ELCA Social Statements
ELCA social statements are teaching documents that assist members in their thinking about social issues. They are meant to aid in communal and individual moral formation and deliberation. Social statements also set policy for this church and guide its advocacy and work in the public arena. They result from an extensive process of
participation and deliberation and are adopted by a two-thirds vote of a
Churchwide Assembly. The development and adoption of social statements are guided by the document “Policies and Procedures of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for Addressing Social Concerns,” adopted by the 1997 Churchwide Assembly and revised by the Church Council periodically.