News
By the staff of The Lutheran, ELCA News Service and Religion News Service
Ullestads invited to the White House W
hen German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the U.S. in June, Northeastern Iowa Synod Bishop Ste- ven L. Ullestad and his wife, Ruth, were on the White House guest list. “We were surprised by the invi-
tation, but in a conversation [at the White House reception for Merkel], Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (former governor of Iowa) indicated that the president is wanting to affirm faith-based ministries that do out- reach in the community,” Ullestad said.
For Ullestad, that includes Barn- abas Uplift, a faith-based initiative to help people out of poverty, and the Lutheran response to the 2008 immi- gration raids in Postville, Iowa. The Ullestads spoke with Merkel,
the daughter of a Lutheran pas- tor; President Barack Obama; first lady Michelle Obama; and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They attended a state dinner in the Rose Garden, listening to perform- ers James Taylor and the National Symphony Orchestra.
“Just being asked to represent the Northeastern Iowa Synod and the ELCA was an honor, and the people hosting us were very gra- cious,” Ullestad said. “Our con- versations were down-to-earth, person-to-person conversations about what is important to us. That I was invited, as a Lutheran bishop, speaks to the work our synod and church do to make a difference in the world.”
For the record According to the Office of the Sec- retary, 492 congregations have with- drawn from the official roster of ELCA congregations from the 2009 Churchwide Assembly until June 17, 2011. Congregations withdraw from the roster when they complete the constitutional process for disaf- filiation and the Office of the Secre- tary receives notification from the applicable synod. Secretary David Swartling said these congregations represent about 6 percent of the bap- tized membership of the ELCA. Most of the actions came in reaction to the 2009 assembly’s votes on sexuality.
Reader call: Inactive The ELCA has 4.5 million members, but only 28 percent on average attended worship in 2009. In most denomi- nations, 60 percent to 80 percent of members don’t regularly attend wor- ship or take an active role. For a 2012 cover story, we’d like to know what your congregation, synod or group is doing, especially if it’s making a dif- ference. By Oct. 1, send a brief sum- mary of how you keep active members involved and reach out to inactives (include your contact information) to
elizabeth.hunter@
thelutheran.org.
Good music, good cause Indie rock band Buckman Page—Eric Bell (left), Matt Cefalu, John Williamson,
CHRIS OCKEN
Marcus Lohrmann and Al Neve—raised more than $500 for Lutheran Disaster Response during a June 24 concert at Chicago’s Goose Island Brewpub. The band donated 100 percent of its proceeds after reading a blog by fellow Val- paraiso [Ind.] University alum Mike Nevergall. As its associate director, Never- gall wrote about Lutheran Disaster Response’s work in Joplin, Mo., following tornadoes in May. “It was a great concert,” he said. “And it introduced Lutheran Disaster Response’s message to people who wouldn’t normally hear it.”
8 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Johnson resigns as bishop Craig E. Johnson resigned as bishop of the Minneapolis Area Synod to lead Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, Min- neapolis, in the interim following the death of its pastor, Paul M. Youngdahl (page 47). Johnson, who had previ- ously served Mount Olivet for 14 years, said it “includes many institu- tions ancillary to the congregation, which employs 800-900. It’s therefore critical that this transition is smooth so the continuity of the congregation’s mission is ensured. … I’m in a unique place of having hundreds of relation- ships with members ... to build a foun- dation for helping the staff and people
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