The ELCIC’s Global Hunger and Development Appeal is collecting donations to assist with ongoing relief efforts in Colombia. Since March 2007, continuous rains have plagued the region of Colombia affecting 600,00 Colombians and displacing more than 300 families.

Action By Churches Together (ACT) International along with The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CPDH) have been assisting with relief support to the municipalities of Arauca and Arauguita through food distribution, health care, sanitation and housing since July.

On August 8, ACT announced it has reassessed the situation and, "decided that LWF should reinforce its support to displaced families in the department of Arauca who are particularly vulnerable. Through funding support to this appeal, LWF with its partner CPDH plans to continue their relief intervention, which includes: i) the operation of community kitchens, ii) recreational activities for youths and iii) awareness activities on health and human rights."

Funds collected through GHDA will be forwarded on to Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) who partners with ACT.

To support relief efforts in Colombia, donations can be made to GHDA – Colombia Flooding Appeal as follows:

– Via the ELCIC Website: www.elcic.ca (click on the "Donate Now" link)
– By mail: GHDA, 302-393 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 3H6 (please indicate "GHDA-Colombia Flooding Appeal" in the memo portion of the cheque)
– Through all GHDA Congregations

The ELCIC’s Synod of Alberta and the Territories is the Companion Synod of Colombia.

The ELCIC’s Global Hunger and Development Appeal (GHDA) works in partnership with Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) to carry out development and emergency response work internationally along with refugee resettlement in Canada.

—————————————————————–
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 174,555 baptized members in 620 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop, Manager of Communications
302-393 Portage Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 3H6
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

The ELCIC’s Global Hunger and Development Appeal (GHDA) is accepting donations to support relief efforts in Peru following the 8.0 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Peru near Pisco on Wednesday, August 15 at 6:41 p.m. local time.

National and local authorities indicate that there are almost 17,000 families affected (mostly by loss of homes), atleast 540 deaths and close to 1,600 injured. In rural areas the total number of destroyed homes could be as high as 70,000.

Designated funds received by GHDA will be sent on to CLWR who is partnering with Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.

The BC Synod’s Faith and Society Committee announced that it has forwarded $5,000 to GHDA, "to assist with the relief and development work that will be needed in the midst of this crisis."

The BC Synod is the Companion Synod of the Peruvian Evangelical Lutheran Church (ILEP) and while reports from President Pedro Bullon indicate that none of the ILEP communities have been directly impacted, members of the Lutheran churches have friends and family in the affected areas. Prior to the earthquake, plans had already been well underway for a visit to Peru from members of the BC Synod. After determining that congregations of the ILEP were not largely affected by the earthquake, Bishop Gerhard and Winn Preibisch, along with 11 people from Christ Lutheran, Chilliwack left for their Companion Synod trip on Friday, August 17. A blog has been set up for the group to contribute to during their two weeks in Peru (http://www.clcperu2007.blogspot.com/ ).

To support relief efforts in Peru, donations can be made to GHDA – Peru Earthquake Appeal as follows:

– Via the ELCIC Website: www.elcic.ca (click on the "Donate Now" link)
– By mail: GHDA, 302-393 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 3H6 (please indicate "GHDA-Peru Earthquake Appeal" in the memo portion of the cheque)
– Through all GHDA Congregations

The ELCIC’s Global Hunger and Development Appeal (GHDA) works in partnership with Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) in order to carry out development and emergency response work internationally along with refugee resettlement in Canada.

A bulletin insert has been made available so that congregations can easily distribute information on this appeal. It can be found at the following link: https://elcic.ca/GHDA/GHDA-Appeal/documents/PeruEarthquake.pdf

—————————————————————–
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 174,555 baptized members in 620 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop, Manager of Communications
302-393 Portage Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 3H6
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

The award-winning national publication of the ELCIC invites applications for the position of Editor. View the full description of this position.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC)’s Global Hunger and Development Appeal (GHDA) is accepting donations to support relief efforts Southeast Asia, including Bangladesh, Nepal and India, after torrential monsoon rains hit the region causing rivers to burst their banks.

News reports estimate that more than 230 people have died in the past 11 days and about 10 million people are homeless or cut off from their villages with little or no access to food or health care.

Designated funds received through GHDA will be sent on to Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) which is already engaged in relief efforts in the region, including the distribution of temporary shelter materials such as polythene sheets, water purification tablets, family kits of clothing, bed sheets, mosquito nets and hygiene items.

To assist with the immediate needs in the affected areas, GHDA has designated $5,000 which has been sent to CLWR to assist with their efforts in the region. The funds are from GHDA’s Emergency Disaster Response Fund which was established thanks to an anonymous gift and allows GHDA to allocate funds immediately when an emergency occurs and then replenish the Fund with donations to the church-wide appeal.

To support relief efforts in Southeast Asia, donations can be made to GHDA – Southeast Asia Appeal as follows:

– Via the ELCIC Website: www.elcic.ca (click on the Donate Now link)
– By mail: GHDA, 302-393 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 3H6 (please indicate "GHDA – Southeast Asia Appeal" in the memo portion of the cheque)
– Through all ELCIC Congregations

The ELCIC’s Global Hunger and Development Appeal works in partnership with Canadian Lutheran World Relief in order to carry out development and emergency response work internationally along with refugee resettlement in Canada.

—————————————————————-
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 174,555 baptized members in 620 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop, Manager of Communications
302-393 Portage Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 3H6
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has expressed dismay and disappointment that a document released this week by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, reasserts again for Roman Catholic theologians that the title "church" is not properly to be extended to Christian communities such as the LWF and its member bodies.

In a statement issued today in response to the Vatican document, "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church," LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko affirms that "Lutheran churches do not accept the understandings of church or the description of our lived reality of faith," found in the document.

Referring to the September 2000 document "Dominus Iesus – On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church," Noko notes that while the current position of the Vatican is not new to the LWF, "we are saddened and disappointed that it is reasserted again for our current context, in which the work of ecumenical partnership has produced such significant results."

Noko points to the "common understanding" articulated by the October 1999 adoption of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) as recognition of a "decisive step forward on the way to overcoming the division of the church." He says the affirmation of the JDDJ by the World Methodist Council, in July 2006, has shown the declaration’s "power to become more than a statement on a sixteenth-century issue."

"Understanding ourselves to be fully church, where the gospel is rightly preached and the sacraments rightly administered, we remain committed to ecumenical dialogue, including continued conversation with our partners in the Roman Catholic Church," the LWF general secretary stresses.

He adds that the LWF understands Christian unity to be both God’s gift to the "one Body of Christ and the task of the People of God."

The full text of the LWF statement follows:

Statement by Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko
General Secretary, The Lutheran World Federation

The Lutheran World Federation learns with dismay of the "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church," issued from the Vatican this week by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This document clarifies for Roman Catholic theologians that the title "church" is not properly to be extended to "Christian communities" like the member bodies of our Lutheran communion, which were shaped by the crucible of Reformation. While this position is not new to us, we are saddened and disappointed that it is reasserted again for our current context, in which the work of ecumenical partnership has produced such significant results.

On 31 October 1999, the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church together adopted a Joint Declaration that articulated a "common understanding" on the Doctrine of Justification and so accomplished what the signers recognized as a "decisive step forward on the way to overcoming the division of the church." In the years since 1999, as the Declaration was affirmed also by the World Methodist Council, it has shown its power to become more than a statement on a sixteenth-century issue: its generous spirit provides an example of ways that "our churches have come to new insights" – both about their own particular traditions and about one another. In this Joint Declaration, a clarifying note states that the word "church" is used in the document "to reflect the self-understanding of the particular churches, without intending to resolve all the ecclesiological issues related to them." This stance allowed the dialogue to proceed as between partners ("par cum pari"). The mutual respect and reserve of such an approach, so essential to the Joint Declaration, are helpful also in the wider ecumenical relations among churches. Without such an approach, problems arise not only on the world level but also locally, where pastors and faith communities are developing relationships as genuine ecumenical partners as they seek faithfully to serve God in their communities.

Lutheran churches do not accept the understandings of church or the description of our lived reality of faith which are found in the "Responses." Understanding ourselves to be fully church, where the gospel is rightly preached and the sacraments rightly administered, we remain committed to ecumenical dialogue, including continued conversation with our partners in the Roman Catholic Church. We understand Christian unity to be both God’s gift to the one Body of Christ and the task of the People of God. We will continue to pursue our vision of Christian unity as willed and prayed for by Christ himself.

Geneva,
11 July 2007

* * *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140 member churches in 78 countries all over the world, with a total membership of nearly 66.7 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

—————————————————————–
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 174,555 baptized members in 620 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop, Manager of Communications
302-393 Portage Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 3H6
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Kathy J. Magnus, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Regional Officer for North America, announced today that she will be leaving the position at the end of this year and taking an early retirement.

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Participants attending the Eleventh Biennial National Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) marked the closing of convention by worshipping together on Sunday morning. National Bishop Raymond Schultz, National Bishop-elect Susan Johnson, and the serving bishops of the ELCIC Synods, with the exception of Bishop Elaine Sauer of the Manitoba/Northwestern Ontario Synod who was absent due to illness, followed a flower decked processional cross into worship during the opening hymn. All dressed in white copes, while Bishop Schultz carried the crozier.  Bishop Schultz presided, and was assisted in worship leadership by lay delegates, members of the youth assembly and the convention chaplains. 

The music for the service was celebratory in tone, with Mark Sedio providing upbeat leadership on a grand piano for the singing of the hymns and the liturgy.

Rather than using one prayer of the day, three were used to signify various aspects of the convention. The first prayer used was for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, as it was the designated prayer for the day, the second prayer was one for Christian unity, serving as a reminder of the ecumenical family that the ELCIC is a part of, and the third prayer was for the stewardship of creation, which had direct connections with a motion that was passed during the convention.

Bishop Schultz’s sermon centred on Luke’s story of the Gerasene demoniac. Schultz reflected on the fact that the people who encountered this man after he was healed became afraid of Jesus. Bishop Schultz’s reflected, “Isn’t it amazing that an act of salvation would make people afraid!” and went on to say that this fear arises from a human understanding that the powerful can and do use their power to dominate and hurt others. This, he said, stands in direct contrast to Jesus’ understanding of his ministry, as well as to an all-powerful God who, in fact, chooses to show kindness and mercy.

In this story, the combination of the compassion that was shown, along with the gratitude of the recipient became the “ingredients of God’s mission of grace.” 

Through our baptism, Schultz concluded, we receive a call to be In Mission for Others, while reflecting this same quality of compassion, along with the reassurance that we need not be afraid.

Participants shared in the Eucharist together, and were sent forth with words that proclaimed their unity as one body in Christ, and called them to be Christ in the midst of their communities everywhere.

Following the service, participants shared final conversations with one another, and made their way to waiting buses and cars to return to their congregations, communities, friends and families.

Full coverage and information on the Eleventh Biennial National Convention of the ELCIC is available online at: https://elcic.ca/In-Convention/2007-Winnipeg/default.cfm

The Anglical Church of Canada’s General Synod Monday approved a statement from the House of Bishop urging the church to show pastoral understanding and sensitivity to all same-sex couples, including those civilly married.

The statement also commits the House to develop pastoral strategies to give effect to the acceptance of gays and lesbians to whom "we are already committed by previous General Synod and Council of General Synod resolutions, House of Bishops guidelines and Lambeth Conference statements."

Bishop Patrick Yu of Toronto, one of the authors of the statement, said the question now is "how do we move forward in a situation of no consensus. We bishops represent a diverse group," he said. "It’s a fragile situation."

On Sunday, a motion to authorize the blessing of committed same-sex unions was passed by laity and clergy but defeated in the House of Bishops.

—————————————————————–
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 174,555 baptized members in 620 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop, Manager of Communications
302-393 Portage Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 3H6
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada has narrowly defeated a resolution that would have allowed dioceses to decide for themselves whether or not to bless same-sex unions.

Lay delegates voted 78 to 59 in favor of the motion and clergy voted 63 to 53 in favor But the House of Bishops voted 21-19 against it. As a result the motion was defeated, since it required approval by each of the three orders to pass.

The motion  read:

"That this General Synod affirm the authority and jurisdiction of any diocesan synod,
1. with the concurrence of the diocesan bishop, and 
2. in a manner which respects the conscience of the incumbent and the will of the parish,
to authorize the blessing of committed same-sex unions."

—————————————————————–
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 174,555 baptized members in 620 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop, Manager of Communications
302-393 Portage Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 3H6
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

The strength of the ELCIC’s Global Hunger and Development Appeal (GHDA) is in its holistic approach to addressing issues of justice in the world according to Ryan Anderson, Assistant to the National Bishop for Stewardship and Public Life. Anderson addressed the GHDA luncheon for delegates attending the Eleventh Biennial National Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) who had an interest or curiosity for the church’s work for justice and care for the neighbour in need.
 
By holistically addressing issues of emergency relief and long-term development while also advocating for change and offering education, lasting transformation can be achieved. Not only are immediate needs met, but also structures are changed that lie at the root of problems like poverty, hunger and human rights both in Canada and abroad.
 
Partnerships were lifted up as an integral part of this holistic approach. GHDA’s primary partner, Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR), offers channels for effective delivery of emergency relief and long term development programming. KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives is instrumental in coordinating the ecumenical voices of Canadian churches to advocate for public policy that protects the needs of the marginalized. The organization also provides a wealth of educational resources. Synods of the church implement domestic projects that address issues of need in communities throughout Canada.
 
The “Signs of Hope, Practices of Love” campaign is GHDA’s framework for engaging members of the church in this wide array of initiatives. Attendees were encouraged to look at ways in which they can personally engage in practices of love for one’s neighbour to be a sign of hope in this broken world that can be so overwhelming. The Stewardship of Creation initiative, adopted by the convention on Friday, June 21, is the first of many ways this will be promoted and acted upon.
 
Anderson also formally introduced the group to the new GHDA logo. The logo is segmented into 3 parts and centres around the cross. As a symbol of not only the saving death and resurrection of Christ and the identity of the church, the cross reminds Christians of the injustices or crosses that people bear in the world every day. The shared waters of baptism are the background for a rising sun of hope. Out of the baptismal waters, Christians are called to be a light unto the world, a sign of hope and new beginnings.  An unfurling leaf points to concern for creation as well as the abundance of life breaking forth from the church’s work in long-term development, including the alleviation of hunger.

—————————————————————–
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 174,555 baptized members in 620 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop, Manager of Communications
302-393 Portage Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 3H6
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.