Lutherans Chart a New Plan for Evangelism
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As a mainline denomination, the 4.7 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is engaging in an effort to start new congregations and strengthen its existing 10,448 congregations across the country. Each of the ELCA's 65 synods is creating a mission strategy unique to its regional settings,...
Lutherans Join Antipoverty Coalition 'Mobilization to End Poverty'
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- On April 26-29 a coalition of faith-based organizations, churches and global antipoverty groups will convene here at The Mobilization to End Poverty. Thousands of Christian and antipoverty leaders will engage in education, worship and activism at the event, most of which will be held at the Washington...
Lutherans Embrace 'Homeless' Man Who Embodied Christ's Love
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- John Breaux raced to open doors for strangers. He left flowers on the doorsteps of people in need of cheer. He shoveled snow for others, carried grocery bags for shoppers and brought food to people in need. Not for pay, but out of kindness. Children called him...
Robert E. A. Lee, Lutheran Film and Television Executive, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Robert E. A. Lee, the Lutheran film executive behind Academy Award-nominated productions that brought out tensions between Catholics and Protestants in the 1950s and captured America's racial divide in the 1960s, died of cancer Feb. 27 at his Baldwin home on Long Island, N.Y. He was 87....
ELCA Washington Office Staff Responds to 2010 Federal Budget Blueprint
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Senior staff of the Washington Office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) noted that U.S. President Barack Obama's 2010 federal budget outline affirms many ELCA domestic and international priorities. Staff also expressed concern about other items in the proposal. The Obama administration unveiled first details...
Students Declare "What a Relief!" with Lutheran Disaster Response
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- About 400 college and university students, student leaders and campus pastors are planning a special alternative spring break called "What a Relief!" The program, which begins in March, is sponsored by Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) and the Lutheran Student Movement-USA (LSM-USA). LDR is a collaborative ministry of...
LCMS President Responds to ELCA Task Force Recommendation, Statement
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) expressed "great disappointment and deep sadness" as he shared comments with the LCMS on the content of two documents from the Task Force for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Studies on Sexuality. The ELCA is the largest...
ELCA Synod Bishops Respond to Task Force Recommendation, Social Statement
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In pastoral letters to members of their respective synods, bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) encouraged pastors, lay leaders and others to become familiar with two documents released Feb. 19 by the Task Force for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality. Some bishops also commented...
L. Edwin Wang, Lutheran Church Pensions Executive, Dies
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Dr. L. Edwin Wang, retired chief executive of the former Augustana Pension and Aid Fund, and its successor, the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) Board of Pensions, died of natural causes at his home Jan. 28. He was 89. A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m....
Young Lutheran Musicians Learn the Music of the Global Church
CHICAGO (ELCA)-- For Katie Ernst, Minneapolis, music is a universal language. Music is a way to bridge cultures, "to bring the other to your place," she said. In an effort to incorporate music from around the world into a singing assembly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is training...
Lutherans continue response to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service Just 10 years ago Zimbabwe was exporting goods and was known as the "breadbasket of Southern Africa," according the Rev. Benyam A. Kassahun. Today Zimbabwe is in crisis with more than 5 million people struggling to feed themselves. "They are real people, and...
ELCA Colleges, Universities Participate in Recyclemania
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- At least eight of the 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are among the 514 schools participating Jan. 18-March 28 in the 2009 RecycleMania, a competition to promote recycling and waste reduction on campuses across the United States. Five schools in...
Opposition, Support for ELCA Task Force Recommendation, Social Statement
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Feb. 19 release of two documents from the Task Force for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Studies on Sexuality generated support and opposition from such organizations as Lutherans Concerned/North America (LC/NA), Lutheran CORE, WordAlone and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). The task force released a...
ELCA Task Force Releases 'Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 15-member Task Force for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Studies on Sexuality released Feb. 19 "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" -- a proposed social statement on human sexuality. The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly -- the chief legislative body of the church -- is expected...
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...
