Title: Hallberg to Lead ELCA Foundation
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 22, 1996

HALLBERG TO LEAD ELCA FOUNDATION (76 lines)
96-28-084-AH

       CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Donald M. Hallberg, 56, Itasca,
Ill., was elected executive director of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America Foundation by the executive committee of the
ELCA Church Council, meeting here Nov. 7.  He succeeds the Rev.
Harvey A. Stegemoeller, who retired Aug. 31.
       The Rev. Melvin L. Johnson, ELCA Foundation's associate
director, continues as interim executive director until Hallberg
takes office on Jan. 1.
       Hallberg has served as president of Lutheran Social Services
of Illinois (LSSI) since 1980.  He was also a member of the
Church Council, a position he resigned upon accepting this
position.
       LSSI is a statewide social service organization operated by
the Illinois synods of the ELCA.  Hallberg was interim president
of LSSI in 1980 and vice president of the Human Resources
Division during 1979 and 1980.
       The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA,
said, "Don Hallberg brings exactly the right combination of
personal talents to this position.  His years of experience as an
executive, his strong links with all parts of our church, and his
knowledge of the many instruments of giving make him an excellent
choice for the leadership of the ELCA Foundation."
       Kathy Magnus, Denver, vice president of the ELCA, said,
"While the loss of Don Hallberg as a member of the Church Council
and chair of the budget and finance committee is a significant
loss, Don's leadership in the Foundation will be an incredible
gift to the whole church.  His energy for and commitment to the
mission and ministry of this church will move the Foundation in
exciting new ways as we go into a new century."
       "It is with some grief that I leave LSSI, an important
ministry of the church in Illinois.  Yet I am privileged to have
received the call of my church and bishop to serve in this new
way," Hallberg said.
       The ELCA offers members of the church opportunities for
planned giving through wills and bequests.  The Foundation
administers a $1,800,000 budget.  In fiscal 1995 it received
$26.3 million in gifts, bequests and life income agreements.
       Hallberg said, "The ELCA Foundation is a vehicle by which
members of the church can support ministry in all of its
expressions by good stewardship and planning for the future."  He
said, "Gifts to the Foundation help support Lutheran seminaries,
higher education, social ministry organizations, new mission
development within the United States and around the world, local
parishes and much more.  I welcome this new opportunity and
challenge for ministry."
       From 1977 to 1979 Hallberg was the director of human
resources for Lutheran Welfare Services of Illinois, the
predecessor of LSSI that was related to the former American
Lutheran Church and Lutheran Church in America.  He also served
as assistant to the executive director and as director of the
community development program.
       Hallberg is a graduate of Augustana College, Rock Island,
Ill., and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.  His
clinical pastoral study was at Emanuel Hospital, Portland, Ore.,
and he earned a master's degree in social work at the University
of Illinois, Chicago, with an emphasis on community organizing
and planning.
       Hallberg was ordained in 1966.  Prior to his work in social
ministries he served as a pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, Des
Plaines, Ill.; St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Chicago; and
Incarnation Lutheran Church, Burbank, Ill.
       In 1964 Hallberg married Susan C. Nelson; they are the
parents of Erik, Linconshire, Ill., and Krista, Chicago.
       LSSI provides a broad array of community-based and
residential services.  Its ministry reaches more than 200,000
people each year through program sites throughout Illinois.
Programs include adoption, adult day care, alcoholism/drug
dependence services, children's day care, counseling, foster
care, prison ministry, mental health services, and residential
programs for older adults, emotionally disturbed adolescents, and
developmentally disabled children and adults.


For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir.,
(312) 380-2955 or [log in to unmask]