Lutheran Services in America 'Joined at the Heart'

CLEVELAND (ELCA) -- The theme of the 2000 conference of Lutheran Services in America (LSA), "Joined at the Heart," will serve the organization for years to come. About 400 participants heard the theology behind the slogan and received a videotape which "touched their hearts" at the annual conference here March 29-April 1.
"We invite you to make 'Joined at the Heart' the centerpiece of your organization," said Joanne Negstad, LSA president and CEO, St. Paul, Minn.
LSA is one of the largest human service networks in the United States and Caribbean. Its 296 social ministry organizations, in alliance with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, form a national network of social service and long-term care programs, providing more than $3 billion in services in 3,000 communities each year.
"We have an incarnate God," said Hal Dragseth, president, Seraphim Communications, St. Paul, Minn. God became a human being, Jesus Christ, who experienced much of the pain which social ministry organizations work to alleviate, he said.
This connection between the life of Jesus and the lives of those served was the inspiration behind a videotape Dragseth produced, "Joined at the Heart," which accompanied hundreds of resource kits distributed at the conference. Each kit included a bookmark with the lyrics of a song Dragseth wrote specifically for the video, a 30-page booklet and discussion guide, and other materials to present the theme in the public media and among agency staff and board members.
"As you deal with the day to day, we must remember these are sacred moments for the people served," said Dragseth. "I have a lot of respect for the work of social ministry organizations."
The videotape may help people "discuss core values without talking 'churchy,'" said Dragseth. It spotlights the stories of residents, clients and "front-line" staff in a "plain and direct" manner, he said.
All staff members of Lutheran social ministry organizations are not Lutheran or even Christian, but the videotape presents the commitment they share through their work, said Roberta Nestas, executive director, Lutheran Social Services of Washington and Idaho, Seattle. "This will affirm their work" regardless of their religious background, she said.
The Rev. James M. Childs Jr., dean of academic affairs and professor of theology and ethics, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, produced the kit's booklet, "What it Means to Be Lutheran in Social Ministry." In a conference workshop, he said the booklet outlines "the anatomy of Lutheran identity."
"Being Lutherans in social ministry is to be part of a history ... history shot through with meaning," said Childs. Social ministry is at the heart of the Lutheran church -- around the world -- and has been for centuries, he said.
"It's important for the church to recognize how social ministry supports its mission in the world," Childs said. "At the heart of this relationship is the mission of Jesus Christ."
Lutheran theology illustrates "the freedom to be 'joined at the heart' to other people in need," said Childs. "I'm always surprised by how the grace of God works through this church and its agencies."
"Because God first loved us ... the heart of God dwells within us. Now, what are we going to do with it?" the Rev. David D. Buegler, St. Paul Lutheran Church (LCMS), Westlake, Ohio, asked during the conference's opening worship service. "What does it mean to kneel before the God of the universe and be joined with him and his heart?"
The agencies of the church join the hearts of Christians with the hearts of other Christians and with the hearts of those who are hurting, and they join those hearts to the heart of God, said Buegler. The church is "managing all the gifts of God ... managing the very heart of God," he said. "Being a steward of the heart of God takes humility, sacrifice."
"Our love and care for each other is unconditional." the Rev. David H. Benke, president, LCMS Atlantic District, Bronxville, N.Y., told the conference. "This is how we know we are Lutheran." The unconditional love of God is central to Lutheran theology, he said.
"The mission of God to the world has top priority," said Benke. "The middle of the universe is the altar and font," he said, and the social ministry organizations are "where the common vision and common mission come together."
The Rev. Marcus J. Miller, bishop of the ELCA's Northeastern Ohio Synod, Akron, took the closing worship service's congregation on a "virtual tour" of Cleveland, describing the neighborhoods in which various Lutheran social ministry organizations work. "We deal with people they way they are," he said.
"This is not an arm of the church, not a ministry of the church. This is the church," said Miller. "Through Jesus, God deals with the world and deals with you and gives you God's heart." -- -- --
The Web site for Lutheran Services in America is at http://www.lutheranservices.org/.

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