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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 18, 1999

FOUR ELCA CONGREGATIONS MODEL COMMUNITY RENEWAL
99-133-KG**

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Four congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA), noted for service and fellowship in their
communities, will serve as models for an ELCA community renewal
endeavor.
     Angelica Lutheran Church, Los Angeles, Calif.; Centro Comunitario
de la Iglesia Luterana La Sagrada Familia (Community Center of Holy
Family Lutheran Church), Chicago; Colton Lutheran Church, Colton, Ore.;
and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Baltimore, were chosen by team leaders
of the ELCA's Initiative "Witness to God's Action in the World: Moral
Deliberation and Community Renewal."  A focus of the Initiative is to
help congregations of the ELCA revitalize communities.
     The Initiative is one of seven ELCA "Initiatives to Prepare for a
New Century."  In 1997 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted on seven
significant areas of ministry for the 21st century.  Leadership teams
were formed early last year to provide overall guidance for the work of
congregations, the ELCA's 65 synods and churchwide organizations.  Team
leaders help provide an overall picture of how the church may be
different as a result of the Initiatives.
     Team leaders of "Witness to God's Action in the World: Moral
Deliberation and Community Renewal" are responsible for planning a
community renewal phase and providing  funds to support congregations
that address housing and job development and link with community
organizations, social ministry organizations, other congregations and
synods of the ELCA, and ecumenical colleagues.
     The congregations "were chosen on the bases of strength and
commitment of the leaders and their realistic visions," said Trudy
Brubaker, director for corporate social responsibility, ELCA Division
for Church in Society, Pittsburgh.  Other considerations included
diversity and ethnicity, she said.
     Centro Comunitario de la Iglesia Luterana La Sagrada Familia in
Chicago has developed a job training and computer literacy program.  The
Rev. Jose Miguel Diaz-Rodriguez, pastor and executive director for the
community center, teaches computer classes twice a week for adults and
youth.  The ELCA has made a financial commitment to subsidize the
training of two immigration specialists.  Other plans for the center
include child care, leadership development, board development, youth
ministry and church administration.
     Angelica Lutheran Church is located in the Pico-Union community of
Los Angeles, which for the last 20 years has been the entry point for
the first generation of Hispanic immigrants from Central America.  The
church houses many relief and development programs for the community,
but members of the congregation have expressed a need for programs that
address job training and job readiness.  The congregation will house a
family resource center, a child care facility, building renovations and
programs that will teach HIV/AIDS awareness, money management, life
skills and parenting.
     Colton Lutheran Church, Colton, Ore., is located at an
intersection of two small roads, where the only industry is a small gas
station.  Several residents have in-house businesses.  In 1998 the
congregation celebrated 90 years of ministry, but the average worship
attendance is about 40.
     The Colton Community Center is an old but sound building which has
been empty for the last two years.  Plans to revitalize the center
include using the building in the morning as a senior citizen center
with games, crafts and monthly health screening. At noon meals will be
offered for children participating in the afternoon after-school
program.  In the evening the building will be a place where the local
community college will hold classes for adults.
     Members of Colton Lutheran Church have a history of providing
services to the community.  In the 1950s, the congregation built a
nursing home facility for the community run by a Lutheran pastor and his
family until 1996.  Camp Colton, which began in the 1920s, was an active
Lutheran camp run by the church for several years.
     Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Baltimore, houses the Children's
Memorial Museum and Peace Center.  The museum and center, developed in
1996, house photos, texts and toys that tell the stories of children
killed in Baltimore.  Programs at the center and museum are designed to
teach children alternative, peaceful ways to manage conflict and handle
violence.  The ELCA is working to train leaders in fund-raising and
leadership development at the center.
     "We want to be a full partner in the renewal and development of
the physical structures to make safe places for people," said Gaylord
Thomas, ELCA director for community development services.
     ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson said, "When folks see
signs of positive change around them, their spirits are lifted and their
hope renewed.  They are reminded of the God who 'makes all things new.'"

     [**Kimberly J. Groninga is director of communication for the
ELCA's Southeastern Iowa Synod.]

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