Lutheran Student Movement Votes to Align Itself with the ELCA
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Student Movement (LSM-USA) aligned itself more closely with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in one of several resolutions adopted here at its annual gathering Dec. 31-Jan. 4. Fifty colleges and universities sent 147 students who re-elected Craig Talmage as president. "We've been losing numbers...
ELCA Participates in Hurricane, Tropical Storm Relief Work in Haiti
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Disaster response work continues in Haiti, after tropical storms and hurricanes in the fall of 2008 killed more than 790 people and left 310 others missing. On Jan. 8 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) provided $75,000 to support recovery efforts that will help...
ELCA Helps to Provide Aid for Civilians in Democratic Republic of the Congo
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) provided $75,000 Jan. 8 to help meet the basic needs of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Months of heavy artillery fighting caused an estimated 250,000 people to flee their homes in Masisi and Rutshuru...
Lutherans to Learn about Climate Change and Poverty in Nicaragua
WASHINGTON (ELCA) - Ten members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will travel Jan. 19-29 to Nicaragua to examine the effects of climate change for people living in a developing country. They will also study how extreme poverty, hunger and climate change interrelate. "Participants will learn about the...
Lutherans Join in Presidential Inaugural Activities
CHICAGO (ELCA) - When Barack Obama is sworn into the nation's highest office Jan. 20, Carolyn Cosmos will be among an estimated 18,000 volunteers enlisted by the Presidential Inaugural Committee to help with the crush of spectators. Cosmos joins a long list of members from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...
Christians Express Fear, Concern to North American Lutheran Bishops
RAMALLAH, West Bank (ELCA) -- Israel is targeting the small Palestinian Christian community here, threatening a key connection to the West and worrying Christian leaders, said Dr. Rafiq Husseini, chief of staff to the president, Palestinian National Authority (PNA). He made the comment Jan. 13 in a meeting here with...
North American Lutheran Bishops Meet Key Muslim Leader, Discuss Peace
RAMALLAH, West Bank (ELCA) -- A key Muslim leader here told a group of seven North American Lutheran bishops Jan. 13 that Christians and Muslims must work together for peace and justice. Sheikh Tayseer Rajab Al-Tamini, supreme judge of the Islamic Shari'a Courts in Palestine, suggested that world Muslim and...
Lutherans Provide Funds to Support Humanitarian Aid in Gaza
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) provided $50,000 Jan. 8 to secure food aid, trauma counseling and medical care in Gaza. Violence in Gaza has compromised the services of medical clinics and limited people's access to food, water and other basic necessities, according to...
Lutheran Bishops Plant Olive Trees, Pray at Israeli Separation Barrier
BEDDO, West Bank (ELCA) -- North American Lutheran bishops visited this small Palestinian village in the West Bank, northwest of Jerusalem, an area where the Israeli separation barrier cuts through Palestinian agricultural lands, making way for Israeli settlements to be constructed. Many of the bishops helped plant olive trees near...
Lutherans Participate in Service Activities on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
WASHINGTON (ELCA) - In observance of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will participate Jan. 19 in President-elect Barack Obama's national call to service to "Renew America Together." "Lutherans believe they are called to share God's love with the world...
North American Lutheran Bishops Learn about Bethlehem Ministry
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (ELCA) -- With the vision "that we might have life and have it abundantly," a Lutheran congregation here has embarked on a ministry of preaching, teaching and healing, aimed at empowering the people who live in this conflicted area. The Rev. Mitri Raheb, pastor, Evangelical Lutheran Christmas...
Lutherans support faith-based advocates in rallying Congress
by Jodi Deike, ELCA News Service More than 700 mainline Christians are expected on Capitol Hill in March to express their views on peace, justice, environmental and economic issues. The March 13-16 "Ecumenical Advocacy Days" is supported by 45 different religious organizations. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a...
Lutherans Worship at Church of the Holy Sepulchre for First Time, Visit AVH
JERUSALEM (ELCA) -- For the first time North American Lutheran bishops, spouses and staff worshipped Jan. 9 at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a historic religious site built on the place of Jesus' crucifixion and burial. The Franciscans permitted the Lutherans to use the Franciscan Chapel of the Blessed...
North American Lutheran Bishops Preach at Middle East Worship
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (ELCA) -- Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) attended and preached at worship services Jan. 11 at five Lutheran congregations in Jerusalem and throughout the West Bank. Forty-four bishops representing both churches are participating in a...
Lutheran Bishops Hear from Families of Middle East Conflict Victims
JERUSALEM (ELCA) - One man mourns a daughter, the other grieves a father. Their losses put them on an unlikely path to friendship in an area of the world marked by Palestinian-Israeli strife. Rami Elhanan, an Israeli, and Mazen Faraj, a Palestinian, shared their stories recently with 45 bishops from...
North American Lutheran Bishops Visit Israeli Officials
JERUSALEM (ELCA) -- Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) met Jan. 8 with Israeli government and religious officials as part of a pilgrimage to the Middle East. The bishops also toured the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem and laid a...
Lutherans Take Office in 111th U.S. Congress
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- Seven new U.S. Congressional members sworn into office Jan. 6 are Lutheran, bringing the overall total of Lutherans serving on Capitol Hill to 24. Among them are 15 Democrats and nine Republicans. Four are senators and 20 are members of the U.S. House of Representatives, according to...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Addresses Gaza Situation at Amman News Conference
AMMAN, Jordan (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said the United States government needs to take a more active role in stopping the conflict in Gaza. Stopping the conflict needs to be a top priority, and it must be...
Lutherans Worship at Jesus' Baptism Site, Leaders Meet King
AMMAN, Jordan ELCA) -- About 60 people, including about 10 bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), worshipped at the site of Jesus' Baptism on the banks of the Jordan River on the Feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 6. Joining...
Lutheran Bishop Says Faith Galvanizes Indigenous Village in Harm's Way
CHICAGO (ELCA) - Leaders of a northwest Alaskan coastal village that's washing out to sea are disclosing to residents that they must choose another relocation site for the town. The leaders of Shishmaref, a barrier island village of 560 people, learned recently that the long-chosen site of Tin Creek on...
