Title: ELCA Bishops Hear Presiding Bishop's Concerns about Ecumenism ELCA NEWS SERVICE
October 18, 2007
ELCA Bishops Hear Presiding Bishop's Concerns about Ecumenism 07-171-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) - In remarks to the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, said he is "most concerned" about the church's strategic direction to build global, ecumenical and interfaith relationships because of what he termed the "unsettled, changing landscape globally and nationally."
The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the church that includes the ELCA's 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary. It met here Oct. 4-9.
Without "grassroots ecumenism," in which people of all faiths study God's Word and work together for the common good, Hanson said it will be difficult to maintain ecumenical momentum. He called on the ELCA synod bishops to be "imaginative, chief ecumenical officers" in their synods.
The ELCA has full communion relationships with the Episcopal Church, Moravian Church in North America, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and the United Church of Christ. In 2008 the United Methodist Church is expected to vote on a proposal for full communion with the ELCA, and in 2009 the ELCA will consider the proposal, Hanson said.
The 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted several proposals related to a Blue Ribbon Committee Report on Mission Funding. One of the proposals in that report concerned the personal stewardship of ELCA bishops and pastors.
Hanson announced that, beginning in early 2008, he or a member of his staff will meet individually with each synod bishop to discuss his or her personal and corporate stewardship, and the importance of tithing. "It begins with us," Hanson told the conference. "If we can't talk personally as leaders about our stewardship, how are we going to lead this church?"
In addition, synod bishops are expected to have similar conversations with professional church leaders in their synods, he said.
The conference elected new leaders for the next four years. The Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg, bishop, ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver, was elected to a four-year term as conference chair, succeeding the Rev. E. Roy Riley Jr., bishop, ELCA New Jersey Synod, Hamilton Square. Bjornberg was elected on the fifth ballot, 43-15 over the Rev. Peter Rogness, bishop, ELCA Saint Paul (Minn.) Area Synod.
The Rev. Marie C. Jerge, bishop, ELCA Upstate New York Synod, Syracuse, was elected conference vice chair, succeeding the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl. DeGroot-Nesdahl left office Aug. 31 after completing her service as bishop of the ELCA South Dakota Synod, based in Sioux Falls. Jerge was elected on the sixth ballot, 33-29 over the Rev. Gregory R. Pile, bishop, ELCA Allegheny Synod, Altoona, Pa.
The conference discussed several other current topics during the meeting:
+ Members met with presidents of ELCA seminaries and discussed a variety of ideas on how to deal with education debts accumulated by seminary students. Hanson said he would convene a consultation, probably before the next meeting of the conference in March 2008, to discuss further and to propose specific ways to respond to seminarian debt. The conference and seminary presidents also discussed development of "missional" leaders for the future.
+ Barbara Keller, consultant for misconduct prevention, ELCA Vocation and Education, presented information about Internet pornography, pointing out that a few ELCA professional leaders may be involved in downloading illegal pornography, participating in questionable conversations in online chat rooms and other forms of inappropriate behavior online. She provided statistics and resources to help bishops as they respond to such situations.
+ Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA treasurer, reported that the churchwide organization had expenses of $45 million and receipts of $44.8 million in current operating funds for the current fiscal year through Aug. 31, 2007. Compared to the anticipated revenue for the seven- month period, the churchwide organization exceeded its budget by $700,000 in total operating revenue. Jackson-Skelton also noted that mission support -- funds to synods and the churchwide organization from congregations -- increased nearly $619,000 from the previous year. Total revenue for the ELCA World Hunger program through Aug. 31 is $7.9 million, up nearly $454,000 from one year earlier.
+ Growing in mission support is critical for the ELCA, and "the promise" is that growth will make a difference in the church's life together, said the Rev. A. Craig Settlage, director for mission support, ELCA Synodical Relations, in a report to the conference. Settlage said that for 2008, 23 synods have indicated they will increase mission support to the churchwide organization, and seven will decrease their mission support funds. He also reviewed upcoming plans related to the Blue Ribbon Committee report. "This is a critical moment of opportunity for this church to increase generous and faithful giving and capacity," Settlage told the conference.
+ Enthusiasm surrounding the ELCA for the "Book of Faith" initiative is stunning, said Dr. Diane Jacobson, director of the initiative and professor of Hebrew and Old Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., one of eight ELCA seminaries. Proposals regarding the five-year initiative, which promotes study of Scripture, were adopted by the 2007 Churchwide Assembly. Jacobson said that, by 2012, initiative leaders expect that all synods will be involved, and at least 75 percent of ELCA congregations will be "Book of Faith" congregations, that most ELCA organizations will be strong participants, and that 5,000 professional church leaders and 10,000 lay people will be trained to lead Bible study. With Augsburg Fortress, the ELCA's publishing ministry, the church plans to introduce a Book of Faith "primer" before the 2008 synod assemblies. By 2009 a Lutheran study Bible is to be published and a broadly based adult study program is planned. Information and resources are available at http://www.ELCA.org/bookoffaith on the ELCA Web site.
+ The conference discussed outcomes of a consultation on disaster response convened by the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop. The consultation, Sept. 30-Oct. 1 in Tampa, Fla., included bishops, churchwide staff and pastors serving in areas where recent significant disasters have occurred, such as the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Rev. Edward R. Benoway, bishop, ELCA Florida- Bahamas Synod, Tampa, and the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop, ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod, reported some of the recommendations. Among the suggestions: that the church do more to prepare and assist synod bishops in responding to significant disasters, that "rapid-response" teams go to synods to assist local leaders immediately, that exchange of information be improved, that the churchwide organization convene churchwide staff to work with synods in disaster response, that synods convene local leaders to respond to disasters and continue to meet, that interim ministers and other leaders be called to assist synod bishops following a disaster, and that the conference consider how partner synod relationships can be used to help respond to local needs following a disaster.
Consultation participants asked the presiding bishop to convene a second consultation with all partners in Gulf Coast recovery work "to conduct a follow-up assessment related to the unmet needs apparent through the stages of recovery." Hanson also said that ELCA leaders will likely discuss joint disaster response procedures when they meet Oct. 24 with leaders of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in a regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation in Baltimore.
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