wfn.org | Lutherans "in the Pew" to Engage Globally through National, Local Events

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

Title: Lutherans "in the Pew" to Engage Globally through National, Local Events
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>October 1, 2009  

Lutherans "in the Pew" to Engage Globally through National, Local Events
09-216-MRC

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Engaging in mission and ministry around the world
is not an extracurricular activity, according to Sunitha Mortha of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Global mission no longer
takes place "over there," she said. Immigration, travel and the Internet
have brought the world to the individual.

Mortha serves as director for the global formation program. She
organizes two of the church's major events -- the national ELCA Global
Mission Event (GME) and the new Global Formation Event (GFE), the first
of which is Oct. 2-3 at Living Word Lutheran Church, Katy, Texas.

For more than 25 years, GMEs have "informed and motivated
(Lutherans) who are passionate about global mission," Mortha said. The
events are four-day, multi-generational celebrations that "lift up the
voices" of Lutherans overseas and in the United States. These events have
sparked unique collaborations among Lutherans around the world.

GMEs are generally held every year. This year ELCA Global Mission
announced that GMEs will now be held triennially, given current economic
conditions and the "desire to be good stewards of resources," Mortha
said. The next GME will take place in 2011.

Today there are more individuals involved in global ministries,
Mortha said. "So how do we equip people, especially those sitting in the
pew, to engage in global mission? In answering this question, we came up
with the Global Formation Event model," she said.

GFEs are local events designed to equip all Lutherans to engage in
global mission.  The GFEs will be held annually. "All ELCA global events
seek to equip participants to deepen their understanding of the changing
context and practice of global mission, and to receive the gifts of
Christians and churches around the world," Mortha said.

Two other GFEs scheduled for the fall are at Southwood Lutheran
Church, Lincoln, Neb., Oct. 30-31, and at Lutheran Church of the Good
Shepherd, Olympia, Wash, Nov. 13-14.  There are 12 GFEs scheduled for
2010.

"By understanding how God's activity is changing the world around
us, we can build skills that help us engage, serve, support, learn and
travel more faithfully, globally and domestically," Mortha said.

GFEs are one-and-a-half day, congregation-based events. A team of
three to six members from each congregation takes part in skill-building
workshops led by experts in specific areas of ministry, explore the
changing context of the "global church" and how that context influences
global and domestic ministries, examines the biblical foundation of
global mission and more.

Mortha said Lutherans are attracted to these events because they are
accessible and affordable. "We are reaching more people with at least 20
to 25 congregations represented, particularly with people that have never
attended a Global Mission Event. This way, too, we can offer the
opportunity of events in places where there's not a lot of Lutherans,"
she said.

It's important for Lutherans to engage globally, Mortha said. "We
don't have a choice any more. We talk about how the globe has descended
upon us. We are intersecting daily with people who live on the other side
of the world."

"We are being called to build relationships, radical relationships,
with people who are really different from us and with people who are
similar to us. Differences among people are fading, and mission is not
just about the person that we are serving. It is about us," she said.

"God offers healing, reconciliation and transformation in
relationships. God promises us that in our (mutual) serving, in building
relationships, we find healing. That's how God invites us to live out our
faith," Mortha said.
- - -

Information about ELCA Global Mission and global events is at
http://www.ELCA.org/globalmission on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog