wfn.org | ELCA Education Board Sees Campus Ministry Policy Documents

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 21, 2003

ELCA EDUCATION BOARD SEES CAMPUS MINISTRY POLICY DOCUMENTS
03-058-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) Division for Higher Education and Schools (DHES) saw a
working draft of "policies and procedures for campus ministry" during
its meeting here March 7-8.  The board's campus ministry committee
supported the draft "in principle" and noted the "process document" will
return to the board's September meeting in final form.
     Scott S. Fintzen, Gaido and Fintzen Attorneys at Law, Chicago,
presented the document to the board.  He said he began drafting policies
for campus ministry while he was associate general counsel for the ELCA,
1998-2002.
     The ELCA began in 1988 as the result of a merger between three
Lutheran church bodies.  Those involved in shaping one church from three
did not concern themselves with rethinking campus ministry, said
Fintzen.  The ELCA has gone 15 years with a variety of practices for
campus ministry, he said.
     There are about 150 ELCA campus ministries across the United
States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands --
some conducted by an ELCA congregation near a college or university,
others directly supported by one of the ELCA's 65 synods and yet others
on the campuses of the ELCA's 28 colleges and universities.
     Fintzen said the purpose of drafting policies and procedures was
to evaluate "all aspects of campus ministry to determine how we can be
more effective stewards of the resources with which we have been
entrusted."  He said the purpose was not to reduce the importance of
campus ministries nor to cut their budgets.
     "The current structure creates unnecessary liability risks" and is
"needlessly complex," said Fintzen.  He said the roles of the people and
governing structures involved may become confused, leaving uncertain who
is responsible for what.
     A congregation extends a call to its pastor and becomes the
pastor's employer, said Fintzen.  For staff of a campus ministry, a call
may come from an entity other than the employer, he said.  That leaves
questions about such things as who approves vacations and who negotiates
salaries, he said.
     Fintzen said background checks are not required for campus
ministry staff, but it's unclear who would decide if a background check
is in order before calling someone to serve in a campus ministry.  While
there have been no lawsuits against a campus minister in the ELCA's 15-
year history, he called the situation "a time bomb waiting to go off."
     A board member, the Rev. Jayne M. Thompson, Lutheran Campus
Ministry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., expressed "grave
misgivings" about the document.  She said "risk management" was the
reason behind drafting the policies.
     Thompson challenged Fintzen and the division to get the draft
document into the hands of everyone serving on a campus ministry board
and to pay close attention to the concerns of those now serving in
campus ministries while finalizing the policies.
     The division provided each campus ministry with copies of the
draft policies, said Sue E. Rothmeyer, DHES director for campus
ministry.  Campus ministry staff can make copies for all their board
members, said Rothmeyer, an ELCA associate in ministry.
     Another board member, the Rev. Gwendolyn S. King, Colby Sawyer
College and Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., suggested that Lutheran
ministry policies should reflect the tradition's distinction between law
and gospel.  "There's not a lot of grace here," she said.
     After the meeting, the DHES board chair, Raymond E. Bailey, Fort
Collins, Colo., said the board's discussion is just the beginning of an
"exciting time" for ELCA campus ministries and the development of
policies and procedures.
     "It will be a while before it is a completed document, ready for
implementation," said Bailey.  "There will be revisions along the way,
but it will be because we have talked and listened," he said.
     "We have about 150 campus ministries around the nation in various
colleges and universities.  Each is doing ministry and outreach, sharing
the Word and Sacrament in their locales," said Bailey.	"Campus
ministries, schools, colleges and universities are all vital components
of the work of this division," he said.
     A time line that accompanied the draft policies and procedures
said the document would be reviewed by an annual campus ministry
meeting, as well as the ELCA Conference of Bishops and agencies that
receive campus ministry grants.  A writing team will finalize the
document in mid-August for presentation to the next DHES board meeting
here Sept. 20-21.
-- -- --
     The home page for the Division for Higher Education and Schools is
at http://www.elca.org/dhes on the ELCA Web site.

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