ELCA Bishops Support Women's Event, Hear Women of Color Clergy

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) affirmed a plan to organize a leadership event for women Aug. 6-8, 2001, and committed -- as they are able -- to provide financial support and help recruit participants. The event will precede the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 8-14 in Indianapolis.
The churchwide assembly is ELCA's chief legislative authority and meets every two years. The Conference of Bishops is an advisory body that includes the bishops of the ELCA's 65 synods, ELCA presiding bishop and ELCA secretary. The conference met here Oct. 5-10.
The event, "ELCA Women's Leadership Roundtable," will be a first for the ELCA. The Conference of Bishops adopted a resolution affirming the goals of the event. Goals are to support lay and clergy women in their vocations of ministry, to seek and support a new generation of women leaders for the church, and to initiate mentoring relationships, especially for younger women and women of color.
Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL) and Lutheran Brotherhood (LB) jointly provided a $100,500 grant this year for the event as part of the agencies' churchwide grants program. The funds were awarded to the ELCA Commission for Women and the ELCA Department for Communication. Several more churchwide units have joined as co-sponsors.
AAL is a fraternal benefits society based in Appleton, Wis.; LB is a fraternal benefits society based in Minneapolis.
Additional funding is needed from synods for the women's leadership event, said the Rev. April Ulring Larson, bishop of the ELCA LaCrosse (Wis.) Area Synod. There was no clear answer to a question of how much more was needed, though Larson suggested that each synod try to make about $3,000 available to support lay people and clergy who wish to attend. Planners hope as many as 1,000 women will attend, Larson said.
The Rev. Margaret G. Payne, elected bishop of the ELCA New England Synod earlier this year, said the church needs to encourage and support women in leadership, because "it's not happening by itself."
"It was a long time between the second and third bishops," said Payne, referring to her election as the third woman to serve as a bishop in the ELCA. Larson was elected in 1992; the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, bishop of the ELCA South Dakota Synod, was elected in 1995.
"We need to help women claim that leadership," Payne told the conference. "The church needs diversity. Diversity isn't a burden. Diversity is embracing a gift."
"This event is also about mentoring lay women as well as recruiting women to serve in the ordained ministry," DeGroot-Nesdahl said. "This event isn't going to turn all that around, but it is a beginning."
The roundtable "will help us look at what we are and who we are," said Joanne Chadwick, executive director, ELCA Commission for Women. She said each woman will be encouraged to bring a younger woman with her to the event.
In their action to affirm the women's leadership event, the Conference of Bishops endorsed a suggestion that 30 percent of the participants be women of color and 30 percent be women under age 30. They also recommended a careful evaluation of the event and feedback from synods to determine if there should be similar events in the future. This year the ELCA is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ordination of the first Lutheran woman in North America.
The ELCA Women's Leadership Roundtable has a 33-member planning team and a 19-member advisory board, the Commission for Women announced. All are women.
In a separate session, the Conference of Bishops heard brief presentations from a group of ELCA women of color clergy, and met with them for discussion in small groups. The group presented to the bishops a document, "A Challenge to Partnership," which summarizes the challenges faced by women of color clergy. The document also lists of series of recommendations to recognize and enhance the gifts they bring to the church.
The ELCA has more than 17,600 pastors, active and retired. Of that number, 2,428 are women and 95 are women of color.
In remarks to the Conference of Bishops, the Rev. Gwendolyn S. King, Hanover, N.H., said A Challenge to Partnership "is an invitation to join with us on an extended journey." She also expressed the hope that the discussions with the bishops were the first of many conversations. Women of color clergy encounter many personal challenges, such as racism, sexism and age discrimination, said the Rev. David A. Donges, bishop of the ELCA South Carolina Synod.
Women of color clergy seek increased opportunities for employment, greater service in the wider church, recruitment of more women for seminary education and better strategies to deal with limitations they face, King said.
Women of color clergy desire honest evaluations of their work, King said. "Otherwise, we all get shortchanged," she added.
Following discussions in small groups, several of the clergy women said they appreciated the conversations and felt their concerns were heard.
"We felt very well received," said the Rev. Beverly L. Conway, Chicago. She told the bishops, "I felt we were listened to. You are our bishops. We're in this together."
The women of color clergy group asked each bishop to select and work on one recommendation in A Challenge to Partnership. They also asked for five bishops to form a subcommittee to work on a regular basis with a strategy team of women of color clergy.
ELCA bishops who volunteered for the subcommittee were the Rev. Stephen Bouman, Metropolitan New York Synod; the Rev. April Ulring Larson LaCrosse (Wis.) Synod; the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Saint Paul Area Synod; the Rev. Callon W. Holloway Jr., Southern Ohio Synod; and the Rev. Kenneth R. Olsen, Metropolitan Chicago Synod.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html