wfn.org | ELCA Division for Outreach Addresses U.S. Rural Crisis

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 12, 2001

ELCA DIVISION FOR OUTREACH ADDRESSES U.S. RURAL CRISIS
01-053-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In response to two resolutions, the board of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Outreach (DO)
listed ways in which the church is addressing the U.S. rural crisis.
The board met here Feb. 23-25.
     The 10,851 congregations of the ELCA are organized into 65 synods.
Each synod meets in assembly annually, and many pass resolutions to be
addressed by other "expressions" of the ELCA.
     In 2000, the Western North Dakota Synod asked the ELCA Church
Council to pray "for justice for those living in rural America."  It
asked the church to emphasize rural issues at the ELCA Churchwide
Assembly to be held in August in Indianapolis.
     Citing a statement from the North Dakota Council of Churches, the
Western North Dakota Synod asked the ELCA "to advocate for the
establishment of 'a just agricultural system that compensates the
producers of our daily food, while ensuring the proper distribution of
food resources to meet the basic human needs, and enhancing the long
term stewardship of our land and water resources for the future.'"
     That same year, the Minneapolis Area Synod asked the ELCA Division
for Outreach and its director for rural ministry resources and
networking, Sandra A. LaBlanc, to address issues related to the
declining number of family farms in the United States.
     That synod asked the churchwide assembly "to offer spiritual
support to those engaged in agriculture, buy forming liaisons with
secular or religious groups, who are trying by educational and
legislative means to improve the conditions of the family farmer."
     The DO board responded to the resolutions with "background
information" and with an invitation for the division's Rural Ministry
Advisory Committee to respond also.  The advisory committee meets March
14-15 in Dubuque, Iowa.
     According to the board's response, LaBlanc is already addressing
several concerns the synods raised.  She reports to each meeting of the
ELCA Church Council on the status of the rural crisis.  She regularly
calls the church to prayer "in this complex and painful situation."
     "The rural ministry director and the advisory committee have
developed goals for their work in the areas of education, advocacy,
service and spirituality," said the response.
     In cooperation with the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs
(LOGA), Washington, D.C., and the ELCA Office of the Bishop, LaBlanc
advocated for an appropriate re-writing of the U.S. farm policy.
Congress will likely address that policy this spring.  LOGA is the
ELCA's federal public policy advocacy office.
     The ELCA Division for Church in Society used some of the church's
"ministry among people living in poverty" funds to advocate for a just
farm policy, based on the ELCA social statement "Sufficient, Sustainable
Livelihood for All."
     The presidents of three major farm organizations met with ELCA
leaders in 2000.  One outcome of that meeting is a farm summit planned
for March 26 here at the Lutheran Center.  "This meeting will
specifically address the upcoming action on farm policy and will involve
a broad range of interested parties from church and society," said the
board's response.
-- -- --
EDITORS: The story, "Lutherans Meet with U.S. Farm Leaders to Discuss
Rural Crisis," is available at
http://listserv.elca.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0010&L=elcanews&P=R505 on
the ELCA Web site.

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