Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church - New Paltz

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Some pastors, particularly bishops in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), wear a cross. But the Rev. Richard L. Young bears a stethoscope. Serving as pastor of six Lutheran congregations in Guyana, Young is also a licensed physician tending simultaneously to the spiritual and medical well-being of people.

"My call with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana through ELCA Global Mission is 50 percent medical and 50 percent pastoral work," said Young. Although the need for medical care can be great in Guyana, people there have tended to focus more on Young's call as pastor.

"I was struck by the fact that the spiritual needs of Guyanese were often placed above their physical ones. Prayer will often be asked first and medicine comes second," he said.

Young is an ELCA missionary serving in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana (ELCG). The ELCG and ELCA are members of the Lutheran World Federation, Geneva, and both share a church-to-church relationship through ELCA Global Mission. The ELCG has 5,000 members in 46 congregations in 13 multi-point parishes.

Read the ELCA article to find out more about Rev. Young's work and the ELCG.

Fore more innformation about ELCA Global Mission, the work of ELCA mission personnel and missionary sponsorship is at http://www.ELCA.org/globalmission on the ELCA Web site. "Hand in Hand," a newsletter and blog about global mission support, is at http://www.ELCA.org/handinhand on the ELCA Web site.