April 10, 2003

CHICAGO - The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) recommended that the 2003 Churchwide Assembly adopt "Sharing Faith in a New Century: A Vision for Evangelism in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America."

The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met here April 4-6. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 11-17 in Milwaukee.

The 2001 Churchwide Assembly called for the development of a comprehensive strategy on evangelism for the ELCA. It received "A Telling Witness of God's Good News," the evangelism strategy report from 1991-2001 and, in receiving that report, the assembly authorized the presiding bishop of the ELCA - in consultation with the ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries and other churchwide offices - to establish a task force for the development of an evangelism strategy.

Council member Sally Young, Waterloo, Iowa, said members of the council's Program and Services Committee discussed and suggested amendments to the evangelism strategy document for consideration by the council. Young serves as chair of the committee.

In light of the committee's work, the council requested that the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop establish "appropriate processes" for the implementation of the evangelism strategy in the church, if adopted by the 2003 assembly. The council asked that the implementation be performed in consultation with the Division for Congregational Ministries and in accordance with the ELCA's strategic plan, "Faithful Yet Changing: The Plan for Mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America," to be presented to the 2003 Churchwide Assembly. The council also affirmed the strategy as a "core strategy" of the ELCA's strategic plan.

The council also requested regular reports on the progress of the implementation, and it affirmed the "vital roles" of the 5.1 million members, 10,766 congregations and 65 synods of the ELCA, and its related agencies and institutions, "in bringing to life" the evangelism strategy.

ELCA News Service