ELCA to Engage in 50 Days of Prayer Leading to Churchwide Assembly

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has asked
the church's 4.7 million members to pray and study Scripture for
50 days starting June 29, in preparation for the 2009 ELCA
Churchwide Assembly.
The assembly is the ELCA's highest legislative authority
and meets every two years. The 2009 assembly is in Minneapolis
Aug. 17-23.
The assembly will act on a proposed social statement on
human sexuality, a recommendation on ministry policies and
various churchwide program proposals. It will conduct elections
and consider memorials (proposed at synod assemblies) and
resolutions (proposed by voting members at the churchwide
assembly). The proposed social statement and recommendation
on ministry policies are sources of significant discussion within
the church.
Members are being asked to pray daily; meet in weekly
groups, use daily Scripture readings for reflection, hymn and
prayer, and use suggested petitions for prayers during worship.
Resources are at http://www.ELCA.org/50days on the Web.
"The resources are provided in a way that allows them to
be used by individuals, in congregational groups such as Bible
studies, youth groups or meetings, or even in larger
gatherings," said the Rev. Robert G. Schaefer, executive for
ELCA Worship and Liturgical Services.
In an April 27 message to associates in ministry,
deaconesses, diaconal ministers and ordained clergy, Hanson
said the idea for 50 Days of Prayer came from his own
experiences and from people in the church.
Hanson also met this spring with pastors who will preach
during worship at the churchwide assembly. "The richness of
the conversation reminded me how much I have missed the weekly
text groups that have been so formative in my ministry," he
said.
Hanson said that the call to study and prayer comes
"from the church's most fundamental and enduring practices of
faith." The 2003 Churchwide Assembly overwhelmingly adopted an
evangelism strategy that called the ELCA to pray for renewal
grounded in Scripture. The 2007 Churchwide Assembly in Chicago
endorsed the "Book of Faith Initiative" calling the ELCA to
study and learn Scripture, he noted.
"Even when we are not of one mind about all the matters
to be decided by the assembly, we have a marvelous opportunity
as a church body to witness to the common source of our hope.
In fact, an appropriate prayer may be that God use the diversity
of our opinions to witness to one Lord, one faith and one
Baptism," Hanson said.
Hanson said that he looks forward "with confident hope" to
the assembly. "The source of my confidence is ... God's
faithfulness to God's promises and the Holy Spirit's power," he
said. "This church has an opportunity to give public witness
that we are a church united in evangelical mission for the sake
of the world. I invite your prayers for the sake of that mission
and the work of the churchwide assembly."
The 50 Days of Prayer is also an opportunity for church
members who are unable to attend the churchwide assembly to
participate, Schaefer said. "We all can't be in Minneapolis
this summer, but all can be together as one in prayer as part
of this one expression of the Body of Christ."
---
* Carrie L. Draeger is a senior communication major with a
concentration in journalism at Pacific Lutheran University,
Tacoma, Wash. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA
News Service.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog