Three unrelated items highlighted last month's meeting of the ELCA Conference of Bishops: • In response to the request of
last year's Churchwide Assembly for "words of prayer, pastoral concern
and encouragement" for gay and lesbian people in the ELCA, the bishops
issued a letter, recognizing that "as we speak specifically to gay and
lesbian persons and their families, we are also addressing the whole
church" (see related story for the full text of the bishops' letter). • Bishops rejoiced over the news that ELCA income during 1995 exceeded expenses by $6.3 million. • An entire afternoon was devoted to questions
and answers about the proposal for full communion between the ELCA and
three Reformed churches. Responding to the bishops' concerns were
Eugene Turner, associate stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.); Paul Fries, professor of the Reformed Church in America
seminary in New Brunswick, N.J.; and Gail Reynolds of the United Church
of Christ.
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