ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 1, 2007  

Lutheran Bishop of Canada Greets ELCA Church Council
07-075-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- During an April 15 greeting to the Church
Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) the
Rev. Raymond L. Schultz, national bishop of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), shared news about his
retirement and offered highlights on the upcoming ELCIC biennial
convention.
     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 April 14-16.
Assemblies are held every other year; the next is here Aug. 6-11.
     "The ELCA has become my other family on the North American
continent, and I feel like it is my home," Schultz told the
council.  "I'm retiring from the office of national bishop at the
end of August.  While I'm glad to leave the weight of the work
behind, I'm going to grieve terribly the loss of our association.
As church workers you have become my associates, and as people of
God you've become my friends.  You have given the ELCIC many
gifts," he said,
     Schultz said his successor will be elected at the Eleventh
Biennial Convention of the ELCIC June 21-24 in Winnipeg,
Manitoba.  Under the theme "A People Called," Schultz said the
convention will include "a day of celebration" with the General
Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada.  "Both (church) bodies
are giving thanks for the Waterloo Declaration, which defines our
full-communion relationship," he said.
     The ELCIC Convention will acknowledge "Evangelical
Declaration" -- a theology of mission that has served the church
for the past 10 years, said Schultz.  "We are proposing that its
10-year mandate be extended for another 10 years.  From
(Evangelical Declaration) we've derived the mission theme for our
church, (which) is 'to be in mission with others,'" he said.
     ELCA Vice President Carlos Pena, Galveston, Texas, and other
Lutherans from across the church and around the world will
address the ELCIC convention.
     Schultz noted that the introduction of the development of a
social statement on human sexuality will be presented at the
convention.  "Thank you to the ELCA for the assistance it has
provided us, the research and study that it has done, which has
become a gift to us, so that we don't have to begin at point
zero," said Schultz, adding that a resolution on the blessing of
same-sex couples is scheduled to be considered by the convention.
     Schultz shared with the council that he will serve as a
presenter at Worship Jubilee 2007 -- an event Aug. 3-6 here at
Navy Pier, celebrating the renewal of worship in the ELCA and
ELCIC.
     Released in October 2006, Evangelical Lutheran Worship --
the ELCA and ELCIC's primary book of worship -- is an outcome of
a project initiated by the council in 2000 to renew the worship
life of the ELCA.  The "Renewing Worship" project invited the
4.85-million-member ELCA and the 182,077 members of the ELCIC to
engage new worship materials.  The ELCIC began its participation
in Renewing Worship in 2001.
     "Thanks for the memories, thanks for the fun, and thanks be
to God," said Schultz at the conclusion of his greeting.
     "Thanks be to God for you, Ray," said the Rev. Mark S.
Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, following Schultz.  Hanson
said Schultz has an inquisitive mind, and is gifted with
theological wisdom and refreshing honesty.
- - -
     Information about the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
is at http://www.elcic.ca on the Web.

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