Evangelical Lutherans

The second-largest Lutheran congregation in Minnesota has decided that it is not going to wait any longer to withdraw from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America over its vote to permit gay preachers.  

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The governing board of the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) elected Kathryn M. Lohre on Nov. 10 to become the 26th president of the NCC in 2013. Lohre is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and assistant director of the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.  

BESSEMER CITY — A local congregation has split with the national Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) over the denomination’s stance on LGBT inclusion and clergy, The Gaston Gazette reported on Nov. 5. Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church says the blessing of same-sex relationships goes against Scripture. The congregation has decided to stop financial contributions to the [...]  

Same-sex relationships go against Scripture and morality, according to a letter mailed Monday by members of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bessemer City. The congregation recently drafted the letter stating its disdain for a resolution passed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. “We are writing to express our disappointment with the recent Churchwide Assembly’s approval of the resolution to allow gay and lesbian pastors,” the...  

WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- In a public demonstration of support for climate change legislation, faith leaders gathered Nov. 5 here on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) joined several other religious organizations in co-sponsoring the event which included a ceremony of prayer, music and testimony reflecting on the need for climate change legislation.  

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Selected programs of Grace Matters, the radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), are being made available in downloadable and podcast forms at the Web site for Odyssey Networks. Earlier this year ELCA Communication Services stopped production of Grace Matters because of budget reductions. The ministry, formerly known as Lutheran Vespers, had been on the air since 1947.  

Across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), 15 synods, seminaries and churchwide ministries saved collectively more than $295,000 this year on ELCA health benefit contribution payments, according to a news release from the ELCA Board of Pensions. The savings came from a 2 percent discount on health contributions the Board awarded to employer groups after 75 percent of their eligible employees and spouses completed the online Mayo...  

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) joined others in welcoming a decision by U.S. President Barack Obama to remove entry restrictions into the United States for people who are HIV-positive. Ending discriminatory policies and confronting stigmatizing attitudes toward people living with HIV and AIDS are essential for their full inclusion in society and religious communities, said Hanson...  

(In August the churchwide assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America adopted proposals to make it possible for Lutherans in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, clergy, deaconesses and diaconal ministers.) In the wake of the ELCA assembly vote to allow gay and lesbian people to serve in the clergy or other leadership positions, the denomination's Presiding...  

ATTENTION: Please replace the story issued earlier with this version. There was a spelling error in the original. Sorry for the inconvenience. John R. Brooks Director, ELCA News Service Chicago CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The declaration of a national emergency has raised a number of questions across the United States about safely assembling for school and worship during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA...  

WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- Protecting children and keeping immigrant families together were repeated concerns raised by a committee of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) bishops discussing issues of immigration. The group met with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) staff and others to discuss the status of immigration reform and refugee protection services, and visited with members of Congress here Oct. 28-29.  

Some Effingham County Lutherans are leaving their churches in an effort to disassociate with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the country. The breakaway group known as Lutherans for Bible Based Beliefs announced new worship services for those who disapprove of the national church's vote in August to allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy. Alan B. Zipperer said he...  

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Margot Kaessmann, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hannover, was elected Oct. 28 to chair the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). Kaesmann, 51, is the first woman has become the highest representative of 25 million German Protestants. She is also the youngest chairperson of the EKD council.  

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council elected the Rev. Martin Junge on Oct. 26 to a seven-year term as the eighth LWF General Secretary. The former president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile (Iglesia Evangelica Luterana en Chile - IELC) becomes the first general secretary from the Latin America and Caribbean region.  

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is seeing the first fruits of a challenge gift from the ELCA Mission Investment Fund (MIF). Four seminarians received the first full-tuition scholarships from the ELCA Mission Developer Scholarship Fund, and another eight seminarians received full-tuition scholarships from the ELCA Fund for Leaders at an Oct. 22 banquet here.