wfn.org | ELCA Council Adopts Process for Design, Churchwide Organization

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

ELCA Council Adopts Process for Design, Churchwide Organization Governance
Council Sets 2004 Churchwide Spending; Programs, Staff Reduced

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, United States/GENEVA, 25 November
2003 (LWI/ELCA) - The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) adopted a three-phase process for
redesign of the ELCA churchwide organization, leading to a final
proposal to be presented to the council for consideration in
November 2004. In a separate action, it agreed to study the
issues of governance related to the churchwide organization, with
a report and recommendations also to be presented to the council
in November 2004.

The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves
as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide
assemblies, held every two years. The council met November 13-16
at the invitation of the ELCA North Carolina Synod, and joined in
a celebration of the synod's 200th anniversary. 

ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, asked the council to
develop a process for redesign of the churchwide organization to
fit the church's planning effort, "Faithful Yet Changing:
Planning for Mission," which includes strategic priorities. He
said he specifically wanted a process that would be consultative
and inclusive.

Hanson's request follows an earlier design proposed by the ELCA
Office of the Presiding Bishop that drew heavy criticism and was
withdrawn by Hanson this fall. The 2003 Churchwide Assembly,
which met in August in Milwaukee, authorized the presiding bishop
to align the churchwide organization's structure, staffing and
budget with the ELCA's plan for mission.

Key components of the plan for mission are five strategic
priorities for the church, adopted by the council in April 2003:
support congregations; grow in evangelical outreach; be a public
church; extend global, ecumenical and interfaith relationships;
and support professional leaders. The directions, plus a mission
and vision statement and commitments for implementation were
developed as a result of a nearly two-year listening process in
which staff sought comments on the church's mission from members
throughout the church.

Ms Janet Thompson, council member and chair of the council's
planning and evaluation committee, Eagan, Minnesota, said the new
process is built on the ELCA's strategic priorities, adopted in
April 2003. She said the council will evaluate each phase as the
process proceeds. 

The three phases of the redesign process are:
- Phase One, January to April 2004: The presiding bishop's
staff, guided by the executive directors of the churchwide units,
will meet with churchwide boards and steering committees, ethnic
associations, churchwide staff, Conference of Bishops, Church
Council, synod councils and partners in ministry. They will ask
questions about the church's strategic directions and how they
may impact ministry.  Answers will be summarized and reported to
the council when it meets April 16-19 in Chicago.
- Phase Two, May to July 2004: Models for the churchwide
organization's structure, staffing and budget will be developed,
and the same participants as in Phase One will be invited to
provide written responses to the proposals. A "representative
panel" will be selected from the participants to refine the
proposal, and responses will be sought.
- Phase Three, August to November 2004: A writing team will be
assembled and a panel of organizational design consultants will
respond to a proposed design, critique it and make suggestions. 
A draft will be distributed by September 1 to all participants
for response to the Church Council before it considers a proposal
in November 2004.

In its action, the council asked for a communication strategy
related to the redesign process. It thanked Hanson for his
leadership in developing the first plan which was withdrawn. The
council also "expressed gratitude to all those on the churchwide
staff for their ministry and partnership, especially in this time
of transition and [pledged] prayerful concern and support for
continued ministries."

In a separate but parallel process, the council asked for study
on the subject of governance of the churchwide organization. That
study will examine issues of role, authority, accountability,
representation, continuity and expense. Recommendations will be
considered at the November 2004 council meeting.

Planning Team Agreed to Reduce Churchwide Units' Spending by
over 3 Percent

The ELCA Church Council adopted a 2004 current-fund spending
authorization of USD 81.5 million, a reduction from the USD 84.3
million budget adopted by the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. As a
result, 25 positions within the ELCA churchwide organization are
directly affected, including 13 employees in those positions. In
addition, funding for some programs will be eliminated, and there
will be no pay increases for churchwide employees, mission
developers and missionaries in 2004.

In a report to the council, Ms Linda J. Brown, council member
and chair of the council's budget and finance committee,
Moorhead, Minnesota, said estimates for 2004 had to be revised
from what the churchwide assembly approved. She cited projected
declines in two key areas -- mission support from congregations
through synods and investment income -- as the reasons to revise
current fund spending down USD 2.8 million.

To meet the income projections, the presiding bishop's planning
team -- made up of churchwide officers and executive directors of
churchwide units -- agreed to reduce spending in each unit by
3.41 percent, said the Rev. Charles S. Miller, executive for
administration and executive assistant to the presiding bishop.
Reductions in programs and personnel, when necessary, were to be
accomplished with the church's strategic directions and
priorities in mind, he said.

To achieve the USD 2.8 million spending reduction for 2004, USD
1.3 million was saved through the policy of no salary increases,
USD 1 million through position reductions, and USD 500,000
through specific program cuts, Miller said. Those cuts included
travel costs, grants for specific ministries and elimination of
programs.

The council also adopted a spending authorization of USD 16.25
million for the ELCA World Hunger Program for 2004--the same as
the budget adopted by the churchwide assembly. The ELCA's 2004
fiscal year begins on February 1. 

The ELCA has around 5.1 million members, and joined the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) in 1988. Presiding Bishop Hanson is LWF
president.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where
the dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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