ELCA Social Statements
How the ELCA makes policy on particular social issues
Social statements are social policy documents, adopted by an ELCA Churchwide Assembly, addressing significant social issues. They provide an analysis and interpretation of an issue, set forth basic theological and ethical perspectives related to it, and offer guidance for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, its individual members, and its affiliated agencies and institutions. They are the product of extensive and inclusive deliberation within this church. Since 1991, the ELCA has adopted nine social statements. You can read and download these social statements by clicking on the appropriate links.
This church shall develop social statements...that will guide the life of this church as an institution and inform the conscience of its members in the spirit of Christian liberty.
The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective, p. 9