ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 20, 2005

ELCA Studies Lutheran Legacy In Education
05-008-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 5 million members of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) can spend much of this year
studying their "legacy in education."   A 16-member Task Force on
Education developed the study materials, "Our Calling in
Education: A Lutheran Study," as one of the early stages in
preparing a possible social statement on education for the ELCA's
2007 Churchwide Assembly.
     The ELCA Division for Church in Society published the 82-
page booklet with an Oct. 1 deadline for responses to the study.
Based on the responses and on its own study, the division's task
force will prepare a first draft of the proposed social statement
for distribution throughout the ELCA at the beginning of 2006.
     "This study has sought to give a comprehensive view of our
calling in education.  It has offered a theological basis for
this calling and related it to education in Church and society,"
Our Calling in Education said.
     The first of the materials' six parts introduced the study.
"From the time of the Reformation, the Lutheran church has been a
teaching and learning church.  We have placed emphasis on forming
and educating children and youth in the Christian faith in home
and congregation, and we strive for adults to grow in their
relationship with God and neighbor and to care for creation," the
study said.
     "We believe that the common good of society requires
educated citizens, and that government has responsibility to
ensure equal educational opportunity for all children and youth.
We today are called to carry on this legacy with its Lutheran
vision of education," it said.
     Part two of the study materials is an overview of education
from a faith perspective.  "We believe God cares for and governs
all of life, including education; we believe education is a human
activity through which God blesses individuals and society," the
study said.
     "The Church is to educate in the faith for vocation.  This
means preparing individuals to view their lives in terms of God's
call and to equip them to live out that calling in their places
of responsibility, joining with others to educate all for the
common good," it said.
     The third part looked at the church's role in "equipping
individual believers for their vocation."
     "We are blessed with a strong legacy in education and with
wonderful resources in our church. Yet we face serious challenges
in our calling to educate in the faith.  One such challenge is
that of equipping believers for their vocation through lifelong
learning," it said.
     Part four considered the church's particular role in
educating children and youth in the Christian faith.
     "'Will our children have faith in the God of the gospel?
Will our faith have children?' The answers depend finally on the
Holy Spirit.  We pray that it will be so, and that in educating
children in the faith we may be faithful agents of the Holy
Spirit's calling, gathering, enlightening and making holy," it
said.
     The fifth part addressed the responsibilities the church
shares with governments to provide public education, "especially
for children who are poor and otherwise disadvantaged."
     "As part of our calling as citizens, we have responsibility
to recognize the glaring inequity in access to good schooling,
insist that our society face the issue, and join the public
discussion to determine what policies increase equality of
opportunity," the study said.
     Among the factors influencing the future of public education
are "our commitment to providing good education for all young
people and our critical support of public schools," it said.
     The study's final part dealt with the Lutheran church's work
in higher education "and how we can continue to be a vibrant
presence there."  It said, "The Lutheran presence in North
America has been marked by strong commitment to higher
education."  The ELCA has eight seminaries and 28 colleges and
universities.
     The materials looked at Lutheran involvement beyond the
church's schools, in campus ministries and Lutheran students.
"More Lutherans teach at public and non-Lutheran private
universities and colleges than do at our Lutheran institutions.
Many of them not only perform their callings with excellence but
also provide models of Christian teaching and the engagement of
faith and learning," it said.
-- -- --
     "Our Calling in Education" is linked to
http://www.elca.org/socialstatements/education/ through a Web
Companion Guide, with information the ELCA Division for Church in
Society provided about the process for developing the social
statement.

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