News

The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is adding its voice to the growing group of faith leaders urgently calling for a permanent bilateral cease-fire in Gaza.

The Rev. Khader El-Yateem has been appointed executive director of the Service and Justice home area of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). El-Yateem will begin his service March 18.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will feature A Time for Burning, a film of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The film will be shown Dec. 17 as part of the museum series "Works of Enduring Importance: 35 Years of the National Film Registry."

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) recently announced the Rev. Louise Johnson, Executive for Administration, has accepted the Executive for Vision, a new position in the churchwide organization.

The leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and The Episcopal Church (TEC) have released the Churches Beyond Borders 2023 Advent Cycle of Prayer.

On Nov. 16, the North American heads of Churches Beyond Borders met online with their Lutheran and Episcopal counterparts in the Holy Land for a time of solidarity and prayer.

The ELCA Church Council of the appointed the Rev. Michael Burk as presiding bishop pro tempore after its Executive Committee approved Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton’s request for a four- to six-month leave of absence, to begin Nov. 17. The council, which serves as the ELCA churchwide organization’s board of directors and interim legislative authority between meetings of a churchwide assembly, gathered at the Lutheran Center in Chicago, Nov. 9-12.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Church Council Executive Committee approved Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton's request for a 4-to-6-month leave of absence. Her leave starts Nov. 17, 2023.

The ELCA's commitments call on us to denounce unequivocally any attacks — past, present or future — by any party that lead to civilians becoming victims. Our hearts are with all those who have been killed or injured, and with their families and friends.

As Lutherans, we are accustomed to holding tension between two truths. Thus the ELCA denounces the egregious acts of Hamas, acts that have led to unspeakable loss of life and hope. At the same time the ELCA denounces the indiscriminate retaliation of Israel against the Palestinian people, both Christian and Muslim.

The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met Sept. 26-30 at the Lutheran Center in Chicago. The conference, an advisory body of the ELCA, comprises 65 synod bishops, the presiding bishop and the secretary.

The Rev. Jeff R. Johnson, Berkeley, Calif., was elected Sept. 17 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, Sept. 15-17, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, Calif.

The Rev. Jeff Thiemann, President and Chief Executive Officer of Portico Benefit Services, has announced that he will retire on Sept. 30 at the end of his third term with the organization.

Lutheran Disaster Response, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)'s ministry to provide short- and long-term recovery when disasters strike in the United States and around the world, is responding to urgent humanitarian needs and supporting agricultural livelihood recovery in Ukraine though a $1 million grant to Lutheran World Relief, a Corus International organization.

As presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, I join my colleague, the Rev. Dr. Sani Ibrahim Azar, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, in being "deeply dismayed at the ongoing Israeli military incursions into Palestinian communities, especially in the city and refugee camp of Jenin."

In a joint letter commemorating World Refugee Day, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and Global Refuge President and CEO Krish O'Mara Vignarajah remind us to "live out the calling of our faith by seeking justice, peace and protection for our refugee and migrant siblings."

The Rev. Dr. Phyllis Blair Milton, Portsmouth, Va., was elected June 11 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, June 9-11, at Roanoke College in Salem, Va.

The Rev. Greg Busboom,Springfield, Ill.,was elected June 3 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, March 25 via Zoom and June 1-3 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in East Peoria, Ill.

The Rev. Katherine A. Finegan, Marquette, Mich., was reelected May 19 to serve a second six-year term as bishop of the Northern Great Lakes Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election was held during the synod assembly May 18-20 at the Northern Center at Northern Michigan University in Marquette.

The Rev. Dr. Donald P. Kreiss, Detroit, was reelected May 19 to serve a third six-year term as bishop of the Southeast Michigan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election was held during the synod assembly May 18-20 at the Blue Water Convention Center in Port Huron, Mich.