January 5, 2007

CHICAGO – Significant changes in ELCA membership, the release of a new series of worship resources, including a new worship book, continuing attention to cleanup and recovery following natural disasters, and the sudden resignation of a synod bishop were among the top stories in 2006 involving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The top stories were determined by the ELCA News Service, ELCA Communication Services. Staff include John R. Brooks, director, Melissa Ramirez Cooper, associate director, and Frank F. Imhoff, associate director.

Top stories, listed in no particular order, were:

• ELCA membership drops 80,000 from 2005 to 2006: Baptized membership in the ELCA dropped to 4.85 million in 2005, the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, reported. That figure represents a decrease of about 1.62 percent or a reduction of 79,653 baptized members since the previous year, he said. Almen attributed the drop to a decrease in the number of new members, the disbanding of 31 ELCA congregations and cleaning of membership rolls in many congregations.

• Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) released Oct. 3: A new series of worship resources – in a new worship book and in electronic form – was released, and early sales were brisk. Nearly 600,000 volumes of the ELW were ordered in 2006.

• ELCA provides emergency funds to Middle East hospital, agency: ELCA International Disaster Response released a $100,000 grant March 31 for emergency financial support of Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem. The hospital, operated by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), was facing a financial crisis because a significant source of its funding through the Palestinian Authority (PA) was lost. Many Western governments withheld financial support of the PA because its new political leadership was affiliated with Hamas, which many believe is a terrorist organization. Based in Geneva, the LWF is a global communion of 140 member churches in 78 countries, representing 66.2 million Lutherans.

International Disaster Response sent $30,000 Aug. 1 to support the work of the Contact and Resource Center (CRC), an institution designed to enhance the future of people living with disabilities in Lebanon. Located in Beirut, the CRC is a companion ministry of the ELCA. Its staff was affected by the war between Israel and Hezbollah. The ELCA sent $75,000 to support individuals and communities as they rebuilt homes and businesses in the wake of the fighting.

• "What A Relief! brings young people to U.S. Gulf Coast region: Some 1,100 college students – many of them from ELCA colleges and universities – went to the Gulf Coast region to help clean up following the devastating 2005 hurricane season. The students went to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi to muck out houses and apartment buildings and remove debris from beaches, parks and neighborhoods.

• Two women elected bishops; one hospitalized: the Rev. Claire S. Burkat was elected May 6 as bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, Norristown, and the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton was elected Dec. 2 as bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod, Cuyahoga Falls. Their elections brought to nine the number of women serving as bishops in the ELCA. Meanwhile, the Rev. Margarita A. Martinez, bishop of the ELCA Caribbean Synod, Dorado, P.R., was hospitalized Aug. 24 in Park Ridge, Ill., and disclosed she was being treated for cancer. She appointed the Rev. Francisco L. Sosa, a former bishop of the synod, as acting bishop during her treatment.

• ELCA Grand Canyon Synod bishop resigns: The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, announced Jan. 26 that Michael J. Neils resigned as synod bishop and as an ordained minister of the ELCA. Hanson explained in a letter to the ELCA Church Council and ELCA Conference of Bishops that Neils resigned "after admitting to sexual misconduct with an adult woman and reporting that conduct to me." The Grand Canyon Synod Council appointed the Rev. Alton Zenker interim bishop. Zenker retired in 2000 after serving as bishop of the ELCA Central/Southern Illinois Synod, Springfield. The Rev. Stephen S. Talmage, pastor of Peace Lutheran Church, Peoria, Ariz., was elected My 26 as Neils' successor and assumed the new role Aug. 1.

• ELCA leaders call for fair and just immigration reform: Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr., president, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), Baltimore, Hanson and 54 ELCA synod bishops sent a statement March 27 to U.S. Senators, calling for fair and just immigration reform. Their statement appeared in the March 28 issue of "Roll Call" – the newspaper of the U.S. Capitol.

• Presiding bishop available for second term, secretary declines another term: Hanson told the ELCA Conference of Bishops in October that he will be available for re-election to a second six-year term as presiding bishop when the ELCA Churchwide Assembly meets here at Navy Pier in August. Almen told the conference he would not seek another term as ELCA secretary this summer. When he leaves office Oct. 31, Almen will have served more than 20 years as secretary, a post to which he was re- elected three times.

• ELCA presiding bishop continues travels as LWF president: Bishop Hanson was a special guest as Lutheranism marked its 300th anniversary in India, preceded by a visit to Indonesia where he spoke at a post-tsunami seminar for Lutherans and Muslims. In August Hanson was a panelist at the International HIV/AIDS conference in Toronto. In October and early November, he visited Lutherans in Hungary and Romania, his first official visit as LWF president to churches in Europe.

• Youth Gathering draws 40,000 to San Antonio: Every three years, the ELCA Youth Gathering meets over a two-week period. In 2006 the site was San Antonio, attracting about 40,000 young Lutherans and adult leaders. The theme of the gathering was "Cruzando: Journey with Jesus." Cruzando is a Spanish word for "crossing." The Lutherans participated in worship, heard a variety of speakers and music, attended learning sessions and performed community service. About 800 people attended a Multicultural Youth Leadership Event, 60 people attended a Definitely-Abled Youth Leadership Event, and more than 300 delegates attended the Lutheran Youth Organization convention.

In addition 19 youth dancers from the Al Raja Palestinian Folkloric Dance Troupe, based in Ramallah, West Bank, traveled to the United States in the summer, performed throughout the country – including the ELCA Youth Gathering – and made appearances in ELCA congregations, at key ELCA events and other ministry sites.

• Retired ELCA pastor dies following CO leak at Roanoke College: An autopsy confirmed July 17 that the Rev. Walter J. Vierling, 91, Pearisburg, Va., a retired ELCA pastor, died July 14 of carbon monoxide poisoning. Vierling was staying in a dormitory at the ELCA's Roanoke College, Salem, Va., while attending a conference sponsored by the ELCA Virginia Synod. A carbon monoxide build-up early July 14 at the "Sections" – three connected dormitories on the campus – sent more than 100 people to Salem-area hospitals for evaluation. Investigators said the carbon monoxide leak was caused by a failure in a natural gas- powered water heating system. The college installed carbon monoxide monitors in all residence halls and in all other campus buildings.

• Significant 2006 obituaries:

Ronald Schulz, hostage in Iraq, St. John Lutheran Church, Jamestown, N.D.; memorial service Jan. 14

James Morrison, executive director, Oaks Indian Mission, Feb. 13

The Rev. Stewart Herman Jr., seminary president, LWF leader, Feb. 16

Charlotte Fiechter, executive director, Women of the ELCA, March 10

Marshall Stross, director of news information, former Lutheran Church in America (LCA), March 17

David Hetland, liturgical artist, April 16

The Rev. James H. Burtness, Luther Seminary scholar, teacher and writer, April 10

William O. Ricke, president, Pacific Lutheran University, April 22

Jaroslav Pelikan, Martin Luther scholar, church historian, May 13

The Rev. Olaf K. Storaasli, Luther Seminary professor, May 16

Jon Francis, youth ministry director, Ascension Lutheran Church, Ogden, Utah; lost in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains, family called off search July 23

Earl L. Mummert, ELCA Church Council member, Oct. 20

The Rev. Raymond M. Olson, president, California Lutheran University, Oct. 24

The Rev. Franklin Drewes Fry, LCA and ELCA church leader, Nov. 5

The Rev. Richard W. Solberg, church advisor, historian and educator, Nov. 15

ELCA News Service