News
By the staff of The Lutheran, ELCA News Service and Religion News Service
$12 million for malaria The ELCA Malaria Campaign reached the $12 million mark in May, with a remaining $3 million left to be raised before the five-year campaign ends in January 2016. To give, send checks (payable to “ELCA Malaria Cam- paign”) to: ELCA Malaria Campaign, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago, IL 60694- 1764; visit
www.elca.org/malaria; or call 800-638-3522.
Film wins award Abraham and Sarah won the “Best Short Film” of the year award at the International Christian Film Festival in Orlando, Fla. The film is a product of sparkhouse, a branch of Augsburg Fortress, Publishers established in 2008 to develop resources for chil- dren, youth and adults that spark new life in Christian communities. The company’s focus has been on using technology, language and active learning concepts that align with 21st- century lifestyles. To view Abraham and Sarah go to
www.youtube.com/ watch?v=1EMdxyOsfOc.
Peace now
ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton and more than 30 other U.S. Christian, Jewish and Muslim lead- ers sent a May 21 letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, asserting the importance of U.S. leadership in the Middle East and urging his “contin- ued, determined engagement.” They emphasized that the “time for Israeli- Palestinian peace is now.” The leaders pressed Kerry for “a two-state agree- ment, in which both peoples will live in peace, security and mutual recogni- tion,” adding that over time, “develop- ments on the ground and failures of leadership are making that goal more difficult to achieve.”
8
www.thelutheran.org Ukraine:
Lutherans face uncertainty T
he political referendum that rendered Crimea to the Rus- sian Federation could impact
church affiliation for seven Lutheran congregations. Early in May, the Bishop’s Council
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States (a federa- tion of churches in the former Soviet Union) declared that governance and pastoral care for the Lutheran congregations in Crimea would remain with the German Evangeli- cal Lutheran Church of the Ukraine (GELCU). But after the May 16 referendum,
GELCU Bishop Serge Maschewski and Bishop Dietrich Brauer of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia (ELKER) co-signed a letter telling the congregations they were free to change their affili- ation to another church when they reregister under the new political administration. Both the GELCU and ELKER
offered to provide legal assistance during the registration process. “I am confident that with the help
of our lawyers we will be able to solve all legal issues pertaining to the new situation,” Maschewski told Lutheran World Information. At presstime, Maschewski said
the situation was “quiet.” That was a change from February, when the Lutheran congregation in Kiev was offering first aid, coffee, tea and prayer for victims of the violence between demonstrators and special police forces after they clashed in Independence Square.
The Lutheran pastor for the seven
congregations in Crimea had to leave for a short period due to the unrest, Maschewski said. At the end of May the pastor and a
deaconess were at “work as before ... on Crimea,” he said. Diakonia, work with young peo-
ple, worship, Bible studies and house calls continued. However, Luther- ans and others in Crimea are “con- fronted with many new and different bureaucratic tasks, concerning the reception (or lack of reception) of identity cards and other legal docu- ments,” he said. Elena Bondarenko, dean of
ELKER, said the church is in dia- logue with the Ukrainians. “The most important thing for us now are these congregations. …We pray for peace and hope that our communion with the Lutheran Church in the Ukraine can contribute to this peace, even though the situation in the Ukraine is extremely complicated.” In the bishops’ letter, Maschewski
and Brauer said the two churches would support each other in matters related to the new political situation. “In spite of changes in the political life of our countries, we remain in spiritual and church communion,” they wrote. Regardless of what choices the
congregations make, Eva-Sybille Vogel-Mfato, Lutheran World Fed- eration area secretary for Europe, said “they will continue to be part of the LWF global communion of churches, which is praying for them and accompanying them.”
For more news visit
www.thelutheran.org/feature/july
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