wfn.org | ELCA Transforming Program to Transform Urban Ministry

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 17, 2006  

ELCA Transforming Program to Transform Urban Ministry
06-005-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 1997 Churchwide Assembly of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) established "In the
City for Good" (ICG), a 10-year initiative to transform lives,
congregations and communities in urban settings across the United
States and Caribbean.  Five years into the initiative, the ELCA
Division for Outreach's urban team reviewed its progress and
decided some changes were needed that are now in place.
     "We used to enter into urban ministry assuming it was a
remedial setting and work from weakness trying to create
strength," said the Rev. David D. Daubert, executive for renewal
of congregations, ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational
Mission.  "We're trying to go to the healthy congregations now
and use them as multiplication points," he said.
     "We can't really expect city churches and city neighborhoods
to be going through transformation if we don't go through
transformation ourselves," Daubert said.  "It's exciting that we
belong to an organization that's willing to evaluate, learn and
go through transformation itself not just ask others to do that
while we watch and throw money at the system," he said.
     ICG called for new education programs for urban lay leaders,
culturally relevant worship opportunities, support for the
training and salaries of urban pastors, cooperation with
community groups in solving neighborhood problems, and benchmarks
against which congregations could assess their strengths and
weaknesses.
     The initiative began with $1 million from Lutheran
Brotherhood (now Thrivent Financial for Lutherans) and funds from
the Division for Outreach budget to distribute during the decade
to help congregations adapt to and transform their neighborhoods.
Much of the money was granted as seed money to help congregations
start new urban programs.
     The annual grant process attracted struggling congregations
trying to start programs that might help them stay alive, Daubert
said.  "When the money ran out, they stopped doing it, and the
unhealthy church stayed unhealthy.  So we had a lot of starts and
stops," he said.
     "We found that a very small number of those grants had
lasting impact," Daubert said.	"If (the new program) was
integral to the ministry of the congregation, it sustained itself
afterward; and the grant was helpful," he said.
     The ELCA's urban team hosted an Urban Summit in 2003 to help
review the initiative's progress.  It became clear that the
church needed "to spend less time trying to fix unhealthy places
and focus on using healthy urban congregations as a base for
raising up effective urban leaders, planting and renewing
congregations, and networking," Daubert said.
     With the initial funding spent on grants, Daubert said money
remaining for the initiative was placed in an endowment that will
help cover certain costs associated with consultations, Urban
Summits, the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education
(SCUPE) and Summer Urban Ministry Institutes (SUMI).
     The urban team continues to meet with leaders in city
churches, review the congregations' ministries firsthand, and
offer reports and recommendations for the leaders to consider.
The Rev. Jerrett L. Hansen, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church,
Huntingdon Valley, Pa., leads the urban team.

Urban Summit, SCUPE Congress, SUMI Planned
     Leaders from several ELCA congregations thriving in urban
settings were invited to the next Urban Summit, Feb. 16-17 in
Fort Worth, Texas.  Daubert described the summit as "a think
tank" that will pool the church's knowledge of urban ministry and
help develop a strategy beyond the ICG initiative.
     SCUPE will host a 2006 Congress on Urban Ministry here March
21-24, with the ELCA as a sponsor active in its planning.  The
ecumenical event draws hundreds of urban church leaders from
across the United States.
     The ELCA is working with SCUPE to host the church's third
SUMI here June 15-19, training teams of ELCA pastors and lay
leaders from select urban congregations.  The institute includes
field trips to urban churches in the Chicago area.  Each team
develops a six-month plan to implement when it returns to its
home congregation.
     The ICG initiative also benefits the ELCA's Transformational
Ministry Conference that provides training similar to that of the
SUMI but for leaders from congregations in all settings, not just
urban.
     When the 10-year initiative ends in 2007, Daubert said these
activities will serve as the groundwork for future generations of
urban ministry.  "If we're learning anything it's that this is
long-haul stuff," he said.
     "We need to find people who have good gifts for ministry and
invest in them so those gifts get used wisely, and, when that
happens, God always rejoices and blesses that kind of thing with
things we never expected," Daubert said.  "God doesn't work
through programs near as often as God works through people."
-- -- --
     Information about urban ministry and the "In the City for
Good" initiative is at http://www.ELCA.org/outreach/urban/ 
on the ELCA Web site.
     An audio report on this story is available in MP3 format
for streaming:
http://media.ELCA.org/ramgen/audionews/060106.mp3
or for download:
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/060106.mp3

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