CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Division for Outreach of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) emphasized maritime, rural, new and renewed ministries of the church while conducting its first business session of 2002 here March 1-3. Dorothy Baumgartner, chief administrative officer for Trinity Lutheran College, Issaquah, Wash., chairs the board.
The ELCA's 10,816 congregations are organized into 65 synods across the United States and Caribbean.
The ELCA Northwest Washington Synod asked the Division for Outreach to increase its funding for the Lutheran Association for Maritime Ministry (LAMM). The division's board forwarded recommendations to the ELCA Church Council about support for LAMM. The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between its biennial churchwide assemblies.
Board member the Rev. J. Elise Brown, Advent Lutheran Church, Manhattan, New York, called maritime ministry "a hidden ministry in our church among invisible people in the world." LAMM "operates on a shoestring" out of no real office, she said, yet it conducts a very significant ministry of the church.
Maritime ministries of the ELCA provide spiritual and practical assistance to ships' crews that visit U.S. harbors from around the world.
The recommendations included a pledge of increased funding through a grant from the ELCA Division for Global Mission and emphasized a higher visibility for maritime ministries by forming support partnerships with various units of the church.
Last year the ELCA Churchwide Assembly and the ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod asked the church to increase its support for rural ministry, especially with those operating family farms. Sandra A. LaBlanc, director for rural ministry resources and networking, ELCA Division for Outreach, organized a consultation Feb. 27 in Chicago to consider the church's accomplishments and challenges in rural ministry.
"This ministry is too large for one, two or three people to do," said LaBlanc. The temptation is to believe that adding staff "takes care of things," she said.
As a result of the consultation, the division's board recommended that no new churchwide staff be hired and that the division's rural ministry advisory committee work with the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop to create an Alliance for Rural Ministry.
The alliance would "pull together not only people in churchwide divisions but seminaries and grassroots coalition representatives and whatever other groups they identify," said Baumgartner. Together those participants would advocate for "rural ministry all across the church and outside of the church," she said.
LaBlanc told the board that the division's rural ministry advisory committee plans to meet with its Episcopal and Presbyterian partners next year.
The board ratified the appointment of the Rev. Ruben F. Duran as the division's executive for new congregational development. He is responsible for promoting the development of area strategies, local initiatives and emerging models for the multiplication of new ELCA communities of faith in the United States and Caribbean. Duran has been the division's executive for mission outreach services.
In his report to the board, the Rev. Richard A. Magnus, executive director, ELCA Division for Outreach, said the division helped develop 27 new ministries in 2001. The division is projecting 35 ministry starts in 2002.
The ELCA Grand Canyon Synod asked the church to develop a strategy addressing the mission needs of fast-growth areas of the United States - - areas for which the U.S. Census Bureau has projected significant population growth in the immediate future.
The outreach board responded with plans to host a consultation "mid-2002" with a variety of ELCA divisions and institutions. The consultation is to define what "fast growth" means for the church, identify "dilemmas" the church faces in addressing the mission needs of fast-growth areas and propose first steps in developing the requested strategy.
The Rev. David D. Daubert, executive for renewal of congregations, presented plans to develop a comprehensive manual to guide congregations as they consider renting, building or renovating worship space. The manual will coordinate the advice of several ELCA units, emphasizing the congregation's ministry more than where it is housed, he said.
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
