ELCA Board Approves New Plan for Worship Resource Needs

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. (ELCA) -- To help address the worship needs of the 5.15 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the board of the church's Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) approved the "Next Generation of ELCA Worship Resources," a new multi-year plan for the division's worship team and Augsburg Fortress Publishers. The action was part of the board's meeting here Oct. 20-22.
The board forwarded the plan to the ELCA Church Council with a request for "approval and funding." The council -- the ELCA's legislative authority between churchwide assemblies held every two years -- will consider the plan at its meeting here Nov. 11-13. The board of trustees for Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the ELCA's publishing house based in Minneapolis, was informed of the plan when it met there Oct. 12-14.
If approved by the council, the worship team and Augsburg Fortress will work as partners to implement the plan in a "five-phase process" in the next five years.
The process will begin with a series of ELCA consultations designed to provide "conversation and widespread input" regarding worship, said the Rev. Frank W. Stoldt, Chicago, Augsburg Fortress project manager for the "Next Generation of ELCA worship resources."
The consultations, scheduled for 2001-2002, will feature discussion on "The Use of the Means of Grace" as it relates to music in worship, language and culture, worship space and environment, and preaching, Stoldt told the board. The Use of the Means of Grace is the ELCA's statement on sacramental practices, adopted by the 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
The second phase of the plan includes the development of a series of "working groups" in 2001-2004 to address specific projects necessary for "the next generation of ELCA worship resources," Stoldt said.
The third phase entails a series of "trial-use resources" for congregations to review and provide feedback in 2001-2004. The resources will reflect the work of the consultative bodies and working groups.
The fourth phase is the development of "regional and synodical conferences" for the introduction of resources, conversation and feedback, Stoldt said.
The final phase includes a proposal for a new series of ELCA worship resources in 2005.
"We are not promising a new [worship] book necessarily," Stoldt said. "We don't know if the resources will be in the form of a book, a CD-ROM or something else."
In 1978 the predecessor church bodies of the ELCA and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada published a series of resources under the title "Lutheran Book of Worship," the primary worship resource of the ELCA.
The Lutheran Book of Worship has been used by many Lutheran congregations for more than 22 years, Stoldt said. Since then a variety of other resources has been created and published by the ELCA and Augsburg Fortress "to enrich and supplement" the worship life of congregations, he said.
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) will not be involved in the process of developing new worship materials, Stoldt said. LCMS "has entered into a process to create its own worship resources," he told the Augsburg Fortress board.
Other components of the ELCA and Augsburg Fortress plan include a schedule of events, budget structure and a "partnership agreement" between DCM and Augsburg Fortress. The agreement articulates the "long-term working principles" for the partnership on the project.
A special feature of the agreement is a long-term plan for financial reinvestment -- "a yet-to-be-determined share (percentage) of the realized profits (after costs) from the sale of resources that result from this multi-phase process will be deposited in a restricted account." The funds and their income will be used to support the funding of future ELCA worship projects.
"This is an appropriate way to do business today," said the Rev. Steven T. Kruse, New Covenant Lutheran Church, Scottsdale, Ariz., DCM board member.
"The partnership of DCM and Augsburg Fortress will result in worship resources that reflect the dual identity of the ELCA churchwide structure and its review process, as well as the publishing imprint of Augsburg Fortress," said Stoldt.
The ELCA worship team and Augsburg Fortress plan to keep the church fully informed of the progress of the resource development plan.
Ronald C. Bruggeman, DCM board chair, Omaha, Neb., said the "Next Generation of ELCA Worship Resources" plan is essential for the church "because worship is central to the life of the church. We must be intentional about planning the future resources of the church."
In a separate action, the board approved the criteria for developing the "consultative bodies membership" targeted in the first phase of the plan. Each consultative body will consist of 12-15 consultants, two "experts," and four ELCA churchwide staff members. These bodies will meet three times in 2001-2002. Members of the consultative bodies will be formally invited to participate by the executive directors of DCM.
In a "drafting list" for membership on each of the consultative bodies, care will be taken to include:
+ two people with recognized expertise in the area on which the consultation is focusing;
+ striving for 50 percent female and 50 percent male, neither gender to exceed 60 percent;
+ striving for 50 percent lay and 50 percent clergy, neither clergy nor lay to exceed 60 percent;
+ representatives of missional, rural, suburban and urban congregations;
+ representatives of various age groups, including youth and young adults;
+ broad representation of the regions and synods of the ELCA;
+ 15 percent or more persons who represent the ELCA's five ethnic communities: African American and Black, American Indian and Alaska Native, Arab and Middle Eastern, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanic/Latino; and,
+ representatives of churches in full communion with the ELCA.

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