ELCA NEWS SERVICE November 16, 2009 ELCA Churchwide Budget Reduced, Staff Positions Eliminated 09-258-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) acted Nov. 15 to reduce the 2010 churchwide current fund spending authorization by nearly $7.7 million, 10 percent less than the budget authorized by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. The council's action eliminated 40.75 full-time equivalent positions, of which six were vacant. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. It met here Nov. 13-15. The action reduced the current fund spending authorization for 2010 to $69,022,800. The 2009 assembly authorized $18.7 million in World Hunger spending for 2010, which was unchanged. Nearly all churchwide units were affected by staff reductions or reassignments of staff, said the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, ELCA executive for administration, in a report to the council. She said 23 executive staff positions and 18 support staff positions were eliminated. To respect their privacy, the names of people affected by the reductions will not be made public by the churchwide organization, Bullock said. Before the council acted, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, said "we have incredibly gifted staff that serve this church." He challenged council members "to find your voice ... around action on the budget." Many did, expressing concern about the reductions and their impact, and challenging each other to tell the story of shared ministry in the ELCA. Council member John R. Emery, Fond Du Lac, Wis., thanked churchwide staff and leaders for the difficult decisions they made. "We also have to give thought to what steps we can take to try to reverse this trend. It falls to us to do a better job of educating people at the synod and congregational level about what their mission support dollars do," he said. Mission support funds -- those shared by congregations to support synod and churchwide ministries have "synergistic power," he said. "When (members) see 'God's Work. Our Hands.' being lived in this church, it really makes a difference. I urge you to tell people what you know," he said, quoting the ELCA's tag line. Susan W. McArver, council member, Columbia, S.C., expressed concern about reductions to ministries involving Christian education, children and youth, and learning ministries. "It gives the impression we are not interested in Christian education and raising up wise and courageous leaders, she said. In response, the Rev. Stanley N. Olson, executive director, ELCA Vocation and Education, said he shared her concern and said his unit is committed to those ministries. Hanson added that the churchwide organization will not abandon its commitments. "We will resource one another differently," he said. The Rev. J. Pablo Obregon, council member, Willmar, Minn., called on council members and leaders to communicate the story of the wider church with members. "We need to continue to live in hope, and we need to be creative as we continue to think about ministry. God is faithful to all these challenges," he said. Nearly 81 percent of the churchwide current operating budget consists of mission support funds, said Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA treasurer. The forecast for 2010 mission support is about $55 million, $7.2 million less than what is in this year's current fund budget plan, she reported. The program and staff reductions were needed because of a decline in funds due to the struggling U.S. economy and decisions by some ELCA congregations to withhold or redirect mission support as a way of registering disagreement with the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly's decision to change ministry policies, Bullock said. "We wanted these reductions, despite their impact, to position the churchwide organization for the future," Bullock said in her report to the council. She said churchwide leaders worked to maintain the demographics of the organization so that the reductions would not be borne disproportionately by women or people of color. The churchwide organization needs "to stay in step" with a design study process for the ELCA, which the council authorized at this meeting, she said. And Bullock said the organization proposed reductions to the council that "were as strategic as possible." In the revised 2010 budget proposal, the churchwide organization preserved ministries connected to its two strategic priorities: accompanying congregations as growing centers for evangelical mission, and building capacity to alleviate poverty while working for justice and peace. It did not propose reductions in commitments to new congregational starts, churchwide staff assigned to synods for mission and stewardship work, campus ministries, seminaries, companion churches and missionaries, Bullock said. The council's action means there will be no salary increases for churchwide staff in 2010, Bullock said. The council also eliminated a continuing education benefit program for churchwide employees, however, it asked for a proposal for a new continuing education program to be presented at the council's April 2010 meeting. "We will be doing less with less, and we will focus on what can be done and done well," Bullock said. She added that if mission support funds continue to decline, grants to partner churches and support for new congregations may be affected later. Bullock and Jackson-Skelton said the ELCA churchwide organization is continuing contingency planning for 2010 should another reduction become necessary. The council's action follows a similar reduction in March of this year when it cut $5.6 million from the 2009 churchwide current fund spending authorization and another $1.9 million from the church's World Hunger Appeal. Between November 2008 and March 2009, the churchwide organization eliminated nearly 35 full-time equivalent positions, including vacancies. Salaries for unit executives and other senior staff were reduced at that time by three percent. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog