Leave a comment and let me know your reaction to this article and/or the ELCA's action at its Churchwide Assembly.
"The 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly (CWA, for short) took place last month in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from August 5th – 10th. My initial thought was that I would list some highlights from the 2019 ELCA CWA as my newsletter column for this month. Around the country, however, one particular action has captured the vast majority of the attention of the media and the membership. So let’s take some time to reflect on this particular action and what it means for us. As we reflect, I will draw in several quotes from Bishop Bill Gafkjen’s public letter (released August 12, 2019) and share his understandings of the memorial.
During the CWA, the assembly received a memorial (essentially a request for action officially passed and submitted by one or more synods during their respective synod assemblies) that begins by calling on the CWA to reaffirm “the long-term and growing commitment of (the ELCA) to migrants and refuges and to the policy questions involved.” This portion of the memorial is a recognition of the work that the ELCA (and its predecessor bodies) have been doing for many decades. This includes the work of Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Service (LIRS, for short), first established in 1939, and Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities (AMMPARO, for short), a more-recent ministry of the ELCA begun in response to the recent increase in unaccompanied minors attempting to enter the country through various methods.
According to Bishop Gafkjen’s letter, “This resolution also ‘recognizes that the ELCA in congregations, synods and the churchwide organization are already taking the actions recommended by this memorial’ and requests ‘that appropriate staff’ from various agencies and ministries ‘review the existing strategies and practices by the five current sanctuary synods and develop a plan for additional tools that provide for education and discernment around sanctuary.’” As the ELCA Churchwide office lives into its calling to serve and support refugees and immigrants, it will study what synods and congregations are already doing, learning best practices and what will provide the greatest benefit to the Churchwide office’s ministry partners.
Although others have suggested that all 9,000+ congregations across the ELCA are now required to carry out certain ministries and actions, this is not the case. The memorial passed by the CWA does not require us to do anything or to stop doing anything. “Nevertheless,” writes Bishop Gafkjen, “the call to love the neighbor is so central to our faith that each of us in our local contexts are called to figure out how God is calling us to embody this love as individuals and as communities of faith and witness. We engage this discernment in deep and honest discussion, debate, prayer, study, and discernment with our siblings across the community, the synod, and the church. We do so centered in Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the life of the world. In the end, as one bishop has put it, ‘For us, welcoming people is first and foremost a matter of faith which impacts how we live out all our vocations in God's world, including our political life.’”
So what might this look like in our community? How are we, both as individuals and as a congregation, called to embody God’s love for our immigrant and refugee neighbors? That is worthy of ongoing prayer, discussion, and discernment. I pray that the Lord may open our eyes to what our neighbors in this community need from the Church and how we can meet that need."
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