Free Republic

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- St. Francis Lutheran Church, San Francisco, rejoined the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) late last month by ratifying a new constitution and celebrating its return in a special worship service Feb. 27. The Rev. Mark W. Holmerud, bishop of the ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod, Sacramento, preached and formally received the congregation, describing the service as "joyous, healing and celebrative." In 1990 St. Francis called the Rev. Ruth Frost and the Rev. Phyllis Zillhart as its pastors. At the time, both were not eligible for the ELCA clergy roster because church policy did not allow people in...

This 11/15/10 update includes the following additions and changes since our last report 11/04/10. * indicates first vote; ** indicates second vote 1. St. Peter Lutheran Church, Mesa, AZ * 84% in favor. 121-21 2. Hayti Lutheran Church, Hayti, SD * passed first vote 92% - 77-7: Voted to join NALC 3. New Hope Lutheran Church, Hayti, SD* passed first vote 92% 59-5; Voted to join NALC 4. St. Paul Lutheran Church, Williams, IA** passed second vote 40-9 5. Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Everett, WA* first vote 75% 6. Salem Lutheran Church, Bark River, MI * passed first vote...

WAVERLY, IA - A north Iowa congregation is days away from again deciding whether to separate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. But the Northeast Iowa Synod Bishop says it's not going to count. A final vote by Zion Lutheran in Clear Lake to leave the ELCA failed earlier this summer, but church leaders aren't letting the issue die. "A am not aware of any other place in the whole ELCA in which a church has intentionally voted to violate their constitution," said the Rev. Steven Ullestad, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Iowa Synod. Bishop Ullestad says it doesn't...

The head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America responded to plans for a rival church body, urging fellow Lutherans to avoid slander. "We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, as he recited words from the Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Hanson made the statement in a pastoral letter Tuesday, days...

In an August 24 e-mail to ELCA churchwide staff, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson said wrote that that those drafting a churchwide restructuring proposal will present that proposal to the ELCA Church Council Oct. 8. . . . "Notification of the changes in personnel, programs and operations will begin the week of October 11, 2010," Hanson wrote.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted a year ago to allow gays and lesbians in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships" to serve as clergy and rostered leaders. Some celebrated the decision by the nation's largest Lutheran denomination. Some chose to leave. The ELCA's La Crosse Area Synod lost two rural Viroqua congregations. A Holmen pastor resigned to start another church. Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Tomah is caught between, its fold fractured. "It carries a lot of the dynamics of a divorce," La Crosse Area Synod Bishop Jim Arends said. "They've been family for a long time. It's...

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America witnessed its biggest-ever drop in membership last year, according to a recently released analysis. By the end of 2009, ELCA membership stood at 4.5 million – 90 thousand less than the year before, reported the ELCA Office of the Secretary and ELCA Research and Evaluation. Before the latest drop, the biggest loss was 79 thousand – a drop witnessed in 2005. The ELCA congregation count, meanwhile, was recorded as 10,348 – 48 less than the year before. The largest-ever drop in the congregation count was recorded in 2004 – a drop of 72. Despite...