wfn.org | ELCA Lutherans Launch Study of Economic Life

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 4, 1996

LUTHERANS LAUNCH STUDY OF ECONOMIC LIFE (74 lines)
96-21-061-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- God wants a "sufficient, sustainable
livelihood for all," says study materials authorized for
distribution among the 5.2 million members of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America.  The 117-page document on economic
life will launch a 1997 study in the ELCA's 11,000 congregations
across the United States and Caribbean.
     The study guide defines sufficiency as "providing for
people's basic physical and emotional needs so that they can live
in dignity."  It says, "Sustainability means providing an
acceptable quality of life for present generations without
compromising that of future generations;" and "`For all' means
giving attention to the whole household of God and the
relationships within it."
     The document acknowledges that economics is different today
than it was in biblical times but identifies ageless principles.
"`To steal' is to take away or withhold from others what they
need to live as productive members of society, even if this
occurs through legal means," says the study.
     "We're very happy to have put our stamp of approval on the
document and to send it into the church for study," said Ingrid
Christiansen, Chicago, board chair of the ELCA Division for
Church in Society.  The board took the action when it met here
Sept. 26-28.
     She described "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread: Sufficient,
Sustainable Livelihood For All" as "a rich document full of
interesting and helpful ways to help us, as Lutherans, apply our
faith to our thinking about economic life and to our actions in
the world as they concern money."
     "As a country, attitudes are changing toward people on
public aid," said Christiansen.  "This is a time when Christians
need to take their faith seriously and think about our treatment
of the poor ... how we deal with financial issues."
     The purpose of the study is to help Lutherans "associate
their faith life with their economic life," said Dr. Per
Anderson, Moorhead, Minn., chair of the board's studies
committee.  "All of us have a stake in the economy.  It is the
source of what this study document calls our livelihood."
     "In America today the major power with which we reckon is
the marketplace," he said, "so it's very important that we try to
understand it and ask what is appropriate Christian participation
in economic life."
     The study begins with the Bible to build a Lutheran ethic
for economic life.  It explores changing job realities, the
persistence of poverty, and the future of America's communities,
environment and coming generations.  The study concludes by
leading its users through a discussion of the responsibilities of
business, government, nonprofit organizations and the church.
     The document will be distributed through Augsburg Fortress
Publishers, Minneapolis.  Study in ELCA congregations is expected
between Jan. 1 and Nov. 1, 1997.  Responses to the study
materials will inform drafting of a social statement on economic
life.  The ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Denver in August 1999 will
consider a final draft of the statement.
     In a related action, the board adopted the final report of a
special committee it appointed to review the manner in which the
ELCA develops social statements and the status those statements
hold once they are adopted.  The board asked the division staff
to work the recommendations into revised church policies that can
be proposed in 1997.
     The report describes four "spheres" of activity or ways the
church studies and addresses social issues: resource development,
moral discourse, policy development and policy review.  It asks
the ELCA Office of the Bishop to coordinate the development of
study materials by the various units of the church.  The division
would review topics for study and recommend topics for
development into social statements.
     "Social statements ... should continue to be regarded as the
most authoritative form of social policy and should be documents
of the highest quality," said the report.

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