Assembly acts on memorials from synods V
oting members considered 97 memorials—resolutions from synod assemblies calling for actions by the Churchwide Assembly. When memorials required church- wide financial resources, the state- ment “as financial resources permit” was included “to allow for flexibility in the midst of our current realities,” said Steve Loy, Memorials Committee co-chair.
Memorials dealt with a variety of issues, from energy stewardship to ministry policies and the Special Needs Retirement Fund. While most were approved in a group, these were given separate consideration. • Expanding multicultural ministry (adopted 917-29): Expressed concern that the ELCA has not yet reached the goal of 10 percent members who are people of color or primary language other than English, and encouraged congregations and synods to incorpo- rate ministry with diverse populations into mission planning advocated by the Living Into the Future Together Task Force report. • International Year for People of African Descent (adopted 899-55): Asked the ELCA presiding bishop to issue a statement acknowledging the international year; encouraged con- gregations to affirm the gifts of people of African descent in prayer, worship and other expressions; and asked the director for racial justice to work with other leaders to examine factors that keep people of color and/or whose primary language is other than Eng- lish from experiencing the fullness of leadership and inclusion in the ELCA. • Bullying, harassment and related violence (adopted 932-23): Referred these memorials to ELCA Congrega- tional and Synodical Mission to col- laborate with other groups to address and prevent bullying, harassment, and related forms of violence, and support
and publicize such efforts as financial and staff resources permit; with a report to the November 2012 Church Council meeting. • Immigration reform (adopted 870- 61): Affirmed the ELCA’s commit- ment for comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM (Develop- ment, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, and asked the ELCA presiding bishop to communicate that support to the U.S. president and Congress. • Investment for positive change in Palestine (adopted 868-73): Encour- aged members, congregations, synods and agencies to seek a deeper under- standing of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and affirmed the church’s commitment to the Peace Not Walls campaign. Asked the church to con- sider making positive economic investments in Palestinian projects and businesses “that peacefully strengthen the economic and social fabric of Palestinian society.” • Support for farmers and ranchers (adopted 900-19): Affirmed ELCA recognition and support through its social policies for the “vital role of farmers and ranchers in caring for the land and providing daily bread,” as well as “their stewardship of creation through responsible use of science and technology.” • Lutheran Campus Ministry (adopted 796-93): Recommended a campus ministry liaison within the Conference of Bishops and creation of a consultative process when any decision is proposed by the ELCA Church Council regarding Lutheran Campus Ministry. Referred concerns about ELCA campus ministry support to the Congregational and Synodical Mission unit for ongoing consulta- tion with the Conference of Bishops, with a report to the April 2012 Church Council meeting.
‘My dear twin sister church ‘
S
usan Johnson (above), national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, told the Church- wide Assembly she’d been reading Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone, an account of conjoined twins separated soon after birth. It made Johnson think of her church and the ELCA. “Together in predecessor church bodies we underwent a process of mitosis and have been sister churches growing side by side,” she said, referring to a decades-old separation between U.S. and Canadian Lutherans. She then listed recent ELCIC actions, including restructuring, mov- ing to triennial conventions, merging some synods, committing to right rela- tionships with indigenous people, and adopting a social statement on human sexuality. “Kind of sounds familiar, eh?” she asked the assembly. “We are freed in Christ to serve, but sometimes the call to serve feels overwhelming and lonely,” Johnson said. “That is why we have partners. … Thank you, my dear twin sister church, for our shared history and for the promise of walking together in a shared future—freed in Christ to serve.”
September 2011 27
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