Sept. 11 Disaster Response Named Top ELCA Story of 2001

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The response to the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York and attack on the Pentagon near Arlington, Va., on Sept. 11 was one of the most significant news events that involved the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 2001, according to the ELCA News Service, Department for Communication.
ELCA News provides news and information about the church's mission and ministry to the public and religion media. Staff members include John R. Brooks, director; Frank F. Imhoff, associate director; Melissa O. Ramirez, associate director; and Brenda G. Williams, editorial assistant for production and media relations.
Members and leaders of the ELCA, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), Aid Association for Lutherans/Lutheran Brotherhood have developed a unified response to the destruction of the World Trade Center. AAL/LB is a fraternal benefits society.
Most of the response is aimed at counseling, help for students in Lutheran schools who lost parents in the destruction, individual emergency assistance, respite care for clergy, training for trauma response, a camp for children affected by the attacks, recovery materials, and interfaith initiatives.
Lutherans have designated funds and other resources for the Sept. 11 disaster through Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) -- a ministry of the ELCA and LCMS -- to support specific projects that meet a variety of human needs. Other funds have been made available by Lutherans through many other agencies.
More than $5 million has been contributed by members to the ELCA; $3 million has been given by members to the LCMS; and $8.7 million has been given to AAL/LB. AAL/LB each contributed $1 million of its corporate funds to the Sept. 11 disaster response.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, was among a group of Lutheran church leaders who visited the World Trade Center site and met with ELCA pastors and members in New York, Dec. 14-17. A purpose of the trip was to express appreciation to those working to provide services to people affected by the tragedy.
Human sexuality was another key topic for the ELCA throughout 2001. The Rev. Paul W. Egertson resigned July 31 as bishop of the ELCA Southern California (West) Synod, one month before his six-year term was to end. Egertson made the decision following conversations with ELCA leaders after his controversial role as a key participant in the April 28 ordination of Anita C. Hill, who was not approved for ordination in the ELCA. Hill was not in compliance with an ELCA policy that requires pastors who are homosexual in their self-understanding to refrain from homosexual sexual relationships.
In August the ELCA Churchwide Assembly asked the Division for Ministry and Division for Church in Society to lead a comprehensive four-year study on homosexuality and report back to the 2003 and 2005 Churchwide Assemblies, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA. The 2001 assembly also asked the Division for Church in Society to prepare a social statement on human sexuality.
The two divisions developed a six-point "protocol" to coordinate the assembly mandates. The protocol outlines how leadership in the projects will be shared, the selection of a study director, how the director is to be supervised, the selection of a task force, how and when study reports will be issued and how study documents will be authorized for distribution.
In November the Church Council, the ELCA's board of directors and the legislative authority of the church between its churchwide assemblies, set aside $250,000 in start-up funds for the development of a social statement on human sexuality and churchwide study on homosexuality.
ELCA News also named several other top stories, listed in no particular order, in 2001:
+ Administration. Hanson, 55, was elected to serve a six-year term as presiding bishop of the ELCA at the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, which met Aug. 8-14 in Indianapolis. Hanson, former bishop of the ELCA Saint Paul (Minn.) Area Synod, was installed Oct. 6 at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel here. In November the Church Council named the Rev. Charles S. Miller, 58, executive for administration and executive assistant to the presiding bishop, and Christina Jackson- Skelton, 36, ELCA treasurer. In 2001, 27 of the ELCA's 65 synods held elections for bishops. Eleven bishops were re-elected to serve another term and 16 pastors were called to serve as new synod bishops. In addition, the Rev. Paul M. Werger was named as interim bishop of the ELCA Saint Paul Area Synod, replacing Hanson.
+ Augsburg Fortress Publishers. Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, the publishing house of the ELCA, incurred an operating loss of $4.22 million for the first nine months of 2001. The company, however, showed operating profits for August and September, the result of this summer's reorganization, reduced staff and tight spending controls.
+ Called to Common Mission. The 2001 ELCA assembly approved a bylaw change that will allow pastors, after approval by their synod bishops and in consultation with the presiding bishop, to ordain new ELCA pastors in "unusual circumstances." As part of a full-communion agreement -- Called to Common Mission -- with The Episcopal Church, USA, only Lutheran bishops are to ordain ELCA clergy. Both churches celebrated together their new relationship of full communion at a Service of Holy Communion at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 6, 2001.
+ Disaster response. Members of the ELCA provided funds and other resources to support recovery efforts after major domestic and global disasters in 2001. They include meeting human needs in Afghanistan, where people have fled their homes as a result of years of civil conflicts, natural disasters, poverty and U.S. air strikes there; India, El Salvador and Peru, where earthquakes have killed people and destroyed homes; and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where people have become internally displaced as a result of war. Among the disasters in the United States, Lutherans responded to tornado damage in Alabama, Kansas and Mississippi; Tropical Storm Allison, which caused destruction in seven U.S. states from Texas to Florida; and an earthquake damage 10 miles northeast of Olympia, Wash., and 35 miles southwest of Seattle.
+ Human cloning. The ELCA Division for Church in Society produced "Human Cloning: Papers from a Church Consultation." The resource offers a wide-ranging compilation of theories and studies offered by individuals working in the fields of medicine, genetics, theology, ethics and the law. It consists of 14 papers, responses and a summary of conversations from an Oct. 13-15, 2000 consultation here.
+ Merger. AAL, based in Appleton, Wis., and LB, based in Minneapolis, merged to form a single organization at the end of 2001. AAL had 1.8 million members and LB had 1.2 million members; both serve the members and ministries of the ELCA. The new organization -- with its corporate center in Minneapolis, and its operations center in Appleton - - will manage almost $60 billion in assets. A new name for the organization is expected to be introduced in 2002.
+ Middle East. The ELCA held a "Mini-Summit on Palestine" last spring to determine ways the church can support nonviolent Israeli and Palestinian activities through travel, prayer, advocacy, education, media relations, leadership development and networking. The ELCA has sent delegations to the Middle East, hosted guests from there, supported Lutheran schools and hospitals in the Middle East, and conducted a national prayer vigil for the Middle East. The 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly called for an end to suicide bombings, urged international protection for Palestinian people in Israeli-occupied territories and acknowledged the "pain and suffering" of all involved in Middle East tensions. In August so