ELCA Department for Communication, News & Information
8765 West Higgins Rd, Chicago, IL 60631 800/638-3522 ext. 2963
HEADLINES FOR ELCA NEWS RELEASE ISSUE #26, November 16,
1995
-- PENSION BOARD DEFERS TO CHURCH ABORTION POLICY
-- STOP THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
-- CONGREGATIONS PREPARING FOR THE 21st CENTURY
-- TEAM TO DESIGN LUTHERAN SERVICES ALLIANCE
November 16, 1995
PENSION BOARD DEFERS TO CHURCH ABORTION POLICY
95-26-080-RK
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America's Board of Pensions trustees indicated the board could
administer abortion claims either under current policy or a more
restrictive policy that would limit coverage of induced abortions to three
situations specifically cited in the 1991 ELCA social statement on
abortion.
At its quarterly meeting here Nov. 4-5 the trustees responded to a
Work Group on Abortion and the Medical Plan recommendation that the
ELCA Board of Pensions continue its current policy of covering abortions
that are submitted by physicians as "medical necessity."
The pension board trustees unanimously passed a resolution
telling the ELCA Church Council that the board could either carry out the
current "don't ask, don't tell" policy of covering any abortion approved by
a physician as a medical necessity or a policy limiting abortions to the
examples of possible morally responsible abortions cited by the church's
abortion statement. Those examples include a threat to the mother's life,
cases of rape and incest or where the embryo or fetus has
abnormalities incompatible with life.
The board acknowledged that it was the church body#s role to set
medical policy while the pension board should carry out that policy. The
two board representatives on the work group, which met in Chicago Oct.
13, abstained from the group's final resolution on this basis citing the
separation of policy and administration.
Board President John Kapanke told board trustees, "I believe it is
not the role of the Board of Pensions to educate ELCA members on the
moral issues of abortion."
Trustee Chairman Ralph Eckert, an insurance executive, said the
"don't ask, don't tell" policy is standard in the medical insurance industry.
Medical coding used by physicians does not indicate whether the
procedure was an abortion or a miscarriage, and insurance companies
have no other way to distinguish.
The pension trustees' May 12 proposal would have required staff
to obtain medical records and possibly to question plan participants to
determine if an elective abortion fell within the narrow list of cases
where abortion is possibly a morally acceptable "tragic option."
Work group members recommended that the church council reject
this proposal on the basis that the abortion social statement does not
intend to list explicitly all the morally responsible decisions on abortion.
The church's social statement makes no mention of how the pension
board should administer abortion claims. Letters from some 250 medical
plan members as well as three synod resolutions asked the board to limit
coverage of abortions under the ELCA health plan.
In other action the ELCA Board of Pensions trustees:
* Sent to the ELCA Church Council a proposal for a major overhaul of the
ELCA Pension Plan, which would go into effect in 1997. The changes
would allow more flexibility in members' transferring among various
investment funds in their retirement accounts. It also would give those
nearing retirement the option to take some of their account balances in
cash instead of converting the entire amount to a pension. This change
was made in part to give pastors who have lived in parsonages their
entire ministry the ability to use some of their retirement account balance
for purchasing housing. It would also provide additional flexibility for
members who work part-time in the early years of retirement.
* Authorized the drafting of amendments to the various medical plans for
retirees to simplify them and bring them closer to the ELCA plan for
retirees.
* Recommended that undesignated gifts and bequests to the board be
designated for ELCA Special Needs Retirement Fund to benefit
pensioners who are receiving at or near the minimum pension amount
and have limited other resources.
* Approved crediting rates for bond and balanced funds for 1996#social
purpose bond (6.6 percent), LCA FIP (7.2 percent), bond (6.5 percent),
social purpose balanced and balanced (10 percent) and ALC balanced
(10.4 percent).
##########
November 16, 1995
STOP THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
95-26-081-TDB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Sue" grew up in a family with no
experience of abuse. She married and all went well until her first child
was born. Then her husband became violent with her.
Sue shared her story with participants at an Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America training event in October for a new program called
"Healing Hurting Families." The program addresses violence in the home
for both women and men.
Sue left that marriage and later married again. At first it seemed
an ideal marriage, but then Sue's husband persuaded her not to work,
and told her she was fat and ugly. He disapproved of her friends.
Eventually Sue's second husband also physically became violent with
her. "The abuse is so gradual that a woman gets sucked into it. Your
self-esteem goes down and down," explained Sue.
At the training event, a man also shared his story of how he
became violent. "Larry" grew up in West Virginia. When he was about
five years old, his father locked him in a closet for many hours. The
experience terrified him and he became shy and fearful. His father
cheated on his wife and beat her to justify his actions. Eventually
Larry's mother left and married again.
Around age eleven, Larry's step-father introduced him to alcohol.
Larry liked the way it made him feel courageous. By age 17, he was
drinking daily and in trouble with the law. "I always thought that I would
never be an abusive person because of what I experienced," Larry said.
But married and still drinking heavily, Larry began to beat his wife.
#Healing Hurting Families' is the ELCA's effort to heal the
brokenness that results from violence. Healing begins with listening to
the stories of those who have experienced the pain. The church brings
a faith perspective to the healing process.
Because Sue's church helped her with material needs and
emotional support, Sue was able to leave her abusive marriage and start
a new life. "Women need to know that somebody cares. It does make a
difference," said Sue.
Larry began to break the cycle of violence when an evangelist
prayed with him in prison. He now attends church and Alcoholics
Anonymous meetings on a regular basis. "I get angry but I don't vent my
anger on other people," Larry shares. Larry identified low self-esteem
as the root of his problems.
"Healing Hurting Families" is an outgrowth of the ELCA's emphasis
on Women and Children Living in Poverty. Several churchwide units
have joined forces to make this program possible: Women of the ELCA,
Lutheran Men in Mission, Lutheran Youth Organization, Commission for
Women, Division's for Church in Society, Congregational Ministries and
Outreach.
The ELCA commissioned the Rev. Pamela Cooper-White, an
Episcopal priest and author, to write a resource booklet for a women's
support group. The resource explains the cycle of abuse, and what to
do when someone is being abused.
The Rev. Michael Wonderlich, Janesville, Wis., is writing a
resource booklet for a men's support group. The men's resource helps
men talk about anger and how to deal with it constructively.
When some of the participants of the training event expressed
fears about using the resources, Cooper-White assured them, "You are
not doing this in isolation but in partnership with the community."
Networking with agencies in the community is a preliminary step to
hosting support groups, she said.
The resources for "Healing Hurting Families" are being field-tested
by 12 congregations in four synods: Virginia, Metropolitan New York,
Eastern Washington-Idaho and Northern Illinois.
The congregations will complete their use of the program by April
1, 1996, and share their results with churchwide office. The resource
materials will be available to all congregations by
summer 1996.
[The Rev. Terri Driver-Bishop, Rockford, Ill prepared this report.]
##########
November 16, 1995
CONGREGATIONS PREPARING FOR THE 21st CENTURY
95-26-082-LC
ORLANDO (ELCA) -- More than 570 members of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America gathered here for "Making Disciples:
Congregations for the 21st Century," an evangelism conference, Nov.
3-5. "This is the first of many annual domestic mission events," said the
Rev. Marta Poling-Goldenne. "It signifies a rediscovery of a vision,
returning to first things first. Evangelism is that first thing."
Poling-Goldenne is the ELCA's associate director for evangelism.
"Evangelism is central. We are called to growth, both numerically
and spiritually," said the Rev. David Poling-Goldenne, ELCA director for
evangelism. With this conference "we've tried to provide resources --
human, print and video -- for use in congregations."
Churches must ask themselves what business are they in, said
Herb Miller. Leaders of congregations must answer that question with:
love God, love people, and reach out. Miller is the editor of "Net Results,"
a monthly journal of new ideas in church vitality.
Congregations should use a variety of methods to get people to
worship, get them to come back and get them involved once they join,
said Miller. "The Bible tells us that faith comes from hearing the word.
Nothing substitutes for that power." However, methods help get people
close enough to the word to hear it, he added.
In an average church, 77.6 percent of new members say they
came to church because someone invited them, said Miller. However, in
congregations, only five percent of members regularly invite someone.
This is the simplest way to increase first time guests, he said.
The conference combined workshops, worship, Bible study and
networking with mentoring. Participants had the option to be "yoked"
with someone with significant experience in evangelism for mentoring
and support. Throughout the conference, individuals reflected on their
ministry with their mentors and then developed a take-home action plan.
Mentors will follow up after the event to offer support for implementation.
Others signed up for a more intensive "teaching congregations"
track in which leaders from effective growing congregations shared
their insights and stories with those who are from a similar context.
More than 25 workshop topics included: small group ministries,
reaching younger generations, preaching to strangers, men#s ministries,
reaching out with day camps, making new members active members,
generational issues and Lutheran worship.
Dr. Kent Hunter urged pastors to empower lay people. It is the
primary purpose of congregational leaders to prepare disciples for
ministry, he said. "If you have a person gifted to do something your
church doesn't do, it is your responsibility to create a ministry for them,"
said Hunter, president, Church Growth Center, Corunna, Ind.
"New people must be taught respect for the history of the church,
but they must be given freedom to reshape it," said Hunter. "I'm not
talking about changing doctrine, but the ways in which it is packaged."
The Rev. Wayne A. Kofink, Messiah Lutheran Church, Miami, Fla.,
said he found the conference practical and helpful. "Ideas and
strategies presented were to the point: `Here's what you can do in your
congregation and here is how you can do it.'"
The Rev. H. George Anderson, bishop of the ELCA, preached
during the closing worship. This was his first national event since taking
office Nov. 1. Anderson identified the United States as the present
mission field. He reminded participants that partners in ministry in Africa,
Asia and other parts of the world are doing a much better job at
proclaiming the gospel than the ELCA.
"I hope you leave this conference feeling uncomfortable about
keeping your faith private," said Wyvetta Bullock, executive director of
the ELCA#s Division for Congregational Ministries, at the closing plenary
session.
"I hope we will be uncomfortable closing our eyes to the mission
field on our front door steps," she said. "I want us to feel ill at ease if our
congregations are not hospitable places. I hope we are bothered if we
have an opportunity to witness and don't. I hope we stay restless until
we go and make disciples."
Other plenary and Bible study leaders included the Rev. Andrea
DeGroot-Nesdahl, bishop of the South Dakota Synod; the Rev. William
Trexler, bishop of the ELCA's Florida-Bahamas Synod; the Rev. Sarah
Henrich, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn; the Rev. Albert Starr, Jr.,
Ascension Lutheran Church, Los Angeles; the Rev. Lenier Gallardo,
Principe de Paz Lutheran Church, Miami; Marj Leegard, Richwood
Lutheran Church, Detroit Lakes, Minn.; the Rev. Clarence Pettit, Spirit of
Life Lutheran Church, Wilmington, Del.; and the Rev. Kwang-Ja Yu,
Martin Luther Lutheran Church, Chicago.
The theme of the 1996 evangelism conference is "To Serve as
Jesus Served: Congregations for the 21st Century." Location and dates
have not been announced.
##########
November 16, 1995
TEAM TO DESIGN LUTHERAN SERVICES ALLIANCE
95-26-083-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
will work with the Association of Lutheran Social Ministry Organizations
(ALSMO) to design an alliance to address 12 strategic issues facing the
church and Lutheran social ministry organizations, such as affiliation,
leadership development and networking of information. ALSMO
represents more than 250 Lutheran social service agencies across the
United States and Caribbean.
"Social
|
