8/8/2016 11:30:00 AM

NEW ORLEANS (Aug. 8, 2016) – Lifting up the central Lutheran theme of God’s grace in action through God’s church, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are gathering under the theme, “Freed and Renewed in Christ: 500 Years of God’s Grace in Action.”

The assembly – the highest legislative authority of the ELCA – is meeting Aug. 8-13 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The assembly will also include preparations for observing the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.

In her remarks at the opening plenary, the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, ELCA presiding bishop, said, “We have come here after a difficult summer overwhelmed by violence and heartache. Now more than ever, we are in need of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our midst. I pray that we will surround one another in prayer and love while we are together to do God’s work at this assembly.”

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