Lutherans Start New Commission to Study Mission Funding
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has appointed a new committee to study ways of assuring continued funding for the denomination and to plan ways of strengthening its financial resources.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has appointed a new committee to study ways of assuring continued funding for the denomination and to plan ways of strengthening the financial resources of the 4.9 million-member denomination.
The ten-member Blue Ribbon Committee for Mission Funding, which meets for the first time on Wednesday, is expected to study topics such as mission support, stewardship education, planned giving, and designated and restricted giving, to find best practices in gathering churchwide funds.
According to figures released this week, the ELCA collected some $82 million in receipts in fiscal year 2005, marking a $600,000 increase over the previous year. One of the main goals of the committee is to find creative ways to ensure the future funding of the whole church.
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“This is a huge task," said Philip L. Hougen, bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod and co-chair of the committee. "The strength of the churchwide office contributes to the strengths of congregations and synods. We are interdependent in that way. The weakening of our churchwide office, I fear, will make us weaker synodically and congregationally.”
By 2007, the committee is expected to consult with members of the ELCA Conference of Bishops and ELCA Church Council, synod and churchwide staff, mission interpreters, youth and young adult representatives, synod treasurers and others. The Church Council asked that the committee report its conclusions and recommendations to the council at its April 2007 meeting.
