CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The first draft of "Toward Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All," a proposed social statement on economic life and the Christian faith, will be available in May for members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to analyze. The board of the ELCA Division for Church in Society met here March 12-14 and authorized the draft's publication and distribution.
"It's hard for Christians to talk about money, and this document will be very helpful," said Ingrid Christiansen, Chicago, board chair. "It's a draft of a social statement that is designed to help people discuss what we as Christians view as our obligations dealing with money and the economy and our obligations to those who are have-nots in our midst."
The draft invites its reader into a conversation, Christiansen said. "It asks the questions: What is a sufficient sustainable livelihood for all?' How do we think about that?' What does "livelihood" mean?' What is sufficiency?' What is sustainable?' What does it mean that it is for all?' Do we really mean all people?'"
Christiansen called it a respectful, teaching document. "It deals with all of us as people who have to have a livelihood and who take our obligation to our neighbor as well as to our families seriously," she said. "We hope that many Christians, many Lutherans will use it as an opportunity to think about the economy and money in their lives."
The draft will include a response form. "The whole idea of a draft document is that it is very much in process," said Christiansen. "We are longing for feedback from congregations, from individuals, from anybody who has an opinion about it."
Responses the Division for Church in Society receives by Dec. 1 will be used to inform the development of a proposed social statement for consideration by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August 1999.
In other business, the division's board affirmed the "Jubilee 2000/USA Platform" and the ELCA's ongoing participation in the Jubilee 2000/USA Campaign. The "platform" is a brief statement of the campaign's biblical principles and goals. It is included in a new "education packet" that the division plans to make available to ELCA members.
The Jubilee 2000/USA Campaign is "part of a worldwide movement to cancel the crushing international debt of impoverished countries" that grew out of a project of the Religious Working Group on the World Bank and the IMF. The campaign is not limited to religious organizations. It has been collaborating with the U.S. Catholic Conference and the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and it hopes to also work with Jewish and Muslim communities in the United States.
The platform recalls the biblical tradition of a Jubilee year -- every 50th year, when slaves are freed and debts are canceled. The campaign is calling 2000 a Jubilee year, asking for "definitive debt cancellation" and a process to "prevent recurring destructive cycles of indebtedness."
"Jubilee 2000 is designed to help us think about what it means to apply that biblical tradition to our own times," said Christiansen. "There is a new millennium approaching, and that has triggered people's thoughts about the subject."
"Economic development in poor countries, Third World countries, impoverished countries is stifled, and scarce resources are diverted from health care, education and other socially beneficial programs, because they are so busy servicing their debt," she said. "I hope Lutherans will look at the materials on that subject and think about their participation in that campaign."
The Division for Church in Society assists the ELCA in considering moral issues, prepares social statements and messages, coordinates the church's world hunger program, relates to 280 social ministry organizations through Lutheran Services in America, and coordinates the ELCA's advocacy with state, national, and international governmental bodies and with institutions in the private sector.
For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
