wfn.org | ELCA Ministry Board Submits Report on Homosexuality

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 22, 2001

ELCA MINISTRY BOARD SUBMITS REPORT ON HOMOSEXUALITY
01-066-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) Division for Ministry met here March 9-11 and
submitted the "Report on Conversations about Homosexuality and the
Church" to the ELCA Church Council and to the 2001 Churchwide
Assembly.  Staff from several units of the church compiled the
report.
     "It's a report of different actions and meetings and
commitments" the church has made regarding homosexuality, said the
Rev. Joseph M. Wagner, executive director of the ELCA Division for
Ministry.  The ELCA Church Council asked the division to report
annually to the council and in 2001 and 2003 to the ELCA churchwide
assembly.  The council will meet here April 6-8; the assembly will
meet August 8-14 in Indianapolis.
     The Division for Ministry prepared the report with the ELCA
Commission for Women, Conference of Bishops, Department for
Communication, Division for Church in Society, Division for
Congregational Ministries, Division for Higher Education and Schools,
and Division for Outreach.  The report summarized activities "these
churchwide units have developed, promoted, participated in or
observed" since September 1999.
     The report lists four types of study materials the church has
produced, 10 instances of ongoing formal conversations in which the
ELCA was engaged, three special events it sponsored, seven related
activities or services it provided, and several other activities that
did not fall into those categories.
     "This is a basic description of what's been going on," said
Kevin J. Boatright, Madison, Wis., chair of the ELCA Division for
Ministry board.
     "The report was not intended to be exhaustive; it's not an
encyclopedia of all that is going on within the church," he said.
Boatright pointed out that a formal report cannot catalogue all the
informal conversations going on across the ELCA but reflects them.
     "It's a very clear indication that there is a serious
conversation going on across the church," said Wagner, "that we are
committed to honoring the place of homosexual people in the full life
of this church."
     The report shows that "in that conversation are represented all
the views of the members of this church.  It's not a one-sided
message, but a message that there is a multi-faceted conversation
going on across the church," he said.
     Wagner said the report implies that conversations in the church
about homosexuality "will eventually lead us to a place where our
church will be able to engage these issues more freely, with less
fear and, hopefully, with more light than heat."
     "We intend to keep the conversation going," Boatright added.
"There is great value in keeping this on the division's agenda."
-- -- --
     ELCA resources and documents regarding human sexuality are
catalogued at http://www.elca.org/DCS/sexissues.html 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