Title: Lutherans Focus on Connection Between Poverty, Wealth
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 18, 2002

LUTHERANS FOCUS ON CONNECTION BETWEEN POVERTY, WEALTH
02-267-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) held a special forum to examine the connection between poverty
and wealth here Nov. 7-9 at the Institute of Cultural Affairs Conference
Center.  Through a series of presentations the forum was meant to set
direction for the ELCA's future work related to poverty and wealth.
     "We are here because we take Scripture seriously," said the Rev.
Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop.  "We are here because we believe
that over one billion people in the world live without the basic
necessities of food, water and shelter.  We are here as God's people to
work for and reclaim the goodness of God's creation."
     It is time for the ELCA to be known for God's uniting mission,
Hanson said.  There's no way of talking about God's mission in and for
the sake of the world without talking about being in ministry and
mission with those living in poverty, he said.
     "We are the sixth largest denomination in the United States.  It
is time to exercise the power that comes with that reality in our public
voice and in our local actions to bring about an end to poverty.  We're
here because this is part of living out our baptismal vocations," said
Hanson.
     According to Damu Smith, coordinator for Black Voices for Peace,
Washington, D.C., "Poverty is an act of violence against the very spirit
and physical being of people.  It violently zaps at your soul and
being."
     Smith said there's a "mean spiritedness clouding" our nation and
God's people.  "There are groups of people in this world who have
decided that they are going to get rich and 'the hell with everyone
else.'  And, they have instituted public policy to ensure that is the
case."
     "Corporations have no loyalty to us.  They will lay us off and
move [overseas] to exploit cheap labor, maximize profits and leave
communities devastated.  Their allegiance and patriotism is to money and
profit, not flag," said Smith.  "If corporations are loyal to us, they
would stay in our communities and look after people."
     To create change "we have to confront those who are responsible
for creating policies that perpetuate and institutionalize circumstances
of unwanted depravation," he said.  "The only way to dislodge policies
that are in place is to leverage power through the political and
spiritual mobilization of God's people.  Spirituality is about living
out the life of Jesus with the poor."
     Smith said there are people working three to four jobs still
living in poverty.  "How do you explain that in the United States, the
richest nation not only in the world today but in the history of the
planet?  Work hard is the American ethic; work hard, sweat hard and
you'll make it in America.  But, there are lots of people working hard,
and they are not making it.  "Poverty ain't just a Black thing, but a
White thing and Brown thing ... it's about all of God's people."
     The church needs to discover "what God wants to do in these
perilous times," Smith said.  "We must empower ourselves to work with
poor people, working people and middle-class people to wage a struggle
for economic and social justice," he said.

FORUM GOALS
     The forum brought together more than 80 members of the ELCA and
ecumenical and international guests to examine the church's history and
current activities on fighting poverty and promoting social justice.
     The Rev. Gordon J. Straw, interim pastor, St. Luke's Lutheran
Church, Park Ridge, Ill., and doctoral candidate, Lutheran School of
Theology at Chicago, provided theological reflection on the "reality of
poverty and wealth in Scripture," and the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock,
executive director, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM),
challenged participants to focus on "core beliefs" that motivate
Lutherans to engage in ministry among people living in poverty.  The
Rev. Charles S. Miller, ELCA executive for administration and executive
assistant to the presiding bishop, discussed the development of the
ELCA's Ministry Among Persons in Poverty (MAPP).
     The ELCA has engaged in "conversations about poverty.  It has
hosted conferences, papers have been written and studies conducted about
poverty, but we have never made the connection between poverty and
wealth, particularly in this church and the wealth and resources that
are in this country.  If we're serious about addressing issues of
poverty we must look at the wealth that exists within this church," said
Loretta E. Horton, director for social ministries for congregations,
DCM, in an interview.
     A goal of the forum was to frame discussion that not only centers
on people living in poverty but to "take a look at who controls
resources and how the church can be a prophetic voice that looks at
justice and asks the question, 'How can there be poverty in the midst of
plenty?'" she said.
     "The church, as an entity, supports life.  If we are to support
life -- life that is healthy and whole where God's children can develop
and be contributing members of society -- we must have access to
resources," she said.  "It's also about challenging folks who have
resources to give more because, ultimately, we are blessed in that."

WEALTH IN THE CHURCH
     "We have considerable wealth in the church," said the Rev. Mark
Moller-Gunderson, executive director, DCM.  In a presentation called
"Wealth in the Church," Moller-Gunderson shared information on ELCA
household income.
     In the ELCA there are 5.1 million baptized members, which
translates into 1.7 million households or families, Moller-Gunderson
said.  "The average family income in the ELCA is just a shade over
$71,000.  About 25 percent earn less than $25,000 and another 25 percent
earn more than $75,000.  So, half of the church earns between $25,000 to
$75,000 per family," he said.
     "Our annual aggregate income comes to about $126 billion per year,
plus some change, so we do have some serious money," Moller-Gunderson
told participants.  "The average household wealth in the ELCA is about
$188,000.  The aggregate amount in net assets (the sum of our families
together) comes to $333 billion."
     "As a family system we live with a no-talk rule, especially about
money.  About 65 percent either are unsure or believe it is
inappropriate to talk about money in worship.  Information about money
is hard to get, and there are rare opportunities to offer counsel and
advice," he said.
      Moller-Gunderson said there is a gap between the rich and poor in
the church, "because for those who fall into the category of wealth,
poverty is often too far away.  Due to our homogeneity, we tend to hang
out with people in similar economic conditions and assume that's the
reality for the rest of the world."   He told participants that members
of the church need to develop the skill of talking about wealth in the
church "by speaking the truth in love."

MILESTONES IN ELCA WORK RELATED TO POVERTY, SOCIAL JUSTICE
     The Rev. H. George Anderson, former presiding bishop of the ELCA,
outlined the history of Lutheran work related to poverty and social
justice from the earliest days of the 16th century Reformation in Europe
to the present in the United States.
     "Pious Christians had created charitable foundations to support
monasteries, and those monasteries often did works of mercy as part of
their mission.  In a society where up to 30 percent of the population
was destitute, such public charities were necessary.  But, when a ruler
confiscated church property and took the income to fight his wars, a
major source of charitable dollars was wiped out. [Martin] Luther
discovered these unintended consequences quite early and he moved to
correct them," he said.
     "From its beginning, the Reformation took special pains to provide
for the poor as a natural outcome of its understanding of God's will.
But, it also recognized the social context from which poverty arose,"
Anderson said.
     "It could be argued that most Lutherans who lived here in the
1700s were themselves among the poor. The oldest continuously worshiping
Lutheran congregation is in the Virgin Islands, where Danish mission
work among African slaves had borne fruit.  By 1800, the 1,000 Lutherans
there were about equally divided between slave and free.  In
Pennsylvania, many of the German immigrants who arrived before 1800 came
as indentured servants.  That is, they had agreed to work as virtual
slaves for up to seven years in exchange for the price of a ticket to
the new world," Anderson said.
     From 1800 to 1914, "Lutherans entered a new phase of concern for
the poor when they moved from supporting interdenominational societies
to founding institutions of their own," Anderson said.  "Industrial
growth in the late 1800s led to new concerns about working conditions
and the laboring class.  When it came to questions of political action
or social justice, Lutherans saw little role for the church," he said.
     In the Great Depression of the 1930s "the church devoted its fund-
raising efforts to salvaging imperiled institutions and keeping its own
programs operating and seemed to have no energy left over for poverty in
general.  Nor did it speak out on social issues like collective
bargaining, minimum wages or even prohibition.  It pursued social change
in the old fashion way -- one Christian at a time," Anderson said.
     "In my view, the year 1957 marked a turning point.  For the first
time, the twin strands of the Reformation tradition -- care for the poor
and advocacy for social justice -- were united," he said.  "The 1960s
was a decade of social upheaval.  Civil rights, the war on poverty,
Vietnam and the questioning of established authority all stirred up
emotions and called for new solutions.  This time the church was ready
to participate."
     "The formation of the ELCA in 1988 provided the institutional
framework for continuing the double emphasis of the 1960s and 1970s.
Its Division for Church and Society was given the constitutional mandate
to respond to human need through direct human services and through
addressing systems, structures and policies of society, seeking to
promote justice, peace and the care of the earth," Anderson said.

OUTCOME OF THE FORUM
     The presentations led up to a "brainstorming" session where
participants set direction for the ELCA's future work related to poverty
and wealth.  The outcome of that session will be highlighted in a report
to be shared with the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop, ELCA
Conference of Bishops -- an advisory body of the church's 65 synod
bishops, presiding bishop and secretary -- ELCA Church Council -- the
church's board of directors and legislative authority between ELCA
churchwide assemblies -- and other churchwide units and agencies.
     The forum was funded in part by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans,
a fraternal benefit organization based in Minneapolis.
-- -- --
     Information about the Forum on Poverty and Wealth is available at
http://www.elca.org/dcm/socialministry/ForumPoverty&Wealth.html  on the
Internet.

     Photo images from the Forum on Poverty and Wealth are available at
http://www.elca.org/co/news/images.forum.html

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