Effective Evangelical Leaders
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America affirms its evangelical identity and
mission, and calls for further development and renewal of evangelical leaders.
Our mission seeks the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to prepare and renew
evangelical leaders so that the ELCA can be faithful to God’s will for our
church and its ministry.
Effective evangelical leaders:
- hold Jesus at the heart of their ministry
and set about to make disciples in his name;
- center ministry in effective proclamation of
the Gospel and administration of the sacraments, and equip the people of God
for witness and service;
- are courageous, passionate, and contextual
leaders who see themselves as witnesses to Jesus Christ and the in-breaking
reign of God;
- see change as an opportunity for renewed
spiritual vitality;
- understand the gift of the diverse cultural
reality in their contexts and develop a plan for their congregations to
reflect that diversity;
- have a clear vision of God’s mission and the
commitment to following that vision;
- work in partnership teams, lay and clergy,
for the sake of God’s mission;
- engage the needs of neighbor, community, and
world, shaping their witness and service to fit those needs; and
- invite all into God’s baptismal and
eucharistic community.
Page 5, Evangelism Strategy: Sharing Faith in a New Century: A Vision for
Evangelism in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America