2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to Consider Synod Resolutions

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Resolutions asking for specific actions by the 2001 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will be presented to assembly voting members meeting Aug. 8-14 in Indianapolis. At least 131 resolutions -- known as "memorials" -- were sent by synods to the churchwide assembly since the last assembly in 1999, said Myrna J. Sheie, executive assistant to the ELCA presiding bishop and chair of the assembly planning committee.
The ELCA is organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop. The churchwide assembly, the ELCA's highest legislative authority, meets every two years. This year, 1,040 voting members will consider the proposals during the Indianapolis meeting.
The ELCA Church Council appointed a committee to review the memorials, chaired by two council members: the Rev. Karen S. Parker, Huntington Beach, Calif., and Brian D. Rude, Coon Valley, Wis. The church council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the interim legislative authority between churchwide assemblies.
The committee met this summer and grouped the memorials into some 52 categories, Sheie said. The committee also recommended possible responses for the assembly voting members to consider for each memorial, she said.
All memorials will be considered, but most will be taken up together in a category known as "en bloc." En bloc memorials are not debated. The assembly responds in a single vote. However, assembly voting members may request that specific memorials be removed from en bloc for separate consideration by the assembly.
The memorials committee recommended that at least eight memorials be offered to the assembly for discussion and separate votes, Sheie said.
+ Definition and Blessing of Committed Same-Gender Relationships: Five synods called on the churchwide organization to offer guidance to synods on the subject of blessing same-gender relationships. The memorials committee recommended that the assembly direct the churchwide organization to develop resources on the topic for discussion, including proposals for definitions of committed same-gender relationships; to develop biblical and theological resources for discussion; to decline initiating a study on homosexuality; to bring progress reports to the church council and next churchwide assembly; and to make materials available that pastors could use as they discuss these issues with people concerned about the issue. Presently, the ELCA has no official policy affirming or prohibiting same-gender relationship blessings. The ELCA Conference of Bishops, in a 1993 advisory statement, has said its members do not approve of such ceremonies.
+ Concern for Unity: This memorial was offered by the ELCA Northern Illinois Synod, and it calls on the churchwide assembly to address church unity concerns. Specifically, the synod asked the church "to uphold the unity of the ELCA by seeking ... ways to reconcile with those who feel they cannot support" Called to Common Mission, a full- communion agreement of the ELCA and the Episcopal Church. The memorials committee recommended the assembly refer the matter to the presiding bishop and others to provide for regular reports to the church council, and to encourage regular conversation on church unity in the ELCA Conference of Bishops.
+ Israeli-Palestinian Relations: The ELCA Alaska Synod asked that the ELCA continue a prayer vigil for peace in the Middle East; that the ELCA request that U.S. aid to Israel, both economic and military, cease until the same standards of accountability required of other countries are enforced and until specific Middle East agreements "are adhered to and justice is brought to the land;" that the Palestinian request for interim international protection be established by the United Nations; that the assembly and other groups endorse this resolution; and that a multi-denominational campaign address U.S. government leaders and seek their support to establish justice and peace in the region. The memorials committee recommended the assembly affirm the concerns raised by the Alaska Synod, that the presiding bishop write to U.S. leaders asking that they urge and work with Israelis and Palestinians to end the "cycle of violence," urge that funds used for military purposes be used to support humanitarian assistance, discourage private sale of military weapons to Middle East nations, and urge immediate international protection of Palestinians under occupation. The committee also suggests the assembly ask ELCA members continue to participate in the ecumenical prayer vigil, affirm and commend the work of churchwide units responding to the crisis, and commend the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and Palestine for "steadfastness in faith and courage in witness through this time of crisis" and "for their ministries of reconciliation and peacemaking."
+ Family Farms: The ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod asked the churchwide assembly to request that the church council direct the ELCA director for rural ministry and networking to address problems related to the decline of family farms. It also asked that the church offer spiritual support to people who work in agricultural enterprises. In response, the memorials committee recommended the assembly pray for, learn about and support family farmers and rural communities and congregations; support areas of agreement that emerged from the March 2001 Rural Summit in which agribusiness leaders from throughout the United States met with church leaders; and request that the director for rural ministry and networking continue to assist the ELCA by working with ecumenical and other partners to respond to the farm and rural crisis.
+ Support for the people of Vieques, Puerto Rico: the ELCA Caribbean Synod asked the churchwide assembly to ask the U.S. Navy "to undo the damage it has caused" in military exercises it conducts on the island, and to continue to support efforts of the Caribbean Synod and ELCA to support the people of Vieques. The memorials committee recommended the assembly affirm the Caribbean Synod memorial in its call for an immediate cessation of all military activity on Vieques; direct units of the church to continue to advocate for immediate cessation of military training exercises on Vieques, the decontamination of its land "from the ravages of nearly 60 years of bombs and ordnance; and the prompt return of the island to its people." The proposed response also asks that there be a progress report to the 2003 Churchwide Assembly.
+ Birmingham Pledge: The ELCA Southeastern Synod asked for churchwide endorsement of a pledge, created in Birmingham, Ala., which seeks to promote "equality and racial healing." The proposed response thanks the synod for bringing the pledge to the church's attention, endorses it, urges ELCA members to sign it and calls upon people to explore ways to use the pledge in efforts to overcome racism.
+ Health-Care Policy: The ELCA Caribbean Synod asked the churchwide assembly to endorse a proposal that provisions of federal programs for indigent health care extend "fairly and equally" to all U.S. territories. The synod also asked that the language appear in the church's planned social statement on health care, expected to be presented to the 2003 Churchwide Assembly. The memorials committee proposed that the assembly encourage all ELCA members to participate in the development of its social statement on health and health care by responding to a related study completed in 2001, and the draft of the social statement when it's available in 2002.
+ Church anniversary: The ELCA Caribbean Synod asked that the ELCA affirm "the faithful legacy" of Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The church is the second oldest Lutheran church in the Western Hemisphere and the largest in the synod. The memorials committee recommended tha