Washington, D.C. – July 8, 2011: On Sunday, July 31, 2011, Resurrection Lutheran Church will hold a special service concluding their ministry in the Kensington, Md. area. The congregation voted in May to “close as an act of mission” and sell its building to the Oromo Christian Fellowship which has been worshipping at the facility in recent years.
Resurrection Lutheran Church has been in ministry for 60 years. The Oromo Christian Fellowship is an ELCA congregation under development. “Former Resurrection members will be able to watch the Oromo Christian Fellowship grow as they grew sixty years ago,” said Amy Acland, staff member of the Metro D.C. Synod office. “The Oromo people will maintain a Lutheran presence serving the communities of Wheaton and Kensington, perhaps for another sixty years.”
The closing worship service will be held at 4:00 p.m. The Rev. Phil Hirsch, Director of Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop in the Metro D.C. Synod, will preach. The service will be a traditional Lutheran service with many favorite Lutheran hymns and traditional liturgy elements. A dinner will follow.
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Information about the “close as act of mission process” is available at http://www.metrodcelca.org/for-congregations/close-as-act-of-mission/.
Posted by: MDC Synod Communications on Friday July 8th, 2011 2:42pm
Washington, D.C. – July 6, 2011: Personal testimony of Oromo members of Lutheran churches in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) prompted a letter from the Rev. Richard H. Graham, bishop of the Metro D.C. Synod, to the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State. The letter, written June 16, 2011, expresses concern for the well-being of the Oromo people and requests that all developmental and military aid to the Government of Ethiopia be tied to that government’s compliance with internationally-recognized human rights agreements.
Members of the Metro D.C. Synod heard from persons in the synod’s youngest congregation, the Oromo Evangelical Church of Washington DC, and from a new worshipping community in its midst, the Oromo Christian Fellowship, during its 2011 Synod Assembly in Leesburg, Virg. In a legislative portion of the gathering, the synod adopted a resolution entitled “Human Rights Violations against Oromo People.” The well-being of the Oromo people is its focus along with the request for developmental and military aid to the government of Ethiopia being tied to compliance with internationally-recognized human rights agreements, including through the letter to Secretary Clinton, and encouragement for prayer among the membership.
Noting Secretary Clinton’s “special attention to individuals and groups who are being exploited, marginalized and oppressed,” Bishop Graham stated “confident hope” for her “attention to the present campaign that is being waged against the Oromo people.”
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A complete copy of the letter sent by Bishop Graham is available at http://www.metrodcelca.org/about-us/staff/statements-from-bishop-graham/.
The full text of “Human Rights Violations against Oromo People” (pdf file) is available at http://www.metrodcelca.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/11synasmweboromo.pdf.
Posted by: MDC Synod Communications on Wednesday July 6th, 2011 3:25pm
