ELCA NEWS SERVICE
November 17, 2003
ELCA Consultation Revisits Social Statement on the Environment
03-205-FI
MUNDELEIN, Ill. (ELCA) -- Sixty-five members of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) affirmed the
church's 10-year-old social statement, "Caring for Creation:
Vision, Hope and Justice," and began envisioning ways for the
church to apply its statement to today's environmental situation.
The ELCA Division for Church in Society hosted the "Caring for
Creation Now!" consultation Nov. 5-7 here at the University of
St. Mary of the Lake.
The consultation was a way to introduce the participants to
each other and to "form some plans for action, so we could get
the social statement out of the cupboard, out of the file
cabinet, and maybe get it out of the garbage and into the life of
the church," said Danielle Welliever, director for environmental
education and advocacy, ELCA Division for Church in Society.
The ELCA's 10,721 congregations are organized into 65 synods
across the United States and Caribbean. Each synod is headed by
a bishop. The 5-million-member ELCA is based in Chicago.
Bishops sent 21 consultation participants; six participants
served on a task force that drafted the 1993 social statement;
and another six were directors of ELCA public policy offices in
six state capitals. The rest were "friends of the office" --
people working on projects that had received ELCA environmental
education and advocacy grants and others interested in the church
addressing environmental concerns, said Welliever.
While affirming the social statement as "a good foundation
for action," participants expressed disappointment that it hasn't
inspired a lot of action in the past 10 years, said Dr. Peter W.
Bakken, coordinator of outreach and research fellow, Au Sable
Institute of Environmental Studies, Madison, Wis. Bakken, a
member of the task force that drafted the social statement, is
writing the consultation's report.
The participants' chief concern was to "put wheels under"
the social statement, Bakken said. "It was a very action-
oriented consultation," he said.
"The consultation focused on general ideas, brainstorming
goals, projects and initiatives that should be undertaken,"
Bakken said. Participants wanted to plan projects, lay out
timetables and assign responsibilities, which was difficult work
for a group that size, he said. "This is only a beginning or a
new beginning for the church in this area, and the follow-through
is going to be really important."
Bakken said Lutherans often have the misperception that the
environment is the "hobby" of a few. "Caring for creation is
caring for people . loving our neighbor. It's something that
touches every aspect of everyone's life whether they know it or
not," he said. Environmental concern is "fundamental to our
following Christ in this world and responding to the grace of God
in Christ and in creation."
Three days of prayer and meditation, speeches,
presentations, conversations, and large-group, small-group and
panel discussions produced a series of strategies for the ELCA's
environmental work. The consultation's report to the church is
to be one strategy; others included:
+ writing a sample resolution for synods to consider, expressing
support for and pledging participation in the church's efforts to
care for the environment
+ promoting environmental concerns in the ELCA Small Town and
Rural Ministry Alliance
+ calling on the ELCA's members, congregations, synods and
churchwide organization to conduct audits of their energy use in
2004 and implement measures to reduce their energy use in 2005
+ writing a letter of thanks to Thrivent Investment Management
Inc., a subsidiary of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans,
Minneapolis, which announced plans to offer its investors
socially responsible mutual fund options
+ working with the church's media and publications to promote
existing resources ELCA congregations could use to address
environmental concerns
+ calling on those who produce the church's Christian education
materials to include "caring for creation" themes in curricula
for all age groups
Many participants brought examples of what their
congregations or synods were doing to reduce energy use, conduct
"creation-friendly" worship services, support safe use of land
and water, and promote other "earthkeeping" activities.
A panel discussion by task force members included Bakken, as
well as Dr. Paul F. Bente Jr., Landenberg, Pa.; Dr. Paul E. Lutz,
Hickory, N.C.; the Rev. George L. Murphy, Akron, Ohio; and the
Rev. H. Paul Santmire, Watertown, Mass.
The Rev. James B. Martin-Schramm, associate professor of
religion, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, provided the
consultation's keynote address, exploring the ethical principles
the ELCA observed in its social statement to confront
environmental degradation. Martin-Schramm chairs the DCS board.
Inez Torres Davis, associate for programs, Women of the
ELCA, discussed how the use and misuse of natural resources has a
greater negative impact on women, as well as on those among the
racial minorities of the United States and on people living in
poverty around the world. Davis has directed cross-cultural and
anti-racism programs of the church's women's organization.
The Rev. Trimble Gilbert, an Episcopal priest, tribal elder
and former chief of Arctic Village, Alaska, spoke with
participants about the effects environmental changes have had on
the quality of life for Alaska Natives living north of the Arctic
Circle. Gilbert said development brought drug and alcohol abuse,
and a melting glacier has driven away fish and migratory caribou.
A panel discussion on ways the ELCA tackles issues in
government and corporate settings involved Welliever and several
other churchwide staff members: Dennis W. Frado, director,
Lutheran Office for World Community at the United Nations, New
York; the Rev. Rebecca S. Larson, executive director, ELCA
Division for Church in Society; Karen S. Vagley, director,
Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, Washington, D.C.; and
Pat Zerega, acting director, corporate social responsibility,
ELCA Division for Church in Society, Pittsburgh.
-- -- --
The social statement, "Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and
Justice," is available at
http://www.elca.org/dcs/environment.html on the ELCA Web site. A
letter from the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop,
celebrating the statement's 10th anniversary is linked to
http://www.elca.org/dcs/epr/environment/ -- the Division for
Church in Society pages on environmental education and advocacy.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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