ELCA Communicators Focus on 21st Century Topics

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Some 185 communicators with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) were challenged by speakers who addressed the role of church communication in 21st century society, telling the truth, the ELCA studies on sexuality and the role of the Lutheran church in the Middle East.
The ELCA Communicators' Consultation, with the theme "Making Christ Known: Writing for the 21st Century," was held here Aug. 15-18. Participants represented many of the ELCA's 65 synods, eight seminaries, 28 colleges and universities, Lutheran organizations and the ELCA churchwide organization. The consultation was organized by the ELCA Department for Communication.
The conference included plenaries and workshops related to writing, video and photography; ELCA-college communicator relationships; hunger resources of the church; fund raising; and Middle East concerns.
Ray Suarez, Washington, D.C., a correspondent with PBS-TV's "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," was the keynote speaker at the event's concluding banquet Aug. 17.
"You in this room must deliver uncomfortable tidings along with the 'Good News' week after week, month after month, while still ministering to the more general and mundane needs for information about the daily life of the faithful," he said.
"A stable religious universe in the United States is a thing of the past. And, there hasn't been in other parts of the world for some time," Suarez said. "How much of the world's sorrows over religion are the sorrows of all people of faith? And what of our own house lately in that American Christian corner of God's world, where dirty laundry is the only laundry that much of the public sees? The wider public, the unchurched, if it cares enough to look, only hears stories of conflict, dissent and debate."
"The people you talk to in the pages of your publication who aren't bishops, conveners, moderators, district presidents and those kinds of things ... need you so much," Suarez said. "They need to be able to place their church in the context of the rest of their lives, be uplifted and entertained, be moved to act, moved to reflect."
Suarez said "journalists work in a business" that wants "to figure out people's ulterior motives." He said Lutheran communicators "work for institutions that suggest that the way to deal with the unlovable is to love them more, and if that doesn't work, love them more still."
"Your work is so important," Suarez told Lutheran communicators. "Outside your community, the idea that communication is a ministry might strike some people as odd. But you all know better than anyone how vital communication is in the life of the church."
Suarez served as a host for "Talk of the Nation," a call-in news program on National Public Radio. An award-winning journalist, Suarez is a founding member of the Chicago Association of Hispanic Journalists.

PRESIDING BISHOP GREETS COMMUNICATORS
The consultation opened with a video presentation featuring the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop. In the video Hanson greeted communicators and commended their work. He said the church needs communicators who can "tell stories in a way that draws the church in" and who can "communicate [a] sense of urgency for mission, inviting all to come and see Jesus, but to do it in a way that breaks down barriers of language, gender and culture that so often tends to divide us."
Hanson said members of the church look to communicators for help in "using new, innovative technology to link the world and share the story of God's love, God's longing for justice, mercy and peace."

TELL THE TRUTH, SAYS ELCA SECRETARY
The challenge of writing for the 21st century is that we tell the truth, said the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, secretary of the ELCA, in the opening keynote presentation. He said the challenge in telling the truth "is not only offering a clear statement of what we are trying to communicate; the challenge also is being clearly understood by readers and hearers."
"Adjectives, adverbs and verbs" are important in relation to the Eighth Commandment -- "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbors," he said. "Telling the truth may well mean more than only being factually correct. How the reader or listener understands what has been written or said is part of the risk and struggle in truth telling. It is no simple task, even in the best of circumstances."
Almen told communicators he remains "optimistic" about the challenge of writing for the 21st century because "I know of your dedicated efforts and those of people like you throughout the ELCA who seek to tell the story plainly, clearly, accurately and effectively."

COMMUNICATORS HAVE KEY ROLE IN SEXUALITY STUDIES EFFORT
Last year, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly mandated a study on homosexuality to address the blessing of same-gender unions and ordaining pastors and lay ministers in committed gay or lesbian relationships. It also asked for a social statement, which would involve a churchwide study on human sexuality.
The Rev. James M. Childs Jr., director, ELCA studies on sexuality, briefed communicators on the early stages of the studies and his hopes to "promote participation in the studies through the means of communication in your synods." He described information available on the ELCA Web site.
While many in the church fear discussing and making decisions about matters related to sexuality, Childs said the studies will make the church stronger if as many ELCA members as possible are involved in the process and sense it is fair. "That is why you as communicators are terribly important -- to communicate the urgency of participation," he said.

LUTHERANS LIVING IN TROUBLED MIDDLE EAST
A panel of five speakers discussed the Middle East and how the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is reported in ELCA publications: the Rev. Said R. Ailabouni, program director for Europe, the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, ELCA Division for Global Mission; the Rev. J. Martin Bailey, a retired pastor of the United Church of Christ and co-chair, media working group, Church World Service, Middle East Forum, West Orange, N.J.; the Rev. Mary E. Jensen, an ELCA pastor and communication officer, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (and Palestine), Jerusalem; and the Rev. Michael P. Thomas and the Rev. Susan P. Thomas, ELCA missionaries and pastors of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Old City, Jerusalem.
"You have Lutheran brothers and sisters in the Holy Land," said Jensen. One of the basic messages for U.S. Lutherans is that the Middle East conflict is not between Muslims and Jews, she said. "The invisible Christians" are a minority there, but they are deeply affected by the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians.
Quoting an Israeli human rights activist, Susan Thomas said the two "sides" are Palestinians and Israelis seeking peace, statehood and security for all, and another group of Palestinians and Israelis who advocate exclusivity, conflict and a win-lose mentality.
Michael Thomas described scenes of Palestinians avoiding Israeli police and Israelis avoiding Palestinians and public places. "Come and see," he said, inviting church communicators to visit the Middle East. "Walk the ancient streets; walk the modern streets."
Bailey described the work of the Church World Service's Middle East Forum, especially its media working group: developing a style sheet for journalists, contacting editorial boards, establishing a media center at the International Center in Bethlehem, and organizing a fact- finding visit to Israel and Palestine in October 2002.
"My hope is that you and the rest of the church will do as God calls you to work in the world," said Ailabouni. "We are called to work for justice," he said. "People need to speak up on behalf of what is just."

WANGERIN LAUNCHES TWO-MO