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The ELCA Assembly held in Orlando is complete. These few words provide only a surface indication of what transpired. The first major issue debated concerned restructuring of the church. This endeavor was driven by several things. The structure instituted at the inception of the church has proved to be too large, ineffective and lacking in provisions for sufficient accountability. A common perception is that there is a ‘disconnect’ between the Church wide organization, synods and congregations. Underneath all of this is the matter of declining financial resources being forwarded to the national church from synods. The proposal for a more streamlined structure was approved, though not without considerable debate. Various fears were expressed that areas of ministry given expression in specific units would not be given sufficient attention in the new structure. For the past five years there has been a “Renewing Worship” project. It has sought to develop additional music and liturgical resources for the church. The logical result of this project is the proposal for a new hymnal. As currently conceived, it would contain about 600 hymns. Half of them would be from the current Lutheran Book of Worship. One quarter of the hymns would come from With One Voice. The remaining hymns would come from a variety of other resources. The new hymnal would have something of a multicultural character. It would contain several new Eucharistic liturgies. There was substantial debate on the proposal for this new hymnal. In the end a resolution to proceed with the new hymnal was adopted. Two strategies for mission were adopted. The first was titled African Descent Ministry and the second Arab and Middle Eastern Ministry. These strategies were ten years in the making. Specific goals were established along with a commitment to provide appropriate resources. It should be said that ethnic ministries represent the portion of our church experiencing the greatest growth. A strategy for engagement in Israel and Palestine was adopted, but not without extensive debate. The resolution called for removing the wall that Israel continues to construct. Many people argued that the statement was prejudiced in favor of the Palestinian side. The rationale presented in debate for this judgment was that the wall has served to reduce the number of terrorist attacks and therefore should not be removed. Defenders of the resolution pointed out that Israel has the right to build a wall, but only if it is on Israeli land. Portions of the wall are in fact constructed on Palestinian land. This tends to suggest that the motive of the wall is not simply security. It may also be an attempt to control Palestinian land. The assembly adopted the resolution as presented. The major debate was on sexuality. I was disappointed with the result. The debate reflected a very divided church. A complete analysis of this and other matters will be provided at the Adult Forum on Sunday, August 28. Ronald K. Johnson, Pastor
On Tuesday evening (July 26) Nightline presented some film footage from the BBC. The subject was Niger. The visual images and sparse commentary presented people in the midst of intense suffering from famine and related disease. Persons, young and old, were so depleted of nourishment they were unable to raise their heads off the ground. Mothers were shown who had gone without food so long they had no milk for their infant children. There was a scene in which people who had walked for days were waiting for a small allocation of food from a relief shipment. The food available was modest and most of the people received nothing. People were shown eating from a rotting animal carcass. Perhaps the most haunting picture was of a small child whose face was covered with insects. It was as if the child lacked energy to chase away the insects. If one were lacking an image of hell, it would be only necessary to view these pictures. The tragedy in Niger cannot be considered a surprise. Nearly a year ago the United Nations warned the world that a very critical situation was developing. In November of last year, there was an appeal for help. There was virtually no response from any nation. In March of this year an appeal for $16 million was made. The result was $1 million from all the nations of the world. In May there was an appeal for $30 million (about what we spend in Iraq every 30 minutes). The result was $7.6 million. My guess is that some additional money will be forthcoming in the light of the BBC report, but it will be much too late for many people. In the case of hunger in the world, there is good reason to say that there are sufficient resources to overcome it. God has provided a remarkably rich environment for humankind to share. The challenge is to organize the world’s life so that the distribution of these resources is fair. Beginning with this assumption is critically important because it says the situation is hopeful and not hopeless. It also puts responsibility on where it belongs—on us, on humankind. There is no power of fate at work that ultimately makes the feeding of hungry people doomed to failure. Lutheran World Relief is a relief and development agency of the Lutheran Church. It is one of the two primary agencies through which contributions to the World Hunger and Development appeal of this congregation are directed. LWR has been in Niger for at least 25 years. The staff knows how to function in that culture. The immediate response of LWR was to commit $300,000 in additional assistance. Currently LWR is distributing 146 tons of food to 8,500 households. Six tons of seed is being provided. Efforts are being made to improve access to water. Help is also being given for soil conservation efforts. You will recognize in this assistance both relief and development dimensions. This is what the situation demands. Why should we give to this effort? There is one reason and it is utterly uncomplicated. God created every single person for fullness of life and has made the people of the human community responsible for one another. Ronald K. Johnson, Pastor The Church wide assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is being held this week in Orlando, Florida. It is the most important assembly of the ELCA since its inception. Approximately 1,000 people from 65 synods are present as voting members of the assembly. I am one of the voting members. Two issues dominate the assembly agenda. The first concerns a restructuring of the Church wide organization. In part, the proposed changes reflect the declining financial resources that are being made available to the Church wide organization. The proposal will reduce the size of the organization. It will also address what is said by many to be a complicated, confusing and unresponsive structure. It is imperative that the structure be one that enables the strongest possible mission endeavors. The result of all this will likely be that more responsibilities will be passed on to synods. This in turn will mean that synods will need to figure out how to better involve congregations in the task of mission. The discussion and debate center on how well the proposed changes enhance mission and reflect a recognition of issues currently handled by the various groups of the present structure. The second is receiving the most attention. It has to do with
sexuality. A. Resolved, that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America—its members, congregations, synods, church wide organization, and agencies and institutions—be urged to concentrate on finding ways to live together faithfully in the midst of disagreements, recognizing the God-given mission and communion that we share as members of the body of Christ. B. Resolved, that the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America continue to respect the guidance of the 1993
Conference of Bishops; and be it further C. Resolved, that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America shall:
The debate is intense. The recommendations reflect the division within the church. They satisfy virtually no one. Whatever happens at the assembly, the debate will continue. The great hope is that the debate will continue along with a commitment to both justice and unity. Ronald K. Johnson, Pastor
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