2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly Guide

Frequently Asked Questions about the Churchwide Assembly Guide

What is the CWA Guide? The 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly Guide is your one-stop source for assembly information, including: the Pre-Assembly Report, daily schedule, general information, worship & song materials, announcements, voting links, submission forms, convention center floor plans, nearby attractions and more. The Guide is available for iOS and Android devices, or through any web browser. Voting members may register for pre-assembly Guide overview webinars. For more information, browse the Frequently Asked Questions below. You can also download the FAQ handout to share or print. Look here for information about Guide Overview Webinars on July 21 and 23. If you have questions, contact cwaguide@elca.org.

NOTE: when downloading the CWA Guide from the app stores, please be sure to download the one called "ELCA Events" by Bravura Technologies.

Guide Training Video from July 21 (View Webinar Video)

The Guide is available as an iOS or Android app, or through any web browser. In the Apple App Store or Google Play app store, search for ELCA Events (the developer is Bravura). At this assembly we will NOT be using the “ELCA Organizations & Events” app by Guidebook. Churchwide Assembly Voting Members may install the app on their own iPad (9.7” display or larger with iPadOS 9 or higher) or Android tablet (10” display with Android OS 4.4 or higher). Voting Members who asked for a loaner during registration will receive an iPad onsite in Columbus. The Guide is also available on the web at www.elca.org/cwaguidelogin.

This guide, which requires a log in, allows Voting Members to annotate documents in the Pre-Assembly Report, and access those documents across devices and on the web. Here are your steps for logging in:

  1. Open the iOS or Android app on your device, or go to elca.org/cwaguidelogin on the web
  2. In the app, pick the 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly event and tap “Select Event”
  3. If you haven’t logged in before, tap “Sign up” and fill out the form. If the app responds “This email is already registered …” go back and select Login
  4. When you select “Login,” enter your email address and select “Sign in.” You only need to enter a password if you have set one before, inside the app.
  5. If you get an “Invalid Login Details” message, use the option for “Email me my password” to retrieve it. Once you have your password you can log in and reset it if need be.
  6. When logging in on the app you may be prompted to apply updates. For subsequent uses of the app, you probably won’t be prompted to login, but it will periodically apply updates.

The CWA Guide will normally remember your credentials after your initial login. If you are having trouble logging in, or you don't see the special PDF editor for Voting Members, send an email to cwaguide@elca.org for assistance.

While a password is not required when you Sign Up to access the CWA Guide, setting one will secure your Guide account for your use. Here are the steps:
  1. From the app Home or Dashboard screen, tap "My Meeting"
  2. Tap "My Profile"
  3. Tap "Change Password"

If you forget your password, click the "Email me my password" button on the Log In screen in the app or web interface.

The Guide apps should automatically update every couple minutes (the web version is always up to date), but at any time you can start a sync with these steps:

  1. Tap “My Meeting” and then “My Profile”
  2. Tap “Settings” and then “Sync App Data”
  3. Tap “Sync Now” and confirm with “OK”

The default PDF viewer in the CWA Guide offers the ability to scroll through PDF pages. A special PDF viewer is available in the Pre-Assembly Report section of the CWA Guide. It offers the following features: go to a specific page number; create comments or highlight portions of the document; search for a word or phrase; navigate the Outline of a document, if one is present; change from full page to page width view; change from flipping to scrolling through pages; and more. Your Guide login gives you access to your annotated documents across all your devices and on the web. If you are a Voting Member and you don’t see these features, go to the Tech Support tables in the back of Hall A, or email cwaguide@elca.org. The top menu of a document in the Pre-Assembly Report should look something like this:

Special PDF Viewer Home Bar

These instructions are written specifically for iOS and Android versions of the Guide. All of these features are available for Voting Members’ Pre-Assembly Report on the web, but behave a little differently:
  1. Go to a specific page: tap the page # in the lower left, enter the page #, click OK.
  2. Swipe pages: left or right in single page viewing mode, or up or down in continuous scroll.
  3. Scroll through pages: drag the scroll control right or left in the single page mode, or up or down in the continuous scroll mode.
  4. Jump to sections in an outline: tap the Outlines menu symbol to the right of the < symbol at the top of your tablet. Then pick Outline symbol to select the Outline of the document (if available). Tap the section you want to jump to. The < symbol will make you Exit the document, so be careful when tapping the control to get to the Outline.
  5. Search for a word or phrase: tap the “magnifying glass” in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Type the word or phrase to search for and press return or search key. You can press the  Search settings control to make your search case sensitive or limit the search to match whole words only. After you tap and go to the results you want, you can navigate forward or backwards through the results or get back to the list of results, using the Search results navigator.

Nav Controls in the PAR

Use the controls under the “View” menu in the special PDF viewer in the Pre-Assembly Report to adjust your view of the document. Here is what the icons mean:

View bar controls

View web version of the CWA Guide: elca.org/cwaguidelogin