CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received a first draft of "Toward a Vision for Evangelism in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Sharing Faith in a New Century" and a progress report from the evangelism task force chair, the Rev. Gary M. Wollersheim, bishop of the ELCA Northern Illinois Synod, Rockford, Ill.
The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met here Nov. 15-17. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 11-17, 2003, in Milwaukee.
The draft is the work of the ELCA Evangelism Strategy Task Force. The ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop, in cooperation with the ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM), assembled the 33-member task force to develop the strategy for presentation and possible action at the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
The task force will begin work on a final draft of the evangelism strategy in January. The DCM board will consider the final draft in February and vote to send it on to the ELCA Church Council for possible action at its April meeting.
The work of the task force has been supported by a designated fund totaling $450,000 approved by the Church Council in November 2001 and April 2002.
At the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Indianapolis, "more than 900 voting members voted to pursue a strategy on evangelism," Wollersheim told the council.
That assembly received "A Telling Witness of God's Good News," the evangelism strategy report for 1991-2001 and, in receiving the report, authorized the presiding bishop of the ELCA -- in consultation with DCM and other churchwide offices -- to establish a task force for the development of a comprehensive strategy on evangelism.
A strategy on evangelism "is necessary," said Wollersheim. The 65 synods of the ELCA "have identified evangelism as a number one priority."
"The United States is the fourth largest mission field in the world," said Wollersheim. There are many people who do not belong to a church and the number of congregations are declining in this country, he said.
There are four objectives "at the heart of the strategy," Wollersheim said. The strategy is designed to help members of the ELCA grow to become a praying church; develop evangelical lay and clergy leaders for the church; begin and renew congregations; and teach discipleship.
This year, the task force met twice with sub-teams working between regularly scheduled meetings of the task force. Its work has involved facilitating a "renewed focus" on prayer for the witness and evangelism ministries of the ELCA; inviting members of the church to study the place of the gospel in daily lives; receiving gifts from the church's companions around the world; and an awareness of previous ELCA research on evangelism. -- -- --
Information about "Toward a Vision for Evangelism in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Sharing Faith in a New Century" is maintained at http://www.elca.org/visionevangelism/ on the Internet.
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
