Legal Issues for the Churchwide Organization

Including legal issues for the congregations and synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The general counsel of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is an attorney, recommended by the presiding bishop, and employed full-time in the Office of the Secretary. As the in-house lawyer for the churchwide organization, the general counsel provides legal advice and services to the officers, the Church Council, the Churchwide Assembly, and the programmatic units in the churchwide office. The general counsel is not the attorney for the whole church, its congregations, members or clergy.

This Web site is part of the general counsel's effort to make general legal information concerning the church more widely available to members, pastors, congregations, synods and affiliated ministries. Through the ELCA Attorneys Association, the general counsel helps synods, congregations, and other affiliates to find qualified attorneys who can represent their legal interests.

The staff of the Churchwide Organization should be aware of the legal issues and questions that members of their congregations and synods raise: 

 The Fisher's Net