Buttons help promote the ELCA Malaria Campaign (see page 23).
decades include declining member- ship and a sharp drop in mission sup- port (the money sent from congrega- tions to synods and the churchwide organization). “Fewer Americans belong to con- gregations, and few Americans attend church regularly,” the LIFT report said. “Americans seem less loyal to any one religious perspective or any religion, indeed the fastest-growing faith group is those who claim to be ‘spiritual but not religious.’ ” Yet about 1.3 million people
attend ELCA worship services each week, and in 2009, ELCA congrega- tions baptized 62,000 children, the report said.
The key recommendations of the
LIFT report urge each ELCA con- gregation to develop a mission plan, suggest that synods be strengthened as “catalysts for mission,” and call for building stronger financial sup- port and expanding the use of the ELCA’s nine regions to aid coopera- tion between synods and congrega- tions. Other recommendations stress development of leaders and efforts to make fuller use of ELCA resources, including synods and institutions. Some of the LIFT proposals required amendments to the ELCA constitution. Assembly voting members approved 817-169 to hold Churchwide Assemblies every three years rather than every two. The three- year cycle will begin after the 2013 Churchwide Assembly in Pittsburgh. The 33-member Church Council could expand to 45 under another constitutional change approved by a 757-223 assembly vote. If the council feels it needs additional expertise in a particular area, it could ask a Church- wide Assembly to elect up to 12 more members. The chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops was also added as a voting member of the council. The 15-member program commit- tees appointed to oversee the work of
22 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
ELCA units were eliminated. Some units overseen by those committees, which met twice a year, merged or changed in recent restructuring of the churchwide offices. The LIFT report envisions using other means, includ- ing social media, technology and new coalitions, to provide the churchwide organization with input from members and congregations.
Constitutional changes proposed as a result of the LIFT report required a two-thirds majority to be enacted. While work on current social statements—one on women and one on criminal justice—will continue, the ELCA will seek new ways to “faithfully discern” the denomina- tion’s stance on social issues. The presiding bishop and Con-
ference of Bishops should be given stronger roles in “engaging critical issues,” the LIFT report said. Social statements (teaching documents on social issues approved by Church- wide Assemblies) have often been controversial as they have dealt with such things as abortion and sexuality. The “discernment” sought should focus on the ELCA’s “identity and mission,” the report said, with the presiding bishop being the “prime catalyst” in the conversations. Many of the LIFT proposals will require future actions by the Church Council and various churchwide units, as well as discussion and implementation in the 65 synods and nine regions. Several proposals, including one to expand ministry involving people with mental and physical disabilities, were referred to appropriate churchwide units. But the voting members’ endorse-
ment of the LIFT report is seen as strong encouragement for the church to quickly consider the implications. The assembly asked that follow-up work on the LIFT recommendations be assigned to the Church Council and the Conference of Bishops. M
The report
The nine LIFT enabling resolutions: • Urge making support for congrega- tions “one of the highest priorities of this church.” • Ask that synods be strengthened. • Request that the Conference of Bish- ops prepare a report describing con- gregational life in their jurisdictions. • Suggest changes to relate congre- gational and synodical mission to “changing situations” to strengthen synods. • Call for expanded roles for the nine ELCA regions. • Seek to “affirm the role of the churchwide organization” in expand- ing the church’s mission, theologi- cal education and developing new leaders. • Call for strengthening contacts with global and ecumenical partners. • Ask to expand networking technology. • Seek to “nurture a culture of faithful discernment” that will help church decision-making. The LIFT report, list of task force members and related materials are available
www.elca.org/lift.
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