Key Administration, Policy Figures Address LSA Conference

WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- James Towey, Bush administration official whose proximity to policy decisions regarding faith-based organizations is of significant interest to many of the nearly 300 member organizations of Lutheran Services in America (LSA), was a key speaker at LSA's annual conference here April 10-12.
LSA is an alliance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and affiliated human service organizations offering social services to children and families, older people, and people with disabilities. Together the organizations provide $6.9 billion in services in nearly 3,000 communities each year.
The conference theme was "Joined at the Heart: Lifting Our Voices for Hope and Change." About 400 people attended.
"Why does the president stress faith-based organizations and our need for those services? Think about what our country would look like without them," said Towey, deputy assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. "What makes our country great is people like you." He described the importance of personal relationships in assisting the "lost and wounded."
"You have a view of the person in front of you that the government can't have. You can develop those personal relationships, earning the right to hear what [the people] have to say," Towey said. "We look at the services you provide and provide well, and want them to be respected and treated equally."
Currently, the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is hoping the U.S. Congress will pass the Charity Aid, Recovery and Empowerment Act of 2002 (CARE Act) by Memorial Day, Towey said.
At a briefing with President George W. Bush attended by some LSA representatives, the CARE Act was described in part as putting faith- based organizations on a level playing field with other organizations, said the Rev. Nelson C. Meyer, LSA board chair. Meyer is executive director, Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio, Columbus.
The CARE Act in part provides for intermediaries, Towey said. "Small organizations don't have expertise in learning the intricacies of federal grants, yet want to build their capacity. The CARE Act provides for these in the grant process," Towey said. This would help first-time applicants access funds, he said. When asked about provisions for funding increases, Towey responded that the emphasis of the Bush Administration is on stimulating charitable giving.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for programs that promote the social and economic well-being of families, including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), said another LSA speaker, Wade F. Horn, assistant secretary for children and families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In his remarks, Horn posed the question, "Are kids better off because of the reform of '96? The answer is a tentative yes." Horn added, "We still have a long way to go to answer the question."
Horn discussed some controversial components of the Bush Administration's current welfare reform proposals, including a "welfare-to-work" emphasis. "Is [welfare-to-] work activity each week mean-spirited? No, we want to move people out of poverty, and the only way to do that is through work," Horn said.
Horn also discussed welfare reform issues and marriage. Reforms are "not about stigmatizing those who are not married, not about trapping someone into an abusive marriage, and not about withholding support of single mothers. Rather, it is about supporting a decision made or about to be made. We can teach those skills."
Former U.S. Sen. David Durenberger spoke about his experiences in the government in his remarks to the LSA conference. "I hope you leave here not hoping your needs will be met from Washington, D.C.," he said. "People who make up communities must fix communities. The government can provide you with the support for the ideas you find are most successful in your communities. An 'outside-in' process doesn't work. There must be an 'inside-out' change." Durenberger chairs Citizens for Long Term Care, a collaboration of diverse agencies engaged in the long-term care debate. "If you want to deal with an issue, find the ground on which everybody can stand," he advised. "It is our obligation as people who know needs to inform the government."
Dr. Robert Tuttle, associate professor of law, George Washington University Law School, traced the legal history which has moved the nation from what he termed "separationism" in church/state relations to an emerging neutralism, and he reflected on the meaning of the changes.
"Though in radically different ways, both church and state are charged with care of the common good. Care for the sick and care for the poor belong within the proper offices of both [and] are intertwined with the core mission of both," Tuttle said.
The state is not the church, said Tuttle, noting some of the distinctions. "The state may not act to achieve specifically religious purposes, nor can it intend to bring about religious transformation in order to achieve its legitimate secular ends," Tuttle said. "The state may not abdicate its responsibility to care for the common good by delegating such tasks to churches and then walking away."
Conversely, he highlighted ways in which the church is not the state. "Our social ministries are not an offshoot or subsidiary of the church, they are the church -- the body of Christ in mission of compassion to the world. There is no difference," said Tuttle.

LSA MOVE POSITIVE, SAYS PRESIDENT
Jill Schumann, LSA president and chief executive officer, reflected on a significant change for the organization late last year when it moved its headquarters to Baltimore from Minneapolis. "The move to Baltimore has been quite positive for us," she said, noting that many visitors have been to LSA's new offices.
"We've also been invited to a number of tables and meetings (in Washington), and, because we're in the vicinity, we're able to respond," she said. "We're in relationship with government and with other national organizations that are very near here. It has made some collaboration easy to pursue."
The organization is also looking ahead to an awareness campaign. "We know that Lutheran social ministry is a story undertold, and we want to make sure it gets out," said Schumann.
"Within Lutheran ministry, we have lived in the intersection [of church and state] and we've learned ways to do that without compromising our values," said Meyer, reflecting on LSA's advocacy activity and the conference theme. "We won't be seduced by money or lose our identity. We've lived and talked about those roles since Martin Luther."

AWARDS PRESENTED
LSA presented awards for excellence to member social ministry
organizations. Bethesda Lutheran Homes and Services, Inc., Watertown,
Wis.; Bethphage, Omaha, Neb., which advocates for people with
disabilities; and Lutheran Services for the Aging, Inc., Salisbury,
N.C., were honored during a luncheon on April 11.
Lutheran Disaster Response was recognized for its extraordinary work through a resolution of appreciation presented by the LSA board of directors. It commended "this cooperative ministry that brings compassion and healing to lives full of chaos." Four members of Congress were recognized with Congressional awards for their leadership on issues of concern to Lutheran social ministry organizations. U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) was recognized for his leadership on children's issues. U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) was recognized for his advocacy for the interests of rural America. U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) , the daughter of a Lutheran minister and life-long Lutheran, was recognized for her years as a nurse and health advocate.<