wfn.org | ELCA Bishops Hear 'Wellness' Update from Board of Pensions

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 18, 2004

ELCA Bishops Hear 'Wellness' Update from Board of Pensions
04-042-JB

     WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. (ELCA) -- Saying this was an
"exciting time" in the life of the Board of Pensions of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the organization's
president challenged the ELCA Conference of Bishops to "champion
the cause" of health and wellness among professional leaders in
the church.
     John G. Kapanke addressed the Conference of Bishops during
its meeting here March 4-10, urging the bishops "to move this
challenge from your heart to your feet."
     The ELCA is organized into 65 synods, each headed by a
bishop. The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the
church, consisting of the church's 65 synod bishops, presiding
bishop and secretary.
     In recent years the Board, which manages health and pension
benefits for ELCA professional leaders and staff, has emphasized
health and wellness among the church's leaders, with the ELCA
Division for Ministry.
     In a cooperative project earlier this year with the Mayo
Clinic Health Management Resources, Rochester, Minn., the Board
offered an online health risk assessment for members.  Kapanke
reported nearly 6,700 people registered at
www.elcaforwellness.org on the Board's Web site; nearly 4,500
people took the assessment, most of them ordained clergy.  Mayo
representatives told Kapanke the number of participants was
impressive, he said.
     The interactive online program allowed users to assess their
health risks and develop plans to stay healthy.  Users provided
health-related information, such as blood pressure, weight, and
cholesterol and glucose counts.  Users received instant,
individualized online reports from the Mayo Clinic outlining
health risks and determining actions that could be taken to
improve one's health.
     Medical conditions that ordained pastors most frequently
reported in the assessments were allergies, high cholesterol,
high blood pressure, arthritis and depression, Kapanke reported.
Lifestyle behaviors such as weight, exercise and consumption of
dietary fat were the most-reported health risk factors; most-
reported medical risk factors for clergy were weight, cholesterol
and blood pressure concerns.  The health risk assessment was also
available to family members, professional lay leaders and
seminary students.
     In early 2005 the online health risk assessment will be
available again, Kapanke said.
     "There is a real urgency to improve the overall health of
leaders of the church," he told the bishops. "Promoting health
will make a difference for the future of this church."
     Next year wellness benefits in the ELCA health plan will be
strengthened, Kapanke said.

Conference of Bishops Responds to Documents
     During their meeting the Conference of Bishops engaged in a
series of small group discussions to respond to existing or
drafts of church documents:
     + The bishops spent a day on evangelical outreach, exploring
how the church can be effective in implementing an evangelism
strategy adopted by the 2003 Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee.	A
keynote speaker for the session was the Rev. Richard Bliese,
academic dean and associate professor of missions, Luther
Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., one of eight ELCA seminaries.  The
bishops concluded their discussion by calling for prayer for
evangelical outreach, and they committed themselves "to encourage
our respective synods, members of congregations, institutions and
agencies" to join them in prayer.
     + The Conference of Bishops discussed a draft message,
"Living in a Time of Terrorism."  The draft was shared with the
bishops for comment.  It had been reviewed by the board of the
Division for Church in Society and was transmitted for final
action to the ELCA Church Council, which meets next month in
Chicago.
     + The Conference of Bishops responded to a Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) document, "The Episcopal Ministry Within the
Apostolicity of the Church."  Their comments on the document,
along with other responses from within the ELCA, will be sent to
the LWF in Geneva, Switzerland.
-- -- --
     Information about the ELCA Board of Pensions is at
http://www.elcabop.org/ on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news