Evangelical Lutherans

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said he will share priorities and hopes for the ELCA, and wants to hear stories from members about the churchs work in their own contexts, when he hosts an online Town Hall Forum Sunday, Dec. 6. The hour-long forum begins at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time (4:30 p.m. Central Time).  

As Christians globally take part in events marking World AIDS Day, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are holding worship services, gatherings and advocacy activities.  

Well, apparently it isn't enough that the "Evangelical" "Lutheran" "Church" in America rejected the sexual ethics of both Testaments and two thousand years of Christian teaching last summer with its embrace of homosexuality. It appears from its website  that the ELCA has also finally gone ahead and made the universalist heresy a matter of public doctrine.It should be noted that during my time in seminary it was always made clear that we could...  

St. Paul's Evangelical LutheranFor the first Advent Sunday, the Rev. Peter Gage of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Ind., will be the guest speaker on "The Lutheran Hour. " The radio program airs at 7:30 a.m. on...  

A decision at the highest level of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America about homosexuality has sent discontented ripples into Polk County, and a local church is holding discussions with a potential splinter group. At Abiding Savior Lutheran Church in Winter Haven on Sunday, a representative of Lutheran Coalition for Renewal, or CORE, met with about 80 parishioners to answer questions, said the Rev. Alan Ford, pastor of Abiding Savior...  

GENEVA, 30 November 2009 (LWI) - In his 2009 Christmas message, the President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Bishop Mark S. Hanson urges Christians around the world to celebrate Gods promised peace in expectant hope, despite moments of fear and yearning. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, points out that while the first Christmas was also marked with uneasiness, ordinary shepherds in Palestine...  

In August of this year, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America took strongly affirmative stances in welcoming and supporting gay Christians, including allowing gay and lesbian ministers in lifelong monogamous same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA pastors. Immediately, conservatives encouraged pastors and congregations to break from the ELCA and to join together in their own [...]  

Nine Iowa congregations have left the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in the world. The moves come after the ELCA voted this summer to allow gay and lesbian pastors in committed relationships to serve in the clergy. The nine congregations will join a new group of churches called LutheranCORE, which requires members [...]  

  Battle lines have sharpened over sexually active gay clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America after a conservative faction decided to form a new network of churches, and the first two southeastern Minnesota congregations have voted to leave the ELCA.  

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Nine synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are preparing to visit Israel and the West Bank Nov. 28-Dec. 8, as part of the ELCA Conference of Bishops initiative to support a churchwide strategy for engagement in the region. The trip, Bishops Academy II, includes bishops who were unable or opted not to join colleagues who traveled to the region in January of this year. At that time Israelis and...  

MINNEAPOLIS — A fracture of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America became a real possibility last week with the announcement by dissidents that they will have a new Lutheran denomination ready for launch by August. That marks a speed-up in plans by Lutherans who oppose the ELCA's decision to allow gay clergy to be pastors. "Every day we're hearing from people asking us to do something, so we are responding," said the Rev. Paull Spring...  

As expected, a core of Lutheran leaders out there aren’t very happy about the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s August decision to allow gay pastors to serve as clergy. Lutheran CORE, a subgroup of the ELCA that has opposed letting gay pastors serve, held a news conference in New Brighton to voice their opposition and try [...]  

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved a charter for a comprehensive study of the ELCA and its future mission. A task force will conduct the study with the goal of bringing a report with recommendations to the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Orlando.  

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a revision to the reinstatement process for former clergy and other professional leaders who were removed from the churchs official rosters for disciplinary reasons or resigned in lieu of discipline -- solely because they were in a lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationship.  

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In response to a need for specific policy language to address current immigration matters, the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved a social policy resolution on immigration Nov. 14. The resolution, Toward Compassionate, Just and Wise Immigration Reform, addresses family and workplace issues, enforcement of immigration laws, protection of refugees and forced migration.