Lutherans in Congress A
fter the November elec- tions, Lutherans on Capitol Hill increased from 23 to
27 members. Three ELCA mem- bers, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.; Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa; and Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wis., retired in 2014, while the other Lutheran incumbents won their respective elections. Lutherans rejoining the
U.S. Senate in January include ELCA members Martin Hein- rich, D-N.M.; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; and Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod member Ron Johnson, R-Wis. Newly elected
senators include ELCA mem- bers Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., along with Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod member Cory Gardner, R-Colo. The 10 ELCA members serv-
ing in the U.S. House of Represen- tatives are Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; Lois Capps, D-Calif.; Scott Peters, D-Calif.; Chellie Pingree, D-Maine; Tim Walz, D-Minn.; Collin Peter- son, D-Minn.; Bill Shuster, R-Pa.; Diane Black, R-Tenn.; John Carter, R-Texas; and Denny Heck, D-Wash. Re-elected LCMS representatives
include John Shimkus, R-Ill.; Larry Bucshon, R-Ind.; Erik Paulsen, R-Minn.; Dave Reichert, R-Wash.;
and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. WELS member Ron Kind, D-Wis., also will rejoin the House. Other self-described Luther-
ans elected to the House were Ryan Zinke, R-Mont.; Brad Ashford, D-Neb.; Donald Norcross, D-N.J.; and Glenn Grothman, R-Wis. As Congress reconvenes, the
ELCA Advocacy Office helps con- nect Lutherans nationwide with their elected officials and works to create and influence public policies that embody biblical values of peacemak- ing, providing hospitality to strang- ers, caring for creation, and helping those who live in poverty and strug- gle with hunger or disease.
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bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland, expressed sup- port for the decision. “Marriage is not about to lose its significance, the creed of the church is not in jeopardy, the value of no one is decreasing— on the contrary,” he said. Three days after the vote, some 13,000 Finns took the first step toward resigning their church membership and no longer paying a church tax. Over the past decade, 400,000 Finnish citizens have resigned from the church, many to avoid paying the church tax.
ROBERT PITTS
Lutherans join #HandsUpWalkOut About 50 students from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago on Dec. 1 joined the #HandsUpWalkOut protest against alleged police violence. They, along with other collegians and seminarians, walked out of classes and to President Barack Obama’s Chicago residence. Students nationwide protested at 12:01, the time police officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Senior Kwami Pitts, organizer of the LSTC walk, told National Public Radio: “We are living out what the gospel is calling us to do. Christ calls us to love our neigh- bors as ourselves. ... It’s not just a fact of sitting in classes or sitting in our churches, but it’s actively going out and being a presence in our community, outside the doors, saying we as the people of God are tired of violence that happens to those who we are called to serve.”
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www.thelutheran.org
HBO on Scientology Watch out Tom Cruise: HBO is fin- ishing up a documentary on the Church of Scientology that The Hollywood Reporter says will be a “bombshell” about the church and its hold on some Hollywood celeb- rities. Oscar winner Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side) is doing the film and HBO plans to air it in 2015.
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