ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 11, 2001
ELCA Assembly Honors Lowell Almen With Servus Dei Medal 07-CWA-043-KK
CHICAGO (ELCA) - The Rev. Lowell G. Almen, secretary, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was honored with the Servus Dei Medal during the 2007 Churchwide Assembly. The Servus Dei (Servant of God) Medal is given to honor retiring officers of the ELCA. Tributes were showered upon Almen, who inaugurated the position of secretary when the ELCA was formed in 1987 and will retire from that position later this year.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 6-11 at Navy Pier's Festival Hall. About 2,000 people are participating, including 1,069 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Living in God's Amazing Grace: Thanks be to God!"
Surrounded by family, Almen heard from distinguished guests praising his ministry and character. "No matter whether we were sitting on opposite sides of the table as members of our respective church bodies, or on the same side of the table as fellow Lutherans in ecumenical dialogue, the Lowell Almen I have learned to know and respect as a friend has always been the same man: well prepared and informed, always dignified as a Christian gentleman, respectful and gracious, a quiet leader with a wry sense of humor who has made an art of modeling churchmanship," said the Rev. Samuel H. Nafzger, executive director, Commission on Theology and Church Relationships, the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.
Speakers in person and on screen touted Almen's accomplishments with military chaplaincy, global and ecumenical relationships and constitutional interpretation, all aspects of the varied tasks of the secretary. Many noted the quality and significance of Almen's institutional memory, developed since the birth of the ELCA.
"Instead of making membership in a predecessor church body a banner to be carried into the new church, you, Lowell, made it the rationale for learning about the new partners. And not just learning about those partners, but making the history for the other predecessor church bodies your own so that you could love it with the present generation and teach it to the next generation. Thank you, Lowell, for building bridges," said the Rev. E. Roy Riley, Jr., bishop, ELCA New Jersey Synod, and chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops.
Acknowledging applause from the assembly with his characteristic slight grin, Almen thanked family and colleagues, then turned the attention back to the church he serves. "I hope all of you, both pastors and laity, will go back to your congregations and tell the story of what we do together, because the danger, I think, in any church body, is that we are inclined to focus on one issue or another or to focus only on the given moment and not have that broader perspective. [Keep] in mind the fact that we can do so much more together in the name of Jesus than we can do alone," said Almen. - - -
Information about the 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.ELCA.org/assembly/ on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog