DENVER (ELCA) -- The 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted Aug. 21 to support a decision of the church's bishops not to meet next spring in Charleston, S.C., because the battle flag of the Confederacy continues to fly over the state's capitol in Columbia, S.C. The vote was 849 to 23.
ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson was asked to write a letter to the South Carolina legislature to inform state lawmakers of the assembly's action.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, met Aug. 16-22 here at the Colorado Convention Center. There were more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,038 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly was "Making Christ Known: Hope for a New Century."
The Rev. David Donges, bishop of the ELCA South Carolina Synod, urged voting members to support the church's Conference of Bishops, which decided shortly before the assembly convened that they would support a boycott called by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Although Charleston was under consideration for the bishops' spring 2000 meeting, they dropped that idea after discussing the NAACP boycott.
The Confederate battle flag, which has been flown over the state capitol for the past 37 years, is viewed by many as a continuing symbol of slavery. The ELCA South Carolina Synod, on two occasions, adopted resolutions that the flag be removed.
"Members of the legislature have determined only they have the right to remove it," Donges told the assembly.
After the vote of support was taken, Anderson quipped, "As a 23-year resident of the state of South Carolina, I will try to write in language the legislature understands."
Anderson formerly was a faculty member and president of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia.
The motion of support for the bishops was submitted to the assembly by voting member, the Rev. Kris Ann Zierke of the ELCA LaCrosse Area Synod.
In other action, the assembly referred to the ELCA Division for Church in Society a proposal that the ELCA express its concerns about mountain-top removal and valley-fill strip mining of coal to the U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and appropriate congressional committees.
Such strip mining, says the resolution, "wounds the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of people in nearby communities" and "harms the economic and social livelihood of Appalachian peoples." The resolution urges deep mining rather than strip mining, development of alternative energy resources that do not require cheap coal, and land reclamation that restores ecological balance.
The assembly also asked the ELCA Division for Church in Society to prepare a report on the issue for the Evangelical Lutheran Coalition for Mission in Appalachia.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.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
