Scott Roeder Convicted of Murdering Dr. George Tiller, ELCA Member
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A Kansas jury convicted Scott Roeder of first- degree murder Jan. 29. Roeder gunned down Dr. George Tiller, a member of Reformation Lutheran Church, Wichita, Kan., in the church foyer before Sunday service May 31. Tiller was one of few physicians in the United States who performed...
Lutheran College Students Airlifted Out of Machu Picchu
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Two professors and 21 students from Gustavus Adolphus College stranded in Machu Picchu, Peru, were airlifted Jan. 28 to the nearby city of Cusco. The group was among an estimated 2,500 tourists in Machu Picchu waiting to be evacuated, after heavy rains and floods produced mudslides there....
Body of ELCA Seminary Student, Ben Larson, Recovered in Haiti
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The body of Benjamin Judd Larson, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) seminary student who died in the Haiti earthquake, was recovered Jan. 28. Larson, who was teaching theology to Lutherans in Haiti at the time of the disaster, was buried when the building he was...
'Renewing the Ecology of the ELCA Task Force' Plans Work Toward 2011
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A 12-member task force of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), plus observers from other church bodies and staff, met together for the first time this month to begin work to develop and recommend options for the ELCA's future. Task force members will seek input for...
Lutheran College Students Stranded in Machu Picchu
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Two professors and 21 students from Gustavus Adolphus College are stranded in Machu Picchu, Peru. Heavy rains and flooding produced mudslides in the area, blocking roads and limiting other means of transportation. The group is among an estimated 2,500 tourists and others waiting to be evacuated. Gustavus...
Lutherans, Faith Groups Urge Congress to Finish Health Care Reform
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- Fifty-six faith organizations, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), sent a Jan. 26 letter to members of Congress asking them to "take heart and move meaningful health care reform forward." More: http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4421 For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news Twitter: http://twitter.com/elcanews
ELCA Pastor Says Hope and Faith Overshadowed Death in Haiti
CHICAGO (ELCA) - The Rev. Douglas A. Hill, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was walking in the town of Jacmel, Haiti, when the earthquake struck the Caribbean nation Jan. 12. Only 10 kilometers from the quake's epicenter, Hill suddenly found himself surrounded by death and...
ELCA Staff Member Reports Haitians Still 'Living with Hope'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Haitian people are "living with hope," reported Louis Dorvilier, a member of the churchwide staff of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He said despite many difficulties for survivors of the Jan. 12 earthquake, Haitians living in temporary shelters can be heard singing and worshiping...
ELCA, Other North American Lutherans Prepare for Regional LWF Pre-Assembly
GENEVA (LWI) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) Eastern Synod will host this week's North American region preparatory meeting for the 2010 Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The LWF's eleventh assembly will take place in July in Stuttgart, Germany, under the theme "Give Us Today Our...
Lutherans, Moravians Celebrate 10th Anniversary as Full Communion Partners
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church in America will celebrate their 10-year anniversary as full communion partners Jan. 27. To honor the collaborative ministries of the denominations, a reception and service will be held that day...
ELCA Working to Recover Student's Body, Respond to Haiti Earthquake
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is working through members of Congress seeking their help with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Haiti to recover the body of Benjamin Larson, a senior Wartburg Theological Seminary student presumed to have died in the Jan....
Linda Hartke Named President, CEO, Global Refuge
BALTIMORE (ELCA) -- The board of directors of Global Refuge named Linda Hartke as the organizationâ€TMs new president and chief executive officer. Hartke, a Lutheran, begins her new role Feb. 22. More: http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4414 For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news Twitter: http://twitter.com/elcanews
ELCA Members Contribute More than $1.4 Million for Haiti
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As of Jan. 22 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have contributed more than $1.4 million to support recovery efforts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. More: http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4412 For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news Twitter: http://twitter.com/elcanews
Ben Larson, ELCA Seminary Student, Remembered at Memorial Service
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Benjamin Judd Larson's life was "filled with God's peace, a life that was driven by his desire to walk in the footsteps of the one he called Lord," said the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, who preached at a Jan. 22 memorial service for Larson, 25, believed to...
ELCA Wittenberg Center to Move, Establishes New Staffing Arrangement
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Wittenberg (Germany) Center will move its offices to another location in the German city and employ a part-time coordinator who will also represent the ELCA in the observance of the "Luther Decade." More: http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4409 For information contact: John Brooks, Director...
Lutherans Recount Return from Haiti, Faith, Witness of Haitians
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Cheryl F. Meinschein feels blessed that she survived the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti but struggles with the fact that many people, particularly children, did not survive. "Where do you go with that?" she said to the News Service of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...
First LWF Relief Convoy Arrives in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (LWI) -- The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for World Service (DWS) plans to scale up operations and strengthen logistics capacity in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic following the Jan. 20 arrival of the first DWS convoy with urgently needed relief supplies in the Haitian capital of...
ELCA Synod Bishop Asks to Meet with Iowa Congregation President
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The bishop of the Northeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has asked for a meeting with the president of Zion United Lutheran Church, Clear Lake, Iowa, to discuss a disputed congregational vote on a resolution to leave the church. The Rev. Steven...
Brad Hewitt Named President and CEO, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Thrivent Financial for Lutherans announced Jan. 20 that its board of directors named Brad Hewitt as the organization's new president and chief executive officer. Hewitt currently serves as Thrivent Financial's chief operating officer and will succeed Bruce Nicholson, retiring chairman, president and chief executive officer, effective Feb....
Memorial For Benjamin Larson to be Held at ELCA's Luther College Jan. 22
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A memorial service for Benjamin Judd Larson, 25, believed to have perished in the Haiti earthquake, will be held Jan. 22 at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. The service will begin at 2 p.m. Central Time at the college's Center for Faith and Life. Luther is one of...
