CHICAGO (ELCA) -- About 45 of the 50 consecrated diaconal ministers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will gather Aug. 6-8 in Indianapolis to discuss how the lay leaders will relate to each other and to the whole church. "Together for Ministry" is the theme for three days of worship, prayer and workshops.
Together for Ministry was the title of a report to the 1993 ELCA Churchwide Assembly for the church's study of ministry. As recommended in the report, the assembly created diaconal ministry as an official lay ministry of the church.
"By coming together with the theme 'Together for Ministry' this gathering brings the diaconal community full circle to its origins in the ELCA," said Karen White, diaconal minister and facilitator of the gathering's planning committee, Columbus, Ohio. "We are both returning to our denominational roots and speaking to our common mission of doing ministry with one another in the ELCA and beyond," she said.
The gathering will take place during the days before the ELCA 2001 Churchwide Assembly, August 8-14 in Indianapolis.
ELCA documents highlight six marks as characteristic of diaconal ministers: 1. Be rooted in the Word of God 2. Be trained to carry out a particular service [such as nursing, business administration] 3. Be committed and prepared to equip the baptized for ministry in the world and in the church 4. Give particular attention to ministries at the boundaries between the church and world 5. Exemplify the life of Christ-like service addressing all forms of human need 6. Be grounded in community
"Many diaconal ministers feel compelled to explore the meaning of 'being grounded in community' and its implications for the diaconal community's call to mission and ministry within the ELCA," said White. The ELCA Division for Ministry will host this gathering to explore the sixth mark -- be grounded in community.
The diaconal ministers will discuss elements of their life together as a community: decision-making processes, patterns of gathering, patterns of leadership, and patterns of relating within their community, within the ELCA and with similar communities in other church bodies. Workshops will deal with diaconal identity, gifts and resources, elements needed to help minister more effectively, and discernment of indigenous leaders.
"The gathering is for consecrated diaconal ministers, and approved and assigned diaconal ministry candidates," said White. Several other guests have been invited to join them: + the Rev. H. George Anderson, ELCA presiding bishop, Chicago + the Rev. Murray D. Finck, bishop of the ELCA Pacifica Synod, Yorba Linda, Calif. + Sister Nora Frost, directing deaconess, ELCA Deaconess Community, Gladwyne, Pa. + Dr. Susan W. McArver, assistant professor of educational ministry and church history, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C. + Susanne K. Watson, deacon and canon to the ordinary, Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, Des Moines + Deaconess E. Louise Williams, executive director, Lutheran Deaconess Association, Valparaiso, Ind.
The gathering will nominate diaconal ministers to serve on the diaconal ministry advisory panel of the ELCA Division for Ministry. The division's board will select the panel members, and the new panel will assemble in 2002.
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.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
