ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 8, 2007
ELCA Assembly Receives Report on Financial Status of the Church 07-CWA-018-AL
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 2007 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received reports Aug. 8 on the financial status of the denomination and of the Mission Investment Fund of the ELCA.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 6-11 at Navy Pier's Festival Hall. About 2,000 people are participating, including 1,071 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Living in God's Amazing Grace: Thanks be to God!"
"Over the past two and a half years, we have seen quite favorable financial results, including increasing operating income, increasing world hunger income and unprecedented giving to disaster response," said Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA treasurer.
In 2006 mission support -- unrestricted income from congregations through the 65 synods of the ELCA to the churchwide organization -- increased for the first time since 2001. Jackson- Skelton cautioned that "the level of increases is not yet sufficient to maintain the real value of our grants and other supports."
In contrast, she also highlighted generous giving to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal and Lutheran Disaster Response, noting that fiscal year 2006 saw "the largest single-year increase in World Hunger receipts since 1999" and that between fiscal years 2005 and 2006, an unprecedented $46.2 million was received for disaster response. Of the money received for disaster response, $31.8 million was designated for response to the Gulf Coast hurricanes, she said.
ELCA Mission Investment Fund
"The Mission Investment Fund has experienced significant growth over the past biennium," said the Rev. Arnold O. Pierson, vice president of church relations and communication, ELCA Mission Investment Fund (MIF). "Total investments increased over the 2005 and 2006 fiscal years, reaching a high of $335 million mid-2006 and closing the year at $327 million."
The MIF's primary mission is to provide low-interest loans to mission congregations to purchase land and construct church buildings, and to established ELCA congregations for renovation, expansion and relocation projects.
---
Information about the 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.ELCA.org/assembly/ on the Web.
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