ELCA NEWS SERVICE November 18, 2003 ELCA Council Conducts Elections 03-209-FI CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected members to its executive committee and other ELCA members to the ELCA churchwide nominating committee and to the board of trustees of the Mission Investment Fund of the ELCA. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met here Nov. 13-16 at the invitation of the ELCA North Carolina Synod and joined in a celebration of the synod's 200th anniversary Nov. 15 at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C. Churchwide assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 8-14, 2005, in Orlando, Fla. The council is made up of the church's four officers -- presiding bishop, vice president, secretary and treasurer -- and 33 voting members. Eleven of the 33 voting members are elected to a six-year term at each churchwide assembly. The four officers of the ELCA serve as members of the council's executive committee. At its first meeting after a churchwide assembly, the council elects seven voting members to the executive committee. The council elected to its executive committee: + Grieg L. Anderson, Portland, Ore. + Karl D. Anderson, Lakeville, Minn. + Linda J. Brown, Moorhead, Minn. + The Rev. Kirkwood J. Havel, Midland Mich. + The Rev. Diane H. "Dee" Pederson, St. Cloud, Minn. + Allan E. Thomas, Philadelphia + Janet Thompson, Eagan, Minn. The Church Council elected Daniel F. Wilson, a member of Christ the King Lutheran Church, Miami, to the ELCA churchwide nominating committee. He filled a vacancy left when Carlos Pena, Galveston, Texas, was elected vice president of the ELCA. The council also ratified the elections of four trustees for the Mission Investment Fund of the ELCA: + Victor M. Guzman, Christ Lutheran Church, Charlotte, N.C. + The Rev. David W. Hanson, Wilmette Lutheran Church, Wilmette, Ill. + Janet H. Neff, Grace Lutheran Church, Royersford, Pa. + The Rev. Maria D. Valenzuela, American Lutheran Church, Sun City, Ariz. The Mission Investment Fund enables individuals, ELCA congregations, synods and ELCA-affiliated institutions opportunities to earn interest on investments that are put to use building, purchasing and improving physical structures of the church through loans and expertise. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news