wfn.org | ELCA Appoints Phillip H. Harris General Counsel

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

NEWSBRIEFS

September 30, 1996

HARRIS NAMED ELCA GENERAL COUNSEL

Phillip H. Harris, 48, was appointed general counsel of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on Sept. 1.  He has
been the ELCA's associate general counsel since March 1995.
Harris succeeds David J. Hardy, who will become associate general
counsel to continue his work on a part-time basis.  The general
counsel coordinates legal services for the churchwide
organization and is a legal advisor for the church's units and
officers, including the ELCA Church Council, Conference of
Bishops and the church's 65 synods.  Housed in the ELCA Office of
the Secretary, the general counsel is involved with issues of
internal church governance and of civil law.  Before coming to
work for the ELCA, Harris was solicitor for the United States
Catholic Conference (USCC) in Washington, D.C.  He was
responsible for "amicus curiae" briefs filed by the USCC in the
U.S.  Supreme Court and was extensively involved in legal issues
concerning misconduct of church personnel.  Harris has written
articles on freedom of speech and religious liberty for the
"Education Law Reporter" and in the monthly journal, "First
Things."  He is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington,
Ind., and the Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.
Harris is a member of the Bars of the District of Columbia,
Maryland and the U.S. Supreme Court.

For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958 or AHAFFTEN@ELCA.ORG; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir.,
(312) 380-2955 or FRANKI@ELCA.ORG