Iraq, Middle East, Sexuality Studies Top 2002 ELCA Stories

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Uneasiness about the possibility of war with Iraq, a continuing crisis between Palestinians and Israelis, and studies on sexuality were among the top news stories involving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 2002, according to the ELCA News Service, a component of the ELCA Department for Communication.
ELCA News provides news about the church's mission and ministry to the public and religion media. Staff members include John R. Brooks, director; Frank F. Imhoff, associate director; Melissa O. Ramirez, associate director; and Brenda G. Williams, editorial assistant for production and media relations. Amy E. Wineinger, student intern from Wartburg College, an ELCA higher education institution in Waverly, Iowa, and Diana Mavunduse, who volunteered with the ELCA News Service. Mavunduse is now a communicator with Action by Churches Together, a worldwide organization of churches and related agencies involved in emergency response, Geneva, Switzerland.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, drew considerable attention when he questioned Bush Administration officials' public statements suggesting the United States might launch a pre-emptive strike against Iraq aimed at removing Saddam Hussein from power. In an Aug. 30 statement, Hanson called for stepped-up diplomatic efforts and U.S. cooperation with the international community to control weapons of mass destruction that may be in Iraq.
"While we are fully aware of the potential threat posed by the government of Iraq and its leader, I believe it is wrong for the United States to seek to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein with military action," Hanson said. "Morally, I oppose it because I know a war with Iraq will have great consequences for the people of Iraq, who have already suffered through years of war and economic sanctions. I do not believe such a war can be justified under the historic principles of 'just war.'"
Several boards of the church issued similar statements of concern, as well as the ELCA Church Council, the legislative authority of the ELCA between churchwide assemblies.
After a unanimous vote in the U.N. Security Council and weapons inspections were reinstituted, Hanson said he welcomed the action in a Nov. 26 statement. He also said churches around the world encouraged him to continue to raise questions "about the impact of war on Iraqi civilians and the potential destabilizing effects of a war within the region."
Hanson visited the White House twice in 2002. He joined other religious leaders who met President Bush just before the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He later joined the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and the leader of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in a meeting with National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice about the Middle East and Iraq.
Conflict in the Middle East between Palestinians and Israelis was a significant concern within the church early in the year. Terror attacks on civilians in Israel, as well as Israeli occupations of a Lutheran school and Lutheran church in the West Bank, drew comment from the ELCA Conference of Bishops, meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, in March. They deplored the increasing violence in the Middle East and said they could not remain silent while fellow Lutherans in the region suffered as "innocent victims."
"We appeal to President George W. Bush to take immediate action to seek a cessation of violence in the Middle East and to protect the lives and property of all those who are suffering from unjust attacks," the ELCA bishops said.
Later, Hanson said the ELCA welcomed President Bush's call for an independent Palestinian state, and his call on Israel to remove military forces from Palestinian-controlled areas and to stop building Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.
In January the ELCA named the Rev. James M. Childs Jr. to direct a four-year study on homosexuality. Childs is Joseph A. Sittler Professor of Theology and Ethics and director of academic development, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. He took a leave of absence from the seminary to assume the role of directing the study.
The next month the boards of the ELCA Division for Church in Society and Division for Ministry appointed a task force to assist Childs. An interim report on their work is expected at the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee, and a final report with recommendations is due at the 2005 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Orlando, Fla.
Other stories related to the ELCA that made a significant impact in 2002 were (in no particular order):
+ Two exceptions to ELCA ordination policy granted: The Rev. Daniel D. Shaw and the Rev. Matthew Kuempel were ordained by ELCA pastors other than bishops. The Shaw and Kuempel ordinations were made possible under provisions of an exceptions bylaw adopted by the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The bylaw was proposed after the ELCA entered into full communion with the Episcopal Church, thus requiring a bishop to preside at all ordinations.
+ Sept. 11 anniversary: The church was involved in a variety of ministries during its continuing response to the 2001 terrorist attacks. Most prominent among these efforts were those conducted through Lutheran Disaster Response-New York. Beside the solemn one-year anniversary, significant events included Camp New Ground, a ministry aimed at children affected by trauma as a result of the attacks, and "Solidarity Weekend." During that weekend, some 200 ELCA pastors -- including at least 32 of the church's 65 synod bishops -- went to New York April 6-7 in a show of support for ELCA pastors, congregations and ministries. The visiting pastors preached in most New York-area ELCA congregations April 7.
+ Program reductions and closures: Due to declines in income tied to lower investment earnings and drops in bequests, the ELCA churchwide organization, based here, announced a mid-year spending reduction of $2,415,000. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Baltimore, cut staff and reorganized. Lutheran Social Services of Illinois reduced staff and spending, and Lutheran Social Services of Kansas and Oklahoma closed its doors.
+ Lutheran cyclists hit the road: The Rev. Walt Wangerin Jr., speaker for Lutheran Vespers, the radio ministry of the ELCA, and staff toured the Midwest for two-and-one-half months beginning Aug. 17 to promote the ministry and raise funds for an endowment. Wangerin began by riding from stop-to-stop on his bicycle, but fell off his bike and broke his hip Sept. 9 near Alexandria, Minn. Following surgery, he resumed the tour 10 days later -- traveling by car or truck -- and completed it Oct. 21 when he arrived at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind., where he teaches.
Meanwhile, the Rev. Lars J. Clausen, an ELCA pastor on leave from call, rode his unicycle from coast-to-coast and back, concluding his trip by unicycling in Hawaii Nov. 16. The trip was intended to raise funds for the Seward Peninsula (Alaska) Lutheran Endowment Fund and to raise awareness of the Inupiat Lutheran Eskimos. The unique trip also put Clausen into the Guinness Book of Records.
+ "Davey" is back, "This Holy Night" a hit: In addition to the Lutheran Vespers tour, the ELCA Department for Communication was involved in two other significant projects, both involving television. It made a commitment to fund production of a new Christmas holiday special for 2003 featuring Davey and Goliath, a popular stop-motion animated children's series produced by the Lutheran church that aired regularly on commercial television from the 1950s to the 1980s, and still airs on cable television today. The possibility of reviving the series put the church into the secular media several times in 2002.
"This Holy Night" was a Christmas Eve special produced by the department t