Lutherans, Episcopalians Discuss Corporate Social Responsibility

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "This was a first-time acquaintance for all of us," said Dr. Robert C. Holland, Bethesda, Md., newly elected chair of the advisory committee for corporate social responsibility of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The Lutherans met Jan. 14-15 with = their counterparts on the social responsibility in investments committee of The Episcopal Church.
Through the advisory committee, the ELCA Division for Church in Society counsels various institutions of the church about the social records of corporations in which they hold stock. In some cases, shareholder resolutions may be considered to effect change in the corporation's practices.
Generally, resolutions are filed with corporations before the end of each year in preparation for stockholder meetings to be held the following spring. Many resolutions are withdrawn before reaching the stockholder meetings because they prompt significant dialogues between the filer and the corporation's management.
"There was a synergy here that was extraordinary," Holland said of Lutherans meeting with Episcopalians. "We found they were extraordinarily knowledgeable, intelligent, committed people. We learned from them. I think they learned from us."
"You can tell the group as a whole felt that way with how quickly they accepted the idea of having another meeting," he said.
That meeting will be held Sept. 15 in New York to coincide with a meeting of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). = About 275 religious organizations, including the ELCA and The Episcopal Church, coordinate their corporate social responsibility efforts through the ICCR.
The committees met together to discuss the idea of Lutherans and Episcopalians co-sponsoring shareholder resolutions on one or two issues = in which they share common concerns. Jean Pogge, senior vice president, National Funding Group, South Shore Bank, Chicago, addressed a plenary meeting of the two committees.
"It's criminal to think that people are okay because they have jobs," said Pogge. "Poverty has taken a new nature in our community." She said the minimum wage cannot support many of the families in the area South Shore Bank serves.
South Shore Bank was established in 1973 as the first community development bank in the United States. It has lent more than $400 million to more than 11,000 businesses and individuals in economically depressed areas of Chicago. The bank's model has been replicated in other states = and other countries, Pogge said.
Inner-city and rural areas of the United States are "under-invested communities," disconnected from the prosperity of the larger economy, she said. "With the economy doing so well ... it isn't as true in our neighborhood as it is in other neighborhoods."
"Faith-based investors have been very important to our work. Some of our early shareholders were church institutions," Pogge said in an interview. "We're talking about putting your money into a federally insured bank account at market rates of interest, where you know your = money is going to be used for a purpose that matches your values."
"I believe the faith communities have had a great impact on corporate thinking," said Timothy H. Smith, ICCR executive director. Smith, a = member of the Episcopal committee, gave a brief report on ICCR activities to the Lutheran committee.
Smith said investors are looking for companies that share many of the values religious organizations have supported for years -- racial = diversity in decision-making, a good environmental record and fair labor practices.
"It's going to stick if moral values are blended with why it makes good business sense," said Smith. "As people of faith, we are called to = be in this ministry."
The ELCA advisory committee met separately to set its priorities -- areas in which to focus its energies as its considers shareholder resolutions and the practices of U.S. corporations -- for the next two years. The priorities are equity in the workplace, community reinvestment,=

elimination of land mines and care of the environment.
Health care issues had been a priority for corporate social responsibility and it will be the subject of a churchwide study. The ELCA's 1999 Churchwide Assembly initiated development of a social = statement on health and ethical challenges of health care for possible presentation and adoption in 2003.
Trudy A. Brubaker, ELCA director for corporate social responsibility, said another ongoing priority will be to tell Lutherans, especially those who own stock, about corporate social responsibility.
The committee elected Holland as chair; Steven Koenig, Elwood, Neb., vice chair; and Joanne Heltner, Bloomington, Ill., as secretary. Koenig = is a member of the ELCA Church Council, the church's board of directors, = which serves as the legislative authority of the ELCA between its biennial churchwide assemblies.

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