Meanwhile, the Church Goes about Her Business

[Steven Tibbetts]

ELCA Church Council welcomes 23 new members
11/13/2019 2:20:00 PM

​CHICAGO — The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met at the Lutheran Center in Chicago, Nov. 7-10. Twenty-three new members, elected by the 2019 Churchwide Assembly, were welcomed. The council serves as the ELCA's board of directors and interim legislative authority between meetings of the Churchwide Assembly.

The council took the following key actions:

• ​Authorized use of ministry rites for pastors and deacons in response to constitutional changes by the 2019 Churchwide Assembly that identified ordination as the entrance rite for ministers of Word and Service. The ministry rites for ordination to the ministry of Word and Service, ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament, installation of a deacon and installation of a pastor will be effective Jan. 1, 2020.
  
  
• ​Created an advisory team to receive updates, track progress and provide periodic reports on the "Strategy Toward Authentic Diversity in the ELCA," adopted by the 2019 Churchwide Assembly.
  
  
• ​Adopted a continuing resolution authorizing the creation of a resource development committee of the council to continue developing strategies related to funding initiatives and future churchwide appeals.
  
  
• ​Adopted the "Memorandum of Mutual Recognition of Relations of Full Communion" among The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the ELCA as a way to strengthen ties among the two U.S. and two Canadian churches.
  
  
• ​Authorized development of a social message on the vocation of citizenship, civic engagement, and church and state, as requested by the 2019 Churchwide Assembly.
  
  
• ​Received the final report of its Theological Education Advisory Committee, approved the committee's recommended transition plan and thanked the committee members for their service.
  
  
• ​Approved a 2020 spending authorization of $67,666,652 for the churchwide organization and $21,596,595 for ELCA World Hunger.
  
  
• ​Received an update on development of the resource "Trustworthy Servants of the People of God," the replacement for "Vision and Expectations," which articulates the church's hopes and expectations for its rostered ministers.
  
  
• ​Adopted the Reference and Counsel Committee recommendations regarding unfinished business from the 2019 Churchwide Assembly.
  
  
• ​Referred to the Domestic Mission unit the Conference of Bishops recommendation that the unit give top priority to this church's response to the global crisis of climate change.
  
  
• ​Thanked the Rev. Wyvetta Bullock for her faithful service as executive for administration and her many years of service to this church. Bullock will retire Jan. 30, 2020.

​In a special order of the day, the council received a greeting from Ms. Rose Simmons, whose father, the Rev. Daniel Lee Simmons Sr., was one of the nine congregants martyred in June 2015 at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

The council also received reports from the church's presiding bishop, treasurer, secretary and vice president, from the ELCA Conference of Bishops, and from the ELCA's separately incorporated ministries. They also received greetings from ecumenical partners.

- - -

About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with nearly 3.5 million members in more than 9,100 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.


For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
773-380-2877
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
 

[Richard Johnson]

How much of that is actually "the business of the church" is debatable. 

[Steven Tibbetts]

How much of that is actually "the business of the church" is debatable. 

You noticed that, eh?

Christe eleison, Steven+

[Charles Austin]

Wouldn’t a report from any meeting of our congregational councils have a lot of matters that maybe aren’t true “Gospel mission” items, but nonetheless the “business” of our parishes?

[The Yak]

This report recently came across my FB timeline.  It came from my alma mater (well, one of them at least) Luther Seminary.  It certainly seems to be about the church's business and worthy of discussion regarding what her business actually is.

[Dan Fienen]

While the article referenced by Brother Yak is directed toward the ELCA much of what is said is also applicable to the LCMS. Very insightful.


Also see Babylon Bee "Church the Believes Exactly what the World Believes Not Sure Why No One Bothers to Coming to Church Anymore."

[pastorg1@aol.com]

My ELCA Conference is hosting a talk on “Sustainable Menstrual Practices.”

[Eileen Smith]

My ELCA Conference is hosting a talk on “Sustainable Menstrual Practices.”

You might wish to share this with the Babylon Bee.   

[Richard Johnson]

My ELCA Conference is hosting a talk on “Sustainable Menstrual Practices.”

Now Pete . . . Your conference does plenty of loony things, but you've not quite gotten this one right. First, they aren't "sponsoring a talk," they were invited to support a program called "Days for Girls International." The phrase "sustainable menstrual practices," far as I can see, doesn't appear on the website of this group; that seems to be the wording of the person who took notes on the conference meeting. The program itself seems legit and worthwhile; it aims to provide menstrual education and materials to girls in 3rd world countries (is that phrase still allowed?). The website describes the need as follows:  "Around the world, girls and women resort to using rags, mattress stuffing, banana leaves, feathers, and even cow dung to manage their menstruation.
 Days for Girls provides a safe, beautiful, washable, and long-lasting alternatives she can count on month after month — along with vital health education."

[pastorg1@aol.com]

Sorry. My eyes were rolling so fast I spun the story beyond its orbit.

[Dan Fienen]

My ELCA Conference is hosting a talk on “Sustainable Menstrual Practices.”

Now Pete . . . Your conference does plenty of loony things, but you've not quite gotten this one right. First, they aren't "sponsoring a talk," they were invited to support a program called "Days for Girls International." The phrase "sustainable menstrual practices," far as I can see, doesn't appear on the website of this group; that seems to be the wording of the person who took notes on the conference meeting. The program itself seems legit and worthwhile; it aims to provide menstrual education and materials to girls in 3rd world countries (is that phrase still allowed?). The website describes the need as follows:  "Around the world, girls and women resort to using rags, mattress stuffing, banana leaves, feathers, and even cow dung to manage their menstruation.
 Days for Girls provides a safe, beautiful, washable, and long-lasting alternatives she can count on month after month — along with vital health education."

Just goes to show that things aren't always what they seem and something that on its surface seems ridiculous may actually be worthwhile.