ELCA Assembly Hearing Concentrates on Rural Concerns

DENVER (ELCA) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is responding to the financial crisis in rural America and its affect on family farmers. People attending a non-legislative hearing on rural ministry issues here Aug. 17 at the ELCA churchwide assembly expressed a wide range of concerns, including children leaving family farms for other careers and the need for farmers to express their concerns publicly.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting Aug. 16-22 at the Colorado Convention Center. There are more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,039 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known: Hope for a New Century."
The hearing provided assembly participants the opportunity to meet Sandra A. LaBlanc, ELCA director for rural ministry resources and networking. LaBlanc, who was called to the new position earlier this year, has been meeting with people in rural America and learning how the church is responding and can respond in the future. The 1997 ELCA assembly asked that the rural ministry position be established, said the Rev. Warren A. Sorteberg, executive for congregational outreach services, ELCA Division for Outreach, Chicago.
The Rev. David Poling-Goldenne, director for discipleship, evangelism and Christian education, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries, Chicago, said rural congregations are the subject of two studies. In one study, successful congregations involved in small town and rural ministry were studied to learn what they are doing in outreach that can be shared with others. The study was funded by Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal benefits organization based in Minneapolis.
Next month representatives of 26 rural congregations will be invited to Chicago for a round of discussions to tell how their ministries are working. This is a good example of the partnership between the ELCA and rural ministry leaders, Poling-Goldenne said.
Participants expressed a wide range of rural concerns. For example, the rural crisis is costing farm families more than money, said Leroy L. Simonson, voting member from the ELCA Western Iowa Synod.
"Our kids don't stay home," Simonson said. "They are being exported (to other cities). We better be doing something about them."
LaBlanc agreed, adding that the greatest farm export is "our children," according to a United States Department of Agriculture study.
"Farmers have a reputation for saying how bad it is," said the Rev. Mark R. Ramseth, bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod. "Now they don't say anything. That's how bad it is."
Along with about 1,000 other people, Ramseth was involved in a U.S.-Canadian border blockade in Sweetgrass, Mont., July 9. The purpose was to raise awareness of the farm crisis and protest subsidized Canadian grain from being trucked into the United States.
"We blocked the border as a protest to gain some attention for the marginalization of rural people in our country," he said.
Ramseth also paid tribute to people living in rural America. "In economic hard times, there are no people as generous in mission as our rural people," he said. "We need to hold that up in our church."
Respect for agricultural producers and their financial problems is needed, said the Rev. Barbara Spaulding, voting member, ELCA Western Iowa Synod. She said many consumers have large debts that society tolerates, but farmers tend to be looked down upon for their debts.
"My hope is that, as God's people, we can pray boldly and prophetically for our rural communities," she added.
The Rev. James H. Hanson, voting member, ELCA Northern Texas-Northern = Louisiana Synod, said this spring the synod formally asked the ELCA to focus the 2001 Churchwide Assembly on rural concerns, and it asked the church to provide resources and support for small towns and rural ministries.
Some hearing participants urged other ELCA members to use existing information and resources such as the land-grant universities in each state to learn more about the complexities of agricultural finances.
"We are all in this together," said the Rev. Dana Bjorlin, Holgate, Ohio. "As a church, we ought to realize when any part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers."
Steve Koenig, ELCA Church Council member, Elwood, Neb., chaired the hearing. There isn't one small area of the church working on the rural crisis, he said. Koenig added he is impressed that people in the churchwide offices in Chicago are interested in hearing rural concerns.

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