Lutherans Respond To Humanitarian Crisis In Sudan
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have sent $75,000 to support humanitarian efforts in Sudan, where fighting and militia attacks have led to a massive displacement of people in various regions of the African country. The situation in Sudan is being described as one...
Walt Wangerin To Leave Lutheran Vespers As Speaker In 2005
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Walt Wangerin Jr., speaker for Lutheran Vespers (LV), the radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will leave the program in early 2005, said the Rev. Eric C. Shafer, director of the ELCA Department for Communication. Wangerin's final program as Lutheran Vespers...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Joins Call To G-8 For Debt Cancellation
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Saying that debt has become "a new form of slavery for the most impoverished nations of the world," more than 250 U.S. and international religious leaders called on the leaders of the G-8 countries to cancel debts carried by the world's most indebted poor countries fully. The...
Lutherans Continue Cleanup In Nebraska
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), continues to organize recovery work in Nebraska after a series of tornadoes and hail storms struck the state May 22-23. Dana College, Blair, Neb., sustained more than $1...
Lutherans Support Relief Efforts On Hispaniola
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have sent $25,000 to support recovery efforts on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, after floods and landslides struck Haiti and the Dominican Republic there May 24. "As many as 2,000 people are feared dead and thousands of homes...
Feltman Named Director For Lutheran Disaster Response
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Heather L. Feltman has been named director of Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), and director for ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, effective July 1. "Our ELCA Domestic Disaster ministry is an intricate piece for...
Kathryn Sime Named Director For ELCA World Hunger Appeal
CHICAGO (ELCA) – Kathryn Sime has been appointed director of the World Hunger and Disaster Appeal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) effective July 12. "I'm honored to be joining the World Hunger team as we celebrate 30 years of ministry around the world. I look forward to...
ELCA Rural Ministry Conference at Newberry College June 24-26
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Celebrating Rural Life" is the theme of the first annual meeting of the Small Town and Rural (STaR) Ministry Alliance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The meeting will bring together a variety of people who share common concerns related to small town and rural...
ELCA Office Joins Opposition To Federal Marriage Amendment
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington D.C., the federal public policy office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), joined 25 other religious organizations June 3 to urge members of the U.S. Congress to reject the proposed "Federal Marriage Amendment." The religious organizations said...
Colin Powell Meets ELCA Presiding Bishop, Others On Mideast
Colin Powell Meets ELCA Presiding Bishop, Others On Mideast 04-114-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and more than 30 other prominent religious leaders met with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell June 1, urging immediate U.S. government...
ELCA Global Mission Events In Montana, Wisconsin
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are committed to deepening and extending their global relationships. To celebrate that commitment and learn more about the church's work in the world, Lutherans will gather at two Global Mission Events (GME) this summer. GMEs are scheduled July...
Lutheran Vespers To Air in Cleveland Beginning June 6
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Vespers, the radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will debut June 6 on two stations in Cleveland, the nation's 25th-largest media market, said Barbara J. Andrews, associate director for marketing, ELCA Department for Communication. WCCD 1000 AM and WHK 1220 AM --...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Signs Statement on Overcoming Poverty
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), joined more than 40 religious leaders in signing a "Unity Statement on Overcoming Poverty." The leaders agreed that in this presidential election year they will pray and work together for social policies...
ELCA Task Force on Education Organizes Study Materials
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A task force developing a social statement on "a Lutheran vision of education for our time" for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) continued work on a draft study document and discussed the content of such supporting materials as the church's Web site. The ELCA Task...
Lutherans Continue to 'Pour Justice to the Brim'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutherans across the country have purchased more than 120,776 pounds, or 60.4 tons, of fairly traded coffee since March. Not only are they aware that coffee -- one of the most heavily traded commodities in the world -- is more than just a satisfying pick-me-up, Lutherans are...
ELCA's Mosaic Television Features Documentary on St. Paul
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "The Life of Apostle Paul with Rick Steves" is Mosaic Television's June 1 release, a 45-minute documentary that traces the life of St. Paul, considered by historians and biblical scholars as one of Christianity's greatest theologians and missionaries. Steves, a noted television personality, is guest host for...
ELCA Launches Web Site to Help Place Lay Ministers
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) launched "People and Places Online" -- http://www.elca.org/peopleandplaces -- to help the church's lay ministers find new ministries within the church. The site is supported by the ELCA Department for Synodical Relations and the Division for Ministry. Lay ministers of the...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Meets With Kofi Annan on U.N. Role in Iraq
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), was one of 11 church leaders in New York to speak with Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations, May 24 about the...
Lutherans Respond To Storms in the Midwest
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), is assessing damage this week after tornadoes, storms and floods struck Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Parts of northeastern Illinois are under flood warnings May 25, when...
ELCA Mission Builders Plan Seven Construction Projects for 2004
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Mission Builders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) plan to build or remodel at seven church sites in as many states this year. Dean Hiner, North Platte, Neb., program director, said 32 builders will be working on five projects this summer but two more workers...
