ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 6, 2005

ELCA Bishops Hear Presiding Bishop's Thanks, View of Assembly Actions
05-188-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a wide-ranging report to the Conference
of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, spoke of the
church's response to Gulf Coast hurricane disasters, outcomes
from the churchwide assembly and his recent trip to Jordan,
Israel and Palestinian territories, where he chaired the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) Council in his role as LWF president.
     The Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the church,
consisting of the ELCA's 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and
secretary.  It met here Sept. 29-Oct. 3.
     Hanson began his report by reflecting on remarks made at a
memorial service earlier this year for Saul Bellow, well-known
author and winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Literature.   One
person noted that Bellow was "a first-class 'noticer.'"
     "I think that's a dimension of leadership to which we're all
called: to be first-class noticers," Hanson told the bishops.
"[We are] to be first-class noticers of what gospel we are
proclaiming these days, and that's not a given; to be first-class
noticers of what God is up to in the world and how the Holy
Spirit gifts us to be part of that world; [and] to be first-class
noticers of the context in which we live."
     Referring to the Gulf Coast hurricane disasters, Hanson
noted the ELCA's ability to be generous and put resources on the
ground to assist people in need.  Thousands of people have given
more than $11 million to the ELCA for relief and recovery from
the storms.  The funds are channeled through Lutheran Disaster
Response, a ministry of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod.
     "This is a rich church.  It's a generous church that wants
to be engaged in God's mission for the sake of the gospel and the
life of the world," the presiding bishop said.  The disasters
gave the ELCA and other churches opportunities to provide a
unified response, he said.
     "Denominational divisions got washed away with [Hurricane]
Katrina and [Hurricane] Rita.  We are one body of Christ
together," Hanson said.
     Commenting on the 2005 Churchwide Assembly in Orlando, Fla.,
which he chaired, Hanson paid tribute to his colleagues in the
churchwide organization who planned for the assembly and
communicated its happenings to the world.  He thanked staff for
the "exceptional job" they did in preparing for the churchwide
reorganization which was adopted and is now under way.
     "As I have sought to be a first-class noticer these past few
weeks, I am overwhelmed with a spirit of gratitude," he said of
the assembly.
     The 2005 ELCA Churchwide Assembly "raised the bar" of
expectations for the church, Hanson said. "I feel it enormously,
and my colleagues in the churchwide organization feel it, and we
are responding to it.  We are not coasting on what happened in
Orlando.  We're taking it as a road map for where this church
wants us to go together," he said.
     Among the many actions the assembly took that "raised the
bar," Hanson specifically cited actions to approve a Renewing
Worship proposal that will lead to the introduction of new
worship resources including a new worship book; the adoption of
African Descent and Arab and Middle Eastern ethnic ministry
strategies; and the church's commitment to a Middle East peace
campaign, a component of the church's Middle East strategy.
     Hanson traveled to Jordan and Israel and Palestinian
territories Aug. 29-Sept. 6, visited with religious and political
leaders, and chaired the LWF Council meeting in Jerusalem and
Bethlehem.   He said the assembly action on the implementation of
the Middle East campaign for peace was repeatedly brought up for
discussion in many of the meetings he attended during the trip.
     Israeli political leaders thanked the presiding bishop and
the ELCA for choosing language that calls for the church to
advocate for "investing in peace," Hanson said.  The assembly
urged the church to advocate for "stewarding financial resources
-- both U.S. tax dollars and private funds -- in ways that
support the quest for a just peace in the Holy Land."
     After the assembly Hanson sent a letter to Jewish and Muslim
leaders in the United States explaining the church's action to
invite Lutherans into the Middle East peace campaign.  He urged
his colleagues in the Conference of Bishops to talk with local
Jewish and Muslim leaders about the assembly action.
     "I think we all face a challenge of articulating both
verbally and through behavior this church's commitment to be in
conversation with Jewish leaders and members of the Jewish
community, and Muslim leaders and members of the Muslim
community," Hanson said.
     The churchwide organization's redesign provides
opportunities and anxiety, he said. On Oct. 1 the churchwide
organization began to use new unit names, and searches were under
way for leaders of new units.  Some work spaces and the building
lobby will be reconstructed to meet the needs of the new
organizational structure, Hanson said.   Churchwide unit program
committees are scheduled to meet for the first time in February
2006, he added.

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