wfn.org | Church in Society Board Deals with Suicide Prevention, Educational Choice

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 26, 1999

CHURCH IN SOCIETY BOARD DEALS WITH SUICIDE PREVENTION, EDUCATIONAL CHOICE
99-257-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Division for Church in Society
(DCS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved a
"Message on Suicide Prevention" during its Oct. 14-16 meeting here and
transmitted it to the ELCA Church Council with the recommendation it be
adopted.
     The Church Council is expected to consider the message when it
meets here Nov. 12-14.  ELCA messages are designed to draw attention to
and encourage action on social issues.
     If adopted as proposed, the message will encourage members,
congregations and affiliated institutions of the ELCA "to learn more
about suicide and its prevention in their communities, to ask what they
might do, and to work with others to prevent suicide."
     "Suicide testifies to life's tragic brokenness," the proposed
message said. "We believe life is God's good and precious gift to us,
and yet life for us -- ourselves and others -- sometimes appears to be
hell, a torment without hope.  When we would prefer to ignore, reject or
shy away from those who despair of life, we need to recall what we have
heard: God's boundless love in Jesus Christ will leave no one alone and
abandoned."
     The proposed message also includes facts about suicide, attitudes
about suicide, and receiving and giving help to people contemplating or
affected by suicide. It also contains suggestions for action to prevent
suicides, lists of suicide prevention organizations and various
resources.
     A resolution calling for creation and adoption of the suicide
prevention message was sent by the ELCA Southeastern Synod to the
division, said the Rev. John R. Stumme, acting director for studies,
ELCA Division for Church in Society.  Elsie and Jerry Weyrauch, members
of Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, Marietta, Ga., were instrumental
in the drafting of the message, Stumme said.
     The Weyrauchs' 34-year-old daughter died in Chicago in 1987.  Her
death was ruled a suicide.  Since then they have been active in suicide
prevention.  They formed the Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network (SPAN
USA), dedicated to the creation and implementation of suicide prevention
strategies.  The Weyrauchs were also involved in the U.S. Congress
passing resolutions on the issue and in the writing of "The Surgeon
General's Call to Action to Prevent Suicide" issued this year.
     In the surgeon general's report, Dr. David Satcher, assistant
secretary for health and surgeon general, declared suicide "a serious
public health problem."
     The Weyrauchs said their effort to spread the message of suicide
prevention across the church is directly related to their own tragic
experience.
     "Our experience of losing a daughter to suicide was our first real
introduction to the fact that many in the church had no idea how to deal
with the real tragedy of suicide and how to respond to people -- what to
say, how to say it," said Jerry Weyrauch in an interview following the
DCS board action.
     "We realized there was an opportunity for the church to do a great
deal of good for many people as survivors.  We also realized there could
be another step taken to help people who are in need -- at-risk people
who are hurting," he added.
     Weyrauch said one of his greatest hopes for the message is that it
be incorporated in youth educational programs, especially confirmation
programs.  Young people who are hurting, including those with questions
about their sexual identities, should also be able to express their
concerns about suicide within the church.
     In addition to families affected by suicide, the people who
attempt suicide also need  "special care" from people in the church,
said Elsie Weyrauch.
     "If we can't do that in the church, there is no place we can do
that," she said.
     In other actions, the DCS board affirmed development of a social
policy resolution on educational choice.
     Educational choice refers to public policy in which government
financially assists parents who enroll their children in either non-government 
or public schools.  Such schools may also be operated by
religious bodies.
     The board's timeline calls for development of the policy for
possible consideration by the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in
Indianapolis.
     The proposal to develop a policy was in response to a letter from
bishops of the seven Pennsylvania synods to the Rev. Charles S. Miller,
executive director of the ELCA Division for Church in Society.  The
bishops requested the division's department of studies consider issuing
a message or other document to clarify the issue.
     The DCS board also adopted a resolution to promote the 30th
anniversary of the ordination of women in the ELCA.  The anniversary
occurs in 2000.

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