wfn.org | ELCA Council Elects Daniel Lehmann Editor of 'The Lutheran'

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 14, 2005

ELCA Council Elects Daniel Lehmann Editor of 'The Lutheran'
05-217-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected Daniel J. Lehmann Nov.
11 to a four-year term as editor of "The Lutheran," the magazine
of the ELCA.  Lehmann's appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2006.
     The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and
serves as the legislative authority of the church between
churchwide assemblies.	The council met here Nov. 11-13.
Assemblies are held every other year; the next is here Aug. 6-12,
2007.
     Lehmann will succeed the Rev. David L. Miller, who resigned
June 30 as editor to accept a five-year term as Dean of the
Chapel and the first Cornelsen Director of Spiritual Formation at
the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.  Since Miller's
departure, Sonia C. Solomonson, the magazine's managing editor,
has also served as interim editor.
     Lehmann is the first lay person named editor of the
denomination's magazine in more than 65 years, including the ELCA
and predecessor Lutheran church bodies.
     The advisory committee for The Lutheran, in consultation
with the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, nominated
Lehmann following a search and interview process.
     "Dan Lehmann has a passion for deepening the content of The
Lutheran as a way of engaging ELCA readers," Hanson said.  "He
will build upon the strength of The Lutheran without minimizing
the constant challenges facing such publications in a complex and
ever-changing world of communication.  He brings strong
experience in journalism, a love for the church and desire to
explore what it means to be Lutheran Christians in the 21st
century."
     Lehmann, 54, has served here since 1999 as public
information officer, U.S. District Court, Northern District of
Illinois.  In that role, he was responsible for media relations,
public information, community outreach programs and educational
initiatives to increase understanding of the federal court's
presence in the community.
     Lehmann was born in St. Louis.  In 1973 he earned a bachelor
of journalism degree and a bachelor of arts in political science
degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia.
     He began his journalism career in 1974 at The Mining
Journal, Marquette, Mich., where he was a reporter for two years.
>From 1976 to 1983 Lehmann was an editor at The Journal-Gazette,
Fort Wayne, Ind.
     From 1983 to 1999, Lehmann was a reporter, and later editor,
with the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.  Among his roles there,
Lehmann was a copy editor, editorial page makeup editor, Sunday
news editor, religion writer, federal court reporter, Cook County
Criminal Courthouse reporter and night city editor.  He had
several national and international assignments with the Sun-
Times, including the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
     Lehmann was unit chair and vice chair for the Newspaper
Guild at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he negotiated or helped
negotiate guild contracts. He was also treasurer of the
organization.
     He has served on the board of elders and as president of
Grace Lutheran Church and School, River Forest, Ill.
     Lehmann and his wife, Julia Schmidt Lehmann, attend Christ
the King Lutheran Church and reside in the city here.  They are
parents of two adult children, Felicia, Oak Park, Ill., and
Elliott, Springfield, Ill.
     This is the first time the editor of The Lutheran has been
elected by the Church Council.	The 2005 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
adopted constitutional amendments that included a change in the
election process for the magazine's editor.  All previous editors
of The Lutheran were elected by the churchwide assembly.
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     The Lutheran is at http://www.thelutheran.org on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news