ELCA NEWS SERVICE August 13, 2003 ELCA Assembly Reviews 2004-2005 Budget 03-CWA-17-KK MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- Voting members of the 2003 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) had their first opportunity to discuss the proposed 2004-2005 budget Aug. 12. The Church Council recommended that the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly approve a 2004 current fund fiscal year income proposal of $84,310,000 and a 2004 World Hunger income proposal of $16,250,000. The 2005 current fund fiscal year income proposal is for $85,140,000 and the 2005 World Hunger income proposal is $16,500,000. The vote on this proposal will be Aug. 16. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 11-17 at the Midwest Airlines Center. There are about 2,100 people participating, including 1,031 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known: For the Healing of the World." Income estimates changed modestly from 2003 to 2004 according to Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA Treasurer. Overall, the proposal increased by approximately $1 million -- $736,000 of which is unrestricted and $250,000 restricted to World Hunger spending. On the expense side, Jackson-Skelton said changes are relatively small. Two notable proposed increases in operating costs were $1.4 million for a pool of funds for churchwide staff salary and benefits and $250,000 for the obligation to support health care and benefits for retirees. The three major purposes to which funds are directed are 24.2 percent to vocation and leadership; 23.9 percent to worship and evangelism outreach; and 19.3 percent to service and justice work. Significant expenses in the proposal are $37 million toward financial support grants to congregations, seminaries, global companion ministries, and many other entities; $29.1 million toward staff compensation; and $6.7 million to retiree health benefits. Some 83 percent of the ELCA's income, excluding funds designated for World Hunger, come from mission support -- money from congregations sent through synods to the churchwide organization. "Mission support is the engine that keeps us running," said Jackson-Skelton, at a level "unmatched by other denominations." Over time, distribution patterns of congregational dollars have gradually shifted. The percentage of funds filtering from congregations to support churchwide ministries has declined from approximately 74 percent in 1963 to 52 percent in 2001. A budget is "a blueprint that expresses your understanding of faithful stewardship of what God has first given you," according to the Rev. Charles S. Miller, ELCA executive for administration and executive assistant to the presiding bishop. Miller emphasized the faces of ministry in the ELCA behind these figures. Five individuals present at the assembly were highlighted for their activities. "Their ministries so splendidly illustrate the essence of what we seek to achieve throughout this church in each of the five strategic areas," Miller said. Through an emphasis on work with older adults, Ruthann Stemler, ELCA Indiana-Kentucky Synod, illustrated the first strategic direction for congregations to be faithful, welcoming and generous. Ministering as a mission developer of Bridge of Peace Community Church, Camden, N.J., a congregation striving to join a racially divided community, the Rev. Wolfgang Herz-Lane was highlighted for living out the strategic goal of growth in evangelical outreach. In the ELCA's Southwestern Minnesota Synod, Mary Page's faith-centered involvement in employment, congregational and churchwide work was praised as expressing the strategic goal of stepping forward as a public church. Grace El- Yateem, ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod, with her husband, the Rev. Khader El-Yateem, is working to build a thriving worship community and expand the expression of Lutherans of Arab and Middle Eastern Heritage, thereby deepening and extending global, ecumenical and interfaith relationships for the sake of God's mission as stated by the strategic goals. Lastly, the efforts of Emanuel Valdez, ELCA Southwest California Synod, to help bridge the gap between Latinos and the Lutheran church were praised for encouraging faithful, wise and courageous leaders whose vocations serve God's mission in a pluralistic world, the fifth strategic direction. As the strategic directions of the ELCA are clarified, budget elements will need to be reevaluated by the church council in accord with ELCA guidelines. "When this [budget] material was proposed, the strategic planning was not far enough along for this to be reflected. It will need to be adjusted. By November, the [church] council will see a budget proposal reflecting these elements," said Miller. Another element to be included in the November 2003 update to the church council will be "a wholesale examination of the churchwide structure and patterns of governance" currently underway, Miller said. During a hearing, members of the churchwide assembly expressed concern that a leadership shortage in the church could jeopardize any ministry initiative of the ELCA. Voting members expressed concern that funding reductions for seminary education, higher education and schools, and multicultural commissions could jeopardize the development of leaders for the future of the ELCA. Miller pointed out reductions to unit budgets of approximately $4 million from 2002 to 2003, and said, "In that entire list, our support of grants to seminaries has not faltered. But to be blunt, there is no money to increase it." -- -- -- Information on the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly is available at http://www.elca.org/assembly03 on the Web. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news