Title: ELCA Lutheran Women Study Peace ELCA NEWS SERVICE July 13, 1996 LUTHERAN WOMEN STUDY PEACE 96-WO-13-FI MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- "Proclaim God's Peace" was the theme of the Third Triennial Convention of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America here July 11-14. The Bible is a logical place for about 5,700 Lutheran women to turn for guidance in their search for peace. Three sessions delved into what the Bible says about peace, especially in Ephesians -- a letter in the Christian New Testament. The Rev. Lowell Erdahl, former bishop of the ELCA's Saint Paul Area Synod, referred to St. Paul's description of the world driven by greed. "That is not the way you learned Christ!" he quoted. Fifty years ago, when the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, "it was a great time of celebration," he recalled. Erdahl has reflected on those emotions ever since. "We should stop, at least, celebrating violence." "We still condone some forms of violence without asking," said Erdahl. "Television is not a means of entertainment. It's a means of providing an audience for advertisers. That's done largely through sex and violence." The Rev. Ann Svennungsen, Trinity Lutheran Church, Moorhead, Minn., asked, "Can you picture a place where you have felt completely welcomed and at home?" She read from the Bible, "You are no longer strangers and aliens ... but members of the household of God." "We celebrate the reconciling work of Christ that extends to the whole household of creation," said Svennungsen. "We know peace when we recognize that our whole lives are lived in the embrace of a loving God." The Rev. Valerie Ann Brown, Faith Lutheran Church, Coon Rapids, Minn., said people can influence their communities by the way they live. "If we want to proclaim God's peace, we do it in small ways," she said. "It's not something that someone else' does." Brown read from the Bible, "As shoes for your feet, put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace." She said, "We are people with feet set on the path of life." U.S. currency bears the motto "In God we trust," so the resources that currency represents should be used to promote God's peace regardless of any financial risk, said Brown. "We must base our actions and our policies on the well-being of the world community,"she added. For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service, (312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia Christiansen, Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956