Title: Lutherans Organizing Congregations Attend Intensive Training
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

December 14, 2000

LUTHERANS ORGANIZING CONGREGATIONS ATTEND INTENSIVE TRAINING
00-305-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Eighteen Lutherans came here from eight states
for an intensive course designed for congregations of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) that have organized in the past six
months or are involved in a significant transition.  The ELCA Division
for Outreach sponsored the conference Nov. 16-18.
     Pastors and lay leaders from 9 congregations attended the
conference.  Six mission directors who coordinate new ELCA ministries in
Alabama, Colorado, Florida and the Bahamas, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois,
Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee,
Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming participated.
     Susan A. Thompson, executive for newly organized congregations,
ELCA Division for Outreach, discussed the many changes and transitions
developing congregations experience.
     "The day before organization may not seem different from the day
after," said Thompson, "but it does represent an early and significant
change in your life together and in your relationship with the community
and with the ELCA."
     "You are no longer an entity started from the outside but now a
congregation of the community.  You are no longer a dependent of the
ELCA but now an interdependent part of the ELCA," she said.
     Thompson added that pastors and early leaders play a crucial role
in providing tone and shape to new congregations.  "As you who are here
hold fast to your faith, as you believe the promises of him who is
faithful, as you encourage one another to love and good deeds, others
will see and learn about Jesus.  A Christian community will continue to
grow and flourish."
     The conference provided instruction on insurance matters,
organizational change, health and wellness, leading steward lives,
conflict management, building disciples, and church building and
finance.  It also gave participants the opportunity to learn from the
experiences of each other.
     Representatives from nine congregations attended the conference:
  + Living Water Lutheran Church, Scottsdale, Ariz.;
  + Shepherd of the Mountains, Estes Park, Colo.;
  + Hope Lutheran Church, Daytona Beach, Fla.;
  + Faith Lutheran Church, Cummings, Ga.;
  + Community of Grace, Lilburn, Ga.;
  + Abundant Life Lutheran Church, Plainfield, Ill.;
  + New Life Community Church, Detroit;
  + New Promise Lutheran Church, St. George, Utah; and
  + Celebration Lutheran Church, Anacortes, Wash.
     Six of the congregations organized since May.  Congregations in
Cummings and St. George organized before May but were unable to send
representatives to an earlier conference.  The Estes Park congregation
organized several years ago and recently welcomed a new pastor.
     In May 2000, representatives from 12 congregations in California,
Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Oregon
and Washington attended a similar conference here.
     The ELCA has 5.15 million members.  At the end of 1999 the church
had 10,851 congregations across the United States and Caribbean.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html