wfn.org | Focus on Social Ministries Kicks Off ELCA Assembly Week in Philadelphia

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 15, 1997

Focus on Social Ministries Kicks Off ELCA Assembly Week in Philadelphia
97-CA-01-RF

     PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Anna Marie O'Neill came to Philadelphia's
Lutheran Settlement House seeking an education, but she came away with the
dream of being a teacher.  "I came to LSH with one goal -- to get a GED,"
O'Neill said.  "I wound up with much more -- the chance to go on to
Community College of Philadelphia.  My goal now is to become a teacher
myself and work with disadvantaged kids."
     Carolyne Borie and her husband, Glen, asked Lutheran Children and
Family Services (LCFS) for help adopting "one child, maybe two," she said.
With the help of Lutheran and city agencies, they ended up reuniting four
scattered siblings into what she calls "a forever family."
     Nichet Kelly thanks the Family Preservation Program, run by LCFS and
the city Department of Human Services, for getting her two boys back after
she spent three years in recovery.  "Now I want to be healthier for myself
and my kids," she said.
     Atiya Ola Malik-Kahn got technical expertise and "great networking"
from the Microenterprise Program of LCFS' Neighborhood Development Program
to expand her small business, Projects Plus Textiles in West Philadelphia.
     Lutherans' three-century deep roots in providing for the welfare of
the Philadelphia community took center stage as the ELCA kicked off its
fifth biennial Churchwide Assembly.
     In proclaiming Aug. 14-20 "ELCA Faith in Action Week" in Philadelphia,
Mayor Edward G. Rendell lauded the long partnership between government
and Lutheran social service agencies.  "Clearly, government and the church
community at large have to work together if we're going to realize the
goals that we both want to reach," Rendell said.
     Welcoming ELCA leaders at a reception Aug. 13, Rendell credited local
church leaders, including Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Bishop Roy
Almquist, with helping to keep calm in times of racial tension, including a
current flare-up of tensions in the Grays Ferry neighborhood.
     "The ties the city shares with the church are crucial to what we do as
a city," Rendell said.
     "Among the many problems our society faces is the decline in the
spirituality of our people," said City Council President John Street.
"These problems will not be solved by just supplying the physical needs of
this world."
     Partnerships such as the ones between the city and the Lutheran social
ministry organizations are "part of what we need as a community," Street
said.
     People served by Lutheran agencies in the city presented Almquist,
Rendell and ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson with a "thank you"
banner and told how their lives had been changed through the efforts of the
church and the city.
     After accepting the mayor's proclamation and a replica of the Liberty
Bell, Anderson took a moment to address the workers and clients of the
Lutheran agencies.
     Noting that he, too, had been adopted "as a very small child,"
Anderson told the workers that "the work you do can make a tremendous
difference in the lives of young people and teenagers as they move through
their crises day by day."
     He called the church's work in urban areas like Philadelphia "a great
thing," noting that "our Lord has asked us to care for others and for
creation."
     Lutherans' presence in Philadelphia dates to 1694, when the first
Lutheran services in the colonies were founded at the former Gloria Dei
Church -- now Old Swede's Episcopal Church.  Over the last three centuries,
Lutherans have been significantly involved in developing the city's network
of social services, establishing hospitals, community centers, adoption
agencies, elder care facilities, and agencies that work with disadvantaged
people and people with disabilities.
     "The church has been in this city for over 300 years, making a
difference in people's lives, walking beside people who need a champion,"
Almquist said.

For information contact:

Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html