Gender equality
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land voted Feb. 27 to adopt a constitution for its Ecclesiastical Court based on gender equality. Palestinian Author- ity President Mahmoud Abbas gave the church’s ecclesiastical court the authority (as of Jan. 1, 2015) to deal with church members and their fam- ily matters. Church leaders said gen- der equality includes equal inheri- tance between males and females in a family—something groundbreak- ing in a society where court systems often give women one-eighth of the inheritance of men.
Seminex documentary
After more than a decade of work, Seminex: Memories of a Church Divided, A Documentary by Tim Frakes was finished in February. It tells the story of students and faculty who marched out of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod’s Concor- dia Seminary in St. Louis on Feb. 19, 1974. The debate over interpret- ing Scripture through “historical- critical method” ruptured the LCMS at a time of American cultural and social upheaval. The walkout divided families, split congregations and had a lasting impact on the church. Watch an excerpt of the video at
www.frakesproductions.com. The 42-minute documentary can be ordered for $19, which raises money for his next documentary, God’s Glory, Neighbor’s Good: The Story of Pietism. Before he launched his pro- duction company in 2007, Frakes was videographer for the ELCA.
Runaway Reformation toy
This tiny Martin Luther, available only in Europe, recently became the fastest selling Playmobil figure of all time. The German toy manufacturer announced in February that the first edition of 34,000 pieces sold out in fewer than 72 hours, forcing an urgent request to its factory to produce more, according to Newsweek. Luther was produced for the German and Nuremberg tourist boards and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria as Germany gears up to observe the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.
Fight for $15
In Milwaukee, All Peoples Lutheran Church hosted a town hall meeting Feb. 26 that drew home health-care workers, organizers, political lead- ers and religious leaders involved in the “Fight for $15.” Home health-
Ebola update
Gifts from ELCA mem- bers and others helped ensure that the isolation unit at Phebe Hospital and School of Nursing in Suakoko, Liberia, meets World Health Organization standards. As of March 2, ELCA members gave a total of $801,295 for the ELCA’s response to the Ebola outbreak. ELCA funds have also helped provide food aid, preven- tion education, sanitation and hygiene help, support for orphans and more.
ACT ALLIANCE April 2015 9
care workers in the U.S., the major- ity of whom are female, provide care for seniors and people with disabili- ties but earn poverty-level wages. “All Peoples has stood in support of efforts to pay a living wage,” said Steve Jerbi, pastor. “I can think of no better example of service and love than that of home-care workers—workers who take the feet of others and wash them clean. … If Jesus is to give that com- mand to humbly serve and love, then how can I not stand with home-care workers?”
First repairs done
The Washington (D.C.) National Cathedral, which was damaged dur- ing a 5.8-magnitude quake in 2011, has finished the $10 million first phase of its repair work and intends to embark upon a more daunting and expensive second phase. Cathedral officials said the exterior work to come, which involves repairing twist- ing pinnacles, damaged gargoyles and other masonry, will cost $22 million and could take a decade. The capital campaign to raise the money has not yet begun.
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