CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) designated the Minneapolis Convention Center as the site of the 11th ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 17-23, 2009. It also adopted ethics policies for churchwide boards and employees, addressed possible future health plan changes and determined a churchwide spending authorization for 2005.
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. 11-15. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 8-14, 2005, in Orlando, Fla.
The council designated Minneapolis as the site for 2009 "subject to the satisfactory completion of negotiation(s) in the judgment of the secretary." As ELCA secretary, the Rev. Lowell G. Almen is responsible for securing physical arrangements for churchwide assemblies.
In a report to the council, Almen noted that the Minneapolis Convention Center is located in the downtown area close to hotels, restaurants and other attractions, and is next to Central Lutheran Church, one of the ELCA's largest congregations. The convention center was also the site of the ELCA's 4th Churchwide Assembly in 1995.
At its April 2004 meeting, the council designated Chicago's Navy Pier as the site of the 2007 Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 6-12, 2007.
In other actions, the council:
+ adopted separate ethics polices for churchwide boards and committees, and employees. Both policies address standards such as duty of loyalty, conflicts of interest, confidentiality, care for the interests of the churchwide organization, transactions and reporting, duty to disclose and how violations of the policies may be addressed.
+ approved "in concept" a preliminary redesign of the ELCA health plan for 2006. From Jan. 6 to March 13, 2005, health plan members will again be able to participate in a Web-based personal health risk assessment, a partnership project of the ELCA Board of Pensions, Minneapolis, and the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., said John G. Kapanke, president of the Board of Pensions. More than 10,000 members are already registered on the site -- http://www.elcaforwellness.org -- on the Web, Kapanke said. The board offered a similar health risk assessment in early 2004 in which more than 4,500 people participated.
+ authorized current fund spending for the 2005 fiscal year of $80,578,250, about $4.6 million less than was approved by the 2003 Churchwide Assembly. Most of the reduction can be attributed to an estimated decline in funds from congregational mission support made available to the churchwide organization through synods. It also authorized world hunger spending at $16.5 million, the same as authorized by the 2003 assembly.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
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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
