CHICAGO (ELCA) -- About 45 diaconal ministers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered Aug. 6-8 in Indianapolis to strengthen their community and to discuss ways these lay ministers relate to the whole church. The group elected six of its members to leadership.
"Together for Ministry" was the theme for three days of worship, prayer and workshops. "Together for Ministry" was also the title of a report to the 1993 ELCA Churchwide Assembly for the church's study of ministry. As a result of the report, the assembly created diaconal ministry as an official lay ministry of the church.
"Diaconal" comes from the same Greek word as "deacon" -- diakonia -- meaning "service" or "ministry." An ELCA bylaw says, "Diaconal ministers shall seek in a great variety of ways to empower, equip and support all the baptized people of God in the ministry of Jesus Christ and the mission of God in the world."
A two-year study developed "six identifying marks" of diaconal ministry. "Diaconal ministers shall be rooted in the Word of God, be trained to carry out a particular service, be committed and prepared to assist the baptized for ministry in the world and in the church, give particular attention to ministries at the boundaries between church and world, exemplify the life of Christ-like service addressing all forms of human need, and finally, be grounded in community," it said.
One purpose of the Indianapolis gathering was to focus on the sixth mark, discussing elements of 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 dealt with diaconal identity, gifts and resources, elements needed to help minister more effectively, and discernment of indigenous leaders.
The community adopted a consensus model for decision-making and elected six diaconal ministers to provide leadership: + Madelyn Herman Busse, assistant to the bishop, ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver; + Heather Lancaster Feltman, director, ministry of health and peace, South Carolina Christian Action Council, Columbia; + Edgar C. Kruse, specialist for stewardship services, ELCA Central States Synod and Division for Congregational Ministries, Independence, Mo.; + Dr. Lake Lambert III, assistant professor in religion, Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa; + Sue Setzer, executive director, Career and Personal Counseling Service, Charlotte, N.C.; + Margaret Schmitt Ajer, regional staff, ELCA Department for Synodical Relations and Division for Ministry, La Mesa, Calif.
Making decisions by consensus requires discernment. "The corporate world is beginning to embrace words like 'discernment' as referring to careful, informed decision making," said Busse. "We just include being informed by the Spirit in our discernment."
The Rev. H. George Anderson, ELCA presiding bishop, complimented the community for its "integration of contemplation and action." Diaconal ministers "need to visibly combine the spiritual life with the active life" of ministry.
"You are called to be salt and leaven, living out what Lutherans understand as vocation," Anderson told the gathering. He commended them to a cycle of "prayer, meditation and testing" as they work beside others in society.
"We are engaged in a process of defining what this ministry is since it is so young and new to our church," said Lambert. "The main progress that we made was taking on greater responsibility as a community for the interpretation of diaconal ministry to the whole church," he said of the gathering.
"Diaconal ministers are not as concerned about having clear definitions of diaconal ministry as we are about leading the church in a rediscovery and reinvigoration of diakonia -- Christ-like service in the name of God," Lambert said. "All Christians, not just diaconal ministers, are called to this service through their baptisms. Diaconal ministers are called to the leadership of this ministry by our faithful proclamation of the gospel in Word and deed," he added.
The ELCA Division for Ministry hosted the gathering, building on a similar gathering the previous year in Biloxi, Miss. The community decided to meet again in 2002 at a time and place to be determined by the newly elected leadership. -- -- --
Philip Deming, San Diego, wrote an article about his experience as a diaconal minister for Lutheran Partners, the magazine of the ELCA Division for Ministry. The publication serves about 19,000 ordained and lay ministers of the ELCA. The article is available at http://www.elca.org/dm/lp/diamin.html on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
- - -
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
