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First ELCA member installed as National Council of Churches president
Kathryn M. Lohre was installed as president of the National Council of Churches Nov. 9 at a service held at the Lutheran Center [in Chicago]. A member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Lohre is the first Lutheran and ELCA member to serve as president of the council and the youngest woman to serve in that role.
While her presidency marks these two historic firsts, it will also be the first time a woman succeeds a woman as president of the council.
Lohre said her presidency also provides a unique opportunity for the ELCA. It will “visibly demonstrate (this church’s) commitment to the ecumenical vision, as well as its commitment to lifelong ecumenical formation, leadership development and women’s leadership,” she said.
In addition to her positions with the ELCA and the National Council of Churches, Lohre represents the ELCA as a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches.
Before joining the ELCA churchwide staff, Lohre was assistant director of the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, a research project on the changing religious landscape in the United States.
Lohre was a member of the ELCA Bishop’s Communal Discernment Task Force and on the Bishop’s Global, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relationships Roundtable. She served on the former ELCA Commission for Women Steering Committee and as an assistant to the 2000 ELCA Youth Gathering.
Lohre is a summa cum laude graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., and earned a Master of Divinity degree at Harvard Divinity School. St. Olaf is one of 26 ELCA colleges and universities.
In May 2011, the Graduate Theological Foundation in Mishawaka, Ind., conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity to Lohre, “in recognition of her election as president-elect of the National Council of Churches and also in recognition of her contributions to women’s interfaith issues and pluralism.”
Lohre succeeds the Rev. Canon Peg Chemberlin, Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Churches. Lohre is the daughter of Rev. John (Saint Paul’s, Pine Island) and Mary Lohre.
ELCA Board of Pensions Trustees announce annuity adjustment for 2012
Trustees of the Board of Pensions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) announced adjustments in 2012 ELCA Participating Annuity payments and the interest crediting rate for bridge accounts.
The Board of Pensions is a separately incorporated ministry of the ELCA. The trustees made the decision at their Nov. 4-6 meeting.
The trustees reduced payments for 2012 by 3.8 percent for ELCA Participating Annuity members and set the interest crediting rate for 2012 at 2.1 percent for bridge accounts.
Before making their final decision, trustees discussed the size of the 2012 adjustments. The Rev. Jeffrey Thiemann said he appreciated the thoughtful discussion leading up to the trustees’ decision, saying, “We hold in tension the needs and desires of our annuitants for annuity payments now with the expectation that payments will be made for life. We have a great group of trustees and advisers that discharge this responsibility with great care.” Thiemann assumed leadership as Board of Pensions president and CEO on October 1.
The ELCA Board of Pensions provides health, retirement, disability and survivor benefits and related services for 50,000 active and retired ELCA pastors, rostered laypersons, lay employees and their families. Information about the ELCA Board of Pensions is at www.ELCAbop.org on the web.
ELCA members respond to record-level rainfall in Central America
Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are responding to record-level rainfall in Central America that has caused flooding and mudslides in rural and urban areas. Through ELCA Disaster Response, $23,000 has been allocated for Lutheran companion churches in Guatemala and Nicaragua to address immediate humanitarian needs. The ELCA is also working with Lutheran companion churches and local partners in El Salvador and Honduras, as damage assessments continue across the entire region.