Title: ELCA Assembly Hearing Concentrates on Rural Concerns
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 18, 1999

ELCA ASSEMBLY HEARING CONCENTRATES ON RURAL CONCERNS
99-CWA-18-JB

     DENVER (ELCA)   The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
is responding to the financial crisis in rural America and its affect on
family farmers.  People attending a non-legislative hearing on rural
ministry issues here Aug. 17 at the ELCA churchwide assembly expressed a
wide range of concerns, including children leaving family farms for
other careers and the need for farmers to express their concerns
publicly.
     The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the
ELCA, is meeting Aug. 16-22 at the Colorado Convention Center.  There
are more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,039 ELCA voting
members.  The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known:
Hope for a New Century."
     The hearing provided assembly participants the opportunity to meet
Sandra A. LaBlanc, ELCA director for rural ministry resources and
networking.  LaBlanc, who was called to the new position earlier this
year, has been meeting with people in rural America and learning how the
church is responding and can respond in the future.  The 1997 ELCA
assembly asked that the rural ministry position be established, said the
Rev. Warren A. Sorteberg, executive for congregational outreach
services, ELCA Division for Outreach, Chicago.
     The Rev. David Poling-Goldenne, director for discipleship,
evangelism and Christian education, ELCA Division for Congregational
Ministries, Chicago, said rural congregations are the subject of two
studies.  In one study, successful congregations involved in small town
and rural ministry were studied to learn what they are doing in outreach
that can be shared with others.  The study was funded by Lutheran
Brotherhood, a fraternal benefits organization based in Minneapolis.
     Next month representatives of 26 rural congregations will be
invited to Chicago for a round of discussions to tell how their
ministries are working.  This is a good example of the partnership
between the ELCA and rural ministry leaders, Poling-Goldenne said.
     Participants expressed a wide range of rural concerns.  For
example, the rural crisis is costing farm families more than money, said
Leroy L. Simonson, voting member from the ELCA Western Iowa Synod.
     "Our kids don't stay home," Simonson said. "They are being
exported (to other cities).  We better be doing something about them."
     LaBlanc agreed, adding that the greatest farm export is "our
children," according to a United States Department of Agriculture study.
      "Farmers have a reputation for saying how bad it is," said the
Rev. Mark R. Ramseth, bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod.  "Now they don't
say anything.  That's how bad it is."
      Along with about 1,000 other people, Ramseth was involved in a
U.S.-Canadian border blockade in Sweetgrass, Mont., July 9.  The purpose
was to raise awareness of the farm crisis and protest subsidized
Canadian grain from being trucked into the United States.
     "We blocked the border as a protest to gain some attention for the
marginalization of rural people in our country," he said.
     Ramseth also paid tribute to people living in rural America.  "In
economic hard times, there are no people as generous in mission as our
rural people," he said. "We need to hold that up in our church."
     Respect for agricultural producers and their financial problems is
needed, said the Rev. Barbara Spaulding, voting member, ELCA Western
Iowa Synod.  She said many consumers have large debts that society
tolerates, but farmers tend to be looked down upon for their debts.
     "My hope is that, as God's people, we can pray boldly and
prophetically for our rural communities," she added.
     The Rev. James H. Hanson, voting member, ELCA Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod, said this spring the synod formally asked the
ELCA to focus the 2001 Churchwide Assembly on rural concerns, and it
asked the church to provide resources and support for small towns and
rural ministries.
     Some hearing participants urged other ELCA members to use existing
information and resources   such as the land-grant universities in each
state   to learn more about the complexities of agricultural finances.
     "We are all in this together," said the Rev. Dana Bjorlin,
Holgate, Ohio.  "As a church, we ought to realize when any part of the
body suffers, the whole body suffers."
     Steve Koenig, ELCA Church Council member, Elwood, Neb., chaired
the hearing.  There isn't one small area of the church working on the
rural crisis, he said.  Koenig added he is impressed that people in the
churchwide offices in Chicago are interested in hearing rural concerns.


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