Church Council considers mission funding T
he ELCA Church Council took action on proposals to examine and explore new opportunities
to fund the mission of the church when it met April 9-12 in Chicago. Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A.
Eaton appointed in late 2013 a “Mission Support Think Tank” to address the denomination’s finan- cial resources, particularly the decline in mission support (income from congregations shared with the ELCA’s 65 synods and churchwide organization). In a presentation of its report to
the council, Stephen S. Talmage, bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod and a member of the think tank, said, “There is a need for radically reimag- ining mission funding in the church. [While] there is always resistance for change, we need to give ourselves permission for doing something different.” In response to the think tank’s rec-
ommendations, the council: • Affirmed Eaton’s intent of conven- ing a team to generate recommen- dations to “sharpen our priori- ties as a church” and bring clarity about “what this church will do and will not do in order to serve
God’s mission more faithfully and effectively”; and affirmed the need to explore new methods of mis- sion support for the benefit of the whole church.
• Acknowledged that “uniform per- centage guidelines” for mission support are no longer appropri- ate for all synods (typically a 55 percent/45 percent split of money from congregations between the churchwide office and synods, respectively). In consultation with the ELCA Conference of Bish- ops and Office of the Presiding Bishop, the council approved the development of a process that will result in synod-specific percent- age goals no later than its April 2018 meeting.
• Endorsed the principle that mul- tiple streams of income may be used to provide mission funding and instructed churchwide units and offices to draft a revised con- stitutional provision to reflect the use of multiple sources of income. In a separate action, the council
approved a revised 2015 fiscal-year current fund spending authoriza- tion of $69.3 million and a revised 2015 fiscal-year ELCA World Hun-
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ger spending authorization of $20.6 million. In other business, the council
voted to move forward on unifying the ELCA’s three lay rosters—associ- ates in ministry, deaconesses and dia- conal ministers—but delay consider- ation of the entrance rite and related issues, a recommendation offered by the Conference of Bishops. Currently associates in ministry are commis- sioned; deaconesses and diaconal ministers are consecrated. A decision will need to be made
about the appropriate entrance rite for the unified roster. The council will consider a proposal on the for- mation of a single ELCA lay roster during its November 2015 meeting, and it will consider a proposal on the appropriate entrance rite and related issues during its fall 2018 meeting. The council received reports from
other ELCA officers and, among other actions: • Received an update on Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA, which completed its first year with nearly $45 million raised. The amount represents 23 percent of the five-year, $198 mil- lion Jan. 31, 2019, goal.
• Extended the time for the devel- opment of an ELCA social mes- sage on gender-based violence until its November 2015 meeting.
• Declined to ask ELCA congrega- tions to end confirmation as a “ritualized right of youth.”
• Affirmed the resolve by the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly that the denomination be encouraged to speak out as advocates for vot- ing rights.
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