ELCA NEWS SERVICE November 11, 2003 ELCA Outdoor Ministries Professionals Reflect on Stewardship, Restructure 03-202-MR CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran camp, retreat and other outdoor ministry professionals from across the country took time to reflect on stewardship and their God-given resources of gospel, people, land and finance. About 145 outdoor ministry professionals gathered for "Stewardship R&R: Responsibility and Responsively," a conference the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) hosted Oct. 22-26 in Medora, N.D. "As outdoor ministry professionals, one of the key things we do is share the good news of Jesus Christ with people who visit our sites," said Mark D. Burkhardt, director for outdoor ministries, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries. Through worship, workshops, keynote presentations, small group time and open forums, participants developed a deeper understanding of stewardship and the responsibility of utilizing their God-given resources, said Burkhardt. ELCA outdoor ministries across the country and Puerto Rico are responsible for about 30,000 acres of land collectively, Burkhardt said. "We rely heavily on volunteers and year-round staff. We have about 3,500 young adults that work for us during the summertime. At the conference, we looked at all the different ways in which we, as outdoor ministry leaders, have responsibility toward stewardship and the resources" entrusted to us, he said. Workshop topics ranged from worship leaders in the camp setting to exploring the "intellectual and emotional connections" between people and resources, from the effective use of camp and retreat centers year-round to the Christian gospel and American Indian spirituality. A unique component of the gathering included small group time. Small groups served as "a sort of oasis for the sharing of experiences and the learning of new ideas from colleagues at the conference," Burkhardt said. The groups were made up of participants with a lot of experience in outdoor ministries and people who are new to the ministry, he said. Another feature of the conference included open forums -- opportunities to discuss issues and ideas related to ELCA outdoor ministries. One significant item that surfaced was a proposal to restructure the ELCA churchwide organization. Under the plan, the organization's services to outdoor ministry, now housed in the Division for Congregational Ministries, would phase out by 2005 with the recommendation that work begin on forming an alliance of Lutheran outdoor ministries. The proposal to restructure the churchwide office was made public Sept. 15 by the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA. Hanson formally withdrew the proposal on Oct. 20. The focus of our conversation at one open forum "was the five strategic directions that the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted in August. And following that was the proposal to reorganize the churchwide office structure and the proposed impact on outdoor ministries. By the time the conference started [Oct. 22], we knew that Bishop Hanson had withdrawn the proposal. However, [outdoor ministry professionals] never had a chance to talk about everything that had transpired," said Burkhardt. In response to the proposal, Burkhardt called together a small group of members from the outdoor ministry network. The group prepared a written response to Bishop Hanson and shared it with participants of the conference. Although it was written prior to the withdrawal of the proposal, "we would not have changed one word," Burkhardt said. "The way the document was written was looking to the future, not mourning our past or even criticizing the proposal. The document describes who we are in ELCA outdoor ministries, how we're working to support the five strategic directions of the church and how we think we can even do a better job of supporting the directions as we move forward,'" Burkhardt said. The eight-page response to Hanson includes an "executive summary," five sections on how outdoor ministries support the five strategic directions of the ELCA, and information about current churchwide staff support. One item that became clear in the conference's open forum was "that the group was feeling a lot of anger and disappointment about what the bishop had originally proposed. Although he withdrew the proposal, those feelings are still present. We came out of the process feeling both vulnerable and optimistic," said Burkhardt. "Nothing will ever be the same as we move forward. We now know that we need to plan differently for the future. We want to stay connected to the churchwide organization, and we also know that there are some things we can do to protect our future," Burkhardt said. "As we develop a new strategic plan for outdoor ministries, we will work to build a stronger future and maybe become a little less vulnerable to churchwide budget cuts. And, we will work to strongly support the ELCA's five strategic directions," said Burkhardt. -- -- -- Information about ELCA Outdoor Ministries is maintained at http://www.elca.org/dcm/camps/ on the Internet. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news