ELCA NEWS SERVICE August 15, 2003 ELCA Assembly Re-Elects Miller Magazine Editor 03-CWA-36-JAC* MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- The Rev. David L. Miller, editor, The Lutheran, magazine of the ELCA, was re-elected to a four-year term. Voting members of the 2003 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted Aug. 15 with 95 percent in favor of the re-election. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 11-17 at the Midwest Airlines Center. There are about 2,100 people participating, including 1,031 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known: For the Healing of the World." "Thank you very much for the trust you have just extended to me," Miller said. During his speech Miller spoke about his experiences in New York shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. He said during his visit one night he wandered into Union Square. There he walked among thousands of people. As he walked, he came across thousands of candles and amid the candles was a young woman. Miller said the young woman sat cross-legged and she kept watch, making sure all the candles remained lit. "Our lady of the lights, I came to call her. The madonna of Manhattan," he said. Miller said every night while he was in New York he returned to the candles. He said this young woman was there, making sure the candles remained lit. She provided consolation and hope by her presence, he said. "At our very, very best, we at The Lutheran seek to do something very much like that," he said, referring to the young woman. The Lutheran seeks to hold up candles of God's light each month in the lives of individual Lutherans, and seeks to lift up congregations struggling to show and hold up Christ's love, Miller said. "We hold up Lutheran ministries ... revealing how they touch the suffering in a world of hurt," he said. "Each month we reveal the connections with our church and churches around the world," he said. Miller, 50, received his undergraduate degree in psychology and philosophy from Knox College, Galesburg, Ill. He received his master of divinity degree from Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. He has served as pastor at Salem Lutheran Church, Superior, Neb., and St. Mark Lutheran Church, Olathe, Kan. He currently resides in Bolingbrook, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. Wartburg is one of eight seminaries of the ELCA. -- -- -- Information about the ELCA assembly can be found at http://www.elca.org/assembly/03 on the Web. *Jessica A. Crane is completing her bachelor of arts degree at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. She is an intern this summer for ELCA News and Media Production. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news