wfn.org | ELCA Bishops Support Women's Event, Hear Women of Color Clergy

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 24, 2000

ELCA BISHOPS SUPPORT WOMEN'S EVENT, HEAR WOMEN OF COLOR CLERGY
00-247-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) affirmed a plan to organize a
leadership event for women Aug. 6-8, 2001, and committed -- as they are
able -- to provide financial support and help recruit participants.  The
event will precede the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 8-14 in
Indianapolis.
     The churchwide assembly is ELCA's chief legislative authority and
meets every two years.  The Conference of Bishops is an advisory body
that includes the bishops of the ELCA's 65 synods, ELCA presiding bishop
and ELCA secretary.  The conference met here Oct. 5-10.
     The event, "ELCA Women's Leadership Roundtable," will be a first
for the ELCA.  The Conference of Bishops adopted a resolution affirming
the goals of the event.  Goals are to support lay and clergy women in
their vocations of ministry, to seek and support a new generation of
women leaders for the church, and to initiate mentoring relationships,
especially for younger women and women of color.
     Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL) and Lutheran Brotherhood (LB)
jointly provided a $100,500 grant this year for the event as part of the
agencies' churchwide grants program.  The funds were awarded to the ELCA
Commission for Women and the ELCA Department for Communication.  Several
more churchwide units have joined as co-sponsors.
     AAL is a fraternal benefits society based in Appleton, Wis.; LB is
a fraternal benefits society based in Minneapolis.
     Additional funding is needed from synods for the women's
leadership event, said the Rev. April Ulring Larson, bishop of the ELCA
LaCrosse (Wis.) Area Synod.  There was no clear answer to a question of
how much more was needed, though Larson suggested that each synod try to
make about $3,000 available to support lay people and clergy who wish to
attend.  Planners hope as many as 1,000 women will attend, Larson said.
     The Rev. Margaret G. Payne, elected bishop of the ELCA New England
Synod earlier this year, said the church needs to encourage and support
women in leadership, because "it's not happening by itself."
     "It was a long time between the second and third bishops," said
Payne, referring to her election as the third woman to serve as a bishop
in the ELCA.  Larson was elected in 1992; the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, 
bishop of the ELCA South Dakota Synod, was elected in 1995.
     "We need to help women claim that leadership," Payne told the
conference. "The church needs diversity.  Diversity isn't a burden.
Diversity is embracing a gift."
     "This event is also about mentoring lay women as well as
recruiting women to serve in the ordained ministry," DeGroot-Nesdahl
said. "This event isn't going to turn all that around, but it is a
beginning."
     The roundtable "will help us look at what we are and who we are,"
said Joanne Chadwick, executive director, ELCA Commission for Women.
She said each woman will be encouraged to bring a younger woman with her
to the event.
     In their action to affirm the women's leadership event, the
Conference of Bishops endorsed a suggestion that 30 percent of the
participants be women of color and 30 percent be women under age 30.
They also recommended a careful evaluation of the event and feedback
from synods to determine if there should be similar events in the
future.  This year the ELCA is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the
ordination of the first Lutheran woman in North America.
     The ELCA Women's Leadership Roundtable has a 33-member planning
team and a 19-member advisory board, the Commission for Women announced.
All are women.
     In a separate session, the Conference of Bishops heard brief
presentations from a group of ELCA women of color clergy, and met with
them for discussion in small groups.  The group presented to the bishops
a document, "A Challenge to Partnership," which summarizes the
challenges faced by women of color clergy.  The document also lists of
series of recommendations to recognize and enhance the gifts they bring
to the church.
     The ELCA has more than 17,600 pastors, active and retired. Of that
number, 2,428 are women and 95 are women of color.
     In remarks to the Conference of Bishops, the Rev. Gwendolyn S.
King, Hanover, N.H., said A Challenge to Partnership "is an invitation
to join with us on an extended journey."  She also expressed the hope
that the discussions with the bishops were the first of many
conversations.  Women of color clergy encounter many personal
challenges, such as racism, sexism and age discrimination, said the Rev.
David A. Donges, bishop of the ELCA South Carolina Synod.
     Women of color clergy seek increased opportunities for employment,
greater service in the wider church, recruitment of more women for
seminary education and better strategies to deal with limitations they
face, King said.
     Women of color clergy desire honest evaluations of their work,
King said.  "Otherwise, we all get shortchanged," she added.
     Following discussions in small groups, several of the clergy women
said they appreciated the conversations and felt their concerns were
heard.
     "We felt very well received," said the Rev. Beverly L. Conway,
Chicago.  She told the bishops,  "I felt we were listened to.  You are
our bishops.  We're in this together."
     The women of color clergy group asked each bishop to select and
work on one recommendation in A Challenge to Partnership.  They also
asked for five bishops to form a subcommittee to work on a regular basis
with a strategy team of women of color clergy.
     ELCA bishops who volunteered for the subcommittee were the Rev.
Stephen Bouman, Metropolitan New York Synod; the Rev. Andrea 
DeGroot-Nesdahl, South Dakota Synod; the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, 
Saint Paul Area Synod; the Rev. Callon W. Holloway Jr., Southern Ohio 
Synod; and the Rev. Kenneth R. Olsen, Metropolitan Chicago Synod.

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