ELCA Department for Communication, News & Information
8765 West Higgins Rd, Chicago, IL 60631 800/638-3522 ext. 2963
HEADLINES FOR ELCA NEWS RELEASE ISSUE 19#, August 10, 1995
-- ELCA CHURCHWIDE ASSEMBLY: "MAKING CHRIST KNOWN"
-- GLOBAL MISSION EVENTS DRAW 3,100
** CHILSTROM REFLECTS ON EIGHT YEARS
August 10, 1995
ELCA CHURCHWIDE ASSEMBLY:
"MAKING CHRIST KNOWN"
95-19-057-AH
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
will meet in its biennial Churchwide Assembly Aug. 16-22 at the
Minneapolis Convention Center under the theme, "Making Christ Known."
The 1,053 voting members will elect a new bishop and officers and
consider a social statement on peace and a study of theological
education.
The Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom, bishop of the ELCA, will preach
for the assembly's opening worship at Central Lutheran Church at 4:30
p.m., Aug. 16.
Ballots will be taken for bishop at daily plenary sessions.
Announcement of the first (nominating) ballot will be in the morning
session Aug. 17. Election of the new bishop is expected to be
announced during the morning session Aug. 19.
The assembly will discuss and vote on a social statement on
peace, "For Peace in God's World." The ELCA's representational
principles (quotas) will be discussed and voting members will hear a
report of the church's human sexuality statement process.
The assembly will also vote on the Study of Theological
Education, addressing issues related to the church's eight seminaries.
The Task Force on Sacramental Practices will report on its progress. An
initiative on urban ministry will be presented by the Division for Outreach.
On Sunday, Aug. 20, "Live from the ELCA Churchwide Assembly"
will be a live satellite video-conference featuring the newly-elected
bishop and videotaped highlights of the events in Minneapolis. The
video-conference and all plenary session will be available on Metro
Cable Network in the Twin Cities.
Assembly participants will honor retiring Bishop Chilstrom at a
picnic Sunday afternoon.
Alongside the legislative assembly, ELCA members will take part
in an Aug. 18-20 Festival of Word and Deed hosted by several
midwestern synods. The festival's activities include worship, a reunion
gathering at the Convention Center, a Habitat for Humanity building
project, service projects, workshops, and a Target Center event with a
1,000-voice choir and story-teller Walter Wangerin, Jr.
Preceding the Churchwide Assembly the ELCA will celebrate the
25th anniversary of women's ordination in North America with special
events at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Minneapolis, Aug. 14-16.
##########
August 10, 1995
GLOBAL MISSION EVENTS DRAW 3,100
95-19-058-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "In our newspapers today we read of
Bosnia, Rwanda and conflict in our own cities," said the Rev. Mark
Thomsen, executive director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America's Division for Global Mission. "We have been called to a ministry
of reconciliation."
More than 3,100 mission-minded Lutherans gathered at Global
Mission Events sponsored by the ELCA July 13-16 at Luther College,
Decorah, Iowa; July 20-23 at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio; and July
27-30 at Colorado State University, Fort Collins.
"Embracing God's World: Christ's Reconciliation" was the events'
theme. Emphasis was on the 50th anniversaries of Lutheran World
Relief and the United Nations and the 25th anniversary of the ordination
of women in the ELCA.
"Reconciliation is first and foremost an experience of God
working in our own lives," said Dr. Robert Schreiter, professor of
doctrinal theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
Reconciliation is "a process of healing" rather than "a process of
management," he said.
"We reconcile our marriages ... trade disputes ... wars," said
Schreiter. God calls us to "name those things that are wrong in our
world" and allow God's healing love to "pour into our hearts."
Beyond reconciliation, "it is essential that we work to prevent
conflict," said Dr. Kathryn Wolford, executive director of Lutheran World
Relief. She described immunization plans, loan programs and agricultural
assistance that U.S. Lutherans sponsor in the poorest areas of the
world through LWR. She asked those present to support U.S.
involvement in an international campaign to ban the production of land
mines.
"Humpty Dumpty was a good egg who fell into a thousand pieces
that could not be reconciled," said the Rev. Grace Imathiu, Nkubu
Methodist Church and Lavington United Church in Kenya. "Humpty
Dumpty reads like our world today," she said.
Imathiu said the church must work in partnership with God to
reconcile the world to God. "It's going to take everything you've got," she
said. "We must not get used to poor people. We must never become
part of the conspiracy of indifference."
Ninety courses were offered during seven "global university"
sessions at each site. Topics ranged from facing 1997 in Hong Kong to
AIDS and the church in Africa, from reconciliation in Eastern Europe to
ministry along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Missionary staff of the ELCA from many countries took part along
with international guests from partner churches around the world. Music
of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North America
was used during worship and festivities. A GlobalFest featured food
and information from each continent.
In 1996 the ELCA Division for Global Mission will host Global
Mission Events June 27-30 at Whitworth College, Spokane, Wash.; July
18-21 at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and July 25-28 at
Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa.
**********
August 10, 1995
FE-95-01-ET
CHILSTROM REFLECTS ON EIGHT YEARS
by Edgar R. Trexler
The Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom will retire in November. As its
first bishop Chilstrom has a unique perspective of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Here he reflects on the
formative eight years since 1988.
The Lutheran: What have you felt good about during
these years?
Chilstrom: The Mission90 effort has been satisfying,
especially the video series, "What Does it mean to be a Christian?" I go
few places in the church without someone saying they#re still using
those original six tapes. A pastor in North Carolina, like many others,
said he uses them as a springboard for discussion for new member
classes. I thought they would have a short life span. The Conference of
Bishops questioned the pilot tape. That was discouraging, but we went
ahead.
Response to the recent Mission90 gatherings, "Making
Christ Known," has been better than I expected. At the Metropolitan
Washington, D.C., Synod event, every parish was represented. It's not
uncommon to have 80-90 percent of the parish pastors and, in some
cases, lay leaders at these conferences. I usually teach the book of
Acts. It's a good way to get at some issues that are relevant today.
I feel good about bringing our original
churchwide staff together and settling into a sense of community. The
first three years were really difficult. We had to tell people we could not
keep them on staff. Morale at the Lutheran Center was poor, but once
we got settled into budgetary realism, the sense of working with
competent people has been a major satisfaction.
I found satisfaction in bringing the whole churchwide
organization under control, dealing with the demands of people who
wanted to make sure their oar was in the water. Dealing with a budget
that was $16-17 million out of balance after the first 14 months was
excruciating. But, when it was done and I realized, "OK, we can live
with this," it was satisfying.
I feel good about the companion synod program. I can
take credit for the idea, but the Division for Global Mission staff took the
idea and ran with it. When we visit our companion churches around the
world, we realize how important this church is on the global scene. I#m
afraid most of the folks in our congregations don#t appreciate how much
we are seen as a "big companion" and how much partner churches look
to us for support and leadership.
I've enjoyed taking a leadership role in the Lutheran World
Federation and helping move the LWF toward being a communion of
churches.
The Lutheran: What has disappointed you?
Chilstrom: Finances. I take consolation in the fact that all
churches are facing the same plateau of resources and even shrinking
budgets in some places. But I can't help but feel great frustration. I wish
we could develop 30 more new congregations a year or provide more
missionaries and greater support for our ecumenical partnership. I don't
know what the answer is. We just can't seem to move our people to
give more than 2 to 3 percent of their spendable income.
Another keen disappointment is what seems to be a lack
of interest in biblical studies in our parishes. I don't fault pastors
because I know the frustration of being a parish pastor and trying to get
people involved in biblical studies. I'm concerned about this because I
think it will be a critical issue in years to come -- how Lutherans interpret
Scripture. In this culture the fundamentalist emphasis is everywhere. I
have to confess that the Bible study/witness aspect of Mission90 just
didn't grab much interest. People say they want Bible study material and
they want help in evangelism, but then we provide the materials and find
that they're not really used much.
Then, the church#s discussion of human sexuality and
especially the inability to deal with the gay/lesbian question weighs
heavily on me. I recognize, of course, the centuries of attitudes about
this subject. And I know that not everyone has been forced to move
through this question as I have because of my position of leadership as a
synod and churchwide bishop, but I feel keenly disappointed that this
church has not been able to convey to our gay/lesbian members --
brothers and sisters in Christ -- that they stand on level ground with us.
It's almost a leprosy attitude that many have toward gay and lesbian
people. I've become reconciled to the fact that the church
can't deal with this in a formal way. We may have to work through it in
individual, personal, family and workplace settings before much
progress is made.
Maybe having discussion in congregations opened up
some sensitivities. But I was dismayed at the vitriolic anger that I sensed
in so many letters that crossed my desk. It's difficult for me to reconcile
that with the fact that these letter-writers are supposedly committed
members of the ELCA. While I think I have done a great deal to frame the
questions and move people along in this discussion, have I done
enough? I don't know. I will have to wait 20 years and let others be the
judges.
We have not made as much progress in multicultural
changes as we hoped. Our commitment to the representational
principles is right, and I think it is appropriate that the Conference of
Bishops and the Church Council support them, but I don#t sense that at
the grass roots there's a vigorous commitment to becoming a multicultural
church. Quite the opposite.
The Lutheran: What do you see in the ELCA's future?
Chilstrom: I feel we have a secure future. I don't see
schism ahead for us in any major way. Issues will continue to divide us.
I'm quite sure that discussions on the ecumenical question of full
communion will stir up strong reaction across the church. The question
won#t be divisive, but it will stretch us. Beyond that, the church always
will have an issue, but I don't know what it will be. I don't think it will be
human sexuality. That is dissipating.
I feel good about the future of the ELCA as a church body.
I don't see rapid growth for this church, but I do see a possibility for
some modest growth. The money question -- I just don't know where
that's going to go. I'm guessing that there will be some streamlining of the
church in all of its expressions.
The Lutheran: You like to fish, and you anticipate quiet
days at your lake home in Pelican Rapids, Minn., but beyond that?
Chilstrom: I will serve on the board of the Bethphage
Mission in Omaha, Neb. I have personal interest in its work because my
brother suffered brain damage at birth and is somewhat handicapped.
Bethphage now has agencies in 15 states and several foreign countries.
I have writing assignments, such as a major piece for a
magazine that provides sermon help for pastors. I'm getting speaking
invitations regularly and am especially interested in doing Bible studies in
larger parishes and for groups of parishes. My wife, Corinne, and I may
do some things as a team. We'll probably do some motor-homing. And
then I enjoy golf, hunting, gardening and photography. I won't get myself
involved in organizational things within the life of the ELCA. My
successors will never need to worry about me looking over their
shoulders.
The Lutheran: How do you want to be remembered?
Chilstrom: As a pastor who preached and taught the
gospel of Christ, and as a mediator who brought opposing forces
together and worked for resolution.
-- 30 --
[Dr. Trexler's interview will appear in the September 1995 issue of
"The Lutheran."]
|
