wfn.org | Lutherans and Episcopalians discuss responsibility

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2000-020

Lutherans, Episcopalians discuss corporate social responsibility

by Frank Imhoff

     (ENS) "This was a first-time acquaintance for all of us," 
said Dr. Robert C. Holland of Bethesda, Maryland, newly elected 
chair of the advisory committee for corporate social 
responsibility of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 
(ELCA) after the first meeting with its counterpart committee on 
social responsibility in investments of the Episcopal Church.

     The committees advise and counsel various commissions and 
institutions of their churches about the social records of 
corporations in which they hold stock. In some cases, shareholder 
resolutions may be considered to effect change in the 
corporation's practices.

     Generally, resolutions are filed with corporations before 
the end of each year in preparation for stockholder meetings to 
be held the following spring. Many resolutions are withdrawn 
before reaching those meetings because they prompt significant 
dialogues between the filer and the corporation's management.

     "There was a synergy here that was extraordinary," Holland 
said after meeting with Episcopalians early in January. "We found 
they were extraordinarily knowledgeable, intelligent, committed 
people. We learned from them. I think they learned from us." He 
added, "You can tell the group as a whole felt that way with how 
quickly they accepted the idea of having another meeting."

     That meeting will be held September 15 in New York to 
coincide with a meeting of the Interfaith Center on Corporate 
Responsibility (ICCR). About 275 religious organizations, 
including the ELCA and the Episcopal Church, coordinate their 
corporate social responsibility efforts through the ICCR.

     The Rev. Brian Grieves, director of the Episcopal Church's 
peace and justice ministries,  said that "there is a real 
possibility for collaborative work with the ELCA in the area of 
socially responsible investments" and he looks forward to 
discussing the possibilities at the September meeting.

     Joyce Austin of New York, who chairs the Episcopal 
committee, said in an interview that it was "an important and 
exciting exchange. We quickly knew that we had much to share--and 
much to learn--from each other."

New nature of poverty

     The committees met together to discuss the idea of Lutherans 
and Episcopalians co-sponsoring shareholder resolutions on one or 
two issues in which they share common concerns. Jean Pogge, 
senior vice president of the National Funding Group at South 
Shore Bank in Chicago, addressed a plenary meeting of the two 
committees.

     "It's criminal to think that people are okay because they 
have jobs," said Pogge. "Poverty has taken a new nature in our 
community." She said the minimum wage cannot support many of the 
families in the area South Shore Bank serves.

     South Shore Bank was established in 1973 as the first 
community development bank in the United States. It has lent more 
than $400 million to more than 11,000 businesses and individuals 
in economically depressed areas of Chicago. The bank's model has 
been replicated in other states and other countries, Pogge said.

     Inner-city and rural areas of the United States are "under-
invested communities," disconnected from the prosperity of the 
larger economy, she said. "With the economy doing so well ... it 
isn't as true in our neighborhood as it is in other 
neighborhoods."

     She added that "faith-based investors have been very 
important to our work. Some of our early shareholders were church 
institutions. We're talking about putting your money into a 
federally insured bank account at market rates of interest, where 
you know your money is going to be used for a purpose that 
matches your values."

     In an interview, ICCR director Timothy H. Smith expressed 
his belief that "the faith communities have had a great impact on 
corporate thinking." Smith, a member of the Episcopal committee, 
gave a brief report on ICCR activities to the Lutheran committee. 
He said that investors are looking for companies that share many 
of the values religious organizations have supported for years--
racial diversity in decision-making, a good environmental record 
and fair labor practices. "It's going to stick if moral values 
are blended with why it makes good business sense," he said. "As 
people of faith, we are called to be in this ministry."

--Frank Imhoff is associate director of the ELCA's Office of News 
and Information.