ELCA Assembly Hears Secretary’s Priorities

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) – In his first report to an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly, ELCA Secretary David D. Swartling thanked colleagues for their support in the two years since he was elected to the post and laid out several priorities.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 17-23 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. About 2,000 people are participating, including 1,045 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is “God’s work. Our hands.”
Swartling said that he has learned that the responsibilities of the ELCA secretary “are both diverse and daunting, [especially] in times of transition and fiscal turmoil.”
He thanked his office staff “for effectively and gracefully rising to the challenge in these tumultuous times and for the patience that have given me as I have ascended the learning curve.”
Swartling said he often describes the role of the Office of the Secretary as “the oil in the engine of the ELCA” -- one that “has been, for the most part, well lubricated these past two years.”
Among his priorities, he said “first and foremost” is that “if this church is to thrive, not just survive ... we must develop synergistic leadership among our rostered and lay leaders.”
He referred to that call for increased synergism as “a multi-layered, multi-dimensional challenge. Our governing documents, in part, reflect a polity and governance structure that recognizes the need for collaborative and diverse leadership. I’m not yet convinced, however, that we are living our polity.”
He offered to meet with synod councils to discuss “the importance of developing rostered leaders, lay leaders, multicultural leaders who can work collaboratively to proclaim the gospel and serve the neighbor,” Swartling said.
“As a lawyer and the secretary of this church,” he later said, “I believe that our governing documents are not legalistic handcuffs, but templates for mission that provide the foundation and set the direction for developing faithful, wise, and courageous leaders who work collaboratively to accomplish ministry in the 21st century,” Swartling said.
He then called on synod vice presidents, secretaries, treasurers, and bishops -- in that order -- to stand, receive his own thanks, and then to be recognized by the assembly as “keys to the future success of this church as they strive to develop and model cooperative, collaborative, synergistic leadership to congregations, members and all with whom we interrelate.”
Swartling stressed the need to involve young people in the work of the church by pointing out that this churchwide assembly has on its agenda amendments to governing documents that would increase the numbers of youth and young adults in ELCA congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization.
“Make no mistake,” the secretary suggested; “this is not a proposal about tokenism. It is an effort to reach out to a generation that we are at risk of losing, to integrate them into the life and leadership of this church, and to tap into their talents for the sake of the gospel.”
Other priorities he addressed included his office’s responsibility as “the keeper of rosters and the collector of data from congregations in this church,” “transparency in decision-making,” environmental stewardship, and helping congregations and synods with “administrative responsibilities so that energy can be directed to mission and ministry.”

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Information about the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.elca.org/assembly/ on the Web.

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