ELCA Receives Funds to Deepen Worship Life and Teach the Faith

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In an effort to deepen worship life and teach the faith, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received $250,000 from the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation, Minneapolis, to support and expand the work of the church's initiatives.
"Deepen Our Worship Life" and "Teach the Faith" are two of seven ELCA "Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century." The 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly selected seven significant areas of ministry for the next = century. Leadership teams were formed to provide overall guidance for the work of congregations, synods and churchwide organizations. Team leaders help provide an overall picture of how the church may be different as a result of the initiatives.
Leaders and members across the church are invited to engage in conversation about worship in the ELCA. The "Deepen Our Worship Life" leadership team plans to develop print and video resources by 2000 that guide congregations to explore what is important for them in worship and how they can deepen worship life in the church. The team will host a "National Summer Conference on Worship" July 10-13, 2000, in Chicago. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the ELCA, will help organize the event.
A major emphasis of the "Teach the Faith" Initiative is to issue a "comprehensive call to all members of the ELCA" to embark on a period of faith development and "recommitment to the basics of Bible study and prayer." Resources featuring Bible studies and prayer will be produced to emphasize a "Call to Discipleship" for 2000.
"The introduction of the 'Call to Discipleship' will take place at the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly August 16-22 in Denver and will = culminate in celebration at the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly," said the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, executive director, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries.
The grant of $250,000 from the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation was given to "enhance and maximize the energy and commitment around worship = and discipleship at the local expressions of the church," she said.
The ELCA's 65 synods and congregations will receive small grants of $3,000 to $10,000 to organize training events, worship experiences, learning opportunities and community outreach events that provide for = faith formation and increased worship participation, said Bullock.
"We will make an intentional effort to involve ethnic- and=20 language-specific congregations and congregations in multicultural = settings," she said.
"The 'Deepen Our Worship Life' and 'Teach the Faith' leadership teams are working together for a congregational study on worship for 2001," said Bullock.
"Other churchwide-supported goals being pursued under the two initiatives include the production of worship resources for youth and ethnic/language-specific communities, support for musicians serving small membership congregations, a faith maturity and Christian education = resource project, and a teachers' speakers bureau," she said.
"The Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation is pleased to recognize the ELCA for taking innovative and purposeful steps in strengthening outreach and discipleship among its members," said Louise Thoreson, president and executive director for the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation. "We are delighted to partner with the ELCA in this endeavor to support the future of the Lutheran community."
Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal benefits organization, established the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation to fund innovative projects of = Lutheran organizations and institutions.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html