wfn.org | ELCA Assembly Receives 'Fund For Leaders In Mission' Report

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ELCA Assembly Receives 'Fund For Leaders In Mission' Report
CWA-34-05-MRC

     ORLANDO, Fla. (ELCA) -- Voting members and guests of the
2005 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) learned that the church's Fund for Leaders in
Mission has awarded $1.7 million to 135 students studying at the
eight seminaries of the ELCA.
     The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of
the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 8-14 at the World Center Marriott
and Convention Center.	About 2,300 people are participating,
including 1,018 ELCA voting members.  The theme for the biennial
assembly is "Marked with the Cross of Christ Forever."
     Cynthia J. Halverson, director, ELCA Fund for Leadership in
Mission, shared a progress report with the assembly on the fund -
- the church's seminary scholarship program initiated by the 1997
ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
     "Today, six years into our effort to build this seminary
scholarship resource, we give thanks and celebrate God's gift of
generosity and the generosity of people of this church,"
Halverson said.
     "I am so pleased to share that over $23 million in gifts and
documented deferred gift commitments have been received to
support this ministry.	The fund and related synod endowments
total $10.4 million, which this year alone will spin off over
$500,000 in scholarships assistance.  And best of all, since
beginning the scholarship program, the fund has awarded $1.7
million to 135 students studying" at our seminaries, she said.
     In 2003 Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation
challenged the ELCA to raise $2 million for the scholarship
endowment, which Thrivent would match with an additional $1
million, Halverson told the assembly.  "As of July 1, the ELCA
has received approximately $3 million in current gifts towards
this goal," she said.
     Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a Minneapolis-based not-
for-profit financial services organization serving the ELCA and
other Lutheran church bodies.
     As his last official duty as chair of the board for Thrivent
Financial for Lutherans, John O. Gilbert presented a $1 million
check to the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA,
officially ending the Thrivent challenge.
     "The church is in need of talented and promising men and
women to accept the call of ministry, to provide leadership to
the ELCA and ensure God's great love for seekers and leaders of
faith," Gilbert told the assembly.
     "We know that those who respond to this call don't have it
easy.  Many are burdened by tuition and related costs that
continue to climb each year.  The Fund for Leaders in Mission is
a tremendous opportunity to reduce that burden, and I'm delighted
to hear about its success," he said.
     "The ELCA is a church with a history of strong theologically
prepared leaders who are moving forward in many ways to ensure
that we continue this history in our future," said Hanson.
     "One of the strategic directions of the ELCA churchwide
organization is to assist this church to bring forth and support
faithful, wise and courageous leaders whose vocations are to
serve God's mission in a pluralistic world.  The Thrivent
Foundation Challenge in the ELCA, I think, has been a powerful
catalyst for us to do just that, providing for each of us an
opportunity to respond with greater involvement our shared task
of preparing leaders to proclaim the Gospel," said Hanson.
     The next goal is to build the Fund's endowment to $25
million by 2010, providing about $1.2 million annually for
scholarship assistance.
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     Information about the ELCA Churchwide Assembly is at
http://www.elca.org/assembly/05 on the Web.

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