wfn.org | Fourteen New Lutheran Congregations Gain Training

[NEWS <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 17, 1999

FOURTEEN NEW LUTHERAN CONGREGATIONS GAIN TRAINING
99-129-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Thirty Lutherans came here from nine states for
an intensive course designed for congregations of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) that have organized or reorganized in
the past six months.  The ELCA Division for Outreach sponsored the
conference April 26-28.
     Pastors and lay leaders from 14 new congregations attended the
conference.  Four mission developers who coordinate new ELCA ministries
in Kansas, Minnesota, New York and North Carolina were present also.
     "This group of 14 new congregations is an exciting view of today's
and tomorrow's ELCA," said Susan A. Thompson, executive for newly
organized congregations in the ELCA Division for Outreach.
     "They worship in four primary languages -- English, Spanish,
Ethiopian and Chinese.  They are in suburban, rural and urban, and West
Coast, Midwest and Northeast locations," she said.
     "Amidst the diversity, the clear commonality was a commitment to
Jesus Christ and the strong desire to continue to reach out to their
communities with the gospel through both word and deed," said Thompson.
     The conference provided instruction on communication, ministry
planning, leadership development, insurance matters, post-organization
needs and opportunities, conflict management, financial support, time
management and church buildings.  It also gave participants the
opportunity to learn from the experiences of each other.
     Participants represented:
 + Lord of Grace Lutheran Church, Tucson, Ariz.;
 + Spirit of Joy Community Church, Hemet, Calif.;
 + Life Lutheran Church, Pinole, Calif.;
 + Ethiopian Christian Fellowship, San Diego;
 + Iglesia Luterana de La Resurreccion, Garden City, Kan.;
 + Providence Lutheran Church, Georgetown, Ky.;
 + St. Mary Magdalene Lutheran Church, Savage, Minn.;
 + St. Martin Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn.;
 + Iglesia Luterana Paz y Esperanza, Willmar, Minn.;
 + Resurrection Lutheran Church, Woodbury, Minn.;
 + Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, Wellsville, N.Y.;
 + Hosanna Lutheran Church, Charlotte, N.C.:
 + Community of Love Lutheran Church, New London, Pa.; and
 + Rejoice Lutheran Church, Frisco, Texas.
     A similar conference in November is expected to draw
representatives from at least 10 new ELCA congregations.
Representatives from 22 new congregations attended conferences in 1998.
     The ELCA has 5.2 million members.  At the end of 1997 the church
had 10,889 congregations across the United States and Caribbean.

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