INDIANAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Church Council and Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received a special presentation on the proposed merger between Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL), based in Appleton, Wis., and Lutheran Brotherhood (LB), based in Minneapolis, at its meeting here Aug. 7-8.
The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between its churchwide assemblies. The Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the ELCA's 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary. Their meeting precedes the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, which takes place Aug. 8-14 at the Indiana Convention Center. The assembly is the church's highest legislative authority representing the 5.15 million members of the ELCA.
"This merger, when it is completed, will create a single, highly successful, focused resource to serve people in ways relevant to this new century," said John O. Gilbert, chairman, president and CEO of AAL.
Gilbert and Bruce J. Nicholson, president and CEO of LB, delivered the presentation to the Church Council and Conference of Bishops.
AAL and LB are two faith-based, member-owned fraternal benefit societies that serve the members and ministries of the ELCA. The boards of directors for AAL and LB have initially approved the merger and shared the news with employees on June 27. LB's general convention will meet this fall to consider the merger and AAL's board, its highest legislative body, will confirm the agreement.
The merger "will enable us to increase our future growth. Our presence and potential in the lives of members will increase far beyond what they are accustomed to today. We will be able to meet more needs and help more people as a single, noncompeting resource for financial products and benevolent support in the Lutheran community," Gilbert said. He said the new organization will have a membership of about three million people.
The merger is a "momentous way for us to better serve Lutherans," Nicholson told the Church Council and Conference of Bishops.
"This is a merger of two very successful organizations, each with specific strengths, specific potentials and, yes, specific weaknesses. We have developed individually through a long history of friendly competition," Nicholson said. Both organizations have 183 years of fraternal experience combined, he said.
"By merging, we are saying [that] we want to become the organization of choice for the Lutheran marketplace in a way that we couldn't do as separate organizations. We want our new organization to be so well-known and respected in our Lutheran market that it is said, 'If you're Lutheran, there is no place else you'd go for trusted financial guidance in navigating the complexities of life,'" Nicholson said. -- 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
