wfn.org | ELCA Lutherans are Making Christ Known

[Brenda Williams <BRENDAW@elca.org>]

Reply-To: ElcaNews <ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG>
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 26, 1997

LUTHERANS ARE MAKING CHRIST KNOWN
97-35-103-MR

     PITTSBURGH (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America willexplore how it will
transform its congregations into vital faith
communities through 21st century media and with a
warm welcome.  About 850 clergy and lay leaders
gathered here for "Making Christ Known:
Congregations for the 21st Century," Nov. 21-23.
     "Our world is gripped by self-centeredness.
Many are feeling trapped and restrained in today's
world.  Brothers and sisters this culture needs
to hear the words of a God who opens doors," said
the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of
the ELCA, at the opening worship.  "God opens
hearts and God opens minds.  Making Christ known
is more than telling a story.  It is sharing in
God's liberating work," he said.
     Sponsored by the ELCA's Department for
Communication and the Division for Congregational
Ministries, the conference offered 35 workshops.
Topics ranged from designing a web page for a
congregation to telemarketing as an approach for
reaching the unchurched, from evangelism through
radio ministries to outreach through cable
television.
     A new series of resources combining
communication and evangelism called, "Go Public!"
was introduced.  The kit is made up of an
interactive video workshop, books, audio cassettes
and compact disk to introduce and cite examples of
effective outreach and communication to a wider
community.
     "People listen, watch and learn using
multimedia experiences in every day life.  The Go
Public! resource provides tools for a congregation
to connect with its audience using all of the
multimedia senses," said John L. Peterson, ELCA
director for public media ministry.
     Participants phoned Pittsburgh homes at a
"phone bank" created to provide information about
Zion Lutheran Church in the Mount Washington
neighborhood of Pittsburgh.  "Our goal was to call
6,000 homes in the Mount Washington area and bring
Zion Lutheran Church a great list of prospects,"
said the Rev. Glenn M. Zorb, Washington Crossing,
Pa.
     "Roughly half of all Americans do not go to
church.  In our campaigns we learned that about 25
percent of these people will ask for information
to be sent to them, and about 10 percent of the
people who receive the mail will attend worship,"
he said.
     Of the 2,000 calls made by conference
participants, about 100 residents agreed to
receive information about Zion Lutheran Church.
More than 500 residents said they belong to other
churches, reported Zorb.
     "It is a noisy world as we go into the 21st
century.  There is a flood of choices in which
people can get information, ways people can seek
out connections to other people.  People are in
fact striving for meaning and spirituality.
People want meaning, connection and community,"
said speaker Kathryn Tunheim, Bloomington, Minn.
Tunheim an ELCA Lutheran, is president of Tunheim
Santrizos Company.
     "In making Christ known, our motive should be
to make room for people," said the Rev. Walt
Wangerin, Jr.  "Invite people to come in the
household of God.  Provide a space within you for
their pain, fears, anxieties and for all that make
life difficult for them," he said. Wangerin is
host of "Lutheran Vespers," the ELCA's radio
ministry.
     The Rev. Asha Mary George-Guiser, assistant
to the bishop for the ELCA's Southeastern
Pennsylvania Synod, preached at the closing
worship.  "Jesus is on-line, all the time.  Jesus
is the hard-drive that re-engineers the world, not
Microsoft or Bill Gates," she said.  The Rev.
Barbara Berry-Bailey, pastor for Trinity Lutheran
Church, Philadelphia, and Lori Claudio, assistant
to the bishop for the ELCA's Metropolitan New York
Synod, served as the conference's Bible study
leaders.
     "The major motivations for communicating the
gospel are compassion, community, challenge,
responsibility and commitment," said Dr. Kennon L.
Callahan.  "What people long for and look for in
Jesus Christ is compassion and community.  People
look for the bread of compassion and the wine of
community.  They do not look for the kerosene of
commitment," he said.
     "Christians are different because Christ is
in their life.  We have to believe in these
differences and treat them as something to be
celebrated," said Dr. Stephen L.  Carter, a
plenary speaker.  "A successful democracy
desperately needs religion.  Democracy isn't just
a bunch of people that vote; it involves the
commitment of people to a common understanding of
the world to liberate the spirit.  God doesn't
want us to live our faith just for ourselves.  God
wants us to share with the world how we are
different from our Christian faith," he said.
     ELCA congregations and synods were honored in
a communication and evangelism award banquet at
the conference.  Congregations and synods awarded
"have become experts at communicating with their
members, guest, neighborhoods and communities,"
said the Rev. Robert N. Bacher, ELCA's executive
for administration.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or
NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html