wfn.org | ELCA Lutherans Are Taking the Plunge

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE NEWSBRIEF

August 21, 1996

SPLASH!

Lutherans are taking the plunge ... into the world.  A series of
pilot programs called "Splash!" is testing a modern application
of a centuries-old Lutheran doctrine -- the priesthood of all
believers.  Lutherans are "carriers not commuters," said one
participant in North Carolina, meaning they do not leave "church"
behind when they go to "work" and vice versa.  "The best
resources that congregations have are their members," said Judith
Dickhart, Wallingford, Pa., project manager.  Lutherans view
their Christian faith as a "vocation" much like their secular
occupations, she said.  "Whatever occupies us is the place and
work through which we do our ministry," said Dickhart.  "Splash!"
sets up teams of about four people in about six nearby
congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Each team explores "ministry in daily life" in its own setting
and challenges the understandings of the neighboring teams.  The
programs are launched through a series of special events: Aug. 2-
4 at Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, N.C.; Aug. 23-25 near San
Jose, Calif.; Nov. 1-3 near Philadelphia; and Nov. 15-17 at Mt.
Olivet Lutheran Church, Minneapolis.  "Splash!" is part of the
ELCA's Growth in Excellence in Ministry (GEM) program to foster
the continuing education of the church's leadership.  GEM is a
ten-year project funded by Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal
benefits society based in Minneapolis.

For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955