ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 5, 2005
Lutherans To Celebrate Global Mission In Baltimore Aug. 25-28
05-144-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Hundreds of Lutherans will come to the
Baltimore Convention Center to learn more about what's happening
in the world and how Lutherans are active in it. The Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will host a Global Mission
Event (GME) Aug. 25-28.
Offered every summer by the ELCA, these events create a four-
day global community in which missionaries, international church
leaders, special guests and ELCA members encounter the world
together. Plenary sessions, Global University sessions, worship,
prayer, song, art activities and fellowship will explore the
theme, "Gathered by God's grace for the sake of the world."
Participants will hear from ELCA mission personnel and
international guests serving in Germany, Liberia, Mexico,
Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and other countries
around the world.
More than 90 workshops and seminars -- known as "Global
University Sessions" -- highlight the GME. Topics range from the
plight of Christians in the Middle East to "Postcard from China."
Several speakers will address general sessions of the GME:
+ The Rev. Elieshi Mungure, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Tanzania, is studying at Luther Seminary, St. Paul,
Minn.
+ The Rev. Mark Alan Powell, professor of New Testament, Trinity
Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, is the author of "Loving
Jesus."
+ The Rev. Barbara R. Rossing, professor of New Testament,
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, is the author of "The
Rapture Exposed."
+ The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA
Division for Global Mission, is former bishop of the ELCA
Caribbean Synod.
+ The Rev. Kim D. Erno, director, ELCA Lutheran Center in Mexico
City, is an ELCA pastor with more than 20 years of parish
ministry.
International guests include Esther David, the Mashiah
Foundation, Nigeria; Moses Gobah, director, HIV/AIDS program,
Lutheran Church in Liberia; and John Rutsindintwarane, general
secretary, Lutheran Church of Rwanda.
Baltimore is home to the central offices of the Lutheran
Immigration and Refugee Service, Lutheran Services in America and
Lutheran World Relief (LWR). The ELCA works through those
organizations to engage in settlement of refugees, relief and
development work in the United States and around the world.
Belletech Deressa, director for international development
and disaster response, ELCA Division for Global Mission, will
host a tribute to the "Baltimore Partners."
LWR celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2005 and will sponsor
an "Anniversary Room" of interactive displays during the GME for
participants to engage staff in conversation about LWR -- the
relief and development ministry of the ELCA and Lutheran Church-
Missouri Synod.
The LWR Fair Trade Fair will feature fairly traded
handcrafts, chocolate and coffee. LWR staff will lead eight one-
hour workshops on various aspects of their work.
As a symbol of the damage the Dec. 26 tsunami caused to
lives and livelihoods, GME participants will receive tattered
pieces of fishing nets that were abandoned along the beaches of
the Indian Ocean. They will also celebrate the hope emerging
from help given to replace those nets through Lutheran relief
efforts.
A Friday evening session will address Christian Zionism.
A Saturday evening GlobalFest will pay tribute to the
mission personnel of the ELCA by featuring interactive exhibits,
special presentations, music, dance and dress from countries
around the world.
The GME includes programming for people of all ages.
Childcare will be provided for children from infancy through age
two. A children's program will offer a creative mix of learning
experiences for children age 3 to 10. Special programs for
junior high and senior high school youth are also planned.
The ELCA Division for Global Mission primarily organizes
GMEs with support from other ELCA churchwide units and Thrivent
Financial for Lutherans, a not-for-profit financial services
organization based in Minneapolis. Volunteers in the Baltimore
area have played key roles in organizing the event.
- - -
Information about the 2005 ELCA Global Mission Events is
available at http://www.ELCA.org/gme on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
