News
Assemblies move toward the future S
ynod assemblies came to a close at the end of June. Of those report- ing in by presstime, The Lutheran found that synods are moving on after the sexuality decisions made by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly (pages 4, 12). Assembly topics this year included bullying, campus ministry, hunger, the proposed social statement on genetics, mission and more.
South-Central of Wisconsin, May 14-15, Middleton, Wis. • Asked the 2011 Churchwide Assembly to urge all facets of the ELCA to reduce energy- related carbon emissions by at least 5 percent each year. • Requested that the 2011 assembly address and speak out against bullying. • Resolved to include at least one person with disabilities on the synod’s roster of voting members in response to the ELCA message titled “People Living with Disabilities” (ELCA messages are approved by the Church Council and are intended to encourage aware- ness, deliberation and action on a specific matter of social concern).
North/West Lower Michigan, May 22-24, Kalamazoo, Mich. • Agreed to formulate a plan with the Southeast Michigan Synod for mutual missional action to be presented at their respective 2012 synod assemblies. This plan may include a recommendation to recon-
Reports submitted by Ellen Ayres, Liz Bartsch, Danielle Burrus, Harry J. Deitz, Jeffrey L. Drake, Clifton D. Eshbach, Karin Graddy, Marcia Hahn, Paul F. Heykes, Gayda Hollnagel, Barbara Hig- gins, Amanda L. Highben, Edward N. Kay, George Kegley, Sherry Willer Krieger, Cindy Koonce, Julie Mankin, Mitch McCartney, Linda M. Peter- son, Donna Prunkl, Ben Stadler-Ammon, Cathy Steiner, Kevin Stillson, Sister Virginia Strahan, Jan Zook, synod offices or websites, and the ELCA Office of the Secretary. Compiled by Aaron Channon, The Lutheran’s summer intern.
figure the synods. • Defeated a reso- lution which would have affirmed that the term marriage “only be used for publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous relationships between a man and a woman” and that the synod would not recognize “publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships” as marriage.
Northwestern Ohio, May 20-21, Bowling Green, Ohio • Voted to begin conversa- tions with the Muslim community of Northwest Ohio in order to better educate both groups and overcome prejudices.
Southwest California, May 20-21, Burbank, Calif. • Urged synod agencies and members to invest in Lutheran finan- cial institutions, community banks or credit unions in response to per- ceived injustices on behalf of large, international banks during the current recession. • Moved to petition Presi- dent Barack Obama to shut down the School of the Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in order to investigate alleged use of torture manuals and human rights abuses, and assess military training. • Supported the proposed California act called DIS- CLOSE, which would require politi- cal advertisements to be transparent in how they are funded.
Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast, May 20-22, Galveston, Texas • Memorialized the 2011 Churchwide Assembly to urge every ELCA congregation to com- pensate for reductions in pension funding for retired clergy by contrib- uting at least $100 this year. • Called upon the church to speak out against and act toward ending bullying and harassment.
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Central-Southern Illinois, June 2-4, Spring- field, Ill. • Asked the 2011 Churchwide Assembly to work to prevent future bullying and harassment in light of the sometimes tragic consequences of such behavior. • Celebrated the achievements of Lutheran Campus Ministry of Illinois and requested that the synod not decrease funding for the ministry during the next five years. • Recognized, along with the U.N., 2011 as the International Year for People of African Descent in order to further educate congregations and improve relationships and understand- ing among all members of the ELCA community.
Delaware-Maryland, June 2-4, Ocean City, Md. • Approved an increase in fund- ing for missions to the ELCA despite other budget cuts within the synod. • Raised money and collected hun- dreds of cans of food to boost aware- ness of world hunger.
Lower Susquehanna, June 2-4, Grantham, Pa. • Memorialized the 2011 Church- wide Assembly to encourage peace between Israel and Palestine through positive economic investment. • Approved a budget increase for 2012 that will give $1.6 million to church- wide mission support. • Assembled 841 personal hygiene kits to send to Lutheran World Relief.
North Carolina, June 2-4, Hickory, N.C. • Asked the 2011 Churchwide Assem- bly to work to eliminate bullying and harassment. • Memorialized the ELCA to encourage greater cultural diversity in ministry.
Allegheny, June 2-4, Altoona, Pa. • Memo- rialized the 2011 Churchwide Assem- bly to urge congregations to donate generously to the ELCA Special
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