Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Posted on 05/27/2011 4:33:47 PM PDT by lightman
ELCA NEWS SERVICE May 27, 2011
9/11 anniversary time for awareness, healing, says ELCA presiding bishop 11-076-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States approaches, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), invited members to reach out to ecumenical partners, as well as Muslim and Jewish partners, in planning commemorations. Hanson wrote in a May 24 letter that he prays members focus on "peace, justice and interfaith encounter."
The presiding bishop's invitation was also accompanied by a series of resources for congregations to use as they discuss and prepare for the 10th anniversary. The resources will continue to be updated as the anniversary date approaches.
Hanson wrote that the ELCA can show the world that dialogue is possible and "there is room for voices that represent faith without rushing to judgment and closing off discussion," he said.
But while focusing on the future, Hanson reminded members that the losses experienced on Sept. 11, 2001, are deeply personal for those most directly affected. "Our words of healing must speak to the grief that still remains," he said.
The ELCA presiding bishop noted that on Sept. 11, President Barack Obama will dedicate a national memorial to those who died in the attacks. The memorial was made possible by the Association of Victim's Families, a group founded, funded and supported by the ELCA through Lutheran Disaster Response of New York.
"My prayer is that we dedicate ourselves to a common mission of reconciliation and restoration, focusing on the larger issues of peace, justice and interfaith encounter," Hanson wrote. "Our local communities can be places of healing. Thanks be to God that through our baptismal vocation we are freed in Christ to do God's work with our hands."
--- The full text of Presiding Bishop Hanson's message with accompanying resources is at http://www.ELCA.org/bishop/messages on the ELCA website. --- About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with approximately 4.5 million members in more than 10,000 congregations across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.
For information contact: John Brooks, (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/elcanews Twitter: http://twitter.com/elcanews
In the past ten years, ELCA members have served frequently with Muslim, Jewish, Christian and other religious partners in efforts to heal national wounds and address the rise of bias against Muslims. A Quran burned in Florida or Michigan is an attack against the very faith we confess if we do not speak out on behalf of our neighbors. Religion must not be used as a foil for human hate; we know that Muslims join us in our commitment to combat terrorism. As we seek to build trust through these relationships, we experience the truth that terrorism is not in the core of any religion, that sacred scriptures have deep relevance to communities today, and that God’s vision for our future will not be diminished by unchecked fear.
Fear of Muslims all too frequently shows up in our society as public suspicion of an entire religion. As a consequence, ethnic and religious stereotyping against Muslims spills into broad discrimination of Eastern Christians, Sikhs and others. Thoughtless acts against these groups also have an impact upon Christian communities, because they are contrary to God’s vision for our future together.
I encourage you to reach out to ecumenical partners, including Muslim and Jewish partners, in your communities to plan 9/11 commemorations. I invite you to focus on increased awareness, healing of relationships and our future. I’ve provided information below about events being planned across this country, along with specific resources that will help you choose activities that promote healing and solidarity.
What ever happened to the Augsburg Confession ¶1 "condmened are the Mohammedans...???
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Martin Luther would not belong to the ELCA because he would not be welcome there.
tells me ALL I need to know....so, I'll ignore him.
They took an axe to those roots about 20 years ago
The timing of this press release between Law Enforcement Officers’Memorial Day (May 15) and US Memorial Day (May 30, properly observed) smells like a Georgia outhouse on a “90-90” day.
I’ve never found
peace at any price
to be peace nor worth the price.
That Religion of Peace has a different definition of “Bound Conscience.”
. . .Other preachers pressed for more attention to contemporary issues. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said Christians should let go of issues that "have us wrapped up," such as the controversy surrounding gay marriage.
He urged preachers to focus on other issues: ending poverty and hunger, the bullying of gays and lesbians, the sex trafficking of women and children.
Yeah, we HAD an “Interfaith Encounter” about 10 years ago.
And NEVER forget that September 11 “just happens” to be New Year’s Day on the Coptic Christian calendar.
We were given a taste of what the Copts suffer continually in northern Africa.
ELCA leadership can rot in hell as far as I am concerned.
No way am I joining in anything with this homo-promoting church. They say homosexuality is god-blessed activity. They can rot in hell. Take the women “pastors” with them too.
LCMS YA! Our clerical leadership is ducking this instead of embracing the opprotunity to strengthen the faith. Jerks worried of the weak spiritual and financial commitment to the individual congregations from the weak elca members.
He’d take a flamethrower to the place.
Well LCMS hasn’t been as strong in their approach to ELCA over this, for my tastes anyway.
As per the ELCA churches leaving, most are deciding to join the new NALC denomination rather than join an already established, more conservative denomination. I wonder how much of it is because of their women pastors.
Yeah, they’re already over their quota of white male leaders.
The new Godless "social justice" religion in a nutshell.
This bishop must think we're all a bunch of uninformed sheep out here in the pasture. There's lots of folks now who recognize and understand the propaganda and trigger words of white-collared Leftists embedded in organized denominations....and we ain't buyin' this sweet talk!
Leni
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