wfn.org | ELCA Church in Society Board Displays Breadth of its Work

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 12, 2002

ELCA CHURCH IN SOCIETY BOARD DISPLAYS BREADTH OF ITS WORK
02-261-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) Division for Church in Society (DCS) demonstrated the
breadth of its work for a new executive director when it met here Oct.
24-26.	Topics ranged from a possible war between the United States and
Iraq to an ELCA social statement on education.
     For those on the board, its chair, the Rev. Denver W. Bitner, Zion
Lutheran Church, Rockford, Ill., said the highlight of the meeting was
having its new executive director present.  The Rev. Rebecca S. Larson
became executive director on Oct. 14, and the board meeting had been
postponed from September so she could attend.
     Larson, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, was
elected July 23 to a four-year appointment as head of the division.
Since 1994 she has served the Lutheran World Federation as secretary for
research and development, Department for World Service, Geneva,
Switzerland.
     The division's vacancy began Dec. 1, 2001, when the Rev. Charles
S. Miller became the ELCA's executive for administration and executive
assistant to the presiding bishop.  The Rev. L. James Wylie served as
the division's interim executive director.  Wylie was senior vice
president, Lutheran General Health System, Park Ridge, Ill., and
Advocate Health Care, Oak Brook, Ill.
     The DCS board passed a formal resolution thanking Wylie "for
seeking to be a bridge between our past and our future, and for his
representation of the pastoral office in prayer, witness and joy."

RESOLUTION ON IRAQ
     In recent weeks, several ELCA boards and committees asked the ELCA
Church Council to affirm an August 30 statement in which the Rev. Mark
S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, opposed the use of military force to
overthrow Saddam Hussein in Iraq.  The council is the chief legislative
body of the church between ELCA churchwide assemblies; it meets here
Nov. 15-18.
     Those requests often asked the council to adopt a "message on
terrorism."  Many also mentioned the ELCA social statement "For Peace in
God's World" and other church resources to assist conversations on the
consequences of war.  The Division for Church in Society develops social
statements and messages for the ELCA to consider.
     The DCS board postponed any action on the possibility of
developing a message on terrorism until its next meeting in February.
     The board adopted a resolution on Iraq that asked the council to
encourage prayers for peace and the use of ELCA resources in "moral
deliberation" of issues related to war.  It urged consulting other
churches around the world "as the ELCA develops its ongoing response to
the crisis concerning Iraq."  The resolution commended the work of the
Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, the ELCA's federal public
policy advocacy office in Washington, D.C., and the Lutheran Office for
World Community at the United Nations in New York.
     "We are influenced by the world around us, and often those voices
are the loudest voices that we hear," said Bitner.  "In the midst of
that we ought to be hearing the voice of the church and the voice of our
scriptural tradition as well," he said.
     Before passing the resolution, the board deleted wording that
would have affirmed Bishop Hanson's statement.	The statement was met
with mixed reactions by the board, said Bitner.  Some members were
pleased with the statement, some were not.  Some members thought it was
appropriate for the bishop to speak publicly on the possibility of war,
some did not.  "So, those were two different questions people were
wrestling with," he said.
     "It's important to note that the Division for Church in Society
represents a broad spectrum of the thought and the culture of this
church," said Bitner.  "It is a board that is very lively in its debate.
It doesn't just salute everything that comes by.  It really does wrestle
with these things," he said.
     One board member, Robert W. Tuttle, professor of law, George
Washington University, Washington, D.C., said after the meeting that he
supported deleting the affirmation.  "I thought the bishop's statement
exceeded the church's competence, both in terms of information and in
terms of responsibility for a particular office," he said.
     Tuttle agreed with the content of Hanson's statement and supported
his right to speak as a U.S. citizen, however he questioned whether the
bishop could speak at this time in this case.  "He judges a particular
direction of political action to be 'immoral' -- acts falling outside
legitimate exercise of a Christian's responsibility in the world," said
Tuttle.  Such a judgment would not only weigh heavily on those in
political leadership but may also be seen as encouragement for "those
who carry out the commands of leaders to cease their actions -- indeed
to disobey, if necessary," he said.
     "Coming from a military family, I understand the impact that such
words can have on the lives of those who believe that service in arms
can be a Christian's vocation in this world," said Tuttle.  "There are
appropriate times when a word of conclusion and judgment can, should and
must be spoken.  Nevertheless, such a word must recognize the limited
understanding and competence we have, even in exercising this word that
calls into question the vocational responsibilities of our brothers and
sisters in Christ."

SOCIAL STATEMENT ON EDUCATION
     The ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August 2001 called for the
development of a social statement on education.  The Division for Church
in Society is responsible for conducting studies and developing the
church's social statements for consideration by a churchwide assembly.
     Working closely with the ELCA Division for Higher Education and
Schools, DCS hosted a consultation here in July to help set the
direction for the statement on education.  The DCS board received a
report from that consultation and defined the purposes of the possible
social statement:
 + present a Lutheran vision of education for our time;
 + address issues of education and schooling for children and young
people in our society, with attention to purpose and quality, equity and
access for all, responsibilities, and religion's role in public
schooling;
 + set forth an understanding of our church's own educational
institutions (preschool, primary and secondary schools, and colleges and
universities); and
 + consider our church's ministries in relation to public schools and
universities and the vocation of Christians involved in education in
different roles.
     The board received a time line that indicated the board would name
a task force in February to oversee the statement's development.
"Listening posts" next summer will act as hearings across the church.
Study materials will be available in 2005, and the first draft of a
possible social statement should be ready by 2006.  The ELCA Churchwide
Assembly in 2007 is to consider a proposed statement on education.

IN OTHER BUSINESS
+    The DCS board received a progress report from the Rev. James M.
Childs Jr., director, ELCA studies on sexuality.  The Division for
Ministry and DCS are working together to address questions of blessing
same-gender relationships and allowing people in such relationships to
serve as ordained and lay ministers of the ELCA.
     The church has no policy on blessing relationships.  It expects
its ministers to abstain from homosexual sexual relationships.
     The divisions plan to have recommendations on these questions for
the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 2005.  DCS also plans to develop a
social statement on sexuality that the ELCA Churchwide Assembly may
consider in 2007.
+    The DCS board considered creating a staff position to coordinate
the ELCA's work in the area of faith and science.  It decided to explore
whether or not the position might be shared with other units of the
church.
     Bitner said the board was interested in having "a voice within the
structure of our church that is helping us deal with issues of how faith
and science relate and helping the church frame the questions we need to
be asking in the 21st century."
+    The board reviewed the statement of cooperative ministry and the
standing policies and procedures for Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR)
and recommended the ELCA Church Council approve them.  LDR is a
cooperative ministry of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
+    The board supported and asked the council to advocate for "the
legal barrier which prevents tax-exempt religious entities from
participating or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of or
in opposition to any candidate for public office."
+    Board members engaged in discussions to assist the ELCA strategic
planning process, which is being spearheaded by the Office of the
Presiding Bishop.  They also reviewed the first draft of a churchwide
strategy on evangelism, which the ELCA Division for Congregational
Ministries is leading.
     "There was a strong plea on the part of the Division for Church in
Society to see the work that this church does in justice, in the serving
of those who are in need, as elements of evangelism," said Bitner.
"Evangelism, as we understand it as Lutherans, is a message to the whole
person.  We need to see the work that we do in this division is very
evangelical as well," he said.

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