wfn.org | ELCA Receives Funds to Deepen Worship Life and Teach the Faith

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 29, 1999

ELCA RECEIVES FUNDS TO DEEPEN WORSHIP LIFE AND TEACH THE FAITH
99-192-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In an effort to deepen worship life and teach the
faith, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received $250,000
from the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation, Minneapolis, to support and
expand the work of the church's initiatives.
     "Deepen Our Worship Life" and "Teach the Faith" are two of seven ELCA
"Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century."  The 1997 ELCA Churchwide
Assembly selected seven significant areas of ministry for the next century.
Leadership teams were formed to provide overall guidance for the work of
congregations, synods and churchwide organizations.  Team leaders help
provide an overall picture of how the church may be different as a result
of the initiatives.
     Leaders and members across the church are invited to engage in
conversation about worship in the ELCA.  The "Deepen Our Worship Life"
leadership team plans to develop print and video resources by 2000 that
guide congregations to explore what is important for them in worship and
how they can deepen worship life in the church.  The team will host a
"National Summer Conference on Worship" July 10-13, 2000, in Chicago.
Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the ELCA, will help
organize the event.
     A major emphasis of the "Teach the Faith" Initiative is to issue a
"comprehensive call to all members of the ELCA" to embark on a period of
faith development and "recommitment to the basics of Bible study and
prayer."  Resources featuring Bible studies and prayer will be produced to
emphasize a "Call to Discipleship" for 2000.
     "The introduction of the 'Call to Discipleship' will take place at
the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly August 16-22 in Denver and will culminate
in celebration at the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly," said the Rev. M.
Wyvetta Bullock, executive director, ELCA Division for Congregational
Ministries.
     The grant of $250,000 from the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation was
given to "enhance and maximize the energy and commitment around worship and
discipleship at the local expressions of the church," she said.
     The ELCA's 65 synods and congregations will receive small grants of
$3,000 to $10,000 to organize training events, worship experiences,
learning opportunities and community outreach events that provide for faith
formation and increased worship participation, said Bullock.
     "We will make an intentional effort to involve ethnic- and 
language-specific congregations and congregations in multicultural settings," she
said.
     "The 'Deepen Our Worship Life' and 'Teach the Faith' leadership teams
are working together for a congregational study on worship for 2001," said
Bullock.
     "Other churchwide-supported goals being pursued under the two
initiatives include the production of worship resources for youth and
ethnic/language-specific communities, support for musicians serving small
membership congregations, a faith maturity and Christian education resource
project, and a teachers' speakers bureau," she said.
     "The Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation is pleased to recognize the ELCA
for taking innovative and purposeful steps in strengthening outreach and
discipleship among its members," said Louise Thoreson, president and
executive director for the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation.  "We are
delighted to partner with the ELCA in this endeavor to support the future
of the Lutheran community."
     Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal benefits organization, established
the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation to fund innovative projects of Lutheran
organizations and institutions.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html