ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 24, 2008  

Lutheran Men in Mission to Gather in Omaha Aug. 1-3
08-124-LT*

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 2008 Lutheran Men's Gathering of
Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM), the men's ministry of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will bring
together approximately 600 men Aug. 1-3 at the Hilton Hotel and
Qwest Center, Omaha.  The event theme, "Coming of Age," focuses
on LMM's 20th anniversary, its new relationship with the ELCA and
its emphasis on the spirituality of men ages 18-34.
     The gathering will be preceded by the 2008 LMM Assembly July
31-Aug. 1.  The organization's business session will elect a
president to succeed Heber Rast, Cameron, S.C., and other
officers and board members.  Rast will complete his second three-
year term as president.
     The assembly will adopt a budget for LMM and celebrate the
organization becoming an incorporated ministry of the ELCA with a
full-time staff, according to Doug Haugen, LMM director.  He said
that as a unit LMM will remain housed here in the churchwide
office as a self-supporting ministry, relating to the church
through ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission.
     Featured speakers at the gathering Aug. 2 include Tom
Osborne, athletic director, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; the
Rev. Dick Hardel, senior fellow, Youth and Family Institute,
Bloomington, Minn.; and the Rev. Ernie Hinojosa, mission
director, ELCA North Carolina Synod.  The Rev. Lawrence J. Clark,
executive director, Lutheran Theological Center, Atlanta, will
preach Aug. 3 with the Rev. Thomas A. Skrenes, bishop, ELCA
Northern Great Lakes Synod, Marquette, Mich., presiding.
     The organization will also host a "Building for the Future"
dinner Aug. 1 to announce the status of a financial goal set
forth to raise $500,000 in cash and $500,000 in deferred gifts
for the LMM Endowment.  Douglas and Ann Larson, Menomonie, Wis.,
made a challenge grant in 2004 to give LMM another $500,000 to
meet that goal.  The campaign that followed began at the 2005 LMM
Assembly in Charleston, S.C.
     The Rev. Paul G. Hill, executive director, Youth and Family
Institute, and the Rev. David W. Anderson, director of home and
congregational renewal, Youth and Family Institute, will
facilitate an Aug. 2 workshop, "Discipling Young Men," to discuss
what LMM is learning about ministry with young men and ways men
can relate intergenerationally.  This is part of LMM's training
program to develop their young men's ministry further.
     Other highlights of LMM's ministries include the Master
Builders Bible for Men, a Bible that includes study questions and
resources intended to help congregational leaders build an
effective men's ministry, and El Nuevo Testamento, a Spanish-
language translation of the New Testament.  According to Haugen,
more than 40,000 Master Builders Bibles and more than 20,000
copies of El Nuevo Testamento have been distributed.
-- -- --
     Information about Lutheran Men in Mission is at
http://www.ELCA.org/lmm on the Web.
     An audio report of this story is at
http://media.ELCA.org/ramgen/audionews/080722.mp3 on the Web.

*Luke Tatge is a senior journalism major at Augustana College,
Sioux Falls, S.D.  This summer he is an intern with the ELCA News
Service.

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