wfn.org | Arnison Named Director For ELCA World Hunger Program

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 23, 2005

Arnison Named Director For ELCA World Hunger Program
05-050-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Nancy D. Arnison, Minneapolis, will become
director for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA)
World Hunger Program effective July 5.	Arnison is completing
work for a doctorate in theology from the University of Chicago
Divinity School.
     Arnison, 49, succeeds the Rev. John Halvorson, who served as
coordinator for the ELCA World Hunger Program from 1987 to 2004.
     "Nancy brings a wealth of talent and experience to this
position, including a love for this church and a strong
commitment to social justice," said the Rev. Rebecca D. Larson,
executive director, ELCA Division for Church in Society.
     "Lutherans are leaders in combating world hunger with
comprehensive approaches that tackle immediate needs, long-term
development and root causes.  Responding to God's loving call,
people of the church are turning their gifts into bread for the
hungry and policies that ensure justice.  I am honored to join
this vital ministry.  It is a privilege to partner with talented
staff and committed congregations as we move boldly forward in
this living witness to God's love for all of creation," Arnison
said.
     "In the faces of our starving brothers and sisters, we see
the suffering of God and are called to act.  In a world of
abundant resources, the extent of hunger is shocking and
unnecessary," she said.
     Born in Evanston, Ill., Arnison received a bachelor's degree
in social work from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale,
Ill., in 1977.	She earned a law degree from the University of
Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, in 1984.
     Arnison's teaching experience includes serving as an adjunct
professor of religion and human rights at United Theological
Seminary of the Twin Cities, New Brighton, Minn., in 2004.  From
2002 to 2003 she participated in the Wabash Fellowship for
Teaching Comparative Religions, University of Chicago Forum on
Pedagogy and the Study of Religion, University of Chicago
Divinity School.
     Arnison served as a lecturer on a number of topics including
international human rights, economic and health issues for women
and children, and humanitarian law at the University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis, from 1992 to 1997, and was adjunct
professor of international human rights and human rights in
Eastern Europe at the university from 1989 to 1990.
     Arnison developed archives of articles on Lutheran ethics
for the ELCA Journal of Lutheran Ethics in 2002.  From 1997 to
1999 she served as director of resource development at United
Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.  Arnison was deputy
director and director of policy and programs at Minnesota
Advocates for Human Rights, Minneapolis, from 1993 to 1997, and
was director of the refugee and asylum project there from 1992 to
1993.  Arnison was program director of Physicians for Human
Rights, Boston, from 1990 to 1992, and she was an attorney at
Briggs and Morgan Law Firm, Minneapolis, from 1985 to 1990.
     Arnison's international experiences include serving as a
member of the Working Conference on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, International Commission of Jurists, India, in 1995, and
a non-governmental delegate at the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, in 1989 and 1993.  She has
organized human-rights, fact-finding missions around the world.
Arnison has published numerous articles and delivered keynote
presentations across the country.
     Arnison is a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church,
Minneapolis.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news