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The Zen of No Action

Abstract: Hope and Anxiety in Canada.

The 2009 Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) was held in Vancouver, British Columbia June 25-28 with the theme In Mission for Others: Signs of Hope. None of our far-flung reporters could be present, but we tuned in to several of the web casts, and this was not an easy meeting for anyone.
In her report, Presiding Bishop Susan Johnson described the economic challenge facing the ELCIC:
In the 23 years since the church was formed, giving within congregations has increased, basically keeping up with inflation. Yet at the same time financial support from congregations to synods has flat-lined so that over time synods have been greatly affected by the accumulated affect of inflation. Synod support to the National Church has decreased in actual dollars and, when compounded with inflation, has meant the National Church is operating with just over one-third of the purchasing power it had in 1986. This has resulted in staff and program cuts and impacted our ability to do mission. When you factor in the demographics of our church, it is anticipated this pattern will only increase sharply over the next few years.
A summary of the convention's actions describes measures passed by the convention, but in many respects the ELCIC's 2009 convention was more complicated than those actions suggest. Indeed, the convention spent a surprising amount of time and parliamentary energy voting to take "No Action" on a number of meaures.
Our friends at Lutherans Concerned North America (LCNA) were on the scene and sending email reports (which, like their synod assembly reports, do not appear on the LCNA website: if you really want the news, just join LCNA and get the email). Eventually, the folks at Solid Ground published a detailed account of the business sessions.

(Vol. III, xxxi June 30, 2009 )

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