Large ELCA Congregation Votes to Leave the Denomination
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Community Church of Joy, Glendale, Ariz., ended its affiliation Sept. 27 with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. The congregation was the 10th largest in the ELCA with 6,800 baptized members. According to the 2009 ELCA Yearbook, Community...
Lutheran CORE Attendees Express Variety of Viewpoints
FISHERS, Ind. (ELCA) -- Some 1,200 Lutherans attended the Lutheran Coalition for Renewal (CORE) convocation here Sept. 25-26, united in their concern about the actions of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on human sexuality. But individual responses to the assembly actions varied considerably....
Lutheran Core Leaders, Members Map Organization's Future
FISHERS, Ind. (ELCA) -- Leaders and members of the Lutheran Coalition for Renewal (CORE) began planning for the organization's future by adopting a constitution, including plans for a "free-standing synod" not directly related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). They also suggested ways for constituents to communicate concerns....
ELCA Responds to Honduras Political Crisis, West Africa Floods
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are working to provide food, clean water, medicine and other needed supplies to help meet the needs of people in Honduras and in West Africa. Through ELCA Disaster Response, Lutherans provided $20,000 to support humanitarian efforts in Honduras,...
Lutheran Youth Say Disagreement is an Opportunity to Show Love
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- When it comes to human sexuality, young people hold as many different opinions as their older counterparts, but Christian youth have something stronger than their opinions. The board of the Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO) of the Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)...
Dignitaries, ELCA Pastor to Memorialize Norman Borlaug, Nobel Prize Winner
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Leaders in government and from international organizations will deliver eulogies at an Oct. 6 memorial service for Dr. Norman Borlaug, 95, a prominent agricultural scientist and 1970 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who died Sept. 12 in Dallas from complications related to cancer. The Rev. David A. Beckmann,...
It's the final stretch for the ELCA's 2009 health assessment
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service People in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) primary health plan are approaching a Sept. 30 deadline. ELCA pastors, associates in ministry, deaconesses, diaconal ministers, employees and their eligible spouses have been able to take the online 2009 Mayo Clinic Health Assessment since...
Former ELCA Presiding Bishop Calls for 'Churchmanship'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- What now lies before the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is not human sexuality but "churchmanship," according to the Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom. He served two terms as the first presiding bishop of the ELCA beginning in 1987. Although the word "churchmanship" lacks inclusiveness, after "years...
Lutherans, Catholics, Methodists Mark 10th Anniversary of Joint Declaration
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) will join Catholics and Methodists here Oct. 1 in a 10th anniversary celebration of a historic agreement, the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ). Leaders of the LWF and the...
Two ELCA Synods Name Interim Bishops
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Greater Milwaukee Synod and the Delaware- Maryland Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have named former synod bishops to serve as interim bishops. The Rev. David W. Olson will serve in Milwaukee, and the Rev. Theodore F. Schneider will serve in Baltimore. Olson,...
ELCA Congregation Seeks Equal Opportunities for Calling Pastors
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Chicago, decided to take matters into their own hands and rewrite their constitution as a matter of justice. According to the congregation's president, Stephanie Frank, "All people are entitled to an equal opportunity to serve at every point in the life of...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Asks Leaders for Restraint, Conversation and Patience
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a Sept. 23 letter to professional leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the ELCA presiding bishop urged them to engage each other "with honesty and respect" and asked that they exercise restraint, bear each other's burdens through conversation and be patient as the...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Supports Comprehensive Middle East Peace
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), signed a Sept. 22 public letter in support of "strong U.S. leadership to achieve a negotiated sustainable resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict." Thirty leaders of churches and religious organizations signed the letter,...
ELCA Advocacy Director Featured in CBS-TV Religion Special
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Andrew D. Genszler, director for advocacy for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Washington, D.C., will appear in a television special, "Religion, Politics and Advocacy," Sept. 27 on CBS Television stations. The program examines the work of religious advocates -- who they are, who...
Two San Francisco Congregations Weigh Possible ELCA Reinstatement
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Two independent Lutheran congregations in San Francisco watched the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis with special interest. St. Francis Lutheran Church and First United Lutheran Church were expelled from the ELCA in 1995 for violating church standards the assembly voted to change....
ELCA Advocacy Director Speaks to Reporters at Health Care Rally
WASHINGTON (ELCA) - The August recess of Congress had a volatile atmosphere surrounding the health care debate, according to the Rev. Andrew Genszler, director of advocacy, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Washington Office, in response to a question from a Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) News reporter. "All people should...
Service of Reconciliation Marks ELCA Decisions on Same-Gender Relationships
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A Saturday afternoon "Service of Reconciliation" drew about 150 people to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Charlotte, N.C. The special Sept. 12 worship brought together those who welcomed and those who were troubled by recent decisions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Voting members at the...
Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society tops '2009 AAHSA Ziegler' list
By Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society ranks first as the largest not-for-profit senior living organization in the United States, according to the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) and Ziegler Senior Living Finance. Based in Sioux Falls, S.D., the...
Lutherans join others around the world to pray for peace Sept. 21
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will pray for peace Sept. 21, 2009, as part of the "International Day of Prayer for Peace." The day is an opportunity for the 4.6-million-member denomination "to pray and act together to nurture lasting peace in...
Lutherans' Creativity Builds Up 'Stand With Africa,' Campaign to Close
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Kent Terry lives a life of high adventure. Having climbed 36 mountains, the 62-year-old ponders faith in his voyages and enjoys writing about it. In his collection of stories, "Adventures in Faith, Faith in Adventures," Terry describes his experiences with skydiving, cross-country skiing, ice climbing and more,...
