ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 31, 2006  

Kristi Bangert Named Executive Director, ELCA Communication Services
06-014-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), announced
Jan. 31 that he has appointed Kristi S. Bangert to a four-year
term as executive director, ELCA Communication Services,
effective Feb. 1.
     Bangert, 59, who joined ELCA Communication Services in 1997,
is currently director for marketing, public relations and
planning, and has been the unit's interim executive director
since Nov. 18, 2005.  In her new role she will succeed the Rev.
Eric C. Shafer, who concluded his service with the churchwide
organization in November and this week accepted a call as senior
pastor, Trinity Lutheran Church, Lansdale, Pa.
     "In this information age when we are wonderfully
interconnected but also overwhelmed with messages and
communication systems, Kristi Bangert will lead ELCA
Communication Services with imagination, wisdom and
collaboration," Hanson said.
      "She brings to this position great experience in marketing
and public relations, and a knowledge and love for this church.
I am delighted that Kristi will lead as we move creatively,
consistently and boldly to tell the story of what God is doing
in the lives and ministries of this church," he added.
     In her role as director for marketing, public relations and
planning, Bangert has led a staff of seven.  She has been
responsible for directing marketing, public relations and
communication strategies based on organizational mission and
goals.  Bangert led Communication Services' strategic planning
and implemented the church's graphic identity.  She was
frequently called on to facilitate communication planning for a
variety of organizations and has made several presentations on
communication planning and marketing.
     Bangert was born in Minneapolis.  In 1967 she earned a
bachelor's degree from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., one of
28 ELCA colleges and universities.
     From 1994 to 1997 Bangert was director of development and
public relations, Lutheran Deaconess Association, Valparaiso,
Ind.  From 1988 to 1994 she was associate vice president,
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) Foundation.
     Bangert was also public relations manager at LaRabida
Children's Hospital and Research Center, University of Chicago;
director of community relations, Lutheran Social Services of
Illinois, Augustana Center, Chicago; communication specialist,
Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (Moline, Ill., and Chicago);
and a teacher of textile arts and design, Homewood-Flossmoor High
School, Flossmoor, Ill.
     Bangert is an active member of the American Marketing
Association and was a longtime member of the Association of
Lutheran Development Executives (ALDE).  She served on the ALDE
board of directors and was president of the ALDE's Chicago
chapter from 1990 to 1992.
     Bangert and her husband, the Rev. Mark P. Bangert, John H.
Tietjen chair of pastoral ministry: worship and church music,
LSTC, reside in Chicago.  They are parents of five grown
children.
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     Information about ELCA Communication Services is at
http://www.ELCA.org/communication/ on the ELCA Web site.

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