ELCA Department for Communication, News & Information
8765 West Higgins Rd, Chicago, IL 60631 800/638-3522 ext. 2963
HEADLINES FOR ELCA NEWS RELEASE ISSUE #02, January 20, 1995
-- ECONOMIC LIFE IS FULL OF DESPAIR, HOPE
-- STEWARDSHIP LEADERS BUILD BRIDGES
-- LUTHERANS RESPOND TO FLOODS
January 20, 1995
ECONOMIC LIFE IS FULL OF DESPAIR, HOPE
95-02-005-FI
RIVER FOREST, Ill. (ELCA) -- Lutherans exploring their economic
lives told stories of despair and of hope during a series of "listening
posts" across the United States last fall. The Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America's Economic Life Task Force attended those "listening
posts" and compiled its learnings at a meeting here Jan. 13-15.
"We learned that there are high levels of anxiety, stress and
insecurity on the part of many members across the church because
economic life is changing so rapidly. The changes create uncertainty as
to the future," said Dr. David Krueger, task force co-chair and a
professor of business and economic ethics at Baldwin-Wallace College,
Berea, Ohio.
Krueger said history won't help people deal with many of the
changes. "Those changes are due to technology, consolidation of
industries and global competition." The task force heard from people left
unemployed by "downsizing" in farming, manufacturing and service
industries. Economic uncertainty led several to express feelings of
hopelessness.
"We also heard many expressions of hope and courage,"
Krueger said. "People are learning creatively to adapt to change. People
are using their faith and their communities of faith as sources of support
and nourishment in the midst of change."
The 16 task force members and staff of the ELCA Division for
Church in Society participated in 18 listening posts Oct. 6-Dec. 12.
Tours, consultations and hearings were arranged by Lutherans in
locations from the Iron Range of Minnesota to the maquiladoras of the
U.S.-Mexican border area, and from the timber country of the Northwest
to the military communities of North Carolina.
"Our whole lives are lived in relation to institutions," said the Rev.
Janet M. Corpus, task force co-chair and pastor of St. Mark Lutheran
Church, Fairfield, Calif. Across the country, everyone seemed to be
saying, "We don't live as individuals in isolation. We live in contexts."
"Our jobs, education, government, health care or church -- they're
all institutions," she added. "The shifts that are taking place in institutions
and how the church relates to various economic factors in that shifting
will be a focus for our work."
The ELCA Division for Church in Society appointed the Economic
Life Task Force in March 1994 to oversee the church's study of
economic life and development of a social statement. Its first task is to
develop "study materials that will engage members and congregations of
the church in study and moral deliberation about ... how they link their
faith and their economic lives," Krueger said.
According to its projected time line, the task force plans to have a
study document and first draft of the social statement available for
review in 1996. A proposed social statement is to be ready for the ELCA
Churchwide Assembly, August 1997, in Philadelphia.
Task force members are organized into three work groups to
address the roles of government, business and nonprofit organizations
in economic life. The task force will meet in May to hear reports from the
three groups.
"We are going to look at different social institutions and consider
how they are changing, how people work within them and how they
contribute to the economy and to the larger social good," Krueger added.
##########
January 20, 1995
STEWARDSHIP LEADERS BUILD BRIDGES
95-02-006-LC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- About 100 people gathered here, Jan.
12-14, for a conference on stewardship leadership in the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America. "Building Bridges Through Shared
Experiences and Specific Training" included an overview of the ELCA's
stewardship strategy and specialized training.
The Rev. Mark Moller-Gunderson, executive director of the
Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM), told the group ELCA
members give about two percent of their income to the church, putting
them at the bottom of the pile compared to other denominations. More of
that money is being held and used in local congregations, a trend other
denominations are seeing as well. "The primary shift is to congregations
as the level of activity and energy grows on the congregational level,"
said Moller-Gunderson. The change is understandable, he added.
"We are all stewards of the mystery of Christ -- not cheerleaders.
Faith is at the heart and center of all we do," said Moller-Gunderson.
This first-ever gathering included DCM's shared and deployed
stewardship staff, together with Mission Interpreters who work with
congregations telling the stories of mission and ministry in the ELCA.
Nancy Snell, DCM associate director for stewardship services, said a
long-term goal is to have an interpreter in every one of the ELCA's
11,000 congregations. Fourteen of the ELCA's 65 synods have
interpreters.
We are called to tell the story and to point others to the way of
Christ, said Valora K. Starr, Women of the ELCA director for growth and
witness, who preached during the opening worship service.
"Programs and campaigns can't be where we place our hope,"
said Starr. "We must continue to stretch ourselves toward God's vision."
God is able to carry out any plan without us, added Starr, but we are
partners in that plan.
The conference included tips and training for interpreting the
mission of the local congregation, synod and churchwide expression of
the ELCA. During a tour of area ministries the group explored the roles
that region, race and ethnicity, gender, age and religion play in how and
why people give.
The Rev. Louise E. Stromberg, Peace Lutheran Church, Cobb,
Wis., enjoyed the visits to area congregations. "The different cultures
were interesting and exciting to see. Also, seeing committed lay people
willing to talk openly about giving was refreshing," she said. "Their
witness was very powerful."
"Our family struggled with giving issues until we decided to tithe,"
said Stromberg. "We now feel very good about our decision and are
committed to stick to it. With three sons in college, it would be easy to
justify making a change; but God has provided for our needs and then
some. We even have fun deciding where to give our gifts." Tithing is the
practice of giving 10 percent of one's income to the church.
"One goal of the gathering was to give a broad overview of the
ELCA's stewardship strategy and how we can live that out in our lives in
the church," said Snell.
The stewardship strategy, adopted by the 1993 Churchwide
Assembly, contains five components: help members of the ELCA develop
faith-filled lives; articulate the story of the ELCA's mission; equip and
nurture lay and rostered leaders so that they will guide the church as it
funds its mission activities; affirm, coordinate and develop new and
current methods of financial support for mission; and coordinate
partnership among all expressions of the ELCA.
The Rev. John H.P. Reumann, professor of New Testament at the
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, spoke on making
stewardship come alive. He identified trends in the history of
stewardship.
The current trend of movement of financial resources from the
national organization to the local congregation reflects the culture around
us, said Reumann. "The question is: the local congregation and what
else?" Personal witness is at the heart of stewardship. "Tell people
why you give and invite others to do the same," he added.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has 5.2 million
members in more than 11,000 congregations.
##########
January 20, 1995
LUTHERANS RESPOND TO FLOODS
95-02-007-AH
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Inter-Lutheran Disaster Response (ILDR) is
responding to California flooding through Lutheran Social Services (LSS)
agencies of Southern and Northern California. Heavy rains and flooding
that began Jan. 3 have caused death, home evacuations and disruption
in transportation and economic life. ILDR is a cooperative effort of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod.
A "Disaster-gram" went out to all 11,000 congregations of the
ELCA seeking assistance for the relief effort in all three of the ELCA's
California synods.
Following the first rains LSS of Southern California extended its
shelter program in the San Gabriel area, accommodating more than 300
additional people each day for a week.
According to the Rev. Ruth E. Sievert, "the primary group most
affected by the storms is the large homeless population in the greater
Los Angeles area." Sievert is disaster coordinator for LSS of Southern
California. The agency's Hollywood cold/wet weather shelter was open
24 hours a day; other shelters are located at churches in the area.
Sievert said 14 LSS emergency assistance and area offices distribute
food and help with other requests.
Redeemer Lutheran Church at Seal Beach in northern California
(located in the Leisure World retirement community) sustained $250,000
in damage to its basement and first floor, including the sanctuary. One
million gallons of water was pumped from its basement according to
Janet K. Shellenberger, assistant to the bishop in the ELCA's Pacifica
Synod. An initial grant of $3,000 from ILDR went to Redeemer.
The next step, Sievert said, will be clean-up efforts. LSS is
requesting clean-up equipment such as buckets, sponges, large plastic
garbage bags, wire brushes, scrub brushes, rubber gloves and bleach.
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