wfn.org | ELCA Hosts Convocations on Urban Ministry in U.S. Cities

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

September 30, 1999

ELCA HOSTS CONVOCATIONS ON URBAN MINISTRY IN U.S. CITIES
99-237-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) is hosting urban convocations to introduce the church's 10-year
emphasis, "In the City for Good," and its theme of transforming lives,
congregations and communities in U.S. cities.  One event was held Sept.
11 at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
     "We had an opportunity to celebrate urban ministry here in the
metropolitan Chicago area and a wider area," said the Rev. Lawrence J.
Clark, Bethany Lutheran Church, Chicago.  Clark convened the convocation
and counted about 100 participants -- most from Chicago and neighboring
cities but some from California and Ohio.
     "Some of them are pastors, some of them are lay workers; we had
about 10 seminary students who are thinking about urban ministries," he
said.  "We had a wide variety of church leaders."
     The church is in "the business of transforming," said the Rev.
Kenneth R. Olsen, bishop of the ELCA's Metropolitan Chicago Synod.
"Before transformation can happen any place, you have to make
connections."
     "May you leave today ... with a sense of power, knowing you are in
the city for good with partners," he said.
     "I am here because my heart is in the city, and my heart is
breaking," the Rev. Robert S. Klonowski, bishop's associate of the ELCA
Metropolitan Chicago Synod, told the gathering.  He said he was saddened
by "competition" he witnessed among area congregations.  "How do we
build ministries to stay there?"
     "There are people in the room who have the gifts we need," he
answered.  "If we stand together, shoulder to shoulder, this work can be
done."
     "What we need is a clear vision of what God wants to do in the
city, in the suburbs and in the country," said the Rev. Ruben F. Duran,
executive for congregational outreach services, ELCA Division for
Outreach.
     "Our purpose is to talk about that vision.  You won't find a plan
in the materials.  The purpose is for you to make your own plan," he
said.
     Duran is one of six people who make up the ELCA's "urban team" --
church leaders who oversee coordination of the ELCA's "In the City for
Good" emphasis.  The Rev. Jerrett Hansen, Baltimore, chairs the team.
Others on the team are the Rev. James Kenneth Echols, Chicago; the Rev.
Susan K. Ericsson, Norristown, Pa.; Sylvia Pate, Dayton, Ohio; the Rev.
Warren A. Sorteberg, Chicago; and the Rev. George Tan, Cerritos, Calif.
     Through a series of worship services, small group discussions and
workshops, convocation participants discussed their answers to four
questions:  What is God calling us to do in our place of ministry?
Where is my congregation on the path of transformation?  What one thing
will I do to transform myself to be the agent that God is calling me to
be there?  What skills do we need to develop to move the transformation
process forward?
     "We hope that the convocation sparks an interest in people's minds
to see how we can work together," said Clark.  "In the workshops, people
saw some common lines.  People were able to share their stories, and
some people were able to see where their stories connected with other
people's stories."
     "Even though there are these boundaries -- cities, suburbs and
country -- people see they have similar problems," he said.  "One of the
hopes is that we can network and solve some of these problems together."
     A convocation similar to the Chicago event was held Sept. 18 at
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Livonia, Mich., outside of Detroit; and
another will be held Oct. 23 at St. Luke Lutheran Church, Reading, Pa.,
near Philadelphia.
     ELCA congregations and outreach ministries in the Milwaukee area
will host an "Urban Mission and Strategy Conference" Oct. 11-15 to
familiarize local church leaders with the "In the City for Good" program
and to study the resources for urban ministry already present in the
area.
     In June $347,179 in grants were awarded to 23 new urban
initiatives through the "In the City for Good" program.  Proposals
included community development, strategic planning and educational
projects.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html