ELCA NEWS SERVICE March 18, 2004 ELCA Bishops Hear 'Wellness' Update from Board of Pensions 04-042-JB WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. (ELCA) -- Saying this was an "exciting time" in the life of the Board of Pensions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the organization's president challenged the ELCA Conference of Bishops to "champion the cause" of health and wellness among professional leaders in the church. John G. Kapanke addressed the Conference of Bishops during its meeting here March 4-10, urging the bishops "to move this challenge from your heart to your feet." The ELCA is organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop. The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the church, consisting of the church's 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary. In recent years the Board, which manages health and pension benefits for ELCA professional leaders and staff, has emphasized health and wellness among the church's leaders, with the ELCA Division for Ministry. In a cooperative project earlier this year with the Mayo Clinic Health Management Resources, Rochester, Minn., the Board offered an online health risk assessment for members. Kapanke reported nearly 6,700 people registered at www.elcaforwellness.org on the Board's Web site; nearly 4,500 people took the assessment, most of them ordained clergy. Mayo representatives told Kapanke the number of participants was impressive, he said. The interactive online program allowed users to assess their health risks and develop plans to stay healthy. Users provided health-related information, such as blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol and glucose counts. Users received instant, individualized online reports from the Mayo Clinic outlining health risks and determining actions that could be taken to improve one's health. Medical conditions that ordained pastors most frequently reported in the assessments were allergies, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, arthritis and depression, Kapanke reported. Lifestyle behaviors such as weight, exercise and consumption of dietary fat were the most-reported health risk factors; most- reported medical risk factors for clergy were weight, cholesterol and blood pressure concerns. The health risk assessment was also available to family members, professional lay leaders and seminary students. In early 2005 the online health risk assessment will be available again, Kapanke said. "There is a real urgency to improve the overall health of leaders of the church," he told the bishops. "Promoting health will make a difference for the future of this church." Next year wellness benefits in the ELCA health plan will be strengthened, Kapanke said. Conference of Bishops Responds to Documents During their meeting the Conference of Bishops engaged in a series of small group discussions to respond to existing or drafts of church documents: + The bishops spent a day on evangelical outreach, exploring how the church can be effective in implementing an evangelism strategy adopted by the 2003 Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee. A keynote speaker for the session was the Rev. Richard Bliese, academic dean and associate professor of missions, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., one of eight ELCA seminaries. The bishops concluded their discussion by calling for prayer for evangelical outreach, and they committed themselves "to encourage our respective synods, members of congregations, institutions and agencies" to join them in prayer. + The Conference of Bishops discussed a draft message, "Living in a Time of Terrorism." The draft was shared with the bishops for comment. It had been reviewed by the board of the Division for Church in Society and was transmitted for final action to the ELCA Church Council, which meets next month in Chicago. + The Conference of Bishops responded to a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) document, "The Episcopal Ministry Within the Apostolicity of the Church." Their comments on the document, along with other responses from within the ELCA, will be sent to the LWF in Geneva, Switzerland. -- -- -- Information about the ELCA Board of Pensions is at http://www.elcabop.org/ on the Web. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news