wfn.org | "2000 Congregations" Discussed by Division for Outreach Board

[NEWS <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 1, 1999

"2000 CONGREGATIONS" DISCUSSED BY DIVISION FOR OUTREACH BOARD
99-12-068-JB

     LISLE, Ill. (ELCA) -- The board of the Division for Outreach (DO)
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) heard a revised
plan to start 2,000 ELCA congregations in 20 years, beginning in 2,000. 
     The plan was discussed at the board's spring meeting  here March
11-14.  
      When originally proposed, the idea was to start 2,000
congregations over 20 years in addition to DO's normal effort to start
about 40 new congregations per year.  The revised plan calls for
starting a total of 2,000 congregations in the 20-year period.
     The Rev. Richard A. Magnus, director of the ELCA Division for
Outreach, said the modified plan is the result of concerns expressed by
board members at previous meetings and by others in the ELCA.  At
present, 2,000 Congregations calls for starting 40 congregations each
year from the regular budget and 60 more each year with the partnership
of sponsoring congregations.
     "We've got to go after it with great passion, but we don't want to
set ourselves up for any more than we can manage at this point," he
said. "If it catches on and exceeds that, that would be wonderful."
     Board member, the Rev. Donald Green, Pittsburgh, Pa., urged the
division to emphasize ethnic or urban starts and to encourage smaller
congregations to form clusters to found new congregations.  The plan
should emphasize the missionary mandate of the church and not focus on
dollars, he said.
     The Rev. Gary A. Marshall, Escondido, Calif., expressed
disappointment with the revised goal and urged the division to raise its
sights higher.  "It's no longer a vision," he said. "It's a nice plan."  
     "This is still an ambitious goal," said Leisha DeHart-Davis,
Atlanta.  She said reducing the annual goal of new starts to a
manageable number was "wise."
     There are several challenges in starting congregations, said the
Rev. Robert S. Hoyt, director for program and new congregations, ELCA
Division for Outreach. They include biblical, missional, developmental
and organizational challenges.  
     "Too often we fall into clever ideas, but we have to be about
invitation," Hoyt said of the biblical challenge. "We are a nation that
no longer knows who Jesus is.  There is a great curiosity about Him and
awe of His overwhelming capacity for love."
     The United States is now the fourth largest mission field in the
world, Hoyt said, with about 100 million people who have little or no
contact with the church.  The strongest areas for growth in the ELCA
appears to bsae in the South and Western states, he added.
     To achieve 2,000 congregations in 20 years, many new congregations
will be formed with the help of established congregations as sponsors,
Hoyt said.  "Congregations that sponsor new congregations generate
excitement," he said.
      And, while the church works to establish 2,000 new congregations,
Hoyt added as many as 3,000 ELCA congregations may close or merge during
the same period.

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