10/10/2014

ELCA Bishops Respond to Various Assembly Actions, Topics During Conference of Bishop's Meeting, Oct 2-7

CHICAGO (ELCA) – The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered here Oct. 2-7 to consider an array of topics ranging from this church’s commitment to starting new and renewing congregations to discerning the landscape of theological education, from funding the mission and embracing a new comprehensive campaign to the assignment of more than 100 rostered candidates. Other topics included an invitation to study The Use of the Means of Grace, a proposed new Word and Service roster, the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation and more.

The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the denomination that includes 65 synod bishops, the presiding bishop and secretary. The conference gathers at least twice a year for worship and study, mutual sharing and to conduct business. The conference chair is the Rev. Jessica R. Crist, bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod.
With one year in office, the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, ELCA presiding bishop, reported to the conference that the “four emphases” on which she is organizing the work of the churchwide organization have “resonance across this church.” She said that the essential foundation for “our life and work together” is “a clear sense that worship is at the heart of what we do together and at the heart of worship is the crucified and risen Christ.”

“Being clear about our confessional, theological Lutheran identity facilitates our witness to the gospel and makes possible authentic ecumenical, interreligious and secular engagement. Being church together is a manifestation of the unity we have in baptism as the body of Christ. It is an alternative to the cult of the individual that is prevalent in our culture. It is a source of strength. It is scriptural. Being church for the sake of the world is the natural extension of being church, Lutheran, church together. We get to participate in God’s renewing and healing work in the world God so loves,” she reported.

Of the four emphases two in particular – “We are church” and “We are church together” – are “claiming my immediate attention,” Eaton reported. “Tending to these two things,” she said, “will make it possible for us to meet future challenges.”

As part of the four emphases and in the work of the church, “we need to be tending our individual and corporate spiritual life,” Eaton said. “As a church we need to engage in basic spiritual practices – prayer, silence, corporate worship, Scripture study, giving and service. These are ways that God comes to us.”

Eaton expressed her gratitude to the conference for its ministry. “I am not so far removed from synod ministry to have forgotten the unique challenges you face. I don’t believe the decline of our church is inevitable. You have shown me signs of hope. Besides, it’s not our church, it is Christ’s church, and if it is the Lord’s will that an evangelical Lutheran witness to the gospel should be raised up, nothing can stop that.”

Also one year into office is the Rev. Wm Chris Boerger, ELCA secretary, who reported that 2013 congregational reports show “we are a church” with more than 3.8 million members. Although a decline of 2.2 percent from 2012 (or 87,000), Boerger said there are signs of hope. He said that there were 69 fewer congregations in 2012, noting one change this year is that only 16 were from disaffiliation. The remaining were either closures or mergers.

Boerger also observed that while expenses were higher than income among ELCA congregations in 2012, in 2013 income exceeded expenses due to a reduction in debt and payments on debt. “From a financial perspective, our congregations are healthier,” he said. Boerger also noted that Mission Support – income from congregations shared with the ELCA’s 65 synods and churchwide organization – is down $2.1 million, giving to benevolences other than Mission Support is up $2.1 million.

Seven months into the 2014 fiscal year, the Rev. Linda Norman, ELCA treasurer, reported that the ELCA churchwide organization had expenses equal to operating revenue and support in current operating funds for the period ending Aug. 31, favorable to the period budget by $4.4 million but an unfavorable variance of $2.4 million compared to the seven months ending in Aug. 31, 2013.

Norman told the conference that Mission Support is the churchwide organization’s largest source of unrestricted income with a revised goal of $48 million for the 2014 fiscal year. “We’re less than one-half percent away” from meeting the goal, she said.

To date, Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA has raised $26 million, representing 16 percent of the campaign’s total goal of $198 million by Jan. 31, 2019, reported Norman. Among the campaign’s priorities, strong response to date has been in the areas of the ELCA Malaria Campaign, New Congregations, ELCA Fund for Leaders, and Global Church-International Leaders: Women, she said.

In a campaign update, the Rev. Claire S. Burkat, bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, told the conference, “We can do so much more together than we can do alone. We are a truly an interdependent church. A congregation can do some ministries that an individual cannot do alone. A synod can do some ministries and initiatives that a congregation cannot. Our churchwide organization can do some ministries that a synod cannot do. Our Lutheran World Federation can do some things our ELCA denomination cannot do. And, of course, our God, who by the power at work within all of us is able to accomplish far more than all we can hope for or imagine. To our God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations.”

The Rev. Ron Glusenkamp, director for the ELCA campaign, thanked synod bishops for their commitment to the campaign. “It is important to communicate to you the passion that there is about the campaign. It is always being made new. It is a moment that after 25 years brings the past, the future and the present all into one thing,” he said. “I want you to know that I am very confident that together we will do more. We will meet and exceed our goals for the campaign,” said Glusenkamp, adding that while ELCA members are engaged in what the campaign is already doing “God is calling us to do more together.”

In other conversation, the Conference of Bishops discussed an invitation from the ELCA Church Council to this church’s 65 synods, nearly 10,000 congregations and the churchwide organization to study The Use of the Means of Grace. The Church Council serves as the ELCA’s board of directors.

The recommended practice in this church from The Use of the Means of Grace is that people who are baptized are invited to receive Holy Communion. Though this is the practice set out in the ELCA statement, there is a wide variety of practice in this church.

“The Church Council directed us to be in conversation about The Use of the Means of Grace,” said Eaton.
In an August 2014 letter, Eaton and the Rev. Kevin Strickland, ELCA director for worship, wrote, “The recommendation also suggests that this matter not be studied in isolation from the rest of the statement, but rather we take this opportunity to encourage a renewed study of and conversation about The Use of the Means of Grace in our congregations.”

The council’s invitation comes from an action of the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, which called the entire church to come together for a conversation and study regarding The Use of the Means of Grace. The conversation among bishops comes as a response to the action of the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. Resources to guide discussion are available at www.ELCA.org/worship.

The conference also:

+ Received preliminary findings and some initial draft proposals from the Theological Education Advisory Council. A final report and possible recommendations are expected to be presented to the ELCA Church Council in fall 2015. The Church Council formed the advisory council to address in a holistic way issues on theological education, leadership development, candidacy, call and rostered leaders. The Rev. Herman R. Yoos III, bishop of the ELCA South Carolina Synod, and the Rev. James E. Hazelwood, bishop of the ELCA New England Synod, delivered components of the report.

+ Learned the theme of the ELCA’s observation of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 – “Freed and Renewed in Christ: 500 Years of God’s Grace in Action.” ELCA members and congregations are encouraged to participate in the observation, which will include sponsored feature events through worship, learning and service; initiate activities serving the ELCA’s evangelical witness and vocation beyond 2017; collaborate with ecumenical partners and others in activities that promote a witness of the gospel; support participation in the observances planned by The Lutheran World Federation for 2015-2017 and more. The Rev. R. Guy Erwin, bishop of the ELCA Southwest California Synod, is a member of the executive planning team for the observation.

+ Received an update from the Rev. William O. Gafkjen, bishop of the ELCA Indiana-Kentucky Synod, about the work of the Word and Service task force. Formed by the Church Council, the task force is charged with exploring the possibility of forming a single ELCA roster for ministers. ELCA Secretary Boerger noted that if a single roster for ministers of Word and Service is created, significant revision will need to be made to the ELCA Constitution, Bylaws and Continuing Resolutions, as well as the Constitutions for Synod and the Model Constitution for Congregations.

+ Held conversations about ELCA Mission Support and received initial recommendations of some “experiments” or types of pilot projects designed to address mission funding from the “Think Tank on Mission Support.” Appointed by Eaton, the think tank – consisting of one synod bishop representing each of the nine ELCA regions – is a collaborative group that is working towards broadening the conversation. It is expected to prepare a report with recommendations for the spring 2015 meetings of the Conference of Bishops and Church Council.

+ Offered insight to help craft a case statement for the Renewing Congregations priority of Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA. In 2015 the focal point of the campaign will be on congregations.

The conference also received the following reports and updates:

+ The social statement on women and justice is under development and slated to be considered by the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The ELCA Task Force on Women and Justice: One in Christ is leading this process, hosting listening events and preparing study materials for use throughout the church. As part of the process, a draft of a social message on gender-based violence is now available for public comment and response. The ELCA Church Council authorized the draft social message, and the tentative timeline calls for a message, or messages, to be considered by the council in April 2015.

+ Attended a prayer revival Oct. 2 to address the violence happening in Chicago and in communities around the world. The ELCA Renewal/Prayer/Revival team in partnership with the ELCA Metropolitan Chicago Synod hosted.

+ Held an educational session on voting rights. According to the Rev. Wolfgang D. Herz-Lane, bishop of the ELCA Delaware-Maryland Synod, the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly called for the conference to address this topic at its meeting and, among the resolves of its action, the assembly asked ELCA members “to call on local, state and federal governments to guarantee the right to vote to all citizens and to discourage or eliminate all laws, ordinances or regulations that would have the effect of racial and ethnic discrimination in the exercise of that right.” According to Herz-Lane, “We’re committed to help fight for equal rights in all ways of life, including voting rights, as also shared in the ELCA social statement on ‘Race, Ethnicity and Culture.’”

+ Greeted full tuition scholarship recipients of ELCA Fund for Leaders at a special banquet Oct. 4. ELCA Fund for Leaders is a merit-based scholarship program that attracts men and women of tremendous promise to become pastors and rostered lay leaders to study at an ELCA seminary. (See a photo of the Southern Ohio Synod Fund for Leaders scholarship receipients on our Facebook page.)

+ Received an update on the Ecclesiology of a Global Church task force, which is exploring how the ELCA can affirm its self-understanding as part of The Lutheran World Federation – a global communion of 144 member churches representing more than 72 million Christians. The ELCA is the communion’s only member church from the United States.
The conference also was briefed about a visit of ELCA leaders to Texas to learn more about the influx of unaccompanied and migrant children entering the United States and this church’s continued response efforts; held a conversation about “ready benches” as a way to engage in advocacy on a variety of public policy issues; received an update from Portico Benefit Services; learned more about religious-led peace initiatives of the Peace Institute of Oslo; received an update on the ELCA Youth Gathering to take place July 15-19, 2015, in Detroit. The ELCA Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE) and the ELCA Definitely-abled Youth Leadership Event (DAYLE) are also in Detroit, July 12-15, 2015.

Synod vice presidents and presidents of the eight ELCA seminaries also participated in the ELCA Conference of Bishops meeting.