CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In response to two resolutions, the board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Outreach (DO) listed ways in which the church is addressing the U.S. rural crisis. The board met here Feb. 23-25.
The 10,851 congregations of the ELCA are organized into 65 synods. Each synod meets in assembly annually, and many pass resolutions to be addressed by other "expressions" of the ELCA.
In 2000, the Western North Dakota Synod asked the ELCA Church Council to pray "for justice for those living in rural America." It asked the church to emphasize rural issues at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly to be held in August in Indianapolis.
Citing a statement from the North Dakota Council of Churches, the Western North Dakota Synod asked the ELCA "to advocate for the establishment of 'a just agricultural system that compensates the producers of our daily food, while ensuring the proper distribution of food resources to meet the basic human needs, and enhancing the long term stewardship of our land and water resources for the future.'"
That same year, the Minneapolis Area Synod asked the ELCA Division for Outreach and its director for rural ministry resources and networking, Sandra A. LaBlanc, to address issues related to the declining number of family farms in the United States.
That synod asked the churchwide assembly "to offer spiritual support to those engaged in agriculture, buy forming liaisons with secular or religious groups, who are trying by educational and legislative means to improve the conditions of the family farmer."
The DO board responded to the resolutions with "background information" and with an invitation for the division's Rural Ministry Advisory Committee to respond also. The advisory committee meets March 14-15 in Dubuque, Iowa.
According to the board's response, LaBlanc is already addressing several concerns the synods raised. She reports to each meeting of the ELCA Church Council on the status of the rural crisis. She regularly calls the church to prayer "in this complex and painful situation."
"The rural ministry director and the advisory committee have developed goals for their work in the areas of education, advocacy, service and spirituality," said the response.
In cooperation with the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C., and the ELCA Office of the Bishop, LaBlanc advocated for an appropriate re-writing of the U.S. farm policy. Congress will likely address that policy this spring. LOGA is the ELCA's federal public policy advocacy office.
The ELCA Division for Church in Society used some of the church's "ministry among people living in poverty" funds to advocate for a just farm policy, based on the ELCA social statement "Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All."
The presidents of three major farm organizations met with ELCA leaders in 2000. One outcome of that meeting is a farm summit planned for March 26 here at the Lutheran Center. "This meeting will specifically address the upcoming action on farm policy and will involve a broad range of interested parties from church and society," said the board's response. -- -- -- EDITORS: The story, "Lutherans Meet with U.S. Farm Leaders to Discuss Rural Crisis," is available at http://listserv.elca.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=3Dind0010&L=3Delcanews&P=3DR505 = on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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