ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 22, 2004

ELCA Council Receives Draft Report On Renewing Worship
04-222-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) received a first draft of a report on "Renewing
Worship in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America" and made the report
available throughout the church for response.
     The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the
legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies.  The
council met here Nov. 11-15.  Assemblies are held every other year; the
next is Aug. 8-14, 2005, in Orlando, Fla.
     Renewing Worship is a "ministry" of the church with principal work
being conducted by the ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries and
Augsburg Fortress, the publishing ministry of the ELCA.  Phases of
Renewing Worship include a process for churchwide consultation, working
groups or "editorial teams," the development of provisional resources,
regional and synodical conferences, and the proposal for a new series of
worship resources.  The fifth and final phase of Renewing Worship includes
the drafting of a comprehensive proposal for new primary worship resources
designed to succeed the Lutheran Book of Worship.
     The draft report received by the council is available at
http://www.renewingworship.org/about/proposal.html on the Internet.
Comments and questions from across the church are "welcome and
encouraged."
     The council also approved in concept the "Steps toward Renewal"
contained in the report, and it received a draft table of contents and a
"draft list of proposed hymns and tunes" for a new primary book of
worship.  The new book of worship is intended for use in congregations
after receiving a "thorough and comprehensive" review, including a review
from the ELCA Conference of Bishops, an advisory body of the church, as
recommended by the Church Council.  The ELCA's liturgical review process
provides for the review of all worship materials intended to supplement a
new book of worship and to support worship in congregations.
     The council anticipates receiving a final report and recommendations
on Renewing Worship in the ELCA at its April 2005 meeting, and it will act
to transmit the report and recommendations to the 2005 ELCA Churchwide
Assembly in Orlando.
     Renewing Worship is "an example of when our church works together,"
said the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, executive director, ELCA Division for
Congregational Ministries.  She told the council that the proposed new
book of worship has "mission implications for our church" and will have
"impact on our church culture."
     The ELCA committed to deepening its worship life at the 1997
Churchwide Assembly and adopted "The Use of the Means of Grace" -- a
statement on sacramental practices.  The two actions set in motion
"ongoing churchwide conversation" about worship and focus on the question,
"what do we need in worship resources?" said the Rev. Michael Burk, ELCA
director for worship, in an interview.
     "There is a need" for a new book of worship, Burk said.  The book
will provide access to the treasury of worship resources for the entire
church, he said.
     In response to the church's "present needs and practices," Renewing
Worship has placed a high value on Lutheran tradition and identity, Burk
said.  Worship renewal is done best when it invites and involves as many
people as possible in the process, and reflects "the diversity of the
church and diversity the church hopes to embody," he said.
     In response to questions from some members of the council, Burk said
representatives from the church's full communion partners have
participated in the Renewing Worship process from the beginning, as have
representatives from Lutheran and other denominations around the world.
     He also told the council that Renewing Worship work continues to be
responsive to the worship needs of ethnic-specific communities of the
ELCA, and continues to pay attention to emerging trends in worship.
"There are ways to be inclusive and embrace new forms of worship" with
"reinforcement on what it means to be Lutheran.  [Renewing Worship] is one
place," Burk said.
     A member of the council asked Burk how the church's current studies
on sexuality might impact Renewing Worship.  In response, Burk said
Renewing Worship "is bound by the policies of the church" and, if changes
were to occur, the "paradigm of a 'constellation of worship resources'"
will work well, because it "allows flexibility for any outcome."
- - -
     Resources for Renewing Worship are at
http://www.elca.org/dcm/worship/default.asp on the Internet.

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