wfn.org | ELCA Assembly Receive Greetings from Lutheran Interchurch

[News News <news@ELCA.ORG>]

Organizations
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 22, 1999

ELCA ASSEMBLY RECEIVE GREETINGS FROM LUTHERAN INTERCHURCH ORGANIZATIONS
99-CWA-57-LS

     DENVER (ELCA)-- Representatives from the Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Service (LIRS) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) brought
greetings to the 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) and thanked the ELCA for its partnership.
     The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the
ELCA, met here Aug. 16-22 at the Colorado Convention Center.  There were
more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,038 ELCA voting
members.  The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known:
Hope for a New Century."
     "God calls us to use our hearts, hands and lives to help others,"
said Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr., LIRS president, New York.
     Deffenbaugh thanked the ELCA and all who "help to make this
witness to our God whose mercy does not stop at our borders."  He listed
uprooted people, immigrants and asylum-seekers as those LIRS serves.
     "All people are God's creatures.  We have a responsibility to the
dignity of all," Deffenbaugh said.
     More than 1,600 Kosovar refugees have been resettled in the United
States through the efforts of LIRS, he said, adding that he is
"overwhelmed" with requests to help Kosovars.
     This year LIRS celebrates its 60th anniversary.  Lutherans have
helped more than 275,000 people "make a new start," Deffenbaugh said.
After living in the United States for six months, 97 percent of refugees
are employed and "making a contribution," he said.
     Deffenbaugh announced the upcoming move of the LIRS headquarters
from New York to Baltimore.
     The Rev. Ishmael Noko, LWF general secretary, brought greetings
from the federation's 128 member churches in 70 countries.
     Noko thanked the ELCA for "quality cooperation, partnership and
support. "We have walked together," he said, adding that the ELCA has
provided strong leadership on the international level.
     Noting the ELCA's recent approval of full communion with the
Moravian Church in America and The Episcopal Church, and those who may
not agree with the decision, Noko said, "It's a time for healing. I hope
that this church is big enough, that there is enough space for this to
happen. Your sister churches are with you at all times."

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html