Assembly Supports 'Ministry in Daily Life' by Large Margin, Without Debate

     PHILADELPHIA (ELCA)   A series of recommendations intended to recognize and support the ministry of lay people, or "ministry in daily life," has been adopted overwhelmingly and without debate by the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, meeting here through Wednesday.
     "Everything you do, everywhere you are, you are engaged in ministry," Carol L. Weiser, Bethlehem, Pa., a member of the ELCA's Church Council, told those at a hearing on the recommendations early in the assembly.  "We are talking about the 'priesthood of all believers,'" she added, using a phrase that refers to the spiritual privileges that all Christians possess.
     "Ask yourselves what it is you do in the world and what is God doing through that," ELCA staff member Robert A. "Bob" Sitze told those at the hearing.  Sitze, associate director for ministry in daily life resources in the ELCA's Division for Congregational Ministries, said the recommendations help congregations do something with the fact that "all are ministers."
     Many speakers at the hearing asked for resources to help educate lay members for Christian service and to encourage them to live out their Christian convictions wherever they may find themselves.  "We have come out of a 'Herr Pastor' tradition," commented voting member Thomas Koch of Barre, Vt.,  referring to a very high view of the pastoral office.  "We need to complete our recovery."
     Sally A. Simmel, director for daily life ministry in the ELCA's Division for Ministry, said  "the recommendations are a way to get us moving ... to get some resources produced."
     The assembly's action:
       + recommends that all who shape documents on Lutheran identity
         include "an explicit and forceful presentation of the concept of
         ministry in daily life," along with suggestions for "living the
         faith;"
       + directs the Division for Ministry and the Conference of
         Bishops to make sure that any revisions of documents, policies,
         guidelines and the like "reflect a strengthened understanding of
         the ministry of all people and the role of the ministry of Word
         and Sacrament in strengthening that ministry;"
       + urges that theological education be made more broadly available,
         especially to those who are not seeking a career in the church;
       + directs the Divisions for Congregational Ministries and for
         Ministry to develop resources that "foster a strong positive
         relationship between clergy and laity;"
       + encourages involvement of lay people in decision-making roles at
         all levels of the church; and
       + directs the Division for Congregational Ministries to develop
         resources to help congregations "organize for and practice the
         principle of honoring the ministry of all members in the world.    The measure adopted by the assembly authorizes the Division for Ministry to monitor progress in achieving these goals.  A report is to be made to the 1999 Churchwide Assembly.   "As this church explores its own future, our long-held theology of the baptismal call of all persons provides a vehicle for multiplying the power of the Church in the world through its laity who are there on a day-to-day basis," says a report that accompanied the recommendations.   "Clergy and laity in community must commit to moving forward into a way of being the Church that includes all the people of God working in all the places in the world where the Church must do its ministry," says the report.  The report, titled "A Call to Action: Ministry in Daily Life," was developed by the Divisions for Ministry and for Congregational Ministries. It also says the idea of ministry in daily life should be a factor as the church evaluates its professional church workers.

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