Director of disaster response ministry says Lutherans persevere
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service According to the Rev. Kevin A. Massey, Lutherans have shown courage, strength and perseverance in responding to the needs of their neighbors in 2008. Massey, director, Lutheran Disaster Response, commented on the record-breaking year for U.S. disasters in a Dec. 19 letter he...
ELCA Treasurer Advises Synod Leaders on Planning for Budget Contingencies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In the midst of a volatile U.S. and global economy, Christina Jackson-Skelton, treasurer of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), sent resources to the 65 synods of the church to assist leaders in budget planning and financial management. Responding to requests from several ELCA synods, Jackson-...
Robert Marshall, Lutheran President, Scholar, Pastor, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert J. Marshall, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), biblical scholar and president of the former Lutheran Church in America (LCA), died Dec. 22 in Allentown, Pa. He was 90. Funeral plans are being made in Burlington, Iowa, and memorials are...
Nutrition, Weight, Emotional Health among Health Risks for ELCA Leaders
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The results of the 2008 Mayo Clinic Health Assessment are in and show a clear picture of the health of leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Of the more than 11,000 pastors, church workers and spouses who took the assessment through the ELCA-primary health...
Two ELCA pastors ask Congress to learn from largest immigration raid
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service Two pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are calling on the U.S. Congress to evaluate the nation's immigration system and use what happened in Postville, Iowa, to develop a new approach for immigration raids. On May 12, 2008, federal agents...
Lutheran Congregations Bring Christmas Cheer to Hurricane Survivors
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Hurricane Ike survivors lined up early Dec. 13 to receive holiday gifts distributed at First Lutheran Church, Galveston, Texas -- a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Among the items given away: Christmas trees, decorations, bicycles, children's board games, dolls, blankets, winter coats, canned food...
ELCA 'Voices' in CBS Television Special on Christmas Eve
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Several members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are among the "Voices of Christmas from the National Council of Churches" -- a one-hour special to broadcast Christmas Eve on 190 CBS television stations across the United States. The program will air Dec. 24 during the...
Global Priorities Campaign Receives 'Blessed Are The Peacemakers' Award
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- The United States Conference for the World Council of Churches (WCC), at its 2008 annual meeting here, presented the Global Priorities Campaign its "Blessed Are the Peacemakers" Award for its work in redefining global needs. Dennis W. Frado, director, Lutheran Office for World Community (LOWC), and member...
ELCA begins development of a social statement on criminal justice
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is preparing a social statement on criminal justice that will develop biblical and theological themes and allow it to address such issues as the cost of incarceration and rehabilitation for people convicted of a crime. The...
ELCA's Support Prompts Other Lutherans to Address Zimbabwe's Food Crisis
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) financial response to Zimbabwe's swelling food crisis is prompting other church bodies to contribute, according to the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA Global Mission. He said Lutheran churches in Namibia and South Africa and organizations that focus on...
ELCA's Wartburg College to honor composer John Ylvisaker
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service John C. Ylvisaker, a leader in contemporary Christian music, is set to receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree Dec. 14 from Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa. Dr. William E. Hamm, Wartburg's interim president, will confer the degree during the college's December Commencement in...
Mensaje Navideño de 2008 del Obispo Presidente de la IELA
Cuando los angeles se fueron al cielo, los pastores se dijeron unos a otros: 'Vamos a Belen, a ver esto que ha pasado y que el Senor nos ha dado a conocer.' -- Lucas 2:15 !Vamos! !Ya! Cuando los angeles se acercaron a unos pastores con un mensaje luminoso una...
ELCA Presiding Bishop's 2008 Christmas Message
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.' -- Luke 2:15 Let's go! Now! When angels came to some shepherds...
ELCA congregations receive grants to support clergy sabbaticals
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Twenty-one congregations and 23 pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received grants from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment. The ELCA recipients were among 133 congregations and 138 pastors in 36 states that received grants. Now entering its 10th year, the National Clergy...
ELCA Presiding Bishop, Other Leaders Call for Priority on Middle East Peace
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Declaring that they won't give in to cynicism or despair and that they are "people of hope," 31 U.S. Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders, including the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), called for members of their communities to pray for...
Lutheran pastor, Joseph Ellwanger, receives Birmingham human rights award
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) bestowed on the Rev. Joseph W. Ellwanger, Milwaukee, the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award during the institute's 16th anniversary dinner on Nov. 14. Ellwanger, a retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was cited...
ELCA Seminary Presidents, Deans Address Current Economic Challenges
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Presidents and deans of the eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) issued two separate statements regarding their seminaries' reactions to the current economic climate in the United States. The presidents asked ELCA members for "understanding, support and continuing strong commitment." Trying to keep...
Lutheran Church Leaders Discuss Cooperative Work in Disaster Response
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Committee on Lutheran Cooperation (CLC), consisting of leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), engaged in a discussion Nov. 4 about their collaborative work in responding to domestic disasters through Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR). The discussion was part...
ELCA Conference of Bishops Agrees to HIV and AIDS Testing
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In response to the development of an HIV and AIDS strategy by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the ELCA Conference of Bishops agreed to the presence of health screeners at its March 5-10, 2009, meeting for the purpose of providing HIV and AIDS testing to all...
ELCA Synod's Former Treasurer Sentenced to 30 Months in Federal Prison
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Barry R. Herr, former treasurer of the Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was sentenced Nov. 21 in a federal court to 30 months in federal prison and two years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay $799,998 in restitution,...
