ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 18, 2008  

ELCA Council Acts on Resolution on Racism, Other Proposals
08-048-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical
 Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a resolution on
racism, asked for a formal proposal for full communion with
the United Methodist Church, commended occasional services
materials to the church, set the site and date of the 2011
ELCA Churchwide Assembly, and acted on several other
proposals.
     The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors
and serves as the legislative authority of the church between
assemblies.  The council met here April 11-13.  Assemblies
are held every other year; the next is Aug. 17-23, 2009, in
Minneapolis.
     The council's actions and discussions included: 
     + Racism: In response to "amplified conversations about
racism" and the 15th anniversary of the ELCA social statement,
"Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture," the council
adopted a resolution on this topic. The resolution noted that
the National Council of Churches USA issued a call to observe
May 18 as a "Sacred Day of Dialogue and Discussion." The
council said it seeks God's forgiveness "for our complicity
in perpetuating individual, cultural and institutional
racism," and reaffirmed its commitment to become increasingly
antiracist.  It invited ELCA members to join the commitment
and engage in sustained dialogue.  The council asked churchwide
staff, in consultation with the Office of the Presiding Bishop,
to develop discussion materials that would use the social
statement to help guide ELCA members in their conversations
about racism.
     + Full communion: The council asked that a formal proposal
for full communion with the United Methodist Church be presented
to it at its November 2008 meeting.  The council is expected to
consider transmitting the proposal to the 2009 ELCA Churchwide
Assembly. The UMC General Conference, meeting in Fort Worth,
Texas, April 23-May 2, will act on a proposal for full communion
with the ELCA.
     + Occasional services materials: The council commended
"Evangelical Lutheran Worship:  Pastoral Care" for use by pastors
and lay people involved in the ELCA's ministry of care.
"Evangelical Lutheran Worship" is the primary worship resource 
of the church and is the center of a "family" of worship
resources.  Evangelical Lutheran Worship: Pastoral Care is the
first of two volumes of materials related to occasional services,
and the council expressed gratitude to the "many people who
helped shape and refine" its content and encouraged the
completion of the second volume of materials related to occasional
services in the ELCA.
     + 2011 Churchwide Assembly: The council approved the site
for the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, which will be held Aug.
14-20 at the Marriott World Center, Orlando.
     + Presiding bishop's report: In his report, the Rev. Mark
S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, said the ELCA is now 20 years
old, and he called for the church to consider its mission in the
world. "We are maturing.  We are deepening a sense of our own
identity.  We continue to claim the gifts that we received from
predecessor church bodies in the first 20 years of our life. We
are discerning the gifts but beginning to shape an understanding
of how those gifts might be used for the sake of mission in this
context -- this diverse, changing, challenging world," Hanson
said.  The presiding bishop asked ELCA members to consider how
to engage "God's mission for the sake of the gospel and the life
of the world." In addition, the Rev. Susan Johnson, national
bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Winnipeg, gave
an update on the ELCIC's priorities. Hanson presented her with
an official gift: the "Savior of the World Cross."
     + Spending authorizations: The council approved a revised
2008 fiscal year current fund spending authorization of $82
million, and it approved a revised 2008 fiscal year ELCA World
Hunger spending authorization of $20 million.  Christina
Jackson-Skelton, ELCA treasurer, said the "record" performance
of the 2007 ELCA World Hunger Appeal supported an increase of
the 2008 budget.
     + Book of Faith initiative: Dr. Diane L. Jacobson,
professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.,
and director, Book of Faith initiative, provided an update on
the five-year Bible-reading initiative adopted by the ELCA 2007
Churchwide Assembly.  "Sometimes you need a vision bigger than
yourself to get you to do what you know you should do," and
continuous Bible learning keeps the church active in God's
mission, she said.  In talking with pastors and other teaching
theologians, Jacobson said she's heard the church hasn't done
well in teaching its leaders to teach the Bible, and the way to
improve is to listen closely to those who do it well. Augsburg
Fortress, the publishing ministry of the ELCA, Minneapolis,
provided council members "Opening the Book of Faith: Lutheran
Insights for Bible Study," the first publication associated
with the initiative.
     + Independent Lutheran organization: By a vote of 18-13,
the council acknowledged Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Reform),
as an independent Lutheran organization that relates to the
ELCA through the Vocation and Education program unit. Lutheran
CORE applied for the acknowledgment, and the Rev. Stanley N.
Olson, executive director, ELCA Vocation and Education,
recommended the relationship be established.  Before voting,
some council members raised specific concerns about the proposal,
noting that the WordAlone Network, which has been critical of
the ELCA churchwide organization and its leaders, is a member
organization of Lutheran CORE. 
     + Communal discernment proposal: The council appointed "a
communal discernment task force" to help the ELCA "engage
emotional and divisive issues, seek the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, and make difficult decisions as a church body in ways
that will increase mutual trust, build respect for each other
as the Body of Christ and deepen spiritual discernment."  It
allocated up to $25,000 and set guidelines on who should serve
the task force as members and advisors.  It asked that the
task force convene by July 1 and provide the council in November
with a preliminary report on "the scope" of the task force's
work.  The proposal was developed from a recommendation of the
ELCA Southwestern Minnesota Synod.
     + Social statement conversation: The council engaged in a
conversation on the Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality,
released March 13, sharing their affirmations as well as
observations about the document.
     + Elections: The council elected people to fill vacancies
on two ELCA boards and the Church Council.  The year in which
the term ends is in parentheses. ELCA Church Council: Baron D.
Blanchard, Bismarck, N.D. (2011); Board of Trustees, ELCA
Mission Investment Fund: Julie E. Swanson, Roanoke, Va. (2013);
Board of Trustees, ELCA Foundation: John H. Saeger, Lancaster,
Pa. (2013).

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