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...
Lutherans, Others to Mark May 12 Anniversary of Iowa Immigration Raid
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As the one-year anniversary of a massive raid at a meatpacking plant nears, spiritual leaders in the northeastern Iowa town of Postville are urging Americans to press for comprehensive immigration reform. They're also calling on individuals and communities to wear or display red ribbons across the country...
Waldorf College's For-Profit Venture Would Change ELCA Relationship
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Waldorf Lutheran College Association unanimously approved a series of resolutions April 23 that move Waldorf College, Forest City, Iowa, closer to a possible sale to Columbia Southern University (CSU). CSU is a for-profit institution and one of the nation's first online universities. The move was prompted...
Teaching Theologians Affirm ELCA Task Force Documents
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A statement supporting a recommendation put forth by the Task Force for Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Studies on Sexuality is gaining support from more than 100 teaching theologians of the church and other Christian theologians teaching at ELCA institutions. Professors from ELCA seminaries, colleges and...
Former ELCA Presiding Bishop Endorses Task Force Documents
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom, the first presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), endorsed two documents from the Task Force on ELCA Studies on Sexuality. Chilstrom served two terms starting from the church's inception in 1987 to 1995. On Feb. 19 the Task...
Lutheran College Commencement Speaker to Honor Alumna Imprisoned in Iran
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The announcement was one a Minnesota Lutheran college hoped never to make. Its May 3 commencement speaker is being replaced due to her spying conviction and eight-year prison sentence by an Iranian revolutionary court. In a show of support for alumna Roxana Saberi, an American-born journalist, leaders...
Hundreds of Lutherans to help plant 12,000 trees honoring Earth Day
by Greg Peterson, freelance reporter and media advisor for Earth Keeper In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, hundreds of Lutherans will help plant 12,000 trees in honor of Earth Day, April 22. As part of the Earth Keeper Tree Project, Lutherans and other people of faith will bless and plant trees across...
From Foster Home to Adoptive Home -- a Lutheran Family's Story
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- One of Melony Skytta's most rewarding moments as a foster parent involved a seven-year-old autistic boy. She took him to a nursing home to give out stuffed animals. One resident said she couldn't accept a gift for nothing. "My boy told her that his gift was free...
ELCA Presiding Bishop, Other U.S. Religious Leaders Meet King of Jordan
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- Four U.S. religious leaders -- two Christian and two Muslim -- met with King Abdullah II of Jordan here April 20 to discuss specific topics about the Middle East. The topics included the current conflict between Israelis and Palestinians with a focus on concerns for Jerusalem, deepening...
President of Global Refuge to Step Down
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- After 18 years serving as president of Global Refuge, Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr. will resign from his post effective Sept. 1. Global Refuge, based in Baltimore, is a cooperative agency of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) and...
Iran Courts Sentence Lutheran College Alumna
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- An Iranian court sentenced a Lutheran college alumna to eight years in prison at an April 18 hearing in Tehran. Roxana Saberi, 31, a journalist who filed reports for National Public Radio (NPR), the BBC and others, was convicted of espionage. Iran revoked her journalist credentials in...
Memorial concert on May 3 to benefit ELCA's St. Olaf scholarship
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Katherine Ann Olson, a graduate of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., was murdered in October 2007 at the age of 24. On April 1, 2009, a judge sentenced a 20-year-old Minnesota man to life in prison without the possibility of parole for luring Olson...
ELCA Washington Office releases case study on the future of Iraq
by Jodi Deike, ELCA News Service The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Washington Office released a resource guide on the war in Iraq, "Peace, Conflict and Public Church: A Case Study on the Future of Iraq." Kimberly C. Steitz, director for international public policy, ELCA Washington Office, said, "The...
