wfn.org | ELCA Churchwide Assembly to Meet in Milwaukee Aug. 11-17

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 5, 2003

ELCA CHURCHWIDE ASSEMBLY TO MEET IN MILWAUKEE AUG. 11-17
03-115-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Voting members of the 2003 Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly will act on several
proposals -- including an evangelism vision for the church, and a social
statement on health and health care -- and elect a vice president and an
editor for The Lutheran, the magazine of the ELCA.  The assembly will be
held at the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee, Aug. 11-17.
     More than 2,000 people -- including 1,031 voting members elected
by synods -- are expected to participate in the ELCA's eighth biennial
assembly.  The theme is "Making Christ Known: For the Healing of the
World."  It is directly related to the theme for the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) assembly, to be held July 21-31 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The LWF assembly's theme is "For the Healing of the World."  The ELCA is
one of 136 member churches in the LWF.
     The churchwide assembly is the ELCA's chief legislative authority
and represents the 5.1 million members of the ELCA, the fourth-largest
Protestant denomination in the United States and Caribbean.  The ELCA is
organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop.
     The ELCA Greater Milwaukee Synod, led by Bishop Paul W. Stumme-
Diers, is hosting the assembly.  Volunteers from the synod have been
involved in planning arrangements for the assembly.  A committee of the
churchwide organization is determining the assembly agenda; Myrna J.
Sheie, executive assistant to the presiding bishop, is the committee
chair.
     Worship, Bible study and prayer will be significant to the
assembly.  It includes a "Global Celebration" Aug. 14, during which the
afternoon sessions will be devoted to presentations, workshops and a
celebration of the ELCA's connection to the global church and the LWF.
     The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, who was elected ELCA presiding bishop at
the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, will chair the assembly, his first as
presiding bishop.  Assisting him during plenary sessions will be the
Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary.
     For the first time, official  "congregational observers" may
register with the ELCA office of the Secretary to attend the assembly.
Each of the ELCA's 10,766 congregations may send one representative.
Observers will have reserved seating in the plenary hall, and will
receive reports and materials.	Official observers have no voice in
assembly discussions and do not vote.
     The ELCA constitution requires the church to hold churchwide
assemblies every two years.  Significant funding for the assembly is
provided by the churchwide organization, with some financial support
from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a fraternal benefit organization
based in Minneapolis.

EVANGELISM, HEALTH CARE PROPOSALS TO BE CONSIDERED
     At the 2001 Churchwide Assembly, voting members asked for the
development of an evangelism strategy to be presented for action in
2003.  Since then a 32-member evangelism task force, led by the Rev.
Gary M. Wollersheim, bishop of the ELCA Northern Illinois Synod,
Rockford, has developed a strategy, "Sharing Faith in a New Century: A
Vision for Evangelism in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America."
     The strategy was reviewed by the ELCA Church Council in April and
transmitted to the assembly.  The council also set in place several
actions to implement the strategy, should it be adopted by the assembly.
The proposed strategy is at http://www.elca.org/visionevangelism on the
ELCA Web site.
     The assembly will consider a proposed social statement on health
and health care, "Caring for Our Health: Our Shared Endeavor."	The
proposed social statement was authorized by the 1999 Churchwide
Assembly. The ELCA Division for Church in Society and a task force
appointed by the division's board developed the proposal.
     The proposal will address the biblical and theological basis for
making a statement on health and health care; access to health care and
equity in care; the role of ELCA-related social ministry organizations
involved in health care as an expression of the church's ministry; and
the role of congregational health ministries in the church's ministry.
     In April the church council recommended the assembly adopt the
final text of the proposed social statement, and it put in place several
actions to implement it if adopted.  The text of Caring for Our Health
is at http://www.elca.org/dcs/healthcare_statement.html on the ELCA Web
site.

NEW VP TO BE ELECTED, NOMINEE CONSIDERED FOR MAGAZINE POST
     Dr. Addie J. Butler, Philadelphia, the ELCA's vice president, told
the church several months ago she will not stand for re-election to the
volunteer position.  Butler, 56, was elected at 1997 Churchwide Assembly
in Philadelphia.  She is assistant to the vice president for academic
affairs, Community College of Philadelphia.  Butler's successor will be
elected to a six-year term.
     The vice president serves as an officer of the ELCA along with the
presiding bishop, secretary and treasurer.  The ELCA constitution
specifies the election is by ecclesiastical ballot.  Nominations are
made on the first ballot; each succeeding ballot requires a nominee to
receive a certain percentage of all ballots cast for election.	As many
as five ballots may be needed.
     The Rev. David L. Miller, who currently serves as editor of The
Lutheran, is the nominee for a second four-year term as editor.  Miller,
50, was first elected at the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.  The editor
is nominated by the magazine's advisory committee, in consultation with
the presiding bishop and ELCA Church Council.  In November 2002, the
council transmitted Miller's nomination for consideration by the
assembly.
     In addition, the assembly will elect members of the church to
churchwide boards and committees.

REPORTS AND RESOLUTIONS TO BE PRESENTED
     A key report to be presented to the assembly is a progress report
on the ELCA Studies on Sexuality.  The 2001 Churchwide Assembly mandated
that the church begin a four-year study process on homosexuality and the
church.  Specifically, it asked the ELCA to study the possibilities of
blessings of same-gender relationships and of ordaining people who are
gay or lesbian and who are in committed homosexual relationships.  The
assembly asked for a progress report in 2003 and a final report with
recommendations at the 2005 assembly.
     The 2001 assembly also asked for a social statement on human
sexuality that may be considered at the 2007 assembly.
     The Rev. James A. Childs, Jr., an ethicist on leave from the
faculty of Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, was appointed
director for the studies.  Childs has been working with a task force
appointed by the church.  The Rev. Margaret G. Payne, bishop of the ELCA
New England Synod, Worcester, Mass., is chair of the task force.

     Information about the task force's work is at
http://www.elca.org/faithfuljourney on the Web.
     Several other reports and actions are expected at the 2003
Churchwide Assembly:
     + Hanson, Butler, Almen and Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA
treasurer, will report to the assembly.  Hanson will offer his report in
five sections, one to be presented each day, Aug. 12-16.  The presiding
bishop will focus on each of the church's five strategic directions
which emerged from a strategic planning process for the church:
supporting congregations; growing in evangelical outreach; being a
public church; deepening global, ecumenical and interfaith
relationships; and identifying and supporting church leaders.
Information about the strategic directions and the ELCA planning process
is at http://www.elca.org/planning/ on the Web.
     + The ELCA churchwide organization's budget for 2004 and 2005 will
be presented for adoption.  The church council recommended that the
assembly approve an income proposal of $84,310,000 for 2004, along with
a spending plan of $16.25 million for the ELCA World Hunger Program. For
2005, it recommended an income proposal of $85,140,000 and a $16.5
million spending plan for the World Hunger Program.
     + Several constitutional amendments will be presented for
consideration, along with resolutions from voting members and memorials,
which are resolutions from synods.
     + Representatives from the ELCA's ecumenical partners, other
church bodies and church organizations will greet the assembly
participants at plenary sessions.
     + The ELCA Church Council and ELCA Conference of Bishops will meet
prior to the start of the assembly.
     + Young Lutherans will attend a youth convocation or young adult
convocation, Aug 11-18 at the Midwest Express Center.  The ELCA Division
for Congregational Ministries provides leadership for these events.
     ELCA churchwide staff will host a "Hospitality Cafe" Aug. 11-16.
Assembly participants will be able to have coffee, tea or water.  In
addition to cafe tables and chairs, easy chairs will be placed in the
cafe.  After assembly, the easy chairs and end tables will be donated to
a social service organization in Milwaukee.
-- -- --
     Information about the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly -- including
downloadable assembly logos -- can be found at
http://www.elca.org/assembly/03/ 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