Role
of the Churchwide Assembly
in the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Churchwide Assembly is designated as the "highest
legislative authority" in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). That
means that the assembly deals with the purposes, functions, and directions of churchwide
ministries. The assembly also addresses issues that affect the life of our whole church.
In the polity of that Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we have three
primary expressions--congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization. As provided
in churchwide constitutional provision 8.11.: "This church shall seek to function as
people of God through congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization, all of which
shall be interdependent. Each part, while fully the church, recognizes that it is not the
whole church and therefore lives in a partnership relationship with the others."
One of the ways in which that interdependent relationship is practiced is in
assemblies. Congregations elect lay voting members to serve in the synodical assemblies.
Clergy under call also participate as voting members in synodical assemblies. Synodical
assemblies, in each biennium, elect the clergy and lay voting members of the Churchwide
Assembly.
Of the 1,039 voting members of the 1999 Churchwide Assembly, at least 60 percent
will be lay women and men (50-50) and the remainder will be ordained ministers. About 10
percent of the voting members of each assembly are persons of color or persons whose
primary language is other than English.
The number of voting members allocated to each synod is based on the number of
baptized members and congregations in the synod. Some synods, therefore, have a dozen to
two dozen voting members. Others have as few as four.
One of the responsibilities of the Churchwide Assembly is the election of the
members of the Church Council and churchwide boards and committees. Names of potential
nominees are solicited from the synods and from voting members. That invitation was
distributed in December. The assembly's Nominating Committee prepares paired slates of
nominees for each position to be elected by the assembly. Nominations also may be made
from the floor.
The voting members of the Churchwide Assembly gather as members--the baptized
members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. They meet, however, not as a random
collection of baptized members. They have been assigned specific responsibility to serve
our whole church through the assembly.
They will gather in Denver, Colorado, August 16-22, under the theme,
"Making Christ Known: Hope for a New Century."
Responsibility of the Assembly
The Churchwide Assembly, according to ELCA churchwide constitutional provision
12.21., must:
- Review the work of the churchwide officers, and for this purpose require and
receive reports from them and act on business proposed by them.
- Review the work of the churchwide units, and for this purpose require and receive
reports from them and act on business proposed by them.
- Receive and consider proposals from synod assemblies.
- Establish churchwide policy.
- Adopt a budget for the churchwide organization.
- Elect officers, board members, and other persons as provided in the constitution
and bylaws.
- Establish churchwide units to carry out the functions of the churchwide
organization.
- Have the sole authority to amend the constitution and bylaws.
- Fulfill other functions as required in the constitution and bylaws.
- Conduct such other business as necessary to further the purposes and functions of
the churchwide organization.
Assembly Vocabulary No Accident
It is important to note and remember that no delegates will be present
for the assembly. Voting members are not delegates!
These words not only fulfill certain legal requirements but also reflect the
ecclesial understanding that the three primary expression of this church--congregation,
synod, and churchwide organization exist and serve within this one church.
- The congregation does not meet in convention; the members gather in worship,
carry out service, and assemble occasionally and properly for governance decisions and
elections.
- The people of this church in each of the 65 synods are not sent as delegates from
a given caucus; they are not gathered to act as some politicized delegates to a
regional party convention. Rather, they assemble as duly selected members
of this church with voting responsibilities for governance and elections on
behalf of the synod. The Synod Assembly is just that, an assembly of the people of this
church, some of whom have been granted the responsibility of being voting members
of the Synod Assembly.
- The people of this church, when gathered as voting members of the Synod Assembly,
have the responsibility of electing the voting members of the Churchwide
Assembly. Persons so chosen are given the responsibility of doing the work of the
Churchwide Assembly on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. They are not
sent to participate as politicized delegates from some regional or agenda-specific caucus
at some national party convention.
The vocabulary that we use both shapes and reflects our
understanding of this church. When we recognize and understand that our
"congregations find their fulfillment in the universal community of the Church, and
the universal Church exists in and through congregations" (ELCA churchwide
constitutional provision 3.02.), then our awareness of the significance of being voting
members in a given assembly may grow. After all, as we declare of the "Nature of the
Church," the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America "derives its character and
powers both from the sanction and representation of its congregations and from its
inherent nature as an expression of the broader fellowship of the faith" (also ELCA
churchwide constitutional provision 3.02.). Indeed, we together affirm and declare the
primary principle of organization for our church, namely: "The Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America shall be one church" (ELCA churchwide constitutional provision
5.01.).
The Rev. Lowell G. Almen, Secretary
