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Restructure
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 11, 2003

ELCA Outdoor Ministries Professionals Reflect on Stewardship, Restructure
03-202-MR

      CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran camp, retreat and other outdoor
ministry professionals from across the country took time to
reflect on stewardship and their God-given resources of gospel,
people, land and finance.  About 145 outdoor ministry
professionals gathered for "Stewardship R&R:  Responsibility and
Responsively," a conference the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) hosted Oct. 22-26 in Medora, N.D.
     "As outdoor ministry professionals, one of the key things we
do is share the good news of Jesus Christ with people who visit
our sites," said Mark D. Burkhardt, director for outdoor
ministries, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries.
     Through worship, workshops, keynote presentations, small
group time and open forums, participants developed a deeper
understanding of stewardship and the responsibility of utilizing
their God-given resources, said Burkhardt.
     ELCA outdoor ministries across the country and Puerto Rico
are responsible for about 30,000 acres of land collectively,
Burkhardt said.  "We rely heavily on volunteers and year-round
staff.	We have about 3,500 young adults that work for us during
the summertime.  At the conference, we looked at all the
different ways in which we, as outdoor ministry leaders, have
responsibility toward stewardship and the resources" entrusted to
us, he said.
     Workshop topics ranged from worship leaders in the camp
setting to exploring the "intellectual and emotional connections"
between people and resources, from the effective use of camp and
retreat centers year-round to the Christian gospel and American
Indian spirituality.
     A unique component of the gathering included small group
time.  Small groups served as "a sort of oasis for the sharing of
experiences and the learning of new ideas from colleagues at the
conference," Burkhardt said.  The groups were made up of
participants with a lot of experience in outdoor ministries and
people who are new to the ministry, he said.
     Another feature of the conference included open forums --
opportunities to discuss issues and ideas related to ELCA outdoor
ministries.  One significant item that surfaced was a proposal to
restructure the ELCA churchwide organization.	     Under the
plan, the organization's services to outdoor ministry, now housed
in the Division for Congregational Ministries, would phase out by
2005 with the recommendation that work begin on forming an
alliance of Lutheran outdoor ministries.
     The proposal to restructure the churchwide office was made
public Sept. 15 by the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of
the ELCA.  Hanson formally withdrew the proposal on Oct. 20.
     The focus of our conversation at one open forum "was the
five strategic directions that the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
adopted in August.  And following that was the proposal to
reorganize the churchwide office structure and the proposed
impact on outdoor ministries.  By the time the conference started
[Oct. 22], we knew that Bishop Hanson had withdrawn the proposal.
However, [outdoor ministry professionals] never had a chance to
talk about everything that had transpired," said Burkhardt.
     In response to the proposal, Burkhardt called together a
small group of members from the outdoor ministry network.  The
group prepared a written response to Bishop Hanson and shared it
with participants of the conference.  Although it was written
prior to the withdrawal of the proposal, "we would not have
changed one word," Burkhardt said.
     "The way the document was written was looking to the future,
not mourning our past or even criticizing the proposal.  The
document describes who we are in ELCA outdoor ministries, how
we're working to support the five strategic directions of the
church and how we think we can even do a better job of supporting
the directions as we move forward,'" Burkhardt said.
     The eight-page response to Hanson includes an "executive
summary," five sections on how outdoor ministries support the
five strategic directions of the ELCA, and information about
current churchwide staff support.
     One item that became clear in the conference's open forum
was "that the group was feeling a lot of anger and disappointment
about what the bishop had originally proposed.	Although he
withdrew the proposal, those feelings are still present.  We came
out of the process feeling both vulnerable and optimistic," said
Burkhardt.
     "Nothing will ever be the same as we move forward.  We now
know that we need to plan differently for the future.  We want to
stay connected to the churchwide organization, and we also know
that there are some things we can do to protect our future,"
Burkhardt said.
     "As we develop a new strategic plan for outdoor ministries,
we will work to build a stronger future and maybe become a little
less vulnerable to churchwide budget cuts.  And, we will work to
strongly support the ELCA's five strategic directions," said
Burkhardt.
-- -- --
Information about ELCA Outdoor Ministries is maintained at
http://www.elca.org/dcm/camps/ on the Internet.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news