November 16, 2011

CHICAGO – The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) acted on several recommendations in response to actions of the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The council, which serves as the ELCA's board of directors, also approved revisions to the 2012 current fund spending authorization and considered other matters when it met here Nov. 11-13.

The council appointed a six-person advisory committee to continue the work of the "Living into the Future Together: Renewing the Ecology of the ELCA" Task Force. The 2011 Churchwide Assembly, held Aug. 15-19 in Orlando, Fla., approved a series of resolutions designed to set a course for the ELCA's future and to consider this church's structure and relationships.

The council requested that the advisory committee provide an interim report for the council's April 2012 meeting and a final report and possible recommendations for presentation at its November 2012 meeting.

Council member Deborah L. Chenoweth, Hood River, Ore., said the Living into the Future Together task force report "is not a report that will sit on the shelf." She said that there are items members of the ELCA Church Council will continue to work together on, as well as the ELCA Conference of Bishops. A critical component of the report, Chenoweth cited, is the call for the 10,000 congregations of this church to engage in "missional planning."

In a separate action, the council moved to establish a review process on the current procedures for the development and adoption of social documents that address social concerns. The 2011 assembly called for this review.

In its action, the council requested that its executive committee appoint ELCA members to serve on the Addressing Social Concerns Review Task Force and approved a charter to facilitate the work of this task force, which is expected to bring a report to the November 2012 meeting of the council. The report will serve as a basis for a report and possible recommendations to the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

Social documents guide ELCA members in their moral deliberation and govern this church's institutional policies and advocacy work.

The 2011 assembly adopted "Genetics, Faith and Responsibility," the ELCA's 11th social statement. A social statement on criminal justice is underway and, at the beginning of 2012, a task force will be appointed to initiate work for a social statement on justice for women.

In other business, the council: + Established time lines for response to actions of the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly that have been referred to the council and the churchwide organization. + Approved an initial 2012 fiscal year current fund spending authorization of $64,173,000. This amount reflects a $2.4 million or 3.9 percent increase from the budget approved by the 2011 Churchwide Assembly. The council approved an initial 2012 fiscal year World Hunger spending authorization of $18.5 million. The council also approved revisions to 2012 synodical mission-support plans.

• Amended a continuing resolution on changing the name of the ELCA Board of Pensions to Portico Benefit Services.

• Elected council members to serve on its executive committee and ratified the membership of council committees.

• Acknowledged the commitment of council members to attend synod assemblies and synod council meetings.

• Responded to resolutions from synods about the ELCA's Health and Benefits Program, a call for the adoption of "The Decade for Women" and to delay a resolution about "Human Rights Violations Against the Oromo People" until the April 2012 council meeting.

• Implemented a resolution designed to add two youth and one young adult as advisers to the council.

• Amended continuing resolutions in the ELCA's Constitution, Bylaws and Continuing Resolutions.

The council received reports from officers and churchwide organization leaders. The Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, executive for administration, delivered an overview of the 2011-2013 operational plan for the churchwide organization.

ELCA News Service