Full Communion, Middle East Issues Named Top ELCA Stories of 2000

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A full communion agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was the most significant story involving the ELCA in 2000, said the staff of ELCA News & Information, part of the church's Department for Communication.
Another series of stories in 2000 ranked high by the staff was the church's response to the violence in the Middle East and events that preceded the fighting.
ELCA News & Information provides news about the 5.15-million member church's ministry and activities to the public and church media. Staff includes John R. Brooks, director; Frank F. Imhoff, associate director; Melissa O. Ramirez, associate director; and Brenda G. Williams, editorial assistant for production and media relations.
There were several significant events in 2000 related to the full communion agreement -- "Called to Common Mission" (CCM) -- between the ELCA and Episcopal Church. In February Lutherans who favor and oppose CCM met in a meeting closed to the media and the public to talk about possible ways to implement the agreement that may be acceptable to members who are opposed to the agreement.
In March the ELCA Conference of Bishops issued a pastoral letter asking the ELCA Church Council, in consultation with the presiding bishop, to explore possible ways to allow for exceptions to CCM's ordination requirements. In April the WordAlone Network was formed, a Minnesota-based Lutheran organization whose members oppose CCM and say they want to work for change in the ELCA. That same month the ELCA Church Council said the church's 65 synods could not determine on their own whether to abide by CCM's requirements, and invited synods to voice their concerns about CCM to appropriate legislative bodies of the church.
In July the Episcopal Church adopted CCM when its legislative bodies met in Denver. The two churches agreed to implement CCM on Jan. 1, 2001, and planned a Celebration of Full Communion at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., for Jan. 6, 2001.
Finally, in November, the ELCA Church Council, in response to several resolutions from synods, formally asked the presiding bishop to consult with the ELCA's ecumenical partners about the possibility of exceptions to ordination requirements of CCM. It suggested language for a possible ELCA constitutional bylaw. The council said it will discuss the issue further in April 2001, including the possibility that a bylaw may be sent for consideration to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August 2001.
The Middle East was another key topic for the ELCA throughout 2000. In September the Rev. H. George Anderson, ELCA presiding bishop, joined with leaders of North American Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches to urge President Clinton to promote a "shared" Jerusalem for Christians, Jews and Muslims. When conflict erupted in the Middle East, Anderson, on behalf of the ELCA, expressed the church's "strongest objection" to the armed intrusion by Israeli forces at Augusta Victoria Hospital. The hospital, located on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, is operated by the Lutheran World Federation, based in Geneva, Switzerland.
At the request of the ELCA Conference of Bishops, Anderson wrote to Clinton urging him to continue his effort to find a peaceful solution to the Middle East violence. The ELCA's Multicultural Mission Institute featured the Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and Palestine, as its keynote speaker. Later, Younan spoke to the ELCA Church Council, again urging U.S. Christians to support Palestinian Christians. Anderson called for all ELCA members to be part of a continuing prayer vigil for Middle East peace, and other denominations followed suit.
Near the end of the year ELCA members joined other U.S. Christians in a delegation that visited the region. The Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), the ELCA's federal public policy office in Washington, D.C., was among the trip's organizers.
ELCA News & Information also named several other top stories -- listed in no particular order -- in 2000:
+ In January, the ELCA and the Moravian Church celebrated their full communion agreement in Winston-Salem, N.C.
+ The ELCA, through LOGA, helped organize a Jubilee 2000 international debt relief rally in Washington, D.C. That was part of a significant effort on the part of many church-related organizations, including the ELCA, which led to the Clinton's signing of a significant debt relief package sent to him by Congress.
+ Top national leaders of three farm organizations -- all Lutherans -- met with Anderson to discuss the financial and social crisis in many rural communities. A national farm conference may be organized as a follow-up.
+ The ELCA continued to call for an end of live-fire military training on Vieques, an island east of Puerto Rico. Leaders and members of the ELCA and other denominations maintain a camp in the live-fire area, hoping their presence will halt military activity. Anderson and other leaders planned to visit the island in 2001 as a show of support.
+ Some 40,000 teen-agers attended the ELCA Youth Gathering in St. Louis, spread over two five-day events. They took part in worship, workshops, performed community service and heard inspirational speakers, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Earlier the church had declined to place participants at the Adam's Mark Hotel in St. Louis in response to a Justice Department lawsuit that charged the chain was engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination. When the Justice Department and the hotel settled, the churchwide organization announced it would use the hotel as planned.
+ Reserve funds, totaling $3 million, were distributed for "Ministry Among People in Poverty" projects. The ELCA Church Council designated the funds for such projects. Early in the year the ELCA Conference of Bishops adopted "A Pastoral Letter on Wealth and Poverty" and visited Southeast Florida congregations working with people in poverty. In September, leaders of the ELCA churchwide organization visited Milwaukee and met with people in poverty and congregations working in downtown neighborhoods.
+ The ELCA was active in disaster response in 2000. Among the disasters it responded to were wildfires in New Mexico and Montana, plus tornadoes in Minnesota. The church was prepared -- and helped prepare others -- for "Y2K" disasters that never happened. And, the ELCA World Hunger Appeal announced it received more than $16 million in gifts in 1999, a record.
+ The ELCA celebrated the lives of prominent members who died in 2000, including Ruth Sovik, former deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches; the Rev. Anel G. "Gib" Fjellman, former bishop of the Pacific Northwest Synod of the Lutheran Church in America (LCA); the Rev. Martin L. Yonts Sr., former bishop of what is now the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod; the Rev. William A. Janson Jr., former bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod; the Rev. Ehme R. Osterbur, former bishop of the Illinois District of the American Lutheran Church; the Rev. Edward K. Perry, who served the LCA as a synod bishop, and later, the ELCA Upstate New York Synod as bishop; the Rev. Paul R. Nelson, ELCA director for worship; and Arthur L. Larson, a man who routinely gave away 70 percent of his income and left a legacy of support for ELCA seminaries.

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