March 8, 2012

ITASCA, IL. – According to the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a "church that is deeply rooted and always being made new." In his March 3 report to the ELCA Conference of Bishops, the presiding bishop noted ways in which the 4.2 million members of this church together engage in life-changing ministries, impacting communities both locally and internationally.

The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the church that includes the ELCA's 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary. The Rev. Jessica R. Crist, bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod, chairs the conference, which met here March 1-6.

In his report, Hanson highlighted Santa Maria de Guadalupe Lutheran Church in Irving, Texas, one of the fastest-growing congregations in the ELCA, with more than 2,500 members worshiping at five services every weekend.

Santa Maria began 10 years ago, when three ELCA families purchased land using their personal funds. The ELCA Mission Investment Fund then provided financing for the construction of the church building. Primarily a Spanish-speaking congregation, members work to address immigration and other needs in the surrounding community.

"Santa Maria would not happen without the (investments of) individual ELCA members, without synods and the churchwide organization combining its resources, along with the passion of a mission developer.

This is what it means to be a church together deeply rooted and always being made new," Hanson told the conference.

Calling it a "spirit-led" coincidence, Hanson said that on the day he visited Santa Maria, he received a letter from President Barack Obama thanking the ELCA for its support of the Dream Act and for the work ELCA members have been doing in resettling refugees.

Hanson also highlighted a series of meetings between ELCA and Roman Catholic leaders at the Vatican, where long-standing relationships have been reaffirmed, and a recent meeting held at the Lutheran Center here with Israeli government representatives. The request for this meeting came from Bahij Mansour, who will soon become Israeli ambassador to Nigeria.

"We are a church that understands that unity is always within diversity as God's gift for us. Because we are a church that takes seriously our relatedness, we have the capacity to serve as catalyst, convener and bridge-builder," said Hanson.

The ELCA Conference of Bishops received a report from the Rev. Linda Norman, ELCA treasurer. She said the ELCA churchwide organization's income exceeded expenses by $4 million in current operating funds for the 2011 fiscal year, which ended Jan. 31. This is a favorable variance of $1.4 million from the previous fiscal year, Norman reported.

Receipts totaled $67 million for 2011, an increase of $0.2 million or 0.3 percent, compared with $66.8 million for 2010. Expenses related to the current operating fund amounted to $62.4 million, a decrease of $1.8 million or 2.8 percent from fiscal 2010.

Churchwide ministries had spending at 99.7 percent of the approved spending authorization.

Norman said most of the churchwide organization's revenue comes from congregations through synods in the form of Mission Support. Although Mission Support for the 2011 fiscal year decreased to $50.4 million (a $2.2 million or 4.2 percent reduction), Mission Support was favorable to budget by $2.4 million or 5.1 percent.

Norman said that the lower rate of decline "in the rolling 12-month total of Mission Support experienced throughout the fiscal year was in sharp contrast to the rate of decline in the previous two fiscal years.

This favorable trend is an indication that income is stabilizing and the dramatic decreases in income and expenses experienced in the last biennium have abated."

ELCA members contributed $19.1 million for ELCA World Hunger Appeal in 2011, and $10.1 million for ELCA Disaster Response that year, the treasurer said.

Other income received in 2011 for budgeted operations amounted to $16.6 million, compared with $14.1 million in fiscal year 2010, Norman reported.

Acknowledging that previous years have provided significant financial challenges, Norman said the churchwide organization budget is now operating positively.

The Rev. Craig Settlage, who directs ELCA Mission Support, shared with the conference that in 2012, 20 of the ELCA's 65 synods will be increasing their percentage of sharing Mission Support, while seven synods are decreasing their sharing. The remaining 38 synods are maintaining their percentage this year.

ELCA Secretary David D. Swartling reported that as of Jan. 31, 904 congregations have taken first votes to disaffiliate with the ELCA. Of congregations taking first votes, 672 passed and 232 failed. Of those congregations in which second disaffiliation votes have passed, 613 have completed the termination process and are no longer on the ELCA roster of congregations.

According to the Rev. William "Chris" Boerger, bishop of the ELCA Northwest Washington Synod, the ELCA churchwide organization has more than 345 new congregations in development. A significant percentage of the ELCA's new starts are among African National, African American, American Indian, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino and multicultural members.

In other business, the Conference of Bishops:

+ Received a confidential review of the "Draft of a Social Statement on Criminal Justice," which will be made public March 15. The conference also held a closed, off-the-record session about the development and vitality of ELCA social statements. Headed by an ELCA task force, this church has begun reviewing how it responds to social concerns.

+ Held small-group discussions about how the Conference of Bishops can achieve some clarity about its commitment to the nature and purpose of synods and bishops, and implications for that in the context of the larger "ecology" of the ELCA. Known as the Group of Nine, nine bishops helped guide this work, stemming from a series of resolutions approved by the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly that explore options for the future of the ELCA in light of its identity, changes in its environment and its call to God's mission.

"The Conference of Bishops is very grateful for the good, hard and generative work that the Group of Nine has done pushing us to look at issues about the future of the church, and how we can best serve Jesus Christ in the world," said Crist.

"With many synods in leadership transition in the next several years, one of the recommendations from the Group of the Nine is to look very intentionally about how we train, select and form leaders in this church, and we will be continuing to look at different models that synods have chosen to use in their particular context to raise up the leaders that we need for the church in the future," said Crist, adding that 25 synods will hold elections for bishop in 2013.

"There has been a good spirit of cooperation in this meeting," Crist said. "Members of the Conference of Bishops, churchwide staff and visitors share a common vision of moving the church into the future, taking the risks that need to be taken and seeking new ways to serve."

ELCA News Service