ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 6, 2006  

ELCA Blue Ribbon Committee on Mission Funding Appointed, Starts Work
06-033-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) appointed a 10-member Blue
Ribbon Committee for Mission Funding.  The committee is expected
to study topics such as mission support, stewardship education,
planned giving, and designated and restricted giving, all aimed
at strengthening the future financial resources of the ELCA.  The
committee will begin its work March 8 here at the ELCA churchwide
office.
     The ELCA is a 4.9 million-member church based here. There
are 10,461 ELCA congregations organized into 65 synods, each
synod headed by a bishop. The Church Council is the ELCA's board
of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the
church between churchwide assemblies.  The council's next meeting
is here April 1-2. Assemblies are held every other year; the next
is here Aug. 6-12, 2007.
     Mission support -- funds from congregations through synods
to the churchwide organization -- has shown little overall growth
in the ELCA's 18-year history.  About 81 percent of the funds
used for the church's operations come from mission support, said
the Rev. Michael L. Meier, associate executive for mission
support, ELCA Synodical Relations.  In recent years financial
gifts designated for a specific purpose or ministry have grown
considerably, while mission support has declined slightly, he
said.
     The idea to create the committee originated with the ELCA
Conference of Bishops, an advisory body of the church, which
proposed that the council appoint a committee in place of a
synodical/churchwide leaders' gathering on mission funding that
had been planned for this month.  That gathering was postponed.
     The council approved the proposal to create the Blue Ribbon
Committee at its meeting in November 2005.
     The committee's purpose is to consider how the church can do
a better job of stewardship and mission support education for
members, and to consider effective practices aimed at developing
congregational resources, adequately funding synod ministries and
expanding the financial foundation of the churchwide
organization, Meier said.
     Between now and next year, the committee is expected to
consult with the members of the ELCA Conference of Bishop and
ELCA Church Council, synod and churchwide staff, mission
interpreters, youth and young adult representatives, synod
treasurers and others. The Church Council asked that the
committee report its conclusions and recommendations to the
council at its April 2007 meeting.

Synod bishop, Church Council member to serve a co-chairs
     "This is a huge task," said the Rev. Philip L. Hougen,
bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod and co-chair of the
committee, in an interview with the ELCA News Service.   Hougen
said committee members are "very committed, very knowledgeable,"
and he said he is optimistic that the group will propose exciting
things that will contribute to the mission and ministry of the
ELCA.
     The ELCA has the strongest churchwide organization of any
denomination in the United States, Hougen said, and declining
financial resources will make the whole ELCA weaker.
     "The strength of the churchwide office contributes to the
strengths of congregations and synods.  We are interdependent in
that way.  The weakening of our churchwide office, I fear, will
make us weaker synodically and congregationally," Hougen said.
     Addressing the "principle of interdependence" in the ELCA is
a key piece of the committee's work, said the Rev. Mark S.
Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, when the council approved
formation of the committee.
     Hougen hopes the committee will address some specific
concerns he brings in his role as a synod bishop.  One is
stewardship education, and how the church raises up the personal
stewardship of its members in a culture of affluence, he said.
     "We need to give.  The values of giving are essential for
Christian discipleship," Hougen said.
     A second concern is mission education about the work of the
ELCA churchwide organization and the "wonderful things" that get
done by the wider church because of the resources provided
locally, he said.
     It is "vital" for the committee to hear from members
throughout the ELCA, Hougen said, adding he is open to new ways
of enhancing the mission funding of the church.
     Co-chairing the committee is Earl L. Mummert, Harrisburg,
Pa., a member of the ELCA Church Council and chair of its budget
and finance committee.
     Mummert said he brings two "high level" concerns to the
committee -- that the ELCA has not been clear or consistent about
financial expectations of its members and that the ELCA should
"model" behavior that involves sharing financial resources
throughout the church.
     ELCA staff has done an "outstanding job" of managing what
funds have been given, Mummert told the ELCA News Service.  "I
(also) realize we are a very wealthy church if we consider the
economics of our membership.  The wealth across our membership is
quite substantial," he said.
     The Blue Ribbon Committee's work is about mission support at
all levels, including congregations, synods and the churchwide
organization, Mummert said. "It's all interconnected," he said.
     Mummert said he hopes the committee's work will raise
expectations of the church's members.
     "I feel pretty strongly that we need to raise the bar in
terms of what it means to be an active member of the ELCA," he
said.  "The reason we need to do that is to challenge each member
to be a more active participant in the life of the church.  If we
don't raise expectations, we allow (members) to be something less
than they can be."

Council appoints Blue Ribbon Committee
     In addition to Hougen and Mummert, members of the Blue
Ribbon Committee for Mission Funding are:
+ Grieg L. Anderson, ELCA Church Council member, Portland, Ore.
+ The Rev. Leonard H. Bolick, bishop, ELCA North Carolina Synod,
Salisbury
+ Ann Sponberg Peterson, director of development, Luther College,
Decorah, Iowa
+ Emma Graeber Porter, principal, Graeber Consulting, New York
+ The Rev. John Sabatelli, senior pastor, Christ Lutheran Church,
Baltimore
+ The Rev. Thomas A. Skrenes, bishop, ELCA Northern Great Lakes
Synod, Marquette, Mich.
+ The Rev. Jennifer J. Thomas, ELCA Church Council member,
Milwaukee
+ Dr. Phyllis Castens Wiederhoft, executive director, Association
of Lutheran Development Executives, Madison, Wis.
     Staff working with the Blue Ribbon Committee are the Rev.
Donald M. Hallberg, executive director, ELCA Development
Services; Kenneth W. Inskeep, director, ELCA Research and
Evaluation; Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA treasurer; Meier; the
Rev. Charles S. Miller, executive for administration, ELCA Office
of the Presiding Bishop; and the Rev. Kathie Bender Schwich,
executive for synodical and constituent relations, ELCA Office of
the Presiding Bishop.
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     Information about the ELCA's stewardship ministry is at
http://www.ELCA.org/dcm/stewardship/ on the ELCA Web site.

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John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
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