wfn.org | ELCA Bishops Advise Council on Issues Related to Pastors' Call

[news@ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 19, 2000

ELCA BISHOPS ADVISE COUNCIL ON ISSUES RELATED TO PASTORS' CALL
00-242-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) advised the ELCA Church Council of its
preferences on possible constitutional language that could give a
synodical bishop and a congregational committee greater latitude in
dealing with conflicts involving a congregation and its pastor.
     The Conference of Bishops is an advisory body that includes the
bishops of the ELCA's 65 synods, the ELCA presiding bishop and the ELCA
secretary.  The group met here Oct. 5-10.
     At the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Denver, voting members
considered a proposed constitutional amendment related to the issue.
Under the proposal, if a congregation voted by a simple majority to
dismiss the pastor, the bishop may exercise his or her "sole discretion"
to consent to the pastor's dismissal.  The assembly voted 567-296 in
favor, but short of the required two-thirds majority for adoption of the
proposed amendment.
     That left the ELCA constitutional requirement for dismissal
unchanged.  Congregations may dismiss a pastor but only with a 
two-thirds majority at a properly called congregational meeting.
     In October 1999, the Conference of Bishops asked the Rev. Lowell
S. Almen, ELCA secretary, to review the issue and study whether such an
amendment should be submitted to the 2001 churchwide assembly.
     In response, Almen said the intent of the original proposal did
not seem clear to the 1999 assembly voting members, and he advised the
bishops not to reconsider the issue, at least for now.
     "In my opinion, this is not the time to pursue that proposal at
the churchwide assembly," he told the bishops.  Almen said in his
written report to the conference that some people may characterize such
an amendment as "another power grab by the bishops."
     "The charge would be false, but that has not precluded, in the
past, such misconstructions," Almen wrote.
     Despite Almen's suggestion, the Conference of Bishops strongly
affirmed the idea of revisiting the issue at the 2001 ELCA Churchwide
Assembly in Indianapolis.  Some described frustrating situations they've
encountered in which a pastor is determined to remain in a congregation
with slightly more than one-third of the congregation's support.  In
these cases, the bishop cannot act, even though there may be serious
conflict in the congregation.
     The bishops reviewed some possible constitutional language.  They
agreed with a suggestion that if the synod bishop and a congregational
committee recommend that a pastor's call be terminated in conflict
situations, the congregation may dismiss the pastor by a simple majority
vote.  The bishops also agreed with a suggestion that the two-thirds
requirement remain in cases where the bishop and congregational
committee did not recommend the pastor's call be terminated.
     Almen said he will report the bishops' comments to the Legal and
Constitutional Review Committee of the ELCA Church Council for possible
presentation to the full council.  Proposed constitutional amendments
must be transmitted to the churchwide assembly through the council.
     If the assembly eventually adopts such a proposal, it will appear
in the churchwide constitution and in all synod constitutions, Almen
said.

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