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...
ELCA Bishops Prepare for Uncertainty in Israel, Advance Group in Jordan
AMMAN, Jordan (ELCA) -- Despite the continued conflict in Gaza, bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) are proceeding with plans to travel Jan. 6 to the Middle East. A smaller group of seven ELCA bishops, including the ELCA presiding...
Lutheran Services in Iowa Critical to Storm Victims' Recovery
CHICAGO (ELCA) - Many Iowa families are beginning 2009 still trying to recover from devastating tornadoes and floods of 2008. They're crediting Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) for making their hardships bearable. LSI is affiliated with Lutheran Disaster Response, a collaborative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)...
ELCA Presiding Bishop Calls for Gaza Ceasefire; Bishops Prep for Visit
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said the ELCA joins with all people calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and southern Israel. Hanson also asked ELCA members to join Middle East religious leaders who requested that Sunday,...
Lutheran Bishop Joins Jerusalem Church Leaders in Calling for Peace
CHICAGO (ELCA) - Prominent Christian leaders around the world are calling for an end to the violence that erupted in Gaza during the Christmas season. Patriarchs, bishops and the heads of Christian church bodies in Jerusalem issued a statement Dec. 30 urging an end to the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting...
Lutheran Teens Say God's Justice Goes Beyond 'Just Us'
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Amanda Kurtz is a ninth grader who loves math, dreams of being an architect and participates on tennis and dance teams at her high school in Aitkin, Minn., a one-stoplight town of 2,000 best known for its annual parade of decorated ice fishing houses. She also volunteers...
Lutherans to observe National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, Jan. 11
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service On Sunday, Jan. 11, congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will observe National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, a day committed to raising awareness and fostering action against commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor or slavery. Some congregations are observing the...
