Title: Future Challenges Discussed at ELCA Mega-Consultation
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 15, 1999

FUTURE CHALLENGES DISCUSSED AT ELCA MEGA-CONSULTATION
99-251-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Some 450 lay leaders and clergy, representing
all of the 65 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA), outlined strengths and challenges of the church and heard
presentations from past and present church leaders in a "Mega-Consultation"
here Oct. 2-3 at the Westin Hotel.
     The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, told
the participants there is an important reason why Lutheranism remains
relevant in today's changing, global community.
      "I believe, in the church of Jesus Christ, there will always be a
place for the voice of grace," he said.
     The consultation brought together ELCA bishops, bishops'
assistants and associates, synod vice presidents, secretaries and
treasurers, ELCA regional coordinators and youth leaders. The meeting
included a series of small-group discussions to identify common themes
and challenges in the synods. Each group of leaders also held their own
meetings before or after the consultation.
     The meeting replaced the 1999 series of fall consultations
conducted through the ELCA Department for Synodical Relations.
Normally, consultations are held in regional settings, in synod council
meetings or by conference calls with all 65 synods to discuss ministry
and mission support. A grant from Aid Association for Lutherans, a
fraternal benefits society based in Appleton, Wis., helped fund the
event.
     The 5.2-million member ELCA includes nearly 11,000 congregations
in the United States and the Caribbean. The church was formed in 1987
through a merger of three Lutheran bodies -- American Lutheran Church,
Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and Lutheran Church in
America.
     In a summary of "common themes," presented at the end of the
conference, the Rev. Robert N. Bacher, ELCA executive for
administration, Office of the Bishop, said participants identified
several common challenges for the church: multicultural ministry,
ministry with youth and older adults, attitudes and use of wealth,
ministry with people living in poverty, sexuality issues, leadership and
leadership renewal, congregational renewal and "the basics" of the
Lutheran faith.
     In the discussions participants also said the ELCA has made great
progress on diversity, its divestment policy involving its financial
investments, representational principles, building trust and
relationships, and the basics of the faith, Bacher said.
     Outreach and evangelism seemed to be important to many
participants and effectiveness, not cooperation, will be "a driving
force" in ecumenical relationships, Bacher reported. Church
conversations must also include ethical issues, he said.
     Saying it had been a "privilege" to listen to ELCA lay leaders and
clergy, Bacher said the church's potential, as described by the
conference participants, is "realistic."
     "The potential here has also been described as 'reachable with
stretching,'" he said. "The most important condition for a hopeful
future is the conviction that God is at work."
     In his remarks, Anderson said Lutherans tend to talk a lot about
themselves, and he challenged the church's members to turn themselves
"inside out."
     "We have not been good about speaking out to the world," he said.
However, the church is trying to reach out to others through the ELCA
Identity Project, a public awareness campaign to heighten attention to
the Lutheran church, and through evangelism and emphasis on youth and
young adults. The church must also reach out to people living in
poverty, he said.
     Institutions such as the church are driven by what Anderson called
"supply and demand."
"If we don't supply what God demands, God will find another church," he
said.
     Dr. Addie J. Butler, vice president of the ELCA, said there are
two critical challenges facing the ELCA -- bringing new members to the
church and including youth and young adults in the church, she said.
     Lutherans tend to expect clergy and missionaries to invite new
members to the church, she said. "Is this a sufficient response to
Jesus' Great Commission (found in the Bible in Matthew 28)?" Butler
asked. "We must share that we have the 'Good News' of Jesus Christ."
     She challenged participants to be sure young members are extended
opportunities to be leaders and invited to be active in the life of
congregations.
     "Are children, young adults and youth really welcomed at the
worship service?" Butler asked. "We must support and integrate youth in
the church."
     Two ELCA vice presidents who served before Butler offered their
reflections on the church's earlier years.
     Christine H. Grumm, vice president from 1987 to 1991, said
challenges for the leaders of the new ELCA included building trust in
the new church and divesting the church's pension funds of companies who
did business in South Africa, which was then dealing with apartheid, a
social system that deprived some people of basic human rights and
privileges. Grumm also said diversity remains an important concept in
the ELCA.
     "I am proud to be part of a church ... that continues to struggle
with the issues of diversity," she said, adding the church needed to be
"deliberate" about diversity and "not wait for it to happen."
     The reaction to the first draft of a proposed statement on human
sexuality was a dominant challenge during her term as vice president,
said Kathy J. Magnus, who served from 1991 to 1997. Magnus said the
idea of face-to-face consultations involving churchwide staff and synod
leaders was born while she was vice president.
     The church should not be complacent about speaking to the world,
she said. Magnus said she hopes for "a church that gives itself away."
     The Gospel calls us to be "uncomfortable," and it calls us to
"astonishing hope," she concluded.


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