Last week, I attended my last church council meeting for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. My term is coming to an end in July.

Community Lutheran Church is a part of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) and I am honored to serve on the church council for the national church body.

In addition to the preparation for electing a new presiding bishop and secretary at the churchwide assembly in July, we covered a lot of action items while I was in Chicago.

Here are few highlights of the work we accomplished:

• Received the final report and recommendations of the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church (CRLC) Recommended that the 2025 Churchwide Assembly:

• Adopt the proposed social statement, Faith and Civic Life: Seeking the Well-being of All

• Adopt proposed editorial changes to the social statement, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, in response to the memorial, “Reconsideration of Social Statement on Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust”

• Receive the 2024 Lutheran-Orthodox “Common Statement on the Filioque”

• Adopt additional bylaw amendments to the Constitutions, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the ELCA to allow for exchangeability of deacons with certain full communion partners and to establish additional standards for rostered ministers

• Adopt the “Rules of Organization and Procedure” for the 2025 Churchwide Assembly

• Approve churchwide organization budget proposals for 2026–2028

• Approved addition of a definition of “hate group” to Definitions and Guidelines for Discipline

• AND A LOT MORE!

I also sit on the Service and Justice subcommittee which supports the Service and Justice Unit (department) of the ELCA.

(The picture below is of the Service and Justice Committee and two staff members.)

I heard firsthand about the damage from the abrupt grant cuts from USAID that essentially closed earlier this year. This immediate lack of funding (versus tapered off) has caused much hardship and pain among the most vulnerable around the world. The ELCA does not have the resources to fill the gap left behind.

We also received an update from continuing war in the Holy Land and how it is seriously affecting the Christian community. Please keep them in your prayers.

Our church body, the ELCA does good work and seeks to be a thriving church while living into the teachings of Jesus just as we do at Community Lutheran Church. I give thanks for our church family and the ELCA.

God bless you,
Pastor Ben