ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 18, 2007  

ELCA Bishops Hear Presiding Bishop's Concerns about Ecumenism
07-171-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) - In remarks to the Conference of Bishops of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Rev. Mark
S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, said he is "most concerned"
about the church's strategic direction to build global,
ecumenical and interfaith relationships because of what he termed
the "unsettled, changing landscape globally and nationally."
     The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the
church that includes the ELCA's 65 synod bishops, presiding
bishop and secretary.  It met here Oct. 4-9.
     Without "grassroots ecumenism," in which people of all
faiths study God's Word and work together for the common good,
Hanson said it will be difficult to maintain ecumenical momentum.
He called on the ELCA synod bishops to be "imaginative, chief
ecumenical officers" in their synods.
     The ELCA has full communion relationships with the Episcopal
Church, Moravian Church in North America, Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and the United Church of
Christ. In 2008 the United Methodist Church is expected to vote
on a proposal for full communion with the ELCA, and in 2009 the
ELCA will consider the proposal, Hanson said.
     The 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted several proposals
related to a Blue Ribbon Committee Report on Mission Funding.
One of the proposals in that report concerned the personal
stewardship of ELCA bishops and pastors.
     Hanson announced that, beginning in early 2008, he or a
member of his staff will meet individually with each synod bishop
to discuss his or her personal and corporate stewardship, and the
importance of tithing.  "It begins with us," Hanson told the
conference. "If we can't talk personally as leaders about our
stewardship, how are we going to lead this church?"
     In addition, synod bishops are expected to have similar
conversations with professional church leaders in their synods,
he said.
     The conference elected new leaders for the next four years.
The Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg, bishop, ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod,
Denver, was elected to a four-year term as conference chair,
succeeding the Rev. E. Roy Riley Jr., bishop, ELCA New Jersey
Synod, Hamilton Square.  Bjornberg was elected on the fifth
ballot, 43-15 over the Rev. Peter Rogness, bishop, ELCA Saint
Paul (Minn.) Area Synod.
     The Rev. Marie C. Jerge, bishop, ELCA Upstate New York
Synod, Syracuse, was elected conference vice chair, succeeding
the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl.  DeGroot-Nesdahl left office
Aug. 31 after completing her service as bishop of the ELCA South
Dakota Synod, based in Sioux Falls.  Jerge was elected on the
sixth ballot, 33-29 over the Rev. Gregory R. Pile, bishop, ELCA
Allegheny Synod, Altoona, Pa.
     The conference discussed several other current topics during
the meeting:
     + Members met with presidents of ELCA seminaries and
discussed a variety of ideas on how to deal with education debts
accumulated by seminary students.  Hanson said he would convene a
consultation, probably before the next meeting of the conference
in March 2008, to discuss further and to propose specific ways to
respond to seminarian debt.   The conference and seminary
presidents also discussed development of "missional" leaders for
the future.
     + Barbara Keller, consultant for misconduct prevention, ELCA
Vocation and Education, presented information about Internet
pornography, pointing out that a few ELCA professional leaders
may be involved in downloading illegal pornography, participating
in questionable conversations in online chat rooms and other
forms of inappropriate behavior online.  She provided statistics
and resources to help bishops as they respond to such situations.
     + Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA treasurer, reported that
the churchwide organization had expenses of $45 million and
receipts of $44.8 million in current operating funds for the
current fiscal year through Aug. 31, 2007.  Compared to the
anticipated revenue for the seven- month period, the churchwide
organization exceeded its budget by $700,000 in total operating
revenue.  Jackson-Skelton also noted that mission support --
funds to synods and the churchwide organization from
congregations -- increased nearly $619,000 from the previous
year. Total revenue for the ELCA World Hunger program through
Aug. 31 is $7.9 million, up nearly $454,000 from one year
earlier.
     + Growing in mission support is critical for the ELCA, and
"the promise" is that growth will make a difference in the
church's life together, said the Rev. A. Craig Settlage, director
for mission support, ELCA Synodical Relations, in a report to the
conference.  Settlage said that for 2008, 23 synods have
indicated they will increase mission support to the churchwide
organization, and seven will decrease their mission support
funds.  He also reviewed upcoming plans related to the Blue
Ribbon Committee report.  "This is a critical moment of
opportunity for this church to increase generous and faithful
giving and capacity," Settlage told the conference.
     + Enthusiasm surrounding the ELCA for the "Book of Faith"
initiative is stunning, said Dr. Diane Jacobson, director of the
initiative and professor of Hebrew and Old Testament, Luther
Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., one of eight ELCA seminaries.
Proposals regarding the five-year initiative, which promotes
study of Scripture, were adopted by the 2007 Churchwide Assembly.
Jacobson said that, by 2012, initiative leaders expect that all
synods will be involved, and at least 75 percent of ELCA
congregations will be "Book of Faith" congregations, that most
ELCA organizations will be strong participants, and that 5,000
professional church leaders and 10,000 lay people will be trained
to lead Bible study.  With Augsburg Fortress, the ELCA's
publishing ministry, the church plans to introduce a Book of
Faith "primer" before the 2008 synod assemblies.  By 2009 a
Lutheran study Bible is to be published and a broadly based adult
study program is planned.  Information and resources are
available at http://www.ELCA.org/bookoffaith on the ELCA Web
site.
     + The conference discussed outcomes of a consultation on
disaster response convened by the ELCA Office of the Presiding
Bishop.  The consultation, Sept. 30-Oct. 1 in Tampa, Fla.,
included bishops, churchwide staff and pastors serving in areas
where recent significant disasters have occurred, such as the
U.S. Gulf Coast. The Rev. Edward R. Benoway, bishop, ELCA Florida-
Bahamas Synod, Tampa, and the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop,
ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod, reported some of the
recommendations. Among the suggestions: that the church do more
to prepare and assist synod bishops in responding to significant
disasters, that "rapid-response" teams go to synods to assist
local leaders immediately, that exchange of information be
improved, that the churchwide organization convene churchwide
staff to work with synods in disaster response, that synods
convene local leaders to respond to disasters and continue to
meet, that interim ministers and other leaders be called to
assist synod bishops following a disaster, and that the
conference consider how partner synod relationships can be used
to help respond to local needs following a disaster.
     Consultation participants asked the presiding bishop to
convene a second consultation with all partners in Gulf Coast
recovery work "to conduct a follow-up assessment related to the
unmet needs apparent through the stages of recovery." Hanson also
said that ELCA leaders will likely discuss joint disaster
response procedures when they meet Oct. 24 with leaders of the
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in a regularly scheduled meeting
of the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation in Baltimore.


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