ELCA Department for Communication, News & Information
8765 West Higgins Rd, Chicago, IL 60631 800/638-3522 ext. 2963
HEADLINES FOR ELCA NEWS RELEASE ISSUE #01, January 25, 1996
-- UNDERSTANDING GENERATION X
-- 1995 ELCA COLLEGE ENROLLMENT
-- MORE THAN 60 MILLION LUTHERANS WORLDWIDE
January 25, 1996
UNDERSTANDING GENERATION X
96-01-001-SP
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Under blue California skies, Lutheran
students from across the country met Dec. 28-Jan. 1 in Costa Mesa for
the Lutheran Student Movement-USA's annual national gathering for
Lutheran university and college students.
"'Generation Xers' must be harbingers and creators of new
approaches to evangelism," said William Mahedy, a counselor from San
Diego and co-author of "A Generation Alone." "They are the generational
pioneers of the post-modern era."
Mahedy said he disagrees with the negative views toward this
generation, which he illustrated with statistics on high rates of divorce,
suicide and violence among young people.
A total of 339 students and Lutheran campus ministry staff met
under the theme "Prophets of Hope: Understanding 'Generation X'."
"Generation X" is a term coined by Douglas Coupland to define people
born between the years 1961 and 1981. In his book, "Generation X,"
Coupland writes about a generation of alienated, hopeless and
futureless people.
The gathering program featured worship services, workshops
and a series of speakers addressing different aspects of "Generation
X" each day, including a panel discussion on "Who we say we are as
'Generation X'." Brian "Butch" Peterson, senior at the University of
California-Berkeley, spoke of a "plug-in society" from greater population
growth.
"Government and community services aim at fulfilling the daily
needs of a large population. This necessity of providing a growing
populous with existing resources has created a 'get in and get out'
approach," he said.
Laurie Larson Caesar, an LSM alumna, spoke on who the
Scriptures say "Generation X" is. Caesar told a story of an imaginary
encounter of a witch with King Saul, reading from the witch's diary.
"Each generation has its own calling," King Saul kept saying to the witch.
Caesar told participants there are parallels between their generation and
those from very long ago. "The Bible is a way of getting to know our
grandparents of the faith," she said.
Participants left the gathering with a sense of hope from the final
day's topic - "Who does 'Generation X' hope and plan to become?"
Sean McMillan, former Lutheran Youth Organization member,
preached that "Generation X" is "the baby in labor" whose familiar
"womb" is changing into a world where there is no more security.
McMillan said, "The origin of a generation is not in the mother or father but
in the mind of God."
"I felt energized because everyone there wanted to make a
difference and make a change," Heather Embree, a junior at California
Lutheran University, said after the gathering. "It was refreshing to see
that our generation isn't a bunch of duds." Following each speaker,
students met in small groups where they discussed what the speakers
said and their own views on the different aspects of the gathering's
theme.
"Many of the people in my discussion group felt they didn't fit the
stereotypical descriptions of our generation," said Anne Schonauer, a
sophomore at the University of California-Berkeley.
The discussions were recorded and LSM hopes to compile them
into a publication on "Generation X."
"There's so much negative stuff written about us out there that
we wanted to produce something positive about ourselves," said Kirsten
Boyd, a member of the gathering's planning committee.
Boyd, a senior at the University of Colorado-Boulder, was elected
President of LSM-USA for 1996. She said LSM needs to be more
intentional about telling the church who it is as a whole. "I think we need
to look at issues surrounding poverty, because that's something we
have not looked at before as LSM and as students," Boyd said. She also
said she hopes to lead LSM in drafting a statement on abortion.
LSM-USA is an independent and pan-Lutheran organization of
Lutheran students at public, private and Lutheran colleges and
universities across the United States. Next year's gathering will be held
in San Antonio.
This story was written by Stephen Hovick Padre, the staff intern
in Chicago for the Lutheran Student Movement.
#########
January 25, 1996
1995 ELCA COLLEGE ENROLLMENT
96-01-002-LC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 28 colleges and universities of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America opened the 1995-96 academic
year in September with total full-time enrollment at 44,036. The academic
year opened with "mixed emotions," said Dr. James M. Unglaube, ELCA
director for colleges and universities. "It marks the first year that Upsala
College, East Orange, N.J., is missing from the scene since its founding in
1893." The college closed its doors at the end of the 1994-95 academic
year.
This academic year for the 28 ELCA colleges and universities has
been a very good one measured in enrollment terms. The 44,036 total is
just 28 students below the 1994-95 figure which included more than 700
students at Upsala College. The remaining 28 institutions saw their
enrollments rise by 679 students or 1.5 percent.
Part-time enrollment fell by 71 students or 0.8 percent, from 8,440
to 8,369. Full-time enrollment rose at eighteen of the 28 institutions.
Part-time enrollments have fallen 11 percent since 1989.
"In losing Upsala the church lost the institution which was serving
communities of persons of color to the greatest extent," said Unglaube.
Thus, the representation of persons of color among full-time students fell
from 9.1 percent in 1994-95 to 8.3 percent. However, if Upsala is
excluded for 1994-95, the remaining 28 institutions saw their full-time
enrollment of persons of color rise by 162 students, from 3,513 to 3,675,
an increase of 4.6 percent. This number rose at 20 institutions.
International student enrollments have been declining for a
number of years at ELCA institutions. The total of full-time international
students is 1,304, or three percent. If the Upsala figures are excluded
for 1994-95, the remaining institutions saw this number rise by nine
students. "There is encouragement in the fact that 1995-96 marked the
end of a decline in this figure going back to 1992. International students
from developing world settings place a great burden on the limited
financial aid resources available to them on campus. This has likely been
at least partly responsible for the decline," said Unglaube. Thirteen of the
28 institutions experienced increases here.
The enrollment of Lutheran students totaled 14,072, or 32 percent
of the whole. This is a decline from last year's total of 14,291.
ELCA COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Minn.
Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill.
Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kan.
California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks
Capital University, Columbus, Ohio
Carthage College, Kenosha, Wis.
Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn.
Dana College, Blair, Neb.
Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pa.
Grand View College, Des Moines, Iowa
Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn.
Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, N.C.
Luther College, Decorah, Iowa
Midland Lutheran College, Fremont, Neb.
Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa.
Newberry College, Newberry, S.C.
Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash.
Roanoke College, Salem, Va.
St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.
Suomi College, Hancock, Mich.
Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa.
Texas Lutheran College, Seguin, Texas
Thiel College, Greenville, Pa.
Wagner College, Staten Island, N.Y.
Waldorf College, Forest City, Iowa
Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio
##########
January 25, 1995
MORE THAN 60 MILLION LUTHERANS WORLDWIDE
96-01-003-FI
GENEVA (ELCA) -- The number of Lutherans worldwide was
more than 60 million in 1995, according to information released here by
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The comparable figures for 1994
and 1993 were 59.7 million and 58.5 million respectively.
The 122 member churches and 12 recognized congregations of
the LWF totaled 56.5 million members in 1995, compared with just under
56.1 million in 1994 and 54.7 million in 1993. At the end of 1995, 3.6
million Lutherans worldwide did not belong to the LWF, a decrease of
22,400 from the previous year.
The 7.6-million-member Church of Sweden remained the world#s
largest Lutheran church, followed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America with 5.2 million and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
with close to 4.6 million.
Germany, where the Lutheran tradition has its origin, had the
largest number of Lutherans in any one country, its Lutheran churches
having a combined membership of 14.3 million, ahead of the United States
with 8.3 million.
The most significant change was an increase in the membership
of the Lutheran church in Madagascar. The Malagasy Lutheran Church
recorded an increase of 300,000 members compared with the previous
year's figure.
An increase in the membership of the Estonian Evangelical
Lutheran Church, from 70,209 to 204,000, is due to a change in the way
of counting. Previously only paying members were counted, whereas
the latest figure refers to baptized members.
The largest concentration of Lutheranism and the LWF is in
Europe, with over 37.3 million members. North America has 8.6 million
Lutherans, of whom 5.4 million belong to the LWF. Almost all of Africa's
7.9 million Lutherans are members of the federation. Asia has just under
4.9 million Lutherans, of whom over 4.7 million belong to the LWF. Of the
nearly 1.4 million Lutherans in Latin America, over 1.1 million are
members of the LWF.
The membership statistics are based on information supplied to
the LWF Office for Communication Services by the churches. Of the
federation's 122 member churches, 72 have supplied information, as a
result of which the membership figures for 39 churches have changed
compared with the previous year's figures. Latest available figures are
cited in the case of those churches whose reply were not received by
the end of November 1995.
Among the data received after the Nov. 30 deadline, the only major
change is for the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY),
which last year registered an increase of over 234,000 compared with
the previous year. The EECMY's membership in 1995 totaled 1,847,116.
This increase has not been taken into consideration for the above article
or the tables of statistics on the following pages. The Ethiopian church's
membership has increased from more than 1 million in 1993 and more
than 1.6 million in 1994.
LUTHERAN WORLD FEDERATION
1995 MEMBERSHIP FIGURES
SUMMARY
The following figures give the membership of the 122 LWF member
churches (M) including one associate member church (AM), and 12
recognized congregations (R), as well as other Lutheran churches or
bodies (C) in infrequent contact with the Lutheran World Federation.
General Summary 1995
122 LWF member churches and 12 recognized congregations
56,521,384
Lutherans outside LWF constituency 3,625,270
TOTAL 60,146,654
All Lutherans LWF Membership Other
Contacts
Africa 7,940,742 7,873,287 67,455
Asia 4,873,084 4,757,361 115,723
Europe 37,342,201 37,342,201 -----
Latin America 1,381,655 1,131,878 249,777
North America 8,608,972 5,416,657 3,192,315
TOTAL 60,146,654 56,521,384 3,625,270
Countries with more than 1/2 million Lutherans
Germany 14,290,400
USA 8,319,591
Sweden 7,630,000
Finland 4,577,106
Denmark 4,539,773
Norway 3,800,000
Indonesia 2,367,539
Tanzania 2,200,000
Ethiopia 1,625,994
Madagascar 1,500,000
India 1,267,787
Brazil 1,184,597
Papua New Guinea 910,000
South Africa 829,483
Namibia 696,000
Lutheran Churches with more than 1/2 million members
Church of Sweden
7,630,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
5,199,048
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
4,577,106
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
4,539,773
Church of Norway
3,800,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover (Germany) 3,291,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (Germany) 2,685,000
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (USA and Canada) 2,606,370
North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church (Germany) 2,512,000
Evangelical Church in Wurttemberg (Germany) 2,474,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania
2,200,000
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (Ethiopia) 1,625,994
Protestant Christian Batak Church (Indonesia) 1,559,478
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony (Germany)
1,154,000
Malagasy Lutheran Church (Madagascar)
1,500,000
Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil 1,000,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
815,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa 710,382
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia (Germany) 663,000
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