ELCA NEWS SERVICE March 16, 2004 ELCA Bishops Plan to Maintain Mission Support Funds for Two Years 04-040-JB WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. (ELCA) -- The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) agreed to "encourage" each of the church's synods to maintain or increase their current giving percentage of mission support funds to the churchwide organization for fiscal 2004 and 2005. The ELCA Conference of Bishops took the action when it met here March 4-10. The ELCA's 10,716 congregations are organized into 65 synods, each synod headed by a bishop. The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body to the church, consisting of the church's synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary. Mission support funds make up a significant portion of the churchwide organization's budget. Congregations send funds to their respective synods, which the knowledge that a percentage of that income will be shared with the ELCA churchwide organization based in Chicago. The bishops will discuss mission support with their synod councils and report back to the ELCA treasurer. The bishops took the action following reports from the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA treasurer, and the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop. Each expressed concerns about a decline in mission support giving to the churchwide organization. In recent years, there has been "insufficient consultation" between many synods and the churchwide organization about changes in mission support giving to the churchwide organization, and some churchwide units have set directions without consulting affected synods, Almen said. Both actions conflict with a policy set by the 1995 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, which called for synods and the churchwide organization to engage in "mutual consultation, mutual agreement and mutual affirmation," he said. When synod assemblies consider the percentage of funds shared annually with the churchwide organization, attempts to change the percentage unilaterally should be considered out of order, Almen added. In a review of the church's preliminary and unaudited financial results for the 2003 fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, 2004, Jackson-Skelton noted that mission support funds sent to the churchwide organization were $66.5 million -- down $2.3 million from $68.8 million in 2002. Income and spending plans for the churchwide organization were hampered by an unanticipated fall in mission support funds to 91.4 percent of what synods said they would share, Jackson- Skelton said. As a result, spending authorizations for the churchwide organization were reduced several times in 2003, she said. Spending reductions involved some personnel layoffs. Mission support estimates must be more accurate, Jackson- Skelton said. "What we don't want to do in the coming year is to be in a situation of being reactive," she said. Hanson followed Jackson-Skelton's remarks by asking that synods "not change a churchwide [giving] percentage once we're into a fiscal year." The Church Council will act on a churchwide spending authorization at its meeting next month in Chicago. Already, 2004 spending authorizations for churchwide units are being reduced, based on income forecasts, using a priority system, Jackson-Skelton said. In some cases, personnel affected have already been notified. In fiscal year 2003 the ELCA churchwide organization spent $201,000 less than income in current operating funds, despite declines in mission support funds and investment income. While reporting that overall financial results for 2003 "were well below expectations," Jackson-Skelton said the ELCA churchwide organization was able to achieve the small surplus in its operating funds only by adjusting its spending plans "several times." Total operating fund receipts for fiscal 2003 were down from $82.9 million in 2002 to $79.6 million, a decrease of $3.3 million, Jackson-Skelton said. As well as a drop in mission support, investment income was off nearly 60 percent to $700,000 because of declines in interest rates, account balances and investment value, she said. The churchwide organization reduced its expenses to keep up with revenue declines. It reduced its expenses to $79.4 million -- a cut of $2.7 million from fiscal 2002. One bright spot in the church's 2003 financial results was the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, which took in $18 million, Jackson- Skelton reported. About $16.5 million was collected for the general Hunger Appeal -- up from $16 million one year ago. Designated gifts amounted to $1.5 million, with most of it going to "Stand With Africa" -- a campaign aimed at providing funding specifically for education and relief programs in Africa. ELCA members also contributed $1.9 million to the disaster response fund, similar to what was contributed in 2002. "It was a good year for the World Hunger Appeal," Jackson- Skelton told the Conference of Bishops. "We're really pleased about that. Thank you for your help in this area as we continue to work toward our goal of $25 million." Hanson Seeks to Improve Finances with Specific Proposals Following the financial report, Hanson told the Conference of Bishops he will make a series of proposals to the ELCA Church Council next month aimed at building up the church's finances. "I think we're down to cutting things that people would not want cut," he said. "We have no fat left. We are into an area now of cutting the heart of this churchwide organization in which you have called us to serve." "We are all tired of hearing these financial reports," Hanson said. "We are tired of the cuts. We want to talk about ways to turn it around." Hanson said he will propose or take immediate action to respond to the funding challenges of the churchwide organization by: + Creating an "integrated development services unit" that will combine the fundraising efforts of the ELCA Foundation, Fund for Leaders in Mission, Mission Partners, Mission Founders, missionary sponsorships, world hunger and disaster appeals, Vision for Mission and a development services desk position. Other fundraising efforts, such as Lutheran Vespers, Davey and Goliath and ministries in the Middle East will have a reporting relationship with the new unit. The proposal calls for hiring an executive director and a support staff member and appointing an advisory panel to serve the unit. + The Lutheran, the magazine of the ELCA, plans to focus its May 2004 issue on churchwide ministries and will include an envelope for financial gifts to the Vision for Mission fund set up to support churchwide ministries. + Identifying a churchwide staff member to focus directly on building relationships with the ELCA's largest congregations and its most financially generous congregations. + Coordinating churchwide units' mission support functions more closely, and, in partnership with the Conference of Bishops, studying the "protocols, processes and policies" synods use to determine their mission support levels. + Organizing monthly meetings of a mission-funding core team chaired by the presiding bishop. The team will be made up of key churchwide leaders. A leadership-stewardship council of 100 "influencers" may be formed, too. + Developing a comprehensive communication and marketing strategy that will include a "tag line and case statement as its first elements." The ELCA Church Council will review these proposals next month. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news