wfn.org | ELCA to Address Sexual Exploitation, Health and Health Care

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 30, 2001

ELCA TO ADDRESS SEXUAL EXPLOITATION, HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE
01-269-LL*

     BALTIMORE (ELCA) -- Commercial sexual exploitation, and health and
health care were among the main topics of discussion at the Oct. 18-20
meeting of the board of the Division for Church in Society (DCS) of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).  The board also reviewed
actions of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly and pondered the church's
response to terrorist attacks against the United States.
     Meeting at the Lutheran Center at Christ Church, Baltimore, the
DCS board discussed and slightly revised a proposed message on sexual
exploitation before approving it unanimously and sending it to the ELCA
Church Council for adoption.  The council will meet Nov. 9-11 in
Chicago; it serves as the ELCA's board of directors.
     The proposed message on sexual exploitation seeks to raise
awareness of the flourishing sex industry which exploits vulnerable
women and girls as well as men and boys.
     The Rev. Alvin S. "Al" Erickson Jr., an ELCA pastor and director
of the Grassroots Ministry Alliance, Minneapolis, founded the Alliance
for Speaking Truths on Prostitution (A-STOP).  He cited a recent
University of Pennsylvania study which indicates that between 300,000
and 400,000 young people in the United States are involved in
prostitution right now.
     "The work we're doing is such a drop in the bucket compared to the
sex industry," Erickson told the board.  "I'm proud of the ELCA for
taking on this job.  Somebody has got to talk."
     Stewart W. Herman, DCS board member and assistant professor of
history at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., called the proposed
message "a formidable step" for the church to take.  "It is an
indictment of an entire industry," he said.
     The board also authorized the printing and distribution of the
first draft of a proposed social statement, "Health, Healing and Health
Care."
     The proposed draft calls the lack of basic minimum health care for
all citizens "a moral scandal that should no longer be tolerated."  It
deals with responsibilities of the individual, the role of the church in
health care, and the advocacy process.
     Board member Gloria Strickert, Waverly, Iowa, echoed the board's
enthusiasm for the statement.  "As a person who works in the health care
arena, I just say 'thank you,'" she said.  "I like the holistic values
that this portrays."
     The statement will be distributed to the ELCA's 10,816
congregations for study and comments.  Through the ELCA Church Council,
DCS is to present a final draft of the statement to the 2003 Churchwide
Assembly for approval.
     The ELCA defines a "message" as a "brief communication that draws
attention to a social issue."  It is not a new policy position of the
church but builds upon previously adopted social statements.  A message
can be adopted by the council, while a social statement requires action
by a churchwide assembly.
     In August the 2001 Churchwide Assembly asked the ELCA Division for
Ministry and DCS to lead a comprehensive four-year study of
homosexuality that will consider issues such as the possibility of the
church's accepting ministerial candidates who are in committed
homosexual relationships and the blessing of same-gender relationships.
The assembly also asked DCS to prepare a social statement on human
sexuality.
     In response to the mandates, the board considered several options
of how to proceed.  Although the ELCA Church Council will make the final
decision, the DCS board's "straw vote" was heavily in favor of
proceeding with the study and social statement in the fullest possible
manner.
     "It is so important to be able to say that we have given every
opportunity for all points of view to be expressed," said the Rev. Carol
Jensen, a board member from Stanwood, Wash.
     The DCS board unanimously asked the council to authorize an
initial expenditure of $250,000 for the study project, including
provision for the appointment of a full-time study director.
     The disasters which struck the United States on Sept. 11 ran as an
undercurrent throughout the board's actions.  Original plans called for
the board to visit the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA)
and the U.S. Congress in nearby Washington, D.C., prior to the meeting.
LOGA is the federal public policy advocacy office of the ELCA and a DCS
program.
     The Capitol was closed due to possible anthrax contamination.
Board members met at the LOGA office with ELCA spokespeople, as well as
representatives of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the
American-Muslim Council and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
     In Baltimore, Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr., president, Lutheran
Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), told the board about the effects
the disasters have had on his agency's work, including the "tremendous
scrambling" of LIRS staff to adapt to everything from changes in
refugees' transportation plans to the moratorium on new refugee arrivals
imposed at the end of September.
     The Rev. Mark B. Brown, an assistant director for public policy
advocacy ministry at LOGA, briefed board members on the work of the
Middle East Forum, a project of the National Council of Churches of
Christ in the U.S.A.
     The Rev. John L. Halvorson, coordinator of the ELCA World Hunger
Ministries, reported that, for the first time in 13 years, the ELCA has
had what he termed "headline disasters" at the same time as the World
Hunger Appeal.  Although giving has increased to ELCA Domestic Disaster
Response since Sept. 11, hunger funds have reached only $8 million of
their $16 million goal for the year.
     As the final action of its three-day meeting, the DCS board
unanimously issued "Citizenship in a Time of Crisis," an appeal to the
congregations of the ELCA.  It asked Lutherans to "nurture members for
constructive and critical participation in public affairs in this
unsettled time."
     The appeal draws special attention to the needs of youth and young
adults and offers thanks to Lutheran agencies and their ecumenical
partners who have responded to the terrorist attacks.
-- -- --
     DCS maintains information on "Projects in Process," such as the
message on sexual exploitation and the social statement on health and
health care, at http://www.elca.org/dcs/projects.html on the ELCA Web
site.  At http://www.elca.org/dcs/studies.html it keeps links to the
full texts of adopted ELCA messages and social statements.
     The complete text of "Citizenship in a Time of Crisis" is
available at http://www.elca.org/dcs/citizenship_time_crisis.html on the
Web.

* Linda Nansteel Lovell is communication coordinator for the ELCA
Delaware-Maryland Synod based in Baltimore.

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