Title: Lutheran Men to Gather in San Antonio July 26-28
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 5, 2002

LUTHERAN MEN TO GATHER IN SAN ANTONIO JULY 26-28
02-130-JD*

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Four-time Grammy award winner Russ Taff will be
one of the featured musicians July 26-28 at the "Blueprints for Living"
Lutheran Men's Gathering in San Antonio.  Lutheran Men in Mission, the
men's ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA),
will sponsor the gathering at the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel along the
San Antonio Riverwalk.
     Taff, who has been an important figure in contemporary Christian
music for the past 20 years, recently performed with the Gaither Vocal
Band and the Imperials.  He will join Tony Melendez and Richard Webb in
presenting music at the gathering.
     Melendez was born without arms.  Playing the guitar with his feet,
he came to the world's attention when he played for Pope John Paul II.
Webb, who has taught and led conferences across the country on
evangelism and discipleship in the postmodern culture, will be leading
the gathering worship/music team.
     "The purpose of the Blueprints for Living Lutheran Men's Gathering
will be for men of all ages to gather and be 'rooted and established in
love so that they might have the power to grasp how wide and long and
high and deep is the love of Christ,' as the Bible says, and leave
empowered to serve Christ in their family, church and community," said
Douglas Haugen, LMM director.
     Featured speakers at the gathering will include:
     * Tony Campolo, one of the most sought after, dynamic Christian
speakers;
     * Dick Hardel, executive director of the Youth and Family
Institute of Augsburg College; and
     * Millard Fuller, founder and president of Habitat for Humanity
International, who has overseen volunteers who have built homes for more
than 100,000 families in need in the U.S. and 76 other countries.
     Charlie Schwartz, a member of Bethany Lutheran Church in
Fredericksburg, Texas, attended his first LMM gathering in 1990.  "Each
gathering since that time has brought me to a closer relationship with
God and other men," he said.
     Schwartz is president of LMM.  "At the beginning of my LMM
experience, my faith and relationship with God was not of sufficient
strength to allow me to speak freely to other men about God and his
awesome love for me.  Now I boldly proclaim this fact," he said.
     "We are calling grandfathers, fathers and sons to discover a fresh
relationship with God and with other men of all ages, from around the
country and around the world, who are on the same journey," said Haugen.
"Together, we will receive blueprints of faith and life that will make a
difference in our lives and families today, and for generations to
come."
     An LMM assembly will precede the gathering, July 25-26, to conduct
the business of the men's organization.  LMM is a ministry of ELCA
congregations across the United States and Caribbean.
-- -- --
     Information about the LMM gathering is at
http://www.elca.org/lmm/2002gathering/lmmgathr.html on the ELCA Web
site.

Editors:  TIFF images of each speaker and musician for the churchwide
men's gathering are available at the above Web page.

*John E. Dellis is an associate in ministry of the ELCA.  He is editor
of The Vista, a monthly publication of the ELCA Southwestern Texas
Synod, based in Seguin.

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