wfn.org | ELCA Board Approves Education Study, GMO Resolution, Issue Papers

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 1, 2004

ELCA Board Approves Education Study, GMO Resolution, Issue Papers
04-206-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) Division for Church in Society (DCS)
authorized the printing and distribution of a study document on
education, approved a draft policy resolution on genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) and commended three issue papers on
corporate social responsibility.  Board members toured four
social ministry organizations and received reports during their
meeting here Oct. 21-23.
     The DCS board authorized the printing and distribution of
"Our Calling in Education: A Lutheran Study."  In 2003 the board
appointed the 16-member task force that prepared the study
document.  It charged the task force with developing a proposed
social statement that will "present a Lutheran vision of
education for our time."
     "As an academic at a church-related school, I know portions
of that (study) will be very helpful to our church-related
colleges and universities as we talk about what it means to be
the church in higher education," said the Rev. James B. Martin-
Schramm, DCS board chair and associate professor of religion,
Luther College, Decorah, Iowa.
     Noting that the ELCA is involved in every aspect of private
education and in the campus ministries of public schools, Martin-
Schramm said, "This study document will really help members of
our church think in a deeper level and theological level about
what we are engaged in with regard to education."
     Our Calling in Education will be available in print and at
http://www.elca.org/socialstatements/education/ on the ELCA Web
site in early 2005.  ELCA members are to study the document and
return their comments on the study to the task force by Oct. 1,
2005.
     The task force plans to prepare a first draft of the
proposed social statement for distribution at the beginning of
2006.  After a comment period on the first draft, the task force
will issue a final draft in early 2007 for possible consideration
by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August 2007.  The churchwide
assembly is the church's chief legislative authority.
     The DCS board approved the social policy resolution
"Genetically Modified Organisms in the Food Supply" and
recommended that the ELCA Church Council adopt it at its Nov.
11-15 meeting here.  The council is the ELCA's board of directors
and serves as the legislative authority of the church between
biennial churchwide assemblies.
     GMOs are plants and non-human animals that have been
manipulated at the genetic level by biotechnology.  Martin-
Schramm said the ELCA's advocacy efforts at the federal and state
levels can use the guidance of the social policy resolution,
especially as ethicists discuss the place of GMOs in the human
food chain.
     "The fact is that genetically modified organisms are a
significant element in modern agricultural production, and this
church needs to be ahead of the curve on that so we can better
engage in advocacy efforts about that," Martin-Schramm said.
"I think we have crafted a document that will do that."
     The DCS board recommended that the ELCA Church Council
approve three issue papers on corporate social responsibility:
"Domestic Access to Capital," "Domestic Access to Health Care"
and "Extractive Industries."
     Through an advisory committee, DCS counsels various
institutions of the church and shareholders about the social
records of corporations in which they hold stock.  Issue papers
provide boundaries for voting proxies and filing shareholder
resolutions.
     The DCS board discussed two draft proposals -- one to
redesign the churchwide organization and the other to revamp the
church's governance.  Martin-Schramm said the board forwarded
"constructive and helpful advice" to the council as it considers
both proposals.
     In 2003 the council asked the DCS board to review the
"Policies and Procedures of the ELCA for Addressing Social
Concerns" and provide the council with possible recommendations
in November 2004.
     The DCS board decided to recommend the church "postpone
making changes in 'Policies and Procedures of the ELCA for
Addressing Social Concerns' until after the 2005 churchwide
assembly's anticipated action on the governance structure of the
churchwide organization."
     Martin-Schramm said one of the most important parts of the
meeting did not involve a vote but was a board development
session that divided the board members into four groups, each
touring a different Lutheran social ministry organization in the
Chicago area:
     + Advocate Health Care, Oak Brook, Ill.
     + Bethel New Life, Inc., Chicago
     + Lutheran Home and Services, Arlington Heights, Ill.
     + Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, Des Plaines
     "Part of our job as the board of the Division for Church in
Society is to be aware of how our church, in all of its
expressions, is engaged as the church in society," Martin-Schramm
said.  "My colleagues were very impressed with the
professionalism of all of those endeavors and impressed by the
number of people who are served by our church through those
institutions," he said.  "It's always encouraging to see where we
are actively engaged in providing high quality ministry."
     The DCS board also received a report on the ELCA Studies on
Sexuality.  DCS and the ELCA Division for Ministry oversee the
work of a task force preparing a report and recommendations
related to homosexuality for the 2005 Churchwide Assembly.  The
report and recommendations will become public January 13.
     The Rev. James M. Childs Jr., director of the ELCA Studies
on Sexuality, will move into an advisory role and return to
teaching at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, early next
year.
     The task force will continue on a new phase of its work, to
develop a social statement on human sexuality for consideration
by the 2007 Churchwide Assembly.  The Rev. Kaari M. Reierson and
Roger A. Willer, both with DCS, will provide staff support for
the task force's work.
-- -- --
     The home page of the Division for Church in Society is at
http://www.elca.org/dcs/ on the ELCA Web site.

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