ELCA's Initiatives Lay Future Foundations

     CHICAGO (ELCA)  --  The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is fine tuning a set of seven "Initiatives for a New Century" he plans to bring to the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly in Philadelphia this August.  The ELCA Church Council looked at the initiatives when they met here April 3-7.
     Anderson told the council, "We have been listening to the church, now we are ready to ask `What next?'" He said the 10-year-old ELCA is "not at full maturity" and will benefit from planning.
     "This council can lay the foundation for more faithful, fruitful next millennium," Anderson said.
     "The work crews are ready in the ELCA, the resources are coming.  Now the blueprint is needed to build a sturdy support for the next generation," Anderson said.  "We can't imagine the edifice, but we can build the foundation," he said.
     Almost every person in a leadership role in the ELCA has had a look at the initiatives and an opportunity to comment.  The result, said Anderson, is "broad support, particularly in congregations and synods."
     Anderson presented six initiatives to the Church Council and added another at the council's suggestion.  The seven are entitled: Deepen Our Worship Life, Teach the Faith, Witness to God's Action in the World, Strengthen One Another in Mission, Help the Children, Connect with Youth and Young Adults, and Develop Leaders for the Next Century.
     "Witness to God's action in the world" was added based on the council's concern for outreach, a global witness and the relationship of the church to the world.
     "The next step is to put legs under them," Anderson said, "some specifics to carry the initiatives forward."  With input from the council and the ELCA's synodical assemblies, Anderson hopes to add a series of  `we will' statements to each overarching initiative statement.
     At the council meeting, each initiative was followed by a series of proposed "we will" statements such as, "We will stimulate creativity in music and the visual arts..."  and "We will call on the experience of our ethnic communities to broaden vision and outreach."  Under "Help the Children" the statements include "We will aid children at risk from racism, hunger, violence and poverty..." and "We will encourage congregations to be child-friendly..."
     One hope is that the initiatives will "enhance the church's sense of accomplishment, of what is achievable," Anderson said. "I hope they will catch our people's imagination, that people say look at them and say, `Yes.'"
     Anderson told the council, "We are also continuing to explore how these specific initiatives interface with other churchwide emphases being placed before this summer's assembly. He said the ELCA will need to determine their relationship to other plans such as the proposed Urban Initiative, the Multicultural Mission Strategy and the American Indian/Alaska Native Strategic Plan.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html