Churchwide Assembly will be this August. We will discuss many issues and begin celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of the ordination of women as pastors in ELCA predecessor bodies. There is a social statement on Women and Justice that will also be considered. The forming of this statement, which are the teaching documents of our church, has taken many years. We held hearings in our synod and feedback was received from across the church. More information about this statement and a link is included here. Please be praying for your churchwide voting memberd as we approach the gathering in Milwaukee.
This August at the Churchwide Assembly,we will be voting on the reommended proposed social statement Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Lutheran Call to Action and its accompanying implementing resolutions. The Women and Justice: One in Christ Social Statement task force has been at work since 2012 to prepare this document. To find out more information about the social statement process, go to ELCA.org/womenandjustice.
The social statement is formatted like Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms—there are a “short statement” and a “full statement” that goes into further detail on each of the articles in the short statement. These two parts of the social statement will be voted upon as one social teaching document at the assembly.
In order to aid you in preparing to consider the recommended proposed text and to vote on it, the task force asked ELCA churchwide staff members to compile a user’s guide. This document includes an expanded glossary, a bibliography and an index for the statement. The guide is not official ELCA teaching and will not be voted upon at assembly but rather is meant to help voting members explore the recommended proposed social statement.
• You can find the text of Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Lutheran Call to Action and implementing resolutions here:
https://download.elca.org/…/FSJ_LCAction_RecommendedPropose…
• You can find the text of the user’s guide here:
https://download.elca.org/…/Faith_Sexism_Justice_User_Guide…
• You can find an FAQ here: https://download.elca.org/ELCA…/Faith_Sexism_Justice_FAQ.pdf
During the assembly, there will be opportunities to attend hearings on the recommended proposed statement, to make suggestions for changes to it, to discuss the text during the assembly plenary and ultimately to vote on the adoption of the statement as official ELCA teaching. In the ELCA, social teaching and policy are not binding on individual members, but they guide the teaching and preaching of rostered ministers, and they directly influence ELCA advocacy and investment and the service of the ELCA churchwide organization and the presiding bishop. If you have questions, please email womenandjustice@elca.org.