wfn.org | ELCA Prepares First Draft of Possible Social Statement on Education

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 24, 2006  

ELCA Prepares First Draft of Possible Social Statement on Education
06-010-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Task Force on Education of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has written the
first draft of a possible social statement on education.  The
task force met here Jan. 20-22 to apply what it learned while
producing a study document and from responses it received to the
study.
     "The response to the study has been quite supportive and
affirming," said task force co-chair Dr. Paul J. Dovre, former
president, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn.  "We had a lot of
help on particulars.  A number of people made useful
suggestions," he said.
     "The responses have been so very thoughtful and really
address all parts of education," said task force co-chair Christi
Lines, principal, St. Paul's Lutheran School, Waverly, Iowa.
"People understand that this is a very broad topic."  She said
individual responses fit well into the "bigger picture" of
education.
     The ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 2001 called for a social
statement on education.  The task force first assembled in July
2003.  It produced an 82-page booklet, "Our Calling in Education:
A Lutheran Study," to assist the church in its study of the
issues throughout much of 2005.
     The task force turned its attention to the first draft of
the possible social statement on education, which ELCA Church in
Society plans to issue by March.
     "The early section of the document is the catechetical
material in which we talk about the Lutheran understanding of
education, drawing on our Confessions and on our traditions,"
Dovre said.  "The cornerstone of all that is the idea of
vocation," he said.
     The first draft presents "education in the congregation,
education in public schools, education in Lutheran parochial
schools, education in Lutheran colleges, education in the public
sector," Dovre said.  The document has a rhythm to it, he said,
giving "an affirmation of the church being engaged and involved
and supportive; a statement about what we expect of education in
each of these venues; and then the role and place and expectation
of the church."
     "I hope that the people in congregations study it, read it,
respond to it and attend hearings," Lines said, adding that she
would like to receive "a broad base of responses" to the first
draft during 2006.
     Dovre said he expected responses to the first draft to be
more concrete and specific than responses to the study.  The
first draft should draw a "more systematic effort" from people
who are invested in all aspects of education, he said.
     The task force will receive responses to the first draft
through Oct. 15.  It will develop a final version of its proposed
social statement by early 2007 for consideration by the ELCA
Churchwide Assembly here August 6-12, 2007.
     The ELCA has 4.9 million members in 10,585 congregations,
which are organized into 65 synods.  Many of the synods plan to
host hearings during 2006 as an opportunity for Lutherans to
discuss the first draft and help shape the proposed social
statement.  At least one representative of the task force is to
attend each hearing.
-- -- --
     Information about the social statement on education is at
http://www.ELCA.org/socialstatements/education/ on the ELCA Web
site.
     An audio report on this story is available in MP3 format for
streaming:
http://media.ELCA.org/ramgen/audionews/060124.mp3
     or for download:
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/060124.mp3

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