Showing posts with label evangelical lutheran church of america. Show all posts
Showing posts with label evangelical lutheran church of america. Show all posts

Monday, June 8, 2009

Rethink Church: Mainline Denominations In TV Ads

Here's something from the Blog--- Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee:

Protestant groups use ads to lure members
Posted at 4:00 am under church, denominations

[Washington Times]

Shrinking mainline Protestant denominations are turning to marketing to help stem decades of membership losses and stay afloat.

The United Methodist Church recently released a $20 million rebranding effort aimed at attracting younger members to the large but diminishing Protestant sect. The new ads will appear over the next four years as part of the denomination’s “Rethink Church” campaign.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has invested nearly $1.2 million in the past two years launching a similar branding effort based on the theme “God’s Work, Our Hands.”

The denominations are trying to bounce back from losses that began in the mid-1960s.


Interesting stuff! I just saw the United Methodist Church one, tonight---here it is:


Here is the ELCA one:


So are these ad campaigns a necessary consequence of the imminent collapse of American Evangelism from within or what? Do you think other denominations should follow suit? Will these ads help revitalize interest in the church and church life among the younger generation? What do you think?

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Baptists And Lutherans Together

This is good stuff:

Monday, August 04, 2008
Lutherans: Maybe Constantinianism was a bad idea after all...

I just found this in the Biblical Recorder, the newspaper for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina:

Lutherans to apologize for Anabaptist persecution

(Religion News Service)

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is preparing a statement asking forgiveness from Anabaptists - Mennonites, Amish, and similar believers - for 16th century persecution, which included torture and killings.

The decision to prepare the statement was made by the LWF council, the world body's main governing agency, which met in Tanzania in June.

[snip]

Much of the Lutheran persecution of Anabaptists was based on writings by key figures in the Lutheran movement such as Martin Luther and condemnations in Lutheran confessional writings such as the Formula of Concord and the Augsburg Confession, which are still considered authoritative for Lutherans today.

The statement seeking forgiveness is expected to be ready for the LWF's 11th Assembly, in July 2010. The LWF represents 68 million Lutherans in 141 member churches in 17 countries, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Labels: Discipleship, Ecumenism


Posted by Chris Schelin at Monday, August 04, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The ELCA Is Pursuing More Inclusive Language In It's Statements On Sexuality

DOCUMENT CONTINUES – Page 1 of 10
Lutherans Concerned/North America

RESPONSE TO THE ELCA DRAFT SOCIAL STATEMENT ON HUMAN SEXUALITY
Lutherans Concerned/North America (LC/NA) calls upon all ELCA members who are committed to a church that fully includes people of all sexual orientations and gender identities to respond to the Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality. In the document that follows, LC/NA has pointed out both language that needs to be changed to be more fully inclusive, and language that affirms a vision of full inclusion.
The Draft Social Statement (see http://www.elca.org/faithfuljourney) is divided into five sections. Accordingly, the changes recommended below are organized by those same five sections, beginning with STRENGTHS in that section, followed by recommended CHANGES to each section.

Read more: Here.


For more information see: Shellfish: Lutherans Concerned Responds to Sexuality Draft. Another good Blog post that's related somewhat to the subject is Faith and Theology: Twelve propositions on same-sex relationships and the church.

See also Faithful Conversation: Christian Perspectives on Homosexuality for a more indepth look at the ELCA's stances on sexuality.

From a Baptist perspective see: Rescuing Sex from the Christians--- http://www.claytonsullivan.com/bio.html.

Hopefully, CBF will learn from the ELCA and get on the bandwagon by producing clear language with regards to it's intents with the issue of gender identity and sexuality.