Faith at the fair: Clergy dish up meatball sundaes, pickle ice pops and a little faith at the Minnesota State Fair
GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO, of Associated Press, reports from the Minnesota State Fair…
Saving the farm: US heartland clergy train to prevent agriculture workers’ suicides
GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO, of Associated Press, reports on an initiative in which states such as Minnesota and South Dakota are offering suicide prevention training to clergy – a crucial, trusted presence in rural America…
US Lutherans launch initiative joining Indigenous-led Truth and Healing Movement
RNS The head of the country’s largest Lutheran denomination announced on Wednesday the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is launching its own Truth and Healing Movement to help its three million members better understand the “colonising impacts” the church has had on Indigenous people, both past and present. “We must be in better, right, and healthy relationships […]
The Interview: Lutheran World Federation head Anne Burghardt on historic firsts and helping Ukraine
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, speaks to the Lutheran World Federation Secretary General…
Essay: Ordination in Jerusalem belies slow progress for Christian women in the Middle East
In an article first published on Religion News Service, DAOUD KUTTAB says the recently ordained Lutheran pastor Sally Azar is only the fifth female pastor in the Middle East…
Lutherans ordain first Palestinian woman pastor in Holy Land
JerusalemAP A Lutheran church ceremony in Jerusalem on Sunday ordained the first Palestinian female pastor in the Holy Land. Sally Azar will head the English-speaking congregation at the Church of the Redeemer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land said. Sally Ibrahim Azar, centre, a Palestinian Christian and Council member of the […]
Reckoning with their history, Lutherans issue declaration to Indigenous peoples
Columbus, Ohio, US RNS There was a time when Lutherans were recognised as the advocates for Indigenous peoples, according to Vance Blackfox, director for Indigenous ministries and tribal relations for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United States’ largest Lutheran denomination. In the 1960s and 1970s, Lutherans vocally supported the American Indian Movement, said […]
In the US, Nadia Bolz-Weber installed as ELCA’s first pastor of public witness
RNS Rev Nadia Bolz-Weber was installed on Friday as the first pastor of public witness for the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. Bolz-Weber, who has often attracted controversy, is perhaps best known for her New York Times bestselling books, including Shameless: A Sexual Reformation and Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint, […]
ELCA leaders call on US Congress to pass Citizenship Act of 2021 in new letter
RNS Pastors, bishops and the head of the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States are calling on Congress to support the US Citizenship Act of 2021, which President Joe Biden proposed on the first day of his administration. In a letter published Thursday, leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America threw their support behind […]
ELCA Presiding Bishop Eaton lightens up on social media with viral neon Luther rose
Chicago, USRNS As churches in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America closed to slow the spread of COVID-19, Elizabeth Eaton, the presiding bishop of the country’s largest Lutheran denomination, began offering weekly video messages from her home. But viewers were captivated by more than her words of comfort or calls for prayer and action to […]