ELCA Introduces 'Money Leadership' Curriculum for Congregations
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A new resource intended to engage people in conversation and self-assessment about their feelings, knowledge, experiences and practices related to money is being introduced this month to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Produced by the ELCA, "Money Leadership for Thriving Congregations" is a biblically based...
Lutheran Leader Condemns Kidnapping and Death of Iraqi Archbishop
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ELCA) and president of the Lutheran World Federation LWF), issued a March 19 message calling the kidnapping and death of Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho "a tragic act of violence." Rahho, 65,...
ELCA Synod Bishop Issues Statement after Arrest of Former Treasurer
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. B. Penrose Hoover, bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Lower Susquehanna Synod, Harrisburg, Pa., shared his sadness in a pastoral letter March 13 regarding events surrounding the charges and arrest of Barry R. Herr, the synod's former treasurer. Herr, 61, was arrested March 13...
ELCA 'Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality' Now Available
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Task Force for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Studies on Sexuality released the "Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality" March 13 for study and response across the 4.8 million-member ELCA. Responses to the draft social statement are due to the task force Nov. 1,...
Lutherans in Northern Illinois and Tamil Nadu, India, sign covenant
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service The Northern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Rockford, and Arcot Lutheran Church, Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, India, established a "companion relationship" when members of each signed a covenant to "strengthen one another for life and mission." About 25 staff,...
Christopher Kimball Named President of California Lutheran University
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Christopher W. Kimball will become the seventh president of California Lutheran University (CLU), Thousand Oaks, Calif., on April 1. CLU's Board of Regents made the announcement to the campus community March 6. Kimball has been CLU's provost and vice president for academic affairs since 2006. CLU...
ELCA Presiding Bishop, NCC Leaders Express Sorrow over Jerusalem Shootings
SAN MATEO, Calif. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), joined leaders of National Council of Churches USA (NCC) member communions in a statement to express shock and sorrow over the March 6 shootings at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in...
Holy Land Lutheran Bishop Responds to Jerusalem Shooting, Gaza Violence
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Holy Land and Jordan, offered "sincere condolences to all who are mourning the loss of loved ones" in the wake of a March 6 shooting incident at a rabbinical seminary in Jerusalem that left...
Wartburg Seminary earns discount in contributions to health plan for 2008
by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, earned a 2 percent discount on contributions it makes to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Health Benefits Plan for its employees for 2008. Wartburg qualified for the discount when more than 75 percent of its employees and...
ELCA Seminary Professors are 'Day 1' Preachers on Palm Sunday, Easter
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Two seminary professors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will deliver the Palm Sunday and Easter messages on "Day 1," a nationally broadcast radio program. The Rev. David J. Lose and the Rev. Mary Hinkle Shore are on the faculty of Luther Seminary, St. Paul,...
Mensaje de Pascua de 2008 del Obispo Presidente de la IELA, Mark S. Hanson
"Pues ustedes murieron, y ahora su vida esta escondida con Cristo en Dios. Cristo mismo es la vida de ustedes. Cuando el aparezca, ustedes tambien apareceran con el y tendran parte en su gloria." (Colosenses 3:3-4) "Ustedes murieron." Las palabras resuenan porque la violencia y el sufrimiento -- tan agudos,...
Luther Institute Gives Wittenberg Award to Travel Writer, Host Rick Steves
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Luther Institute, an affiliate of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.), gave its Wittenberg Award to Rick Steves, travel writer and host of "Rick Steves' Europe" on public television stations. Steves and his family are members of Trinity Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Evangelical...
ELCA Presiding Bishop, Others Urge Secretary Rice to Resolve Gaza Crisis
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a Feb. 29 letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), along with 18 other religious leaders, urged Rice to take immediate diplomatic action to resolve the crisis in Gaza. The...
ELCA Task Force Considers Topics for a Study Guide on Genetics
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- From discussing the latest in molecular biology to the use of genetically modified organisms, 18 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Task Force on Genetics met here Feb. 22-23 to share scientific and theological information as they work toward creating a study on genetics...
ELCA responds to floods in Namibia
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service International Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) provided $50,000 Feb. 18 in response to flooding in eastern and northern Namibia. The funds were sent to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia in support of the church's flood relief work....
ELCA Presiding Bishop's 2008 Easter Message
"For you have died, your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory." (Colossians 3:3-4) "You have died." The words resonate because this world's violence and suffering -- so pervasive, so needless, so...
Teresita Valeriano Named LWF Regional Officer for North America
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Teresita "Tita" C. Valeriano was appointed regional officer for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in North America, effective March 1. Valeriano, 42, Lutheran campus pastor at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, since 2004, is an ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...
Lutherans in Davenport, Iowa, 'Journey to Jerusalem' to Buy Mules, Goats
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The young members of Zion Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa, are walking 6,317 miles -- the distance from Davenport to Jerusalem -- by Palm Sunday, March 16. They're using pedometers to track their steps each week of Lent, and sponsors will help them convert their miles into money...
ELCA Helps Rebuild Indonesian Fishing Town
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Kuala Bubon, a fishing town in North Sumatra, Indonesia, can no longer be called a "sunken" or "lost village." Washed away by a tsunami that struck three years ago, Kuala Bubon has risen again with concrete homes built on "pilings over water." On Dec. 26, 2004, an...
William Lazareth, Former ELCA Synod Bishop, Author, Professor, Dies
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. William H. Lazareth, former bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) died of cancer Feb. 23 in Bar Harbor, Maine. Lazareth, 79, had a distinguished career as a college and seminary professor, author and leader with the...
