ELCA Department for Communication, News & Information
8765 West Higgins Rd, Chicago, IL  60631  800/638-3522 ext. 2963

HEADLINES FOR ELCA NEWS RELEASE ISSUE #01, January 12, 1995

-- PRAYER IS POWER
-- LUTHERAN VESPERS RECEIVES GRANT, ADDS STATIONS
-- COLLEGE STUDENTS CELEBRATE
-- LUTHERANS IN 104TH CONGRESS

January 12, 1995

PRAYER IS POWER
95-01-001-FI

        CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Prayer is the most important source of
power in the world," George H. Gallup Jr., chairman of the George H.
Gallup International Institute, Princeton, N.J., told a conference of Mission
Partners coordinators of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
"The good news is that prayer, one of God's greatest gifts, is available to
all of us."
        Gallup presented the results of a study on "the effects of prayer
on behavior and attitudes and the potential of prayer to bring about
changes to the larger society."  He said, "There have been a number of
studies over the years, but they have focused on the practice of
prayer."
        "One of the most significant findings to emerge from the study is
the verification that prayer plays a vital role in helping people forgive
those who have hurt them," Gallup said.  "Those who try to follow Jesus'
teaching -- to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
-- reap the rewards of a more satisfied life."
        The conference brought 106 volunteer and staff coordinators
here, Jan. 6-8, from Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and 27 states to
receive training in the ELCA Mission Partners program -- bringing
established congregations into direct and personal relationships with
new ministries of the ELCA.
        Through Mission Partners a congregation can give financial gifts,
loans or gifts of equipment and supplies to new ministries, or it could
share time and skills through volunteer projects.  Gifts go directly to the
new ministry without administrative costs.
        Prayer tends to make people more open, tolerant and charitable,
Gallup said, and it must take a prominent position in the church.  "There is
much talk in church circles about renewal and evangelism, but any
renewal of this sort is unlikely to happen if Americans -- both churched
and unchurched -- are not given instruction on prayer and opportunities
to deepen their prayer lives," he said.
        Gallup stressed the importance of prayer in his own life.
"Through prayer I've seen a vision of what I believe God wants in my
life,"  he said.  "If we accept this as being from God, incredible things can
happen."
        People who involve themselves in prayer enter into a personal
relationship with God and with people they don't even know.  "One can
certainly not know God unless one tries to walk with him," Gallup said.
"Prayer is very important for a life of faith and brings us into touch with
all of humanity."
        "I hope and pray that this study will help people understand
themselves better and help leaders understand how they can be better
leaders.  Prayer, in itself, is a form of action that can help society and
people," Gallup added.
        Other conference speakers were the Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom,
bishop of the ELCA; the Rev. William J. Hanson, director for Mission
Builders; and the Rev. M.L. Minnick Jr., executive director of the ELCA
Division for Outreach.  Workshops addressed planning, communication
skills and stewardship.
        "I never felt more specifically equipped to do what I'm supposed
to do," said Dorothy Grandstrand of Wyoming, Minn., and a member of
Faith Lutheran Church, Forest Lake, Minn.
        Mission Builders is a companion program to Mission Partners.
Mission Builders are retired carpenters, construction workers or other
volunteers from all over the country who work for ELCA congregations
constructing church facilities.

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January 12, 1995

LUTHERAN VESPERS RECEIVES GRANT, ADDS STATIONS
95-01-002-LC

        CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Vespers, a radio ministry of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, on Jan. 5 received the first
$50,000 of a $100,000 matching grant from Lutheran Brotherhood, a
fraternal organization based in Minneapolis.  The money will allow the
radio ministry to devote more of its budget to outreach through radio
broadcasts, mailings and personal contacts.
        The grant will match $100,000 in gifts from donors new to the
Lutheran Vespers mailing list -- a total of $200,000 in funding.
Ninety-three percent of Lutheran Vespers' operating funds come from
individuals, congregations and bequests.
        "The addition of Walt Wangerin Jr. as the speaker for Lutheran
Vespers has been very exciting.  Audiences resonate with enthusiasm
to his stories and faith perspectives," said John L. Peterson, ELCA
director for public media ministry.  Wangerin became speaker in October
1994.  "Since Walt arrived we have added 26 new radio stations around
the country," said Peterson.   Those stations are in locations from Salt
Lake City, Utah, to Allentown, Pa., and from Clarksville, Tenn., to Aitkin,
Minn.
        "The enthusiasm for this ministry has generated requests for over
250 promotional packets for station placement," said Peterson.  "We are
on 150 radio stations around the country.  We are also on the air in Guam
and, via shortwave radio, in South Africa."  Lutheran Vespers' goal is to
be placed on 100 more stations in the next 18 months.
        The grant will make it possible for the radio ministry to update
equipment, lowering the cost of production, to increase its mailing list and
to provide the seed money for broadcasting Lutheran Vespers on more
radio stations.
        Peterson also plans to increase capital support by approaching
major donors.  The grant will allow him to produce a brochure and video
which describes the ministry for potential supporters.
        Lutheran Vespers has been on the air for more than four
decades featuring sacred music, both traditional and contemporary,
complementing Scripture readings and homilies.

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January 12, 1995

COLLEGE STUDENTS CELEBRATE
95-01-003-SP*

        CHICAGO (ELCA) -- More than 300 Lutheran college students
from around the country met in St. Louis Dec. 28-Jan. 1 for the annual
gathering of the Lutheran Student Movement-U.S.A.  Lutheran Student
Movement (LSM) is an independent organization involving college
students from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod and Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
        Coming together under the theme "CELEBRATE! Gathering at the
Crossroads," Lutherans held their event in conjunction with an
ecumenical conference of students from seven other Protestant
churches and the Roman Catholic Church.  This ecumenical event occurs
every four years and is meant to give students an opportunity to unite
and celebrate a common belief in Christ.
        During five days of programs, students from all denominations
took part in worship services, workshops and social activities.  About
1,850 students attended the gathering.
        Participants at the gathering called it an enriching experience.  "It
wonderfully enhanced my faith experience, and the ability to worship
with all these different denominations really speaks to our unity in Christ,"
said Kendall Bentz, a student at Stanford University and a member of
LSM.
        The gathering's keynote speaker was Edwina Gately, founder of
Genesis House in Chicago, a rehabilitation program for prostitutes.  She
also founded the Volunteer Missionary Movement, which involves over
1,000 missionaries.
        Gately spoke to students about her struggle to be faithful to the
gospel, which first led her to Uganda as a Catholic lay missionary.  God
kept her restless and led her from one project to another, she told them.
        She sought to challenge young people because it is easy for
everyone to get "sucked into the status quo."  Jesus "was a nuisance
because he asked questions and changed the status quo.  We always
need nuisances," Gately added.
         Dr. James Forbes told students of their need to have a project
too -- something to work on to give their lives meaning.  Forbes is senior
pastor of Riverside Church, a 2,400-member congregation in New York
City.
        "Without a project," he explained, "one can become project
inspector of everybody else's project, telling them what is wrong with
theirs."  A project brings a deepening sense of faith and has an effect on
the economic, social and political policies of the future.
        "God is a model and source of strength for fulfilling a project of
our own," Forbes said.  "You and God are partners in your project."
        Minh Nguyen, a student at California State University in
Sacramento, was elected 1995 LSM president during LSM business
sessions.
        LSM passed one resolution concerning the exploration of
interdenominational worship at future ecumenical gatherings.  "Its
purpose is to reaffirm our desire as Lutherans to embrace our brothers
and sisters in all aspects of our spiritual life together," said Joe Locke,
1994 president of LSM.  Locke is a student at University of Colorado in
Boulder.
        The resolution asks the planning committee of the next ecumenical
gathering to consider a communion service including students of all
denominations.

* Stephen Padre (SP), a fourth-year journalism student at Boston
University, provided this report.  He is president of the New
England Region of LSM.


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January 12, 1995

LUTHERANS IN 104TH CONGRESS
95-01-004-FI

        CHICAGO (ELCA) -- There are 20 Lutherans in the 104th
Congress of the United States -- two less than the number of Lutherans
that were in the 103rd Congress, according to the Lutheran Office for
Governmental Affairs, Washington, D.C.  Eleven are Republicans, and
nine are Democrats.

Lutherans in the U.S. Senate are:
Conrad Burns (R-Mont.),
Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.),
Rod Grams (R-Minn.),
Ernest F. (Fritz) Hollings (D-S.C.),
Paul M. Simon (D-Ill.).

Lutherans in the U.S. House of Representatives are:

Douglas K. Bereuter (R-Neb. 1st),
Norman D. Dicks (D-Wash. 6th),
Steven Gunderson (R-Wis. 3rd),
#       Fred Heineman (R-N.C. 4th),
Tim Johnson (D-S.D. At Large),
#       Thomas Lathan (R-Iowa 5th),
David Minge (D-Minn. 2nd),
#       Mark Neumann (R-Wis. 1st),
Jim Nussle (R-Iowa 2nd),
Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio 4th),
Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn. 7th),
Thomas E. Petri (R-Wis. 6th),
Martin Olav Sabo (D-Minn. 5th),
Floyd D. Spence (R-S.C. 2nd),
Charles W. Stenholm (D-Texas 17th),

        All are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
except for Senators Burns, Grams and Simon and Representative
McCurdy, who are members of Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
congregations, and Representative Neumann, who is a member of the
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
        Representatives Heineman, Lathan and Neumann are new
members of Congress (#).  Five Lutherans formerly served Congress in
the House: Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio 5th), Richard Lehman (D-Calif. 19th),
David McCurdy (D-Okla. 4th), Timothy J. Penny (D-Minn. 1st), and Don
Sundquist (R-Tenn. 7th) Senator Grams was a member of the House in
the 103rd Congress.

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