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News


By the staff of The Lutheran, ELCA News Service and Religion News Service


LWF thanks churches


The Lutheran World Federation thanked member churches in April for helping Augusta Victoria Hospi- tal in Jerusalem provide health-care services during a financial crisis that began when the Palestinian Author- ity hadn’t made $25 million in health- care payments as of the end of Janu- ary. Those fees came from patients the authority referred to the LWF- run hospital during 2013. While the situation isn’t “fully resolved,” Eber- hard Hitzler, director of the LWF Department for World Service, said the hospital has maintained key ser- vices in East Jerusalem.


Grant for confirmation


Across denominations what are the best, most innovative practices in confirmation? We may soon find out, thanks to a project at Princeton [N.J.] Theological Seminary, which received a $1.1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to fund “The Con- firmation Project, Christian Youth: Learning and Living the Faith.” Researchers will focus on how con- firmation and equivalent practices build lasting faith and discipleship in youth who participate in the ELCA, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and the United Methodist Church.


“ ” couldn’t do it to ourselves.


Jack Jenkins, senior writer at the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative of the Center


for American Progress, on how the environ- mental message of Darren Aronofsky’s Noah movie accords with Scripture.


8 www.thelutheran.org


God promised that God wouldn’t do this again, make the flood. But God didn’t say that we


ELCA Church Council approves use of gift


A


t its April 4-6 meeting in Chi- cago, the ELCA Church Coun- cil voted to place 25 percent of


the $1.26 million sale (so far) of the Tonner collection of Bibles, books and artwork into a fund designated for support of regional archives. Forty percent was deposited into


the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia’s endowment fund and 60 percent was retained by the ELCA churchwide organization. Half of the latter was designated for the ELCA Fund for Leaders, while the other half was split between support for regional archives and purposes beyond the regular operating budget (e.g., additional seminary support). In other actions, the council:


• Extended development of a social message on gender-based violence to its April 2015 meeting, and asked for a progress report at its November 2014 meeting. • Approved the bylaws of Lutheran Services in America, which allow “associate members” that can be other groups connected to the “Lutheran tradition.” • Revised personnel policies and expectations for ELCA Global Mis-


No place for Jesus The U.S. Supreme Court will soon rule on the constitutionality of prayer at public meetings. A survey finds U.S. voters clearly favor prayer as long as it’s generic and not specifi- cally Christian. Most registered vot- ers (73 percent) said “prayer at public meetings is fine as long as the public officials are not favoring some beliefs over others.” And 23 percent said “public meetings shouldn’t have any


sion personnel. • Received a final report from Living Into the Future Together (LIFT), a committee that evaluated the ELCA’s response to sweeping economic and social changes in the last 25 years, and made recommendations approved by the 2011 Churchwide Assembly. Those recommendations include


urging each congregation to develop a mission plan, restructuring the churchwide organization, mov- ing to triennial rather than bien- nial churchwide assemblies, seeking new ways for discerning the church’s stance on social issues, and tempo- rarily expanding the Church Council from 33 to 45-plus members. • Heard that ELCA operating income ($72.3 million) for the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2014, was $2.9 million ahead of $69.4 million in expenses, but $4.1 million behind the previous year. Mission support—income from congregations through synods— stood at $48.8 million, $1.1 million below the previous year. “We’ve come out of those years


of steep decline, but we are still in a period of relative decline,” ELCA Treasurer Linda Norman said.


prayers at all because prayers by defi- nition suggest one belief or another.”


New LWR president Daniel V. Speckhard, a former U.S. ambassador to Greece (2007-2010), was named president and CEO of Lutheran World Relief, effective July 1. He follows interim president Jeff Whisenant, LWR’s executive vice president, and John Nunes, who stepped down in July 2013 to serve


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