ELCA Council Receives Report on the Church's Initiatives

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is "midway" through its four-year program, "Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century," the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the church, told the ELCA Church Council Nov. 12.
The council met here Nov. 12-14. It functions as the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 8-14, 2001, in Indianapolis.
"It is harvest time," Anderson said. "We can begin to see results, and we can begin to discern possibilities for the future," he said in his report to the council.
The 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Philadelphia adopted seven Initiatives -- significant areas of ministry for the next century. Leadership teams were formed to provide 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.
"These seven areas were worship, Christian basics, outreach in word and deed, communication, poverty, youth and leadership," said Anderson. "It was a four-year plan designed to invite all parts of this church to experiment, invest, test, try out, implement and evaluate activities that would strengthen the church's capacity for mission. The overall program came to be called, 'Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century.'"
One broad area of the church's activity has centered on evangelism. Anderson said the "Initiatives spoke about turning this church 'inside out,' so that it would face the world instead of its own inner history." He said the church has spent about 48 percent of its budget on outreach-related activities.
"Many activities produced from the Initiatives, or elsewhere, have given us new resources for reaching out. In some cases, the Initiatives have helped to reach under-represented populations, like ethnic- or language-specific communities, youth and young adults, and even non- Christians," Anderson said. "Lots of other projects are underway, some local and some national."
In "cultural outreach," Anderson highlighted the ELCA's African American worship resource, "This Far by Faith," and the church's Spanish-language worship resource, "Libro de Liturgia y Cantico."
New efforts to attract youth and "keep them involved in the church" included a new ELCA Web site called "Soulfuel."
Anderson also highlighted the church's research on Islam and other world religions.
From Sept. 2000 to Aug. 2001, many of the 11,000 congregations of the ELCA will embark on a "Call to Discipleship," an invitation for members of the church to commit to a year-long intentional focus on discipleship -- an attempt to turn "faith into action," Anderson said.
"Call to Discipleship" is part of a major emphasis to "Teach the Faith," one of the seven ELCA Initiatives. Anderson invited the ELCA Church Council to build on the Initiative by "creating a vision and a strategy that would challenge and channel the energies of all members in the years ahead." He said that vision "would focus on outreach and ministry with people living in poverty."
Anderson encouraged council members to "survey" what has happened in the church in the last few years and to think about "what possibilities could lie ahead."

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