wfn.org | ELCA Identity Project off to an Exciting Start

[NEWS <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 5, 1999

ELCA IDENTITY PROJECT OFF TO AN EXCITING START    
99-04-23-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
Identity Project, designed to raise awareness of the 5.2-million member
denomination among several generations of unchurched people, has generated
considerable excitement around the church, the advisory committee for the
church's Department for Communication was told during its annual meeting
here.
     "It's a wonderful time to be working here," said the Rev. Eric C.
Shafer, director of the ELCA Department for Communication, during his
review of the department's work in 1998. "This is an amazing time in the
ELCA and we are privileged to do this work."
     The committee held its annual meeting Jan. 29-30 at the ELCA
churchwide offices.  The committee also discussed progress involving the
ELCA Initiatives for a New Century and possible new directions for MOSAIC,
the ELCA's award-winning video magazine.
     The Identity Project includes a series of faith-centered messages
targeted to specific generational audiences.  Messages are communicated
through print ads, billboards and radio and television announcements. 
Periscope Communications of Minneapolis is producing the materials in
consultation with the project's manager, Kristi Bangert, director for
internal church communication and marketing, ELCA Department for
Communication.
     In 1998, the ELCA Church Council committed $1 million for the
project, and another $400,000 has been committed for fiscal year 1999,
Shafer said.  Those funds will be used to finish production of the
Identity Project materials.  Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL), a
fraternal benefit society based in Appleton Wis., contributed a
significant gift of $1.5 million earmarked for the Identity Project, he
said.  AAL's funds will be used for grants to synods and congregations to
use the project materials, he said.
     In late January, Periscope's crew and Bangert were in Los Angeles to
finish shooting the television spots for the Identity Project.  Also, the
first billboard message was posted in Chicago near the churchwide offices.
     "It's very exciting," Shafer said.  "This is a highlight of our work
in the past year."
     The committee also heard that ELCA synod communication staff members
are significant players in the church's grass-roots effort to focus on the
"Initiatives for a New Century" approved by the 1997 ELCA Churchwide
Assembly in Philadelphia.
     The initiatives are intended to guide the work of the church.  They
include deepening worship life, teaching the faith, witnessing to God's
action in the world, strengthening one another in mission, helping
children, connecting with youth and young adults, and developing leaders
for the next century.
     "This is an unfolding process," said Kurt Reichardt, associate
director for internal church communication. "The idea is for congregations
to get involved on their own.  It's intended for things to happen at the
grass roots."
     Already, a number of congregations are involved in one or more of
the initiatives, Reichardt said.  Print and video resources to support
their efforts will be available in the coming months, he said.
     On February 12 leaders of each initiative team will meet in Chicago
to discuss their progress with the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding
bishop of the ELCA, Reichardt added.
     Details of each initiative can be found at www.elca.org/init/ on the
ELCA's website.
     Projects involving the ELCA initiatives, along with other projects,
will be considered for AAL synodical initiatives grants for 1999, Shafer
told the committee.
     The advisory committee discussed the future of the ELCA video
magazine, MOSAIC.   MOSAIC is produced quarterly by Tim Frakes, of the
department's Internal Church Communication unit.  Its purpose is to
communicate, using video, to ELCA members how their benevolence dollars
are used.  Congregations and individuals may subscribe for an annual fee
of $40.
     MOSAIC is used as a teaching tool for adult classes and used as a
promotional tool on some local cable television systems.  Segments of the
videos could be used as a prelude to congregation council meetings and
annual congregational meetings, said the Rev. Mark Ramseth, bishop of the
ELCA Montana Synod and ELCA Conference of Bishops representative to the
committee.
     It was suggested that MOSAIC segments could be used on commercial
television.  They could also be archived for use on the World Wide Web and
in compact disc or digital video disc form.
     "The work that's being done is very good and should be commended,"
said Juan "Mark" Gallardo, advisory committee member from Pembroke Pines,
Fla.
     The Department for Communication advisory committee usually meets in
January.  Members are elected for six-year terms.  In addition to Gallardo
and Ramseth, members include the Rev. Barbara Berry-Bailey, Philadelphia;
Mary Butler, Tarrytown, N.Y.; the Rev. Fred Gonnermann, Northfield, Minn.;
the Rev. Mark Johns, Cedar Falls, Iowa; Richard Liefer, Oak Park, Ill.;
Gail Porter Long, Baltimore; Eva Reque Steege, Washington, D.C.
     Berry-Bailey and Steege complete their terms in 1999. The ELCA
Church Council will elect new members to replace them.      

     
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html