ELCA NEWS SERVICE
September 16, 2003
ELCA Unveils Proposal For New Churchwide Structure
03-170-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- On Sept. 15 the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) Office of the Presiding Bishop unveiled
a proposal that the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the
ELCA, will present to the ELCA Church Council in November. The
proposal would reorganize the churchwide structure of the 5
million-member church in February.
The proposal is to eliminate 41 of about 500 staff positions
and create 18 new staff positions under a new structure. The
ELCA would retain three offices; its six divisions would become
five departments; the work of its two commissions would be
deployed to several strategic areas in the organization; its
current six departments would become service units of the
offices, and several new service units would be created.
The proposal is also to phase out the existing boards of
divisions, steering committees of commissions and advisory
committees of departments. It asks the Church Council to develop
amendments to the ELCA Constitution, eliminating boards and
steering committees, for presentation to the 2005 Churchwide
Assembly.
The strategic planning process that preceded the proposal
traces its roots to comments Hanson made at the ELCA Churchwide
Assembly in August 2001, during the election process for
presiding bishop, said the Rev. Charles S. Miller, executive for
administration and executive assistant to the presiding bishop,
ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop.
The purpose of the strategic planning process was "to give
greater focus to the churchwide organization and to enable the
long-term sustainability of the churchwide organization," Miller
said, "and to be a responsible partner with the other expressions
and agencies of this church in the mission to which God calls
us."
The 10,721 congregations of the ELCA are organized into 65
synods. Congregations, synods and churchwide organization are
defined in the ELCA Constitution as "interdependent expressions"
of the church.
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a downturn in
the U.S. economy added some "urgency" to the strategic planning,
Miller said. "The urgency is that we have to reduce the
churchwide spending for 2004 by a significant amount," he said.
"In order to accomplish that, programs and positions of the
churchwide organization will have to be eliminated."
The ELCA Churchwide Assembly approved a 2004 budget of about
$84.3 million. The proposal includes a spending plan of about
$82.5 million, which would more closely match projected income
estimates for the year.
The full restructuring proposal was sent in an e-mail
message to ELCA staff here and across the United States and the
Caribbean. Individuals whose positions were directly mentioned
in the proposal were contacted privately before the e-mail was
sent.
The proposal is to eliminate the positions of executive
directors for three current ELCA divisions: Division for
Congregational Ministries, Division for Higher Education and
Schools, and Division for Outreach.
A Department for Congregational Life and Evangelical
Outreach would, under the proposal, assume many of the
responsibilities of the current Division for Congregational
Ministries and Division for Outreach.
Under the proposal, a Department for Youth, Education and
Lay Leadership would assume some other functions of the Division
for Congregational Ministries as well as many responsibilities of
the current Division for Higher Education and Schools.
The ELCA churchwide structure will relate to its
congregations' early childhood centers, and elementary and
secondary schools, through grants to the Evangelical Lutheran
Education Association, according to the proposal.
The proposal is that the churchwide organization's services
to outdoor ministries, 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.
Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM), the men's ministry of the
ELCA, would be housed in the new Department for Youth, Education
and Lay Leadership, under the proposal, with the understanding
that LMM would become self-funding by 2005.
The proposal is to place most functions of the current
Division for Church in Society in a Department for Church in
Society, of the current Division for Global Mission in a
Department for Global Mission and of the current Division for
Ministry in a Department for Ministry.
The Commission for Multicultural Ministries and Commission
for Women would cease to exist under the proposal. Two executive
directors would administer their functions from the Office of the
Presiding Bishop. Staff responsible for the church's
multicultural outreach ministries would work from the Department
for Congregational Life and Evangelical Outreach.
Mission Support and Resource Development Services is one of
the new service units the proposal describes, gathering many of
the church's stewardship and fund-raising efforts in the Office
of the Presiding Bishop. A proposed World Hunger and Poverty
Ministries unit would assume responsibilities of the ELCA World
Hunger Program. The proposal also describes ongoing talks to
create a staff position on "public church and global
relationships" in the Office of the Presiding Bishop.
The proposal describes a study under the auspices of the
Office of the Treasurer that would centralize many of the budget
and finance responsibilities of other churchwide departments and
units.
Instead of the Church Council having a set group of elected
board and committee members to consult, the proposal is for the
council to host consultations of representatives from each of the
ELCA's 65 synods and from appropriate churchwide entities to
address a specific and timely topic, Miller said.
"Each synod will have someone at that table," Miller said,
"and the tables will change from time to time." The purpose of
consultations is not to back away from the church's principle of
as much participation as possible, he said. "We've actually
given it more elasticity."
The ELCA is governed by a biennial churchwide assembly.
Between assemblies, the ELCA Church Council acts on the
assembly's behalf as the church's board of directors.
The ELCA has four officers. The assembly elects the
presiding bishop, vice president and secretary of the church.
The council elects a treasurer. The vice president is a
volunteer position held by a lay member of the church. The other
officers administer offices of the church here.
No change is proposed in the names of the Office of the
Presiding Bishop, Office of the Secretary or Office of the
Treasurer. The name "office" would be reserved for these
offices, according to the proposal, and the Lutheran Office for
Governmental Affairs (LOGA) would be called the Lutheran Bureau
for Governmental Relations and the Lutheran Office for World
Community (LOWC) would be called the Lutheran Bureau for World
Community.
LOGA is the ELCA's federal public policy advocacy office in
Washington, D.C. LOWC represents the ELCA at the United Nations
in New York. Both are programs of the ELCA Division for Church
in Society. LOWC is also a program of the Lutheran World
Federation. The ELCA is a member of the Lutheran World
Federation, which is a global communion of 136 churches in the
Lutheran tradition representing more than 61.7 million of the
world's 65.4 million Lutherans.
Hanson will present the proposal to the ELCA Church Council
during its next meeting, Nov. 14-16 in Charlotte, N.C. The
council can accept, amend and accept, or reject the proposal.
Members of the ELCA will have until that November meeting to
review the proposal and make recommendations, Miller said,
including the ELCA Conference of Bishops, which will meet here
Oct. 2-7.
"I look forward to a very lively exchange of ideas and
opinions about the proposal," Miller said. "It's the wisdom of a
larger group of people that helps shape the very best that comes
from an organization like ours."
If the Church Council approves a new churchwide structure,
implementation would begin Nov. 17. Staff holding positions to
be eliminated would be notified according to the personnel
policies of the church. Hiring processes for new staff positions
would begin Dec. 1. The new design would go into effect Feb. 1,
the first day of the ELCA's 2004 fiscal year.
A merger of three Lutheran churches formed the ELCA in
1988. The churchwide organization underwent a restructuring in
1991.
-- -- --
The "Proposal for the Future Design of the Churchwide
Organization" will be available at http://www.elca.org/planning/
on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
