Lutherans Evaluate Damage from Another Series of Storms in the South
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) is evaluating damage left behind by another round of severe storms and tornadoes May 10-11 that swept through Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri and Oklahoma. LDR reported that 22 people died and hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed in the most recent storms. "The...
August Wenzel, Former Lutheran Bishop, Seminary Educator, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. August E. Wenzel, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), former Lutheran bishop and seminary educator, died May 5 of cancer at home in San Antonio. He was 72. A funeral service will be held May 10 at Faith Lutheran Church, Seguin,...
Lutherans Work to Meet the Needs of People in Myanmar
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- International Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) provided $100,000 as an initial response to help meet the basic needs of survivors in Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis battered the Southeast Asian country May 3. "The Myanmar government reported that nearly 22,500 people died and...
Lutherans Assess Damage in Arkansas from Tornadoes, Spring Storms
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) is assessing damage left behind by tornadoes and severe storms that swept across Arkansas May 5. Seven people died and more than 400 homes, businesses, hospitals, schools and churches were damaged or destroyed in the most recent storms. "This spring numerous communities in...
Lutherans are Hearing Wellness Voices
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- For the past decade the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions has supported the pursuit of wellness and health promotion initiatives within the ELCA. The initiatives support the personal wellness journeys of those who serve the church, including a "wholeness wheel," a working relationship...
Scholarships for students, others to attend International AIDS Conference
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is offering scholarships for seminarians, students and others ages 18-26 to attend the International AIDS Conference July 31-Aug. 9, 2008, in Mexico City. Held every two years, the conference draws more than 20,000 health workers, government representatives, people living...
Sales of Worship Resources to Impact ELCA Publisher in 2008
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Sales of the pew edition of "Evangelical Lutheran Worship" (ELW) for the first quarter of 2008 were slightly more than half what was projected by Augsburg Fortress, the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The ELCA publisher expects this trend to continue for...
World Food Emergency Prompts Special ELCA Assistance
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- With the price of food rising, especially in the world's poorest regions, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will send an initial $100,000 to companion churches and partner relief agencies to provide food to vulnerable people and to strengthen development work in rural communities....
Thomas Aitken Elected Bishop of ELCA Northeastern Minnesota Synod
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Thomas M. Aitken, Bethany Lutheran Church, Loman, Minn., and First Lutheran Church, International Falls, Minn., was elected May 4 to a six-year term as bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Northeastern Minnesota Synod. He succeeds the Rev. E. Peter Strommen as bishop...
Associated Church Press Awards Top Honors to Women of the ELCA E-Zine
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Associated Church Press (ACP) named "Cafe --Stirring the Spirit Within," the online e-zine of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), a top winner in its awards competition for work done in 2007. "Cafe" was named "Best in Class" in ACP's independent Web site...
United Methodist Church Adopts Full Communion Proposal with ELCA
FORT WORTH, Texas (ELCA) -- By a vote of 864-19, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) adopted an implementing resolution April 28 that will establish full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Full communion will be fully realized by both churches should the same...
ELCA endorses Church Mutual Insurance Company
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Office of the Secretary, in consultation with the ELCA Office of the Treasurer, announced online April 10 that the ELCA-Endorsed Property and Liability Insurance Program for Congregations and Synods is underwritten through Church Mutual Insurance Company, Merrill,...
Mark Holmerud Elected Bishop of ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark W. Holmerud, Lutheran Church of the Incarnation, Davis, Calif., was elected April 26 to a six- year term as bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Sierra Pacific Synod at the synod assembly April 25-27 in Oakland, Calif. He succeeds the Rev....
Jack Ohle Named President of ELCA's Gustavus Adolphus College
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Trustees of Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., voted April 25 to elect Jack R. Ohle as the college's next president. He will succeed James L. Peterson on July 1. Ohle is president of Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, and has served in that role for 10 years....
800 young adults needed for 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Organizers of the 2009 Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are enlisting the help of 800 young adults to be "servant companions" July 20-26, 2009. The gathering will attract 36,000 high school youth and adult leaders to New Orleans around...
Lutherans, Others Gather for Youth Conference in Rwanda Since Genocide
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Considered to be the first ecumenical youth gathering in Rwanda since the 1994 genocide there, more than 100 high-school-age and young adult Christians from six African countries and the United States gathered March 27-30 for the "Great Lakes Youth Conference: We are the Future of Africa!" in...
ELCA 'Book of Faith' Initiative Gets its 'Opening' Resource
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Diane L. Jacobson likes the analogy, but she doesn't take credit for it. She heard "Opening the Book of Faith: Lutheran Insights for Bible Study" described as the GPS (global positioning system) of the "Book of Faith" initiative of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)....
Faithful Democracy launches Web site
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service Faithful Democracy has launched a nonpartisan Web site designed to educate and engage people of faith about their role in the 2008 electoral process. FaithfulDemocracy.org is a "safe and welcoming space" for people to discuss the role of faith in the public life...
United Methodist Church to Consider Full Communion with ELCA
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The General Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) will consider a proposal for full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) when it meets April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas. The proposal, "Implementing Resolution for Full Communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...
ELCA Council Acts on Resolution on Racism, Other Proposals
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a resolution on racism, asked for a formal proposal for full communion with the United Methodist Church, commended occasional services materials to the church, set the site and date of the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly,...
