 |
Social
Statements and Messages | Policies
and Procedures Index
Sphere 3: Development &
Enactment of Social Policy
Description
The third sphere of activity is that of lifting this
church’s voice in witness to social concerns through developing and
enacting social policy. Here this church’s moral deliberation aims
at corporate conclusions. This sphere of activity engages Lutheran
theology with broad social concerns as well as specific issues
through documents that set forth this church’s normative
understandings and policy on individual and corporate Christian
responsibility in the world. Such documents are social statements
and social policy resolutions, that is, actions of the Churchwide
Assembly or Church Council on matters of social concern.
Social statements are major documents addressing significant social
issues. Typically, they provide an analysis and interpretation of an
issue, set forth basic theological and ethical perspectives related
to it, and offer guidance for the corporate Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America and its individual members. Social statements are
documents of the highest quality. They vary in scope, length,
frequency, and forms of moral discourse, according to the needs of
their subject matter. In all cases, social statements are the
product of extensive and inclusive deliberation within this church,
a process that is an integral part of their educational purpose.
Because of the considerable resources and care that this church
invests in them, and because of the participatory process used in
their development, social statements are the most authoritative form
of social policy and are adopted only by the Churchwide Assembly.Guiding Perspectives for Social
Statements
The perspectives outlined below are intended to help
guide this church’s understanding, development, consideration, and
use of social statements.
1. Social statements are theological documents.
These documents arise from and address the changing circumstances of
the world in light of God’s living word of Law and Gospel. With the
aid of contemporary experience and knowledge, they bring this
church’s understanding of its faith to bear on social issues.
Because they view issues from the perspective of the Church’s faith,
social statements are clearly rooted in the biblical and
confessional witness of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
They are subject again and again to the testing of whether they are
faithful to Scriptures as “the authoritative source and norm of
[this church’s] proclamation, faith, and life” (ELCA 2.03.) and to
its creeds and confessions (ELCA 2.04., 2.05., and 2.06.). They
themselves are not new creeds or confessions.
2. Social statements are teaching documents.
In their preparation, content, and use, these documents bring
together the realities of the world, the experience of Christians
living their vocation, and the convictions of faith. Social
statements give voice to the prophetic mandate of this church, its
calling to care for God’s world, and its commitment to reason
together on social concerns. In so doing, they inform, guide, and
challenge this church and its members. They are intended “to equip
the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of
Christ” (Ephesians 4:12).
Church members are called upon to give social statements serious
consideration as they form their own judgments. In the use of social
statements as teaching documents, their authority is persuasive, not
coercive. Their teaching function builds upon and seeks to nurture
the freedom of Christians to decide and act responsibly. Social
statements help shape the conscience of Christians by appealing to
their faith, moral convictions, and reason. The respect they evoke
comes from the truth and wisdom they embody, which has stood the
testing of various forums within this church and to which testing
they always continue to be subject. Their effective teaching
significance is determined by the intrinsic quality of their content
and by their use in this church.
3. Social statements involve this church in the ongoing
task of theological ethics.
In these documents, this church addresses the question: “What ought
we as Christians and the Church think and do about this social
issue?” Social statements seek to discern God’s will for today,
offering insight and direction on how people should view an issue
and act justly in relation to it. Their focus is most commonly on
those ethical guidelines that mediate between very general moral
affirmations and the detailed requirements of a particular
situation.
Social statements hope to reflect the qualities of a community of
forgiven sinners called to do God’s will. They probe for shared
convictions and the boundaries of faithful action; within this
framework, they acknowledge diversity. These documents recognize the
complexity of society and the power of sin as well as the
responsibility of this church to speak and to act with hope and
boldness. They appeal to theology, ethics, secular knowledge,
history, and contemporary experience to offer coherent and plausible
reasons for their judgments. As the work of a community that stands
under God’s judgment and grace, social statements exhibit openness
to the Holy Spirit’s further guidance.
Social statements are meant to foster the art of ethical reflection
and discussion in congregations and other expressions of this
church. They depend on a vision of the Church as a community of
moral deliberation in which serious communication on matters of
society and faith is vital to its being. United by baptism, members
are free to discuss and disagree, knowing that they are ultimately
bound together in the body of Christ by the Gospel and not by their
moral judgments.
4. Social statements result from an extensive, inclusive,
and accepted process of deliberation throughout this church.
They are shaped by careful and critical listening to this church and
to society, as well as to other church bodies and ecumenical
organizations, both in this country and around the world. The
Department for Studies of the Church in Society unit works with
representative and diverse groups of this church to develop social
statements through careful and thorough research and study. In order
to explore adequately the issue, these groups include persons with
needed specialized knowledge and persons directly affected by the
issue. Broad participation by congregations and synods, as well as
by other churchwide units, is to be encouraged and facilitated in
the study process. The Church Council and the Conference of Bishops
(15.31.A03.g.) provide forums for discussing social statements.
Their development is guided by the constitutional mandate to
“provide structures and decision-making processes for this church
that foster mutuality and interdependence and that involve people in
making decisions that affect them” (ELCA 4.03.o.).
5. Social statements guide the institutional life of this
church.
They set forth the principles and directions that the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America considers necessary to govern the
internal and external practices of its social responsibility in
accordance with its understanding of God’s will. They express mutual
expectations and provide for mutual accountability in this church.
Social statements establish policy for the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America’s work in the areas of advocacy and corporate
social responsibility (ELCA 11.21.i. and j.; 16.12.D05.h. and i.),
enabling, limiting, and directing these activities.
Social statements include in their implementing resolutions
instructions and recommendations on how their governing principles
and directives are to be carried out by different parts of this
church.
It is expected that ELCA-affiliated agencies and institutions will
develop policies and practices consistent with the principles and
directives of social statements.
Those who represent this church are expected to present the
positions of the social statements as those of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America. This understanding recognizes their
freedom to disagree with these positions.
6. Social statements, intended to be used widely in the
life and mission of this church, reflect awareness of the various
audiences and ministries which they are to serve.
To help stimulate consideration of social issues in congregations,
their language is clear and appropriate for congregational life.
They are a helpful resource for pastors, bishops, theologians, and
other teachers and leaders in this church. Social statements offer
individual members guidance and support for their participation in
society. They address the broader society in ways fitting for public
discussion of social issues. Social statements offer faithful and
viable policy directives that have the support of the legislative
authority of this church.
Procedures for Social Statements
The Church in Society unit shall oversee the development and
implementation of social statements in accordance with the principle
of interdependence.
Selection of Topics
1.
|
Synods may propose topics for social
statements “through (a) Synod Assembly memorials to the
Churchwide Assembly or (b) resolutions for referral from the
Synod Assembly through the Synod Council to the Church
Council and (c) Synod Council resolutions addressed to the
Church Council or for referral to a unit of the churchwide
organization through the Church Council’s Executive
Committee” (ELCA 10.21.e.8.). |
| 2. |
The program committee for the
Church in Society unit may recommend topics for social
statement development to the executive director of the unit
for referral to the Church Council for its approval. The
recommendations of the program committee shall be based upon
synod proposals and ongoing or wide-ranging consultation
with relevant members and groups throughout the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, including the Conference of
Bishops. These recommendations may be selected from topics
already under study (sphere two). |
| 3. |
The executive director of the Church in
Society unit shall receive recommendations from the program
committee and make recommendations to the Church Council. |
| 4. |
The Church Council shall recommend topics
for social statement development to the Churchwide Assembly.
|
| 5. |
The Churchwide Assembly shall approve
topics for social
statement development. |
Social Statement Development
1.
|
The Church in Society unit,
advised by its program committee, shall oversee the study
process leading to a social statement. It shall assure that:
|
| a. |
an appropriate group is named
to study the topic; |
| b. |
ways are found to encourage
broad participation by the congregations and members of this
church; |
| c. |
social statements are preceded
by a study document or first draft specifically prepared as
a step in policy deliberation and development. Decisions
about preliminary documents should be made on a case-by-case
basis according to the scope of concerns that the proposed
social statement will involve and the extent of this
church’s history with the topic. A
preliminary document, with a designed format for study and
response, should be available at least eighteen months
before the social statement is considered by a Churchwide
Assembly. |
2.
|
Synods shall receive copies of
preliminary studies and drafts for review and counsel.
Synods shall cooperate in the preparation of social
statements by encouraging study of and response to
preliminary documents by congregations, individuals,
synodical committees, and synodical forums or hearings. |
3.
|
The Church Council and the
Conference of Bishops shall be forums for deliberation on
preliminary documents. |
Social Statement Adoption
| 1. |
The program committee for the
Church in Society unit shall review proposed social
statements and recommend to the
executive director of the unit that the Church Council
approve the text of proposed social statements and recommend
the text to the Churchwide Assembly (ELCA 12.12.01.). |
| 2. |
The executive director of the
unit shall receive the recommenda tions of the program
committee and recommend to the Church Council that it
approve the text of proposed social statements and recommend
the text to the Churchwide Assembly (ELCA 12.12.01.). |
| 3. |
The Church Council shall review
and act upon the recommenda tions of the executive director
of the Church in Society unit (ELCA 14.21.01., 14.21.03.).
The Church Council shall approve the text of proposed social
statements and recommend the text to the Churchwide Assembly
(ELCA 12.12.01.). Prior to a published deadline before a
meeting of the Church Council, any voting member of the
council who wishes to
suggest an amend ment to the proposed social statement shall
submit it to the chair of the Program and Services
Committee. The Program and Services Committee will make a
recommendation concerning the proposed amendment to the
Church Council, which will act upon that recommendation.
|
| 4. |
Synods shall receive proposed
social statements at least three months prior to the
Churchwide Assembly at which they will be considered for
review by voting members. |
| 5. |
Only the Churchwide Assembly
shall adopt ELCA social statements (ELCA 12.21.d.). |
| a. |
Any amendment to a proposed social
statement must be submitted in writing to the secretary of
this church prior to a published deadline. Voting members
who submit amendments may be requested to meet with staff of
Church in Society. If in the opinion of the chair of the
assembly the amendments are either too voluminous or too
complex for the assembly to consider expeditiously, all
amendments may be referred by the chair to either the
Committee of Reference and Counsel or an ad hoc committee
appointed by the chair with the consent of the assembly for
its recommendations for the consideration of the proposed
social statement and the proposed amendments by the
assembly. If a voting member wishes to offer a substantive
amendment that was not submitted prior to the deadline, the
assembly, by a simple majority vote, may consent to the
consideration of such an amendment (adapted from Churchwide
Assembly “Rules of Organization and Procedure,” Part Ten).
|
| b. |
“A social statement . . . shall require for
adoption a vote of two-thirds of those voting members
present and voting in a Churchwide Assembly” (ELCA
12.12.01.). |
| c. |
It shall be recorded on the printed
statement that the social statement was adopted by a
majority of at least two-thirds of the assembly. |
| d. |
Implementing resolutions shall be printed
as part of the social statement. |
| e. |
An addendum summarizing differing points of
view shall be added to those statements that elicit
significant division in the Churchwide Assembly. |
Social Statement Use
| 1. |
All expressions of this church are expected
to encourage use of social statements. The Church in Society
unit shall provide counsel when questions of interpretation
or application arise. |
| 2. |
The Church in Society unit shall cooperate
with other churchwide units and synods to develop
accompanying resources and to encourage the use of social
statements in this church. |
| 3. |
Synods shall interpret social statements in
a manner consistent with the interpretation of the Church in
Society unit (ELCA 10.21.e.8.). This interpretation may
include resolutions adopted by the Synod Assembly that apply
social statements to issues that are particular to the
territory of the synod. |
| 4. |
The Church in Society unit shall provide
periodic reports to its program committee and to the Church
Council on the use and implementation of social statements.
|
Social Statement Reconsideration
Churchwide Assemblies may reconsider previously adopted social
statements. Such reconsideration may involve either a revision or
removal of the statement. This may be done in two ways:
| 1. |
A Churchwide Assembly, by a two-thirds
vote, may call for the reconsideration of a social statement
at the next assembly. Subsequent to such a vote, the social
statement shall be referred to the Church in Society unit
for re-study. The proposed change and the reasons for it
shall be made available to this church with an official
notice of such proposed action to be sent to the synods by
the secretary of this church at least three months prior to
the Churchwide Assembly at which it will be considered. A
two-thirds vote of the assembly shall be required to revise
or remove the social statement. |
| 2. |
The Church Council by a two-thirds vote of
its voting members may ask the Churchwide Assembly to
reconsider a social statement. Such Church Council action
must be taken no later than at the Church Council meeting in
the autumn prior to the assembly. The proposed change and
the reasons for it shall then be made available to this
church with an official notice of such proposed action to be
sent to the synods by the secretary of this church at least
three months prior to the Churchwide Assembly. A two-thirds
vote of the assembly shall be required to reconsider the
statement and also to revise or remove it. Both actions may
occur at the same assembly. |
Procedures for
Social Policy Resolutions
| 1. |
Social policy resolutions refer to actions,
other than social statements, of the Churchwide Assembly or
Church Council on matters of social concern. |
| 2. |
Normally, social policy
resolutions shall rely upon or be consistent with the
teachings and policy of social statements. |
| 3. |
The program committee for the Church in
Society unit, the Church Council, synods, and voting members
of the Churchwide Assembly may propose social policy
resolutions. |
| 4. |
Social policy resolutions shall be managed
according to the established rules and procedures of the
program committee for the Church in Society unit, the Church
Council, synods, and the Churchwide Assembly. |
| 5. |
In those exceptional cases where proposed
social policy resolutions revise established teaching and
policy, the program committee for the Church in Society
unit, the Church Council, or the Churchwide Assembly shall
assign responsibility to develop supporting foundational
theological material and descriptive documents to accompany
the proposed resolution. |
| 6. |
All social policy resolutions must be
approved by the Churchwide Assembly, or, in the interim, by
the Church Council. Where revisions to established teaching
and policy are proposed, a two-thirds vote of the voting
members of the assembly or council shall be required to
adopt the social policy resolution. |
[ Next ] [
Back to top ]
|
