January 28, 2010

CHICAGO – A 12-member task force of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), plus observers from other church bodies and staff, met together for the first time this month to begin work to develop and recommend options for the ELCA's future. Task force members will seek input for their work from ELCA leaders and members this spring.

At its November 2009 meeting, the ELCA Church Council approved a charter for the project, "Living into the Future Together: Renewing the Ecology of the ELCA." The project task force is to study social and economic changes in the 20 years since the church was formed and "evaluate the organization, governance and interrelationships among this church's expressions," according to the project charter.

The task force is expected to develop a report and recommendations "that will position this church for the future and explore new possibilities for participating in God's mission," the charter states. The report and recommendations are to be presented to the Church Council, which is expected to consider transmitting recommendations to the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, told task force members that their work is very important. "I really have enormously high expectations," he said.

Hanson urged members to spend some time looking back at the ELCA's first 20 years, to map the church's assets and to consider best practices in the ELCA and other church bodies as part of its work.

"The major expectation is you're going to look ahead," he said. The task force's purpose is not to restructure the chuchwide organization or the ELCA, Hanson said.

"You are here to deepen our process of being engaged in evangelical, missional imagination," Hanson said. He asked the task force to describe what "a vibrant, vital Evangelical Lutheran Church engaged in mission" should look like in today's global, digital world.

"We have a missional call," said the Rev. Diane H. "Dee" Pederson, St. Cloud, Minn., task force chair, in an interview. "It's a group that brings tremendous expertise, skills, gifts, love of their Lord, and love of this church to the work before us."

At its Jan. 14-16 meeting here, the task force engaged in discussion with several churchwide leaders and organized work groups to study topics such as ELCA identity, opportunities, interrelationships, congregations, partnerships, financial resources, and structure and governance. Task force members determined a process for their work, suggested "framing" questions and created a time line for their work, Pederson said.

This spring the task force will seek input from groups such as ELCA college and university presidents, the ELCA Conference of Bishops, the ELCA Church Council, synod assemblies, and members and professional leaders throughout the church. The task force will begin a conversation with "as broad a spectrum of the ELCA as possible," Pederson said. They plan to meet again June 14-15 to review their findings, she said.

"Having that information and that input will allow us to begin to shape some preliminary reports," she said. The task force will prepare a preliminary report for the November 2010 Church Council meeting.

"This is a time when we want to learn from people across this church how they see the Holy Spirit working in our interrelationships and guiding us in evangelical mission together," Pederson added.

In addition to Pederson, task force members appointed by the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop in consultation with the Church Council are: the Rev. Bob Bacher, former ELCA executive for administration, Chapel Hill, N.C.; Linda Bobbitt, Thornton, Colo., vice president, ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod; Debby Chenoweth, ELCA Church Council member, Hood River, Ore.; Kathleen Elliott Chillison, treasurer, Lutheran Services in America board of directors; Teresa Cintron, strategic development consultant, Manati, Puerto Rico; the Rev. Richard Graham, bishop, ELCA Washington, D.C., Synod; Debra Jacobs Buttaggi, president and CEO, The Patterson Foundation, Sarasota, Fla.; the Rev. Rollie Martinson, academic dean, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.; the Rev. Scott McAnally, Lutheran Church of Hope, Broomfield, Colo.; Dr. Rick Torgerson, president, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa; and Erik Ullestad, family life and youth director, Windsor Heights (Iowa) Lutheran Church.

Resource observers are Marge Watters Knebel, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Toronto; and Ron Schultz, chief administrative officer, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, St. Louis.

Resource staff are the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, ELCA executive for administration and the Rev. Karl Reko, project coordinator, both with the Office of the Presiding Bishop; Dr. Kenn Inskeep, executive, ELCA Research and Evaluation; the Rev. Stan Olson, executive director, ELCA Vocation and Education; and David Swartling, ELCA secretary.

ELCA News Service