ELCA begins development of a social statement on criminal justice

by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is preparing
a social statement on criminal justice that will develop
biblical and theological themes and allow it to address such
issues as the cost of incarceration and rehabilitation for
people convicted of a crime. The ELCA task force charged with
developing the social statement met for the first time Dec.
5-6 in Chicago. Goals of the meeting included receiving input
from specialists, identifying a time line for the task force's
work and understanding the process that leads to an ELCA social
statement.

"I think that we as a society continue to have enormous
injustices occurring within our juvenile (and) criminal justice
systems," said Cynthia Osborne, chair of the task force and
vice president of strategic initiatives and program development,
Lutheran Services in America, Baltimore. "Our system is based
on principles of punishment and correction rather than
rehabilitation. I think we share a perspective that there is
a real need to participate in a conversation about how to move
us in a rehabilitative direction," she said.

The 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly called for the development
of a proposed social statement on criminal justice, which is
expected to be considered by the 2013 assembly. Social
statements are teaching documents that guide Lutherans in
forming judgments on social issues. They provide theological
and ethical framework for discussion, set policy for the
church and guide the church's advocacy and work in church
and society. The 1991 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted a
social statement on the death penalty.