ELCA NEWS SERVICE

September 29, 2003

ELCA Education Board Recommends Rethinking 'Future Design'
03-176-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) Division for Higher Education and
Schools (DHES) made three recommendations in response to a
proposal from the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop to
restructure the churchwide organization by February 2004.  The
board spent much of its meeting here Sept. 19-20 in hearing
reports on the proposal, discussing it and drafting a response.
     The DHES board recommended that the process for reorganizing
be given more time, that decisions regarding schools and outdoor
ministries be reconsidered and that certain principles of the
redesign be rethought -- that alliances could replace some
current programs, that some churchwide office responsibilities
could be assumed in other parts of the church and that boards
could be replaced by churchwide consultations.
     One reason the board gave for wanting to extend the planning
process was to allow for "a clearer articulation of a Lutheran
vision of education."  It also said the proposal gives greater
consistency to youth ministries but needed "to build upon the
unique contribution of our early childhood centers and schools to
the strategic goals of evangelism, multicultural ministries and
leadership development."
     The board voted to transmit its recommendations to the ELCA
Church Council.  It also asked permission for the DHES board
chair, Rod Schofield, Colorado Springs, Colo., to present the
recommendations in person at the council's next meeting, Nov. 14-
16 in Charlotte, N.C.
     On Sept. 15 the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop unveiled
the "future design" proposal, which the Rev. Mark S. Hanson,
presiding bishop of the ELCA, will present to the ELCA Church
Council in November.  Under the proposal, the ELCA's six
divisions would become five departments and constitutional
amendments would be developed to eliminate existing boards of
divisions.
     The full restructuring proposal was sent in an e-mail
message to ELCA staff here and across the United States and the
Caribbean.  Individuals whose positions were directly mentioned
in the proposal were contacted privately before the e-mail was
sent.
     The proposal is to eliminate the positions of executive
directors for three current ELCA divisions: Division for
Congregational Ministries, Division for Higher Education and
Schools, and Division for Outreach.
     Under the proposal, a Department for Youth, Education and
Lay Leadership would assume some other functions of the Division
for Congregational Ministries as well as many responsibilities of
the current Division for Higher Education and Schools.
     The ELCA churchwide structure will relate to its
congregations' early childhood centers, and elementary and
secondary schools, through grants to the Evangelical Lutheran
Education Association, according to the proposal.
     The DHES board discussed the past successes of forming
alliances to enhance some programs, but challenged the idea that
alliances could replace similar programs.  The proposal is that
the churchwide organization's services to outdoor ministries, now
housed in the Division for Congregational Ministries, would phase
out by 2005, with the recommendation that work begin on forming
an alliance of Lutheran outdoor ministries.
     Instead of the Church Council having a set group of elected
board and committee members to consult, the proposal is for the
council to host consultations of representatives from each of the
ELCA's 65 synods and from appropriate churchwide entities to
address a specific and timely topic.
     The ELCA is governed by a biennial churchwide assembly.
Between assemblies, the ELCA Church Council acts on the
assembly's behalf as the church's board of directors.
     Hanson will present the proposal to the ELCA Church Council
in November along with recommendations received from boards and
committees, including the ELCA Conference of Bishops, which will
meet here Oct. 2-7.  The council can accept, modify or reject the
proposal.
     If the Church Council approves a new churchwide structure,
implementation would begin Nov. 17.  Staff holding positions to
be eliminated would be notified according to the personnel
policies of the church.  Hiring processes for new staff positions
would begin Dec. 1.  The new design would go into effect Feb. 1,
the first day of the ELCA's 2004 fiscal year.
     A merger of three Lutheran churches formed the ELCA in
1988.  The churchwide organization underwent a restructuring in
1991, when DHES assumed most of the functions of a previous
Division for Education.
     In other actions, the DHES board recommended that the Church
Council adopt "Campus Ministry Policies and Procedures" and that
the council grant ELCA School Affiliation status to Hope Lutheran
School, Gastonia, N.C.
-- -- --
The "Proposal for the Future Design of the Churchwide
Organization" is available at http://www.elca.org/planning on the
ELCA Web site.

The Division for Higher Education and Schools has a home page at
http://www.elca.org/dhes on the ELCA Web site.

EDITORS:  A story related to the development of the "Campus
Ministry Policies and Procedures" is available at
http://www.elca.org/Scriptlib/CO/ELCA_News/encArticleList.asp?a=2
478&p=9 on the ELCA Web site.

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