wfn.org | ELCA Church Council Hears Report on Worship, Youth

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 20, 2002

ELCA CHURCH COUNCIL HEARS REPORT ON WORSHIP, YOUTH
02-272-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) received an update on plans for the next
generation of worship resources for the church and about the 2003 ELCA
Youth Gathering.
     The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as
the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies.
The council met here Nov. 15-17.  Assemblies are held every other year;
the next is Aug. 11-17, 2003, in Milwaukee.
     The Rev. Michael L. Burk, director for worship, ELCA Division for
Congregational Ministries, told the council that it should come as no
surprise that in "matters related to worship, things are changing."
     The "Renewing Worship" churchwide initiative "is designed not only
to develop the next generation of worship resources -- in other words,
what comes after the Lutheran Book of Worship -- but in response to
changes in the life of the church and the world.  Renewing Worship aims
to help the church rediscover and renew what it means to be the baptized
people of God with a decidedly Lutheran perspective," said Burk.
     The first phase of the five-year initiative, which began in 2001,
yielded "Principles for Worship," a provisional volume that provides
material on four dimensions of ELCA worship: language, music, preaching
and worship.  Principles for Worship is "grounded" in the ELCA's
sacramental practices statement, "The Use of the Means of Grace."
Complimentary copies of the volume were sent to the 10,816 congregations
of the ELCA.  A Spanish-text version of the resource -- Principios para
la Adoracion -- is now in production.
     Renewing Worship "is dependent on the input and response of the
people and congregations of the ELCA.  If there is one thing that I mean
to consistently communicate, it is that we, who are working day-to-day
on the development of resources, are listening. [We're] listening for
what works and what doesn't work locally.  Listening for experience and
expertise, always inviting more people to be involved," Burk told the
council.  "We are also listening to biblical witness, to our own rich,
confessional, theological and liturgical heritage and to voices from
beyond our own tradition," he said.
     "After almost two years, we have come to think that Renewing
Worship is more complex than what was originally envisioned.  In a
strange way that complexity contributes to our hope for what it might
mean for the whole church.  People consistently ask if we think we will
be able to bridge the so-called contemporary-traditional divide.  I
consistently suggest that is the wrong question [to ask].  The tension
that contributes to concerns about identity revolves less around
competing worship styles and more around two seemingly, but not
necessarily, competitive desires.  The desire for freedom in how we
worship locally and the desire to worship in ways that can legitimately
and with integrity be called 'Lutheran,'" said Burk.
     "It is important to say that there has been and continues to be
input from our full communion partners, with significant participation
from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.  It is important to say
that we continue to work on ethnic-specific worship resources along side
Renewing Worship," Burk said.  The ELCA's full communion partners in the
United States are the Episcopal Church, Moravian Church in America,
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church of America and United
Church in Christ.
     Twenty-five regional events will take place following the 2003
ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee, Aug. 11-17.  Burk said the events
will provide opportunities for Lutherans to learn about and experience
new worship materials.	Equally important to the introduction and
interpretation of new worship resources is feedback and additional input
from members of the church, he said.
     The final phase of the process, 2005 and beyond, envisions the
drafting of a comprehensive proposal for new primary worship resources
designed to succeed the Lutheran Book of Worship.
     In a separate report, the council heard about the 2003 ELCA Youth
Gathering, July 16-20 and July 23-27 in Atlanta.  Under the theme, "Do
Life! Ubuntu!" as many as 40,000 to 45,000 Lutheran teenagers and adults
are expected to attend.  Worship, education and service will be
highlighted during the events.	Registration on the Internet at the
ELCA's Web site opened Sept. 16 and mail-in registration opened Sept.
30; registration will close May 3, 2003.
     "Ubuntu literally means 'humanity,'" said the Rev. William B.
Kees, director for youth ministries and gathering team, Division for
Congregational Ministries.  Kees told the council that Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, retired Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa,
"embraced ubuntu" and "contended that in order to understand yourself,
you do it through someone else."  Tutu served as a keynote presenter for
the 2000 ELCA Youth Gathering in St. Louis.
-- -- --
     Information about Renewing Worship is available at
http://www.renewingworship.org on the Internet.  Information about the
2003 ELCA Youth Gathering is available on the Internet at
http://www.elca.org/gathering/ubuntu.html

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