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Liberians celebrate Ebola-free status


T A Swedish visit


When Antje Jackelén, archbishop of the Church of Sweden, had an official audience with Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace in May, she made Vatican history. It was the first time the pope welcomed a woman archbishop. Jackelén tweeted her gratitude for the meeting with a pho- tograph of the two religious leaders chatting. She was on the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago faculty before being called as bishop of Lund, Sweden, and still serves as adjunct profes- sor. She delivered the commencement address at the seminary a week after her Vatican visit.


Women of the ELCA wins awards W


omen of the ELCA received four awards dur- ing a May 1 ceremony at


the 2015 Associated Church Press/ Canadian Church Press conven- tion in Toronto. Café received honorable men-


tion in the Best in Class/Online category for independent websites. Elizabeth McBride is editor of Café and director for intergenerational programming for Women of the ELCA. Gather magazine received three


awards: an award of merit in the devotional/inspirational category for “Healers and Restorers” by Gwen Sayler; an honorable men- tion in the Bible reference category for its nine-month Bible study,


10 www.thelutheran.org


“Transforming Life and Faith” by Carol Schersten LaHurd; and an honorable mention in the personal experience/magazine category for “Thorns of Bitterness” by Heidi Neumark; Terri Lackey and Kate Elliott editors. In April, Women of the ELCA


also received three DeRose-Hink- house awards at the Religion Com- municators Council convention in Alexandra, Va. In the digital com- munication category, McBride won an award of excellence for Café podcasts. In the social media category, Women of the ELCA won an award of merit for its blog. “Bold Connections,” the organization’s e-newsletter, received an award of merit for digital communications.


enacity, determination and faith—that’s how Andrea L. Walker described members and


leaders of the Lutheran Church in Liberia, as well as people of the West African country, in response to their efforts to become Ebola-free. Walker, ELCA area program


director for Madagascar, West and Central Africa, returned in mid- May on one of the first few flights to depart Liberia for the U.S. since the World Health Organization declared the country free of the virus. “When Ebola was considered a


crisis in August 2014, the people of Liberia took it very seriously, includ- ing the leaders and members of the Lutheran Church in Liberia,” Walker said. “People took up new practices. Instead of shaking hands to greet one another, they offered a thumbs-up, fist-bump or would place their hand over their heart. ... People took every safety measure and engaged in public education.” It was the vision of Bishop D.


Jensen Seyenkulo of the Lutheran Church in Liberia to beat the virus with “tenacity, determination and faith,” she added. Through Lutheran Disaster


Response, ELCA members pro- vided funds to support the efforts of the Lutheran Church in Liberia, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone, ACT Alliance and Global Health Ministries. Funds supported the distribution of food, medical and other supplies, and air- freight costs to ship personal protec- tive equipment to Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. 


FROM ANTJE JACKELÉN’S TWITTER FEED


B.J. ALLEN


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