Title: ELCA Assembly Invited to "Call to Discipleship"
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 19, 1999

ELCA ASSEMBLY INVITED TO "CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP"
99-CWA-27-MR

     DENVER (ELCA) -- Voting members and guests of the 1999 Churchwide
Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received
an invitation to embark on a period of "discipleship and faith
development," which will culminate in a celebration at the 2001 ELCA
Churchwide Assembly.  The invitation came from members of the ELCA
"Teach the Faith" Initiative team.
     The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the
ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 16-22 at the Colorado Convention Center.
There are more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,039 voting
members.  The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known:
Hope for a New Century."
     The invitation -- a "Call to Discipleship" -- is part of a major
emphasis to "Teach the Faith," one of seven ELCA "Initiatives to Prepare
for a New Century."
     The 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted Initiatives or
significant areas of ministry for the next century.  Leadership teams
were formed to provide guidance for the work of congregations, synods
and churchwide organizations.  Team leaders help provide an overall
picture of how the church may be different as a result of the
Initiatives.
     "Call to Discipleship" is an invitation for all ELCA congregations
to commit to a yearlong intentional focus on discipleship from September
2000 to August 2001, said the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, an executive
director for the ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries.  Bullock
chairs the "Teach the Faith" Initiative team.
     "This is a church that recognizes the importance of teaching the
faith," said the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, bishop of the ELCA South
Dakota Synod.
     "The call also invites congregations to renew their commitment to
be faith-forming communities that are grounded in Jesus' teachings,
manifested in specific faith practices, and focused on reaffirming a
baptismal understanding that emphasizes the importance of every follower
of Jesus Christ striving toward maturity in faith and a fuller
expression of a lifestyle that is Christ's style," said the Rev. Paul J.
Blom, bishop of the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod.  Blom read
from "Living Faith: An ELCA-Wide Call to Discipleship," a resource
developed by the Initiative team.
     Leaders of the "Teach the Faith" Initiative have designed Bible
studies and resources to engage congregations, seminaries, outdoor
ministry settings and the 65 synods of the ELCA in the call to
discipleship.
     Other resources produced include "Honoring Our Neighbors' Faith,"
in which religious groups tell "their own stories" about who they are,
what they believe and how they practice their faiths.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html