Task Force Revises Lutheran Proposal on Economic Life

CHICAGO (ELCA) Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) wanted a statement on economic life and the Christian faith that integrates biblical and theological understandings throughout the document and that is more prophetic in tone than the first draft distributed in March 1998, said Dr. Annette Citzler, chair of the ELCA Task Force on Economic Life.
So, the 15-member task force revised the proposed social statement, "Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All," at its final meeting here Jan. 15-17.
"The first draft was more oriented toward telling how the economy functions," said Citzler. "This document says more of what our faith is calling us to do in the world about economic life and about economic issues."
The current draft proposal devotes sections to explain the title:=20 "For All," "Livelihood," "Sustainable" and "Sufficient." Citzler said, "Each of those sections will now be followed by what we commit ourselves to do -- as individuals, as congregations, as the corporate church -- and what we call for" in the wider society.
Citzler teaches economics, political science and business administration and is dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Texas Lutheran University, an ELCA-affiliated university in Seguin, Texas.
The current draft of the proposed statement will be given to the studies committee of the Division for Church in Society board for presentation to the board here March 11-14. The board will deliver a final draft to the ELCA Church Council here April 9-12 and ask that it be transmitted to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Denver Aug. 16-22. The assembly will decide if the proposal will be a statement of the church.
The task force, assembled by the church's Division for Church in Society, heard from ELCA members across the United States and Caribbean.=20=

It received almost 2,000 suggestions in almost 500 written responses from
individuals and groups. About 500 Lutherans attended 75 "listening posts"
in 20 regions of the church in 1994 when the process of developing this
statement began, and a similar number went to 22 hearings on the
document's first draft in Fall 1998. A large number of other consultants
provided input as the study document was being developed in 1995 and 1996.
"The numbers don't do justice to the amount of input individuals gave to the work of the task force," said the Rev. Karen L. Bloomquist, ELCA director for studies. "By early January the task force had received nearly 100 extensive responses from individuals suggesting how the draft should be revised. Another 60 responses were from congregational groups that had discussed the draft, sometimes over several weeks. We suspect that many other congregations discussed the draft without sending in responses," she said.
People at the hearings seemed surprised to see a document that was open to discussion and did not say "who is righteous and who is not," said the Rev. Winston D. Persaud, professor at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. Lutherans want their church to be prophetic while establishing an arena for deliberation, he said.
The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, met with the task force during the opening hours of its meeting. He challenged the group to prepare a statement that will "move beyond the slogan 'for all'" and actually compel the church to be for everyone, regardless of income.
Anderson said the Lutheran church is often viewed as being middle class, but he reminded the group that some members live in poverty and some clergy live below "the poverty line" in rural and urban congregations. He said the church must explore all of its "openings" into other classes, including the "companion synod" relationships the ELCA has developed with other Lutheran churches around the world.
The middle class is usually satisfied with the way things are, said the Rev. Juan Cobrda, bishop of the ELCA's Slovak Zion Synod, Niles, = Ill.=20 He asked that the statement move ELCA members to make personal economic changes that will have positive effects at home and abroad.
"We have to be controversial enough to keep the dialogue moving," said Mary Nelson, executive director of Bethel New Life, Chicago. "We need people listening to each other."
Meanwhile, the church must "avoid statements which are out of touch with arithmetic," said Timothy D. Calvin, retired manufacturer, Melbourne, Fla. He said he didn't want the ELCA offering solutions that would be considered "folly" in some economic circles.
Citzler wanted the proposal to have a timeless flavor not addressing individual policies or listing specific data. "The church doesn't go through these statements every 10 years to update them, so this may in fact need to be useful ... guiding the ways people put their faith into practice economically ... for a couple of decades to come," she added.
The division 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:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html