ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 4, 2006

Natural Disasters, Assembly Decisions Among Top 2005 ELCA Stories
06-001-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Catastrophic natural disasters in the
United States and South Asia and much-anticipated decisions made
by voting members at the 2005 Churchwide Assembly were among the
top news stories in 2005 involving the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA).
     The top stories were determined by the ELCA News Service,
ELCA Communication Services.  Staff include John R. Brooks,
director, Melissa Ramirez Cooper, associate director, and Frank
F. Imhoff, associate director.
     Top stories, listed in no particular order, were:
     + Natural disasters: In the last week of 2004, a tsunami,
spawned by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean, struck several
south Asian countries resulting in more than 200,000 deaths.
Most severely affected were people living in coastal regions of
India, Indonesia, Somalia and Sri Lanka. Through ELCA
International Disaster Response, members gave more than $11
million, which was used to provide immediate relief and to fund
long-term rebuilding and recovery projects.
     ELCA members and related organizations contributed more than
$20 million for relief, rebuilding and recovery following the
U.S. Gulf Coast disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina and
compounded by Hurricane Rita.  More than a dozen congregations in
south Louisiana and on the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast,
were damaged by the storms.  Lutheran Disaster Response, Thrivent
Financial for Lutherans, several Lutheran social ministry
organizations, and pastors and members from throughout the United
States and Caribbean, responded to assist people in need.
     + Homosexuality decisions: In one of the most anticipated
churchwide assemblies since the ELCA was formed, voting members
chose to keep the church's policies regarding homosexuality in
place.  The decisions at the Orlando assembly in August 2005
followed a four-year study process initiated by the 2001
Churchwide Assembly.  Voting members adopted proposals to
maintain church unity in the midst of disagreements, and agreed
to respect the advice of the ELCA Conference of Bishops regarding
same-sex blessings while welcoming and ministering to all people.
Voting members rejected a proposal that would have allowed people
who are gay or lesbian and in a committed relationship to be
ordained if they successfully completed a process for seeking an
exception to current policy that governs the church's
expectations of its ordained ministers.  Current policy, which
was maintained by the assembly's rejection of the proposal,
requires that ordained pastors refrain from homosexual sexual
relationships.
     In addition, the ELCA Church Council extended by two years
the process by which the church will develop a draft of a social
statement on human sexuality.  The social statement, also
requested by the 2001 assembly, is expected to be presented for
consideration at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.
     + Baptized membership falls below 5 million: In July, the
Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, reported ELCA membership at
4,930,429 for 2004.  The figures represented about a one percent
decrease in membership from the previous year.  From 1990 to
2004, baptized membership declined by about 300,000 members.
     + "The Lutheran Handbook" draws attention: Strong sales of
"The Lutheran Handbook: A Field Guide to Church Stuff, Everyday
Stuff and the Bible," a book for young people with serious and
not-so-serious information about Lutheranism and the Lutheran
Church, helped the financial picture of Augsburg Fortress, the
publishing ministry of the ELCA, in 2005.  The volume included
sections on what to bring to a church potluck, learning how to
survive for one hour in an un-air-conditioned church and how to
forgive someone. The book quickly sold out of its first printing
and gained popularity beyond youth circles.  In late October
Augsburg Fortress released "The Christian Handbook," intended to
appeal to the ecumenical market.  Some 36,000 copies were sold in
advance of its publication.
     + Presiding bishop visits Africa, Middle East, South
America:  In his role as president of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF), the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop,
traveled abroad in 2005 to Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone in
February, in late August and early September he visited Jordan
and Israel, part of which included chairing a meeting of the LWF
Council in Bethlehem and Jerusalem; and in October he visited
Brazil and Chile.  On each trip he visited Lutheran ministry
sites, and met with church leaders, members and political
leaders.
     + Churchwide Assembly approves significant programs and
initiatives: Other than sexuality issues, the 2005 Churchwide
Assembly adopted proposals for Renewing Worship, including a new
worship book to be published in October 2006; it adopted ethnic
ministry strategies specific to African Descent and Arab and
Middle Eastern communities; it implemented a Middle East
strategy, aimed at seeking with peace with justice for all people
in that region; and it adopted proposals that will result in
restructuring of the churchwide organization and some changes in
how it is governed.
     + ELCA weighs in on budget reconciliation: All 65 synod
bishops of the ELCA and Hanson signed a letter delivered to
members of Congress.  The letter urged Congress to re-think
proposals that would make drastic cuts in social programs that
benefit people in need.  Hanson and four other U.S. church
leaders addressed the issue on several different occasions.  In
the end, many of the proposals were approved by Congress, but not
all.  Said Hanson in a statement after the final vote: "Our
voices of opposition were heard, and have provided a tangible
sign that the Church is living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ and
'proclaiming the greatness of the Lord' in our own day. Though
some spending cuts ultimately passed in the Senate, food stamp
cuts were eliminated from the final version."
     + Presiding bishop meets Pope Benedict XVI:  In November
Hanson traveled to Italy and met Pope Benedict XVI for the first
time since the new pope was elected. Their meeting emphasized
church unity.  Later, staffs of the LWF and the Vatican discussed
the possibility of recognizing the upcoming 500th anniversary --
in 2017 -- of the start of the Protestant Reformation.
     + Air Force chaplain raises concerns about U.S. Air Force
Academy practices: Capt. Melinda Morton, an ELCA chaplain at the
U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., was removed
from her post as executive officer to the academy's chief
chaplain, Col. Michael Whittington, for what she said was her
refusal to denounce a report from the Yale Divinity School that
suggested academy personnel were inappropriately proselytizing
cadets.  The incident prompted a federal internal investigation
at the academy, and the Air Force later issued new guidelines.
Morton, who appeared in news stories and on several news
interview programs, later resigned her commission and left the
Air Force.
     + "BTK" serial killer arrested, pleads guilty:  In suburban
Wichita, Kan., police arrested Dennis Rader and charged him as
the "BTK" (bind, torture, kill) serial killer, who had murdered
10 people in the Wichita area over a period of 30 years.  At the
time of his arrest Rader was president of Christ Lutheran Church,
Wichita, and was a longtime member there.  The Rev. Michael G.
Clark, pastor, and the congregation of Christ Lutheran Church
were suddenly thrust into a media spotlight on a national stage.
Rader pleaded guilty to his crimes and was sentenced to 10
consecutive life terms.
     + Notable obituaries in 2005: Jan. 6, the Rev. Raynold J.
Lingwall, former longtime Iowa Synod president in the Lutheran
Church in America; Jan. 20, the Rev. Morris G. Zumbrun, former
bishop of the ELCA Delaware-Maryland Synod and the LCA Maryland
Synod; Feb. 6, the Rev. Edgar S. Brown, longtime worship leader
in the ELCA predecessor church bodies; May 19, the Rev. Carl E.
Linder, who served more than 40 years as an editor for church
publications including Lutheran Partners; Aug. 9, the Rev.
Gerhard O. Forde, a leading Lutheran theologian and retired
seminary professor; Aug. 17, the Rev. Walter R. Bouman, a
prominent Lutheran theologian, lecturer and retired seminary
professor; Aug. 23, the Rev. W. Kent Gilbert III, a former leader
in Lutheran parish services; Aug. 25, the Rev. Oscar A. Anderson,
retired president of Augsburg College, Minneapolis; Aug. 28, the
Rev. Gerhard A. Krodel, theologian, dean and educator who taught
at three of the eight ELCA seminaries; Aug. 30, the Rev. Richard
M. Wallace Jr., associate professor of pastoral care and
counseling, Luther Seminary; Sept. 3, William H. Rehnquist, chief
justice of the United States; and Oct. 27, the Rev. John Adam,
former bishop of the ELCA Slovak Zion Synod the LCA Slovak Zion
Synod.
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