Title: Mega-Consultation Brings ELCA Leaders Together October 2-3
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

September 24, 1999

MEGA-CONSULTATION BRINGS ELCA LEADERS TOGETHER OCTOBER 2-3
99-235-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Some 500 clergy and lay leaders from throughout
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will meet here Oct. 2-3 in 
a "Mega-Consultation," a time for fellowship, mutual learning and
mission support planning for 2001.
     The leaders come from the 65 synods of the 5.2 million-member
ELCA, the fifth largest Protestant denomination and largest Lutheran
body in the United States.
     Leaders who will meet in Chicago include the 67-member ELCA
Conference of Bishops; bishops' assistants and associates; synod vice
presidents, secretaries and treasurers; regional coordinators of the
ELCA; youth members of synod councils and churchwide staff.  They will
meet under the theme "Making Christ Known - Hope for a New Century."
Kris Shafer, ELCA Department for Human Resources, is coordinator of the
Mega-Consultation.
     "A special focus of the consultation will be on equipping and
developing leadership for the new millennium," said the Rev. H. George
Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA.
     "This will give us an opportunity to thank the synod leaders for
their faithful partnerships and provide a forum for exchange of ideas
and concerns," said Tammy Jackson, associate director, ELCA Department
for Synodical Relations.  The leaders will discuss critical challenges
facing their synods in the next few years and develop potential
strategies to address their concerns, Jackson said.
     The Mega-Consultation replaces the 1999 series of fall
consultations conducted under the leadership of the ELCA Department for
Synodical Relations, Jackson said.   Normally consultations are held
annually in regional settings, in synod council meetings or by
conference calls with all 65 synods to discuss ministry and mission
support.
     The Mega-Consultation will include addresses by former ELCA vice
presidents Christine Grumm and Kathy Magnus; presentations by Anderson
and Addie J. Butler, the current vice president of the ELCA,
Philadelphia; the Rev. Robert Bacher, executive for administration, ELCA
Office of the Bishop; and several small group discussion sessions.
     "This consultation, coming as it does after the churchwide
assembly in August and the beginning of the new millennium, provides a
unique opportunity to assess where we've been, understand where we are
now, project a useful and exciting future," said Bacher.
     Each of the different leadership groups will hold separate
meetings before and after the Mega-Consultation to discuss issues of
specific concern.
     A substantial grant from Aid Association for Lutherans, a
fraternal benefits society based in Appleton, Wis., helped to fund the
Mega-Consultation.


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