wfn.org | ELCA Council Discusses Church Governance, Consultations

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 6, 2004

ELCA Council Discusses Church Governance, Consultations
04-090-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) heard a report on responses to
a "Questionnaire on Decision-Making" in the ELCA.  It also
advanced planning to relate council members more closely with
local expressions of the church.
     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 April 17-18.
Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 8-14,
2005, in Orlando, Fla.
     At its November 2003 meeting the ELCA Church Council asked
its executive committee to "plan and implement a period of
consultation and study on the subject of governance of the
churchwide organization."  It asked also that it see a report and
recommendations, including any proposed changes to ELCA governing
documents, no later than its November 2004 meeting.
     The council's executive committee defined a process, and the
Office of the Presiding Bishop prepared the Questionnaire on
Decision-Making in consultation with the Department for Research
and Evaluation.
     The questionnaire was mailed in February to 2,706 people --
pastors and congregation council members, synod bishops and
officers, current and former church council members, ELCA
executives, board and committee members, and presidents of ELCA
social ministry organizations, seminaries, colleges and
universities.
     At its April meeting the Church Council voted to draft a
second survey of "the same diverse field of participants" to
delve deeper into what the first survey revealed and implications
for "possible governance options."  The second survey would be
distributed around September, according to the council's action,
with a final report and recommendations from its findings brought
to the council's November meeting.
     Dr. Kenneth W. Inskeep, director, ELCA Department for
Research and Evaluation, told the council 42 percent or 1,134 of
the first survey were completed and returned.
     The questionnaire covered four areas of governance: synod
assembly, synod council, churchwide assembly and church council.
"The majority of respondents in all groups generally agreed with
the current governance structure," Inskeep said in his written
report, "however, the level of disagreement is considerably
higher among the clergy and council presidents, particularly on
items related to the representative principles."
     The ELCA's representative principles charge the church
council with establishing processes to ensure that the church's
"assemblies, councils, committees, boards and other
organizational units" are each made up of at least 60 percent lay
people, half of whom are women, and 10 percent "persons of color
and/or persons whose primary language is other than English."
     Groups that are farther removed from the churchwide
expression -- synod officers, pastors and congregational council
presidents -- and groups outside of the governance structure of
the churchwide organization -- social ministry organization,
seminary and college presidents -- were most likely to disagree
with these representative principles, Inskeep said.
     "Instead of changing the ratios, it may be necessary to
explain more clearly the rationale behind these representative
principles," Inskeep suggested.
     "Many of their comments expressed that the most qualified
persons should be allowed to be voting members, and the sentiment
that these representative principles were preventing certain
qualified persons from participating.  If the necessity for the
principles were better communicated at these levels, perhaps they
would be better understood and perceived less as obstacles to
participation," Inskeep said.
     "For all four areas of governance, the highest level of
disagreement was found for selecting voting members so that 10
percent (as a goal) are persons of color or language other than
English," Inskeep wrote.  "There was also significant
disagreement for voting conscience, as opposed to representing
the majority views of the congregation or synod.
     "Some disagreement was also found for selecting voting
members so that 50 percent are female and 50 percent are male.
Finally, many groups disagreed with the current size of the
church council," Inskeep reported.
     The church council is composed of the ELCA's four officers
-- presiding bishop, vice president, secretary and treasurer --
and 33 members, 11 elected at each churchwide assembly to serve
six-year terms.
     In response to questions seeking ways to achieve "more
involvement, trust, ownership and support" in the ELCA's decision-
making processes, "the primary opinion expressed in these
comments is the feeling of a disconnect between people in
congregations and the decisions being made at the churchwide
level," Inskeep reported.
     "Another area of potential change is the idea of voting
conscience, as opposed to representing the majority views of the
congregation or synod. Pastors and congregation council
presidents were most likely to disagree in this area, in some
cases up to 40 percent of respondents," Inskeep reported.
     "As was also clear in their comments, people at the
congregational level often do not feel represented at the higher
levels of decision-making in the church.  Perhaps if voting
members became delegates and represented the views of their
congregations at synod assemblies and the views of their synods
at churchwide assembly, people in the pews would feel more like
their voices were being heard at the higher levels of
governance," Inskeep said.
     At the April 2004 meeting, Church Council members discussed
plans for consultations and other contacts with synods in their
home areas.  The council's legal and constitutional review
committee reported that its work continues toward possible
"changes to foster greater understanding and appropriate
involvement in decision-making on the overall program of the
churchwide organization."
-- -- --
     Information on the ELCA's planning process and related
documents are available at http://www.elca.org/planning/ on the
Web.

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