wfn.org | ELCA Assembly Receives Greetings from Men's Organization

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 24, 1999

ELCA ASSEMBLY RECEIVES GREETINGS FROM MEN'S ORGANIZATION
99-CWA-66-LS

     DENVER (ELCA) -- On an average Sunday in the United States, 33
percent of worshipers are adult men, down from 47 percent in the 1950s,
said Charlie Schwartz, president of Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM), in
greetings to the 1999 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
Churchwide Assembly. LMM is the men's organization of the ELCA.
     The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the
ELCA, is met Aug. 16-22 here at the Colorado Convention Center.  There
were more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,038 ELCA voting
members.  The theme for the biennial assembly was "Making Christ Known:
Hope for a New Century."
     "The focus of LMM is to help every man in our congregations
develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. The goal is to build faith
through relationships and ministry," said Schwartz, Fredericksburg,
Texas.
     LMM gathered in Breckenridge, Colo., Aug. 13-15, "to discover what
it means to build a legacy of faith and life," Schwartz said. Men from
ages 15-84 attended the gathering that Schwartz called "a turning point
for men's ministry in the church."
     Malcolm Carroll, a student at Trinity Lutheran College, Issaquah,
Wash., and emcee for the gathering, also greeted the assembly. "I
believe that God's spirit is moving in a way that goes across generation
lines and race lines," Carroll said, adding that LMM is a "place for all
men."
     LMM personnel have held leadership events in many regions,
Schwartz said. In addition, the organization is "looking forward to the
day when LMM will contribute toward the larger church instead of being
subsidized by it," he said.
     Schwartz said "in order to bring about hope for all," LMM will
promote "healthy female-male relationships. We must work together. When
we work to serve together, it is a witness to the world and the church,"
he said.
     "Amen for Lutheran men," Schwartz said.

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