Title: 'Mosaic' Features Binge Drinking, Rural Crisis, Gay/Lesbian Segments
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

December 1, 1999


'MOSAIC' FEATURES BINGE DRINKING, RURAL CRISIS, GAY/LESBIAN SEGMENTS
99-306-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The winter 1999 edition of MOSAIC, the video
magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), includes
segments on binge drinking on college campuses, the crisis in rural
America and welcoming gay and lesbian people to congregations.
     The winter edition is available Dec. 1.
     MOSAIC is produced by the ELCA Department for Communication.  It
is intended for educational use in a variety of congregational settings
including Sunday School classes, adult forums, youth groups, women's and
men's groups, new member classes, church council meetings, committee
meetings and other organizational meetings.  Each issue includes a
users' guide, with a synopsis of each segment and discussion questions.
     The winter 1999 MOSAIC video magazine includes these stories:
     +"The War on Campus Binge Drinking" features comments from college
administrators, students, counselors and a campus pastor about alcohol
abuse on campus and how to prevent it. Segments were taped at Capital
University, an ELCA higher education institution, and The Ohio State
University, Columbus.  Nearly half  (44 percent) of U.S. college
students are binge drinkers,  according to a recent study conducted by
the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention.
     +"Starving the Family Farm" revisits Larry and Rachel Ecklor, the
Hillsdale, Wis., farm family featured in a 1989 MOSAIC story, "The Long
Winter of Rural America."  The segment also features Roy and Gina Grewe
of Cumberland, Wis., dairy farmers who are surviving despite rising
production costs and lower farm prices for milk.  Sandra LaBlanc, ELCA
director for rural ministry resources and networking, also comments on
the dim forecast for family farms.
     +"Welcoming Gays and Lesbians: A View from the Pew" includes the
views of pastors and members of three congregations of the ELCA 
Indiana-Kentucky Synod, who seek to respond faithfully to welcome and 
invite the participation of gay and lesbian people in their congregations.  Each
congregation, its pastor and members offers different stories and
perspectives on this subject.
     MOSAIC is issued quarterly.   Annual subscriptions are available
through the ELCA Department for Communication.

     Editors: Specific information about MOSAIC subscriptions and the
contents of each issue are available on the World Wide Web at
www.elca.org/co/mosaic or by contacting the ELCA Department for
Communication by phone at 800/638-3522 ext. 6009.   Digital photographs
that accompany each story can be requested by e-mail to [log in to unmask]
or by phone.


For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html