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    ELCA leaders visit U.S. State Department to make nutrition a priority for mothers, children

    Posted on February 3, 2012 by elcaupdates

    A group of ELCA leaders met with staff of the U.S. State Department Feb. 1-2 to help make nutrition a priority and support the “1,000 Day Movement” — an international initiative to promote maternal and child nutrition in the 1,000 days between pregnancy and age 2. At the meeting ELCA members, along with other religious leaders, learned about the government’s work on nutrition in the United States and overseas.

    “The death of a child is tragic, and the permanent (cognitive and physical delay) of millions of children every year is preventable,” said the Rev. Jessica Crist, bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod, who attended the meeting.

    Crist said the movement brings together public and private, faith-based and secular organizations “to advocate for focused attention on the first 1,000 days of life. Simple, inexpensive measures like prenatal nutrition, breast feeding, clean water and hand washing can make the difference in the lives of millions of children worldwide. And the difference is not only personal — it affects the whole society.”

    The State Department has $95 million budgeted for this work in countries that have agreed to make maternal and infant nutrition a priority, said Crist. “In contrast, Americans spend $1 billion on Super Bowl snacks in one night.”

    Organized by Bread for the World, the meeting at the State Department included conversations with staff of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Global Health Initiative and the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

    Other ELCA members at the meeting were Sharon Heck, Whittier, Calif.; Gaylord Thomas, Chicago; and staff from Women of the ELCA and the ELCA Washington Office.

    Women of the ELCA passed a resolution at their 2011 convention that commits the organization to supporting the 1,000 Day Movement. “Women of the ELCA has been working with Bread for the World in leading an ecumenical effort to assist Christians to live out the 1,000 Day commitment,” said Inez Torres Davis, director for justice, Women of the ELCA.

    ELCA members team-up for Souper Bowl of Caring

    Posted on February 2, 2012 by elcaupdates

    As football fans tune-in Feb. 5 for the NFL’s Super Bowl championship game, faith groups will have a victory of their own that day with the Souper Bowl of Caring — a national, ecumenical effort that raises millions of dollars for hunger-fighting organizations.

    While 100 million viewers are expected to celebrate the game with abundant food and friendship, nearly 1 billion people in the world will spend the day hungry.

    More than 2,000 ELCA youth groups are registered for this year’s Souper Bowl of Caring. On the day of the event, the youth collect food and dollars in large soup pots from parishioners. Congregations are encouraged to select local organizations to receive half of what is raised and to send the other half to ELCA World Hunger.

    Gifts to ELCA World Hunger support the projects of this church that respond to hunger and poverty in more than 50 countries, including hundreds of soup kitchens and food pantries in the United States.

    In 2011 ELCA congregations collected more than $800,270 in cash and food items for 1,644 charities. About 21,646 pounds of food was collected. Individual congregations report the results of their collections at the Souper Bowl of Caring website. More than $81 million has been earned since the movement began in 1990.

    ELCA member awarded the 2012 Caldecott Medal

    Posted on January 25, 2012 by elcaupdates

    Chris Raschka, a member of Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan, an ELCA congregation in New York, has been awarded the American Library Association’s 2012 Caldecott Medal for his children’s book, “A Ball for Daisy.” Raschka, author and illustrator, also won the medal in 2006 for his illustration of “The Hello, Goodbye Window” and earned the Caldecott Honor in 1994 for “Yo! Yes?”

    According to St. Olaf College’s news service, Raschka, named Chris Durnbaugh while a student at St. Olaf, dabbled in art while majoring in biology. St. Olaf is one of 26 colleges and universities of the ELCA.

    “I would not have dreamed in a thousand and one years that 25 years hence I would be writing and illustrating children’s books,” Raschka said in a 2008 profile story in St. Olaf Magazine. “My education there prepared me perfectly for what I do now.”

    Portland Monthly magazine honors ELCA pastor

    Posted on January 17, 2012 by elcaupdates

    W.J. Mark Knutson, pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Portland, Ore., was named one of “The 50 Most Influential Portlanders” in the January 2012 issue of Portland Monthly magazine. The magazine noted the congregation’s growth in membership and that it’s a multiethnic, multicultural congregation dedicated to justice and peacemaking.

    “I’m always glad to see faith leaders lifted up in the context of the wider community, churches, synagogues, mosques and temples, which are all vital in weaving just and fair communities where all have life. It’s why faith communities exist,” said Knutson in response to the acknowledgement.

    Knutson has been pastor of Augustana since 1996. In 2009, he was honored as Ecumenist of the Year by the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon and received the Distinguished Ministry of Parish Pastor Award by Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, an ELCA seminary in Berkeley, Calif.

    Week of Prayer for Christian Unity to be celebrated Jan. 18-25

    Posted on January 11, 2012 by elcaupdates

    The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be observed Jan. 18-25. ELCA congregations are encouraged to participate using liturgical resources and materials prepared and published by The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and The Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches. Worship resources, biblical reflections and prayers for each day of the week are available at http://www.elca.org/ecumenical.

    The week “has the blessing of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestant Churches,” according to Donald McCoid, executive assistant to the presiding bishop, ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations. He said the week “is a time for common prayers for unity. The ELCA supports this week, as well as continued prayers for the unity of Christians throughout the world.”

    The theme for 2012 is taken from 1 Corinthians 15: “We will all be changed by the Victory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

    “Many Christians become aware of the great diversity of ways of adoring God,” according to the ELCA website. “Hearts are touched, and people realize that their neighbors’ ways are not so strange. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity enters into congregations and parishes all over the world. Pulpits are exchanged, and special ecumenical worship services are arranged.”

    The week covers the days between the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul in the northern hemisphere. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is celebrated during Pentecost in the southern hemisphere.

    A common international text was initially developed in 1968 by the Vatican’s Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches. The forerunner of the week was known as the Church Unity Octave developed by the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement in 1908.

    Memorial service for ELCA member, first female park ranger killed on duty

    Posted on January 10, 2012 by elcaupdates

    A memorial service is being held Jan. 10 at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash., for Margaret Kritsch Anderson, ELCA member and the first female law enforcement ranger killed while on duty. U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is scheduled to speak at the service.

    Margaret was killed when trying to stop a speeding vehicle from entering Mount Rainer National Park on New Year’s Day. The driver, who died the next day, was a suspect in a shooting of four people Jan. 1 in Skyway, Wash.

    Margaret, 34, is survived by her husband, Eric Anderson, also a law enforcement ranger at the park, and their two daughters. They are members of Bethany Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Spanaway, Wash.

    The memorial will be shown live at 1 p.m. (Pacific) at http://www.komonews.com/live.

    Sharing hope with neighbors in need

    Posted on December 27, 2011 by elcaupdates

    Share the joy you’ve felt this Christmas with a gift to ELCA World Hunger. From Dec. 27 to Dec. 31, all gifts to ELCA World Hunger will be matched entirely – 100 percent – thanks to a group of generous ELCA members.

    Recent statistics state that a record number of Americans, nearly one in two, have fallen into poverty or have earnings considered as “low income.” Your gift to ELCA World Hunger makes a difference. Gifts provide families with food, water, education and health care. Gifts also support people in almost 60 countries around the world, including the United States. Giving from Dec. 27 to Dec. 31 will help the church double its impact. All gifts, up to $100,000, will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

    Donate online by visiting www.elca.org/hungerdonate anytime before 12:00 a.m. (Central) on Dec. 31. Donations can be made over the phone at 800-638-3522 through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. (Central) to 5:00 p.m. Send a check made payable to “ELCA World Hunger” at P.O. Box 71764, Chicago, Ill. 60694-1764. Checks must be postmarked by Dec. 31 in order to be matched and tax deductible for 2011. Please write “matching challenge” in the memo line of your check.

    Are you ready?

    Posted on December 12, 2011 by elcaupdates

    Meet a group of farm animals that are ready to change the world! Watch and learn how purchasing ELCA Good Gifts transform lives around the world.

    A $50 gift can purchase a goat. Fresh milk from a goat can be used to make cheese, yogurt and other dairy products that sell at market, providing a steady source of income and nutritious food for a family.

    A $175 gift can purchase an alpaca, giving a family in South America a long-lasting supply of fleece and income to help them escape poverty.

    Together as the ELCA, we do more than we could ever do alone: grow our congregations, inspire new leaders and care for those around the world who live with hunger and poverty. ELCA Good Gifts are a creative way to do just that. Your gifts go beyond your regular congregational offering to support the ministries of the ELCA that mean the most to you and your loved ones.

    So, are you ready to change the world? Let’s get started!

    ELCA retired pastor still missing

    Posted on December 12, 2011 by elcaupdates

    James Schwartz, a retired ELCA pastor, has been missing since Oct. 19. He was last seen by his wife at their home in Village of Oak Creek (Sedona), Ariz. Schwartz’s son said that a neighbor saw James between the family’s home and the Kel Fox Trailhead that morning.

    According to local news reports, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Forest Patrol Unit participated in search efforts with deputies deploying search dogs and Guardian Air initiating a helicopter flyover on Oct. 21.

    Schwartz served as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Sedona, from 2001 to 2011.

    Faithful leadership

    Posted on November 8, 2011 by elcaupdates

    Join us on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 11:15 a.m. at The Lutheran Center, 8765 W. Higgins Road, Chicago, Ill., for the installment of Kathryn Mary Lohre as the president of the National Council of Churches, the first Lutheran and ELCA member to hold this position, as well as the youngest woman to do so.

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