Title: ELCA Assembly Holds "In the City for Good" Hearing
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 18, 1999

ELCA ASSEMBLY HOLDS "IN THE CITY FOR GOOD" HEARING
99-CWA-17-MR

     DENVER (ELCA) -- Voting members and visitors of the 1999
Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
interested in transforming lives, congregations and communities in U.S.
cities attended a hearing Aug. 17 about "In the City for Good," the
church's urban ministry initiative.
     The Churchwide Assembly, the chief legislative authority of the
ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 16-22 at the Colorado Convention Center.
There are more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,039 voting
members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known:
Hope for a New Century."
     The purpose of the hearing was to provide information on the
progress of "In the City for Good." The 90-minute hearing -- non-legislative in nature -- offered the opportunity for discussion. About
60 of the assembly's voting members and guests attended the hearing led
by the Rev. Jerrett L. Hansen, a mission director for the ELCA Division
for Outreach (DO), Baltimore, and the Rev. Warren A. Sorteberg,
executive for congregational outreach services, DO, Chicago.
     The 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted "In the City for Good"
to guide the church's urban strategies through the year 2008, and commit
funds to help congregations adapt to and transform their neighborhoods
into desirable places to live, work and worship.
     Hansen said a resource kit has been developed to help
congregations and others bring change to lives, congregations and their
communities. The resource includes a Bible study, a litany, a news
release for publication and an action plan for achieving transformation
in the church, he said.
     "Spiritual renewal should be at the heart of every urban
ministry," Hansen said. "The vision of the church's urban ministry
initiative is transformation -- changing congregations and communities
for the sake of Jesus Christ."
     Earlene Reeder, an assembly voting member from Detroit, sought
clarification on the word "transformation" from Hansen. Reeder said the
definition of "transformation" can have a different contextual or
cultural meaning for people than Hansen's understanding.
     "We haven't fared out what 'transformation' means yet, but the
vision of the urban ministry initiative helps to outline when
transformation takes place," said Hansen.
     An "In the City for Good" Fund has been established and will be
developed over time, said Sorteberg. Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal
benefits organization based in Minneapolis, has given a $1 million grant
to help the funding process for the next five years. Other "fund
partners" include the ELCA Extended Mission Fund, the Vision for Mission
Fund and the Division for Outreach.
     In 1999 the ELCA awarded $357,179 in grants to 23 new urban
ministry projects that illustrate a potential for transforming lives,
congregations and communities in U.S. cities, Sorterberg said. Nearly
140 project proposals were submitted.
     The Rev. Rosa M. Key, an assembly voting member from Philadelphia,
said the "In the City for Good" fund team "should make clear the process
or criteria for urban practitioners to apply for grants." Key said
communication between fund team leaders and urban practitioners was
"poor." She said "fund team leaders did not make clear application
requirements."
     "In the City for Good" is not an attempt to throw money at urban
ministry projects," said Sorteberg. "Money is not the answer to doing
urban ministry. 'In the City for Good' is an understanding that the
church is engaged in mission and outreach to spread the gospel of Jesus
Christ in urban settings," he said.
     "We have to realize that we will always have more projects than we
have funds for," said the Rev. Larry V. Smoose, Media, Pa., a member of
the ELCA Church Council and chair for the "In the City for Good"
hearing.
     "After listening to the conversation at the hearing, I will make
decisions on selecting fund applicants a little differently," said the
Rev. Mark Hanson, bishop of the ELCA Saint Paul Area Synod, St. Paul,
Minn. Hanson is a member of the urban-initiatives fund team.

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