CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Outreach met here Sept. 27-29, received reports on three current planning processes in the church and asked the ELCA to devote itself to telling people, especially those who don't attend church, about Jesus Christ.
The Rev. Gary M. Wollersheim, bishop of the ELCA Northern Illinois Synod, shared a first draft of "Toward a Vision for Evangelism in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Sharing Faith in a New Century." The draft is the work of the ELCA Evangelism Strategy Task Force, which Wollersheim chairs.
The Rev. Kathie Bender Schwich, executive assistant to the presiding bishop and director of the ELCA Department for Synodical Relations, updated the board on a churchwide strategic planning process leading up to a report to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly next August in Milwaukee.
The Division for Outreach board also discussed an African American Ministry Strategy, which the ELCA Commission for Multicultural Ministries is developing, and how the new strategy is interrelated with the division's existing African American Outreach Strategy. The 2003 assembly will also receive the new strategy.
The division's board affirmed the work of the Evangelism Strategy Task Force, expressing appreciation for "the tremendous progress made on the current draft." The board also encouraged the task force "to be courageous in pursuing new structures and ways to move the church forward in this critical work."
In a related action, the board said, "In light of the exciting proposals being brought together by the Evangelism Strategy Task Force, the board of the Division for Outreach asks the Office of the Presiding Bishop, the Church Council, and those involved in strategic planning, to make evangelism and outreach the central focus of the ELCA in its planning toward the future vision, purpose and structure of the church."
"It is the belief of the members of this board that the ELCA's clear calling is to reach out to all peoples with the gospel of Jesus Christ for a transformational relationship, and that is done through enthusiastic evangelism and strategic outreach to unchurched peoples," said Dorothy Baumgartner, DO board chair, Seattle, Wash.
"The board was very appreciative and enthusiastic about the energy, the perception, the courage and sense of boldness that is exhibited in the evangelism strategy," said Baumgartner.
"Because of the strategic planning process that the ELCA is going through, we as a church are in a process of discernment about our mission and vision, values, goals and directions," said Baumgartner. "As part of that process, we continue to surface understandings of who we are as a church, and who we are called to be as God's people," she said.
In an effort to improve communication between the Division for Outreach and the Commission for Multicultural Ministries, the division's board welcomed Justin "Jay" Oakman, St. Paul, Minn., a member of the commission's steering committee who will attend board meetings. The board appointed one of its members, Ardith "Ardie" Senft, Glendale, Ariz., to attend steering committee meetings.
In other action, the board acknowledged the Division for Outreach's relationship with Lutherans Concerned/North America (LC/NA), an independent organization promoting the involvement of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people within the Lutheran church. LC/NA assisted the division in researching and developing "Congregational Hospitality to Gay and Lesbian People," a 1999 report on hospitality in ELCA congregations.
In Spring 2001, the board asked the ELCA Church Council to grant "Independent Lutheran Organization" status for LC/NA. The council decided to stop granting such status and gave divisions the option of creating "acknowledged relationships" with independent organizations.
In August 2001, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly mandated a study of homosexuality that will bring recommendations to the 2005 Churchwide Assembly on whether or not the church should bless same-gender relationships and whether or not the church should ordain people in such relationships.
Several Division for Outreach board members expressed concern that their action might be misunderstood as endorsing a specific outcome for the study. So, the board preceded its acknowledgment by noting LC/NA's collaborative work in developing its 1999 report and its hope to continue such work.
Baumgartner said the board's acknowledgment was specifically about hospitality and not about ordination or blessing relationships. "It is about the importance of Lutherans Concerned's helpfulness to the Division for Outreach as we continue to learn as a church to reach out to gay and lesbian people," she said. -- -- --
The Division for Outreach home page is at http://www.elca.org/do/ on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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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
