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| Lutheran Leaders Analyze the Future of Religious Institutions | |||||||
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ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Approximately 80 leaders representing colleges, universities, seminaries, outdoor ministries, social ministry organizations, and the synods congregations and churchwide organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met here Jan. 12-14 to discuss "The Future of Religious Institutions in American Society," emphasizing the governance of institutions and how Lutheran institutions are interrelated and interdependent. The ELCA's 10,585 congregations are organized into 65 synods. The Chicago-based church has 28 colleges and universities, eight seminaries, and 145 camps and retreat centers. It relates to approximately 300 social ministry organizations through Lutheran Services in America, based in Baltimore. Conference addresses and discussions centered on three themes: strengthening the common mission of Lutheran institutions, collaborating in times of crisis and developing future leaders for institutions. Robert Tuttle, professor of law, George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C., told the audience that three developments over the past 20 years have had a direct effect on the way religious institutions relate to each other and to the U.S. government. Church and state no longer have the legal distinctions that separated them; the judiciary has intervened in church matters because of sexual abuse cases; and repercussions from corporate governance debacles have reached nonprofit organizations, he said. Tuttle advised participants to have formal policies in place regarding the finances of their organizations, the treatment and conduct of employees and volunteers, and the protection of sensitive documents. "It's worse to have a policy and not use it," he said, adding that everyone in the organization must be aware of the policies and use them. Responding to several high profile cases of corporate mismanagement, the government adopted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Tuttle said, which could create a "culture of compliance." The act increased financial reporting requirements for most companies, and those requirements will also be applied to smaller companies. While Tuttle said the law will improve accountability, it will be harder for smaller companies to meet the requirements than larger companies. He recommended that Lutheran institutions collaborate to make compliance easier regardless of their size. "The most important moral lesson we can learn from all these developments is that the core moral obligation is to be able to open ourselves up to scrutiny by others," Tuttle said later. "That's really what transparency means. That's what it means to be accountable to others." The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, Chicago, offered the gathering "six challenges that will significantly influence the future of ELCA institutions:" deepen the Lutheran identity in the mission of the institutions; cultivate the interdependence and interrelatedness of Lutheran institutions; rethink "who gets to decide" and expand the institution's capacity for leadership; work in the best interest of both the institution and those it serves; nurture individual creativity while being mindful of everyone involved; and exhibit humility, integrity and courage. "To be the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is to be expressions of the institutions of that church," Hanson said later. "We are more fully this church to the degree to which we are both clear about our identity and mission as those institutions and expressions but also deeply committed to our interrelatedness, our interdependency, which takes tending to," Hanson said. "It's one of the great gifts of the ELCA that we still have this depth of interrelatedness and commitment to that interrelatedness." "With all the pressures on institutions and their leaders, are we committed to asking the question: What can we do together that we cannot do as effectively apart, not only for the sake of our institutions but for the sake of our common mission in God's work for the sake of the world?" Hanson asked. "Our institutions call us into that world because they are links to that world in very clear ways," he said. The boards of religious institutions have gone through a transition that Christa R. Klein, president, In Trust, Arlington, Va., called "laicizing" – from a majority of clergy as board members to a larger number of professional lay members. That shift has required that board development include training in what makes religious institutions different from public institutions. In Trust is "an organization that teaches board members, administrators and faculty members of theological schools best governance practices so that they can enhance their schools' capacity to provide the churches well-prepared ministers and vital scholarship." "The board of a public corporation is basically working on behalf of the shareholders and also making sure that the organization is responsible and accountable for its actions," Klein said later. "The board of a seminary has parallel concerns, only its shareholders are really the future of the church." Klein outlined three characteristics of a board. She said every board must be fiduciary – caring for the institution's assets and financial responsibilities. A good board will also be strategic – reviewing the institution's performance and shaping its future. The best board will be fiduciary, strategic and generative – - reflecting on the institution's mission and engaging in creative problem-solving, Klein said. "The board becomes a source of leadership for the organization," she said. Board members can "be leaders in generating the means of framing the questions and issues that the institution has to address. That is a tremendous opportunity for board leadership, but (board members) must have the time and the commitment and the kind of intelligence and capacity for ambiguity to help with that approach," Klein said. The conference included worship. The Rev. Edward R. Benoway, bishop, ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod, Tampa, Fla., welcomed the participants and led a vespers service. The Rev. Ann M. Svennungsen, president, The Fund for Theological Education, Atlanta, preached during a service that included the Lord's Supper. "Raising up new leaders is no minor concern," Svennungsen said. "There are far too many voices calling them to something else," she said. "The lack of young preachers in the pulpit may account for the lack of young adults in the pew." "The days of the lone ranger have long since vanished," Svennungsen said, stressing the importance of all types of church institutions working together. "In the 21st century we need each other for the mission more than ever," she said. "We need this ecology to call forth future leaders," Svennungsen said. "We know this ecology is not finally our doing," she said. "This ecology is a gift from God. We tend to this precious ecology." The Rev. Stanley N. Olson, executive director, ELCA Vocation and Education, Chicago, provided the conference's closing remarks, promising follow-up with the participants by e-mail. This was the third conference of its kind since 2000. "We keep hearing in the conversation that the networks could be strengthened," Olson told the group. "We have strong networks in this church," but they need tending, he said. "You are at the growing edge of the church," Olson said. "You teach the church what it means to be the church." Three audio reports on this story are available in MP3 format for streaming: • http://media.ELCA.org/ramgen/audionews/060113.mp3 • http://media.ELCA.org/ramgen/audionews/060117.mp3 • http://media.ELCA.org/ramgen/audionews/060119.mp3 or for download: • http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/060113.mp3 |
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