What is the ELCA Churchwide Assembly:
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the US, meets every 3 years in a “churchwide assembly” to carry out the business of the overall church body. There are 9000+ congregations across the 50 US states and Caribbean, divided into 65 synods, or dioceses. Each synod has a bishop, and the ELCA has a Presiding Bishop. Members of any ELCA Church, both lay and clergy, are elected by their synods to attend the assembly. These assembly members do not represent a constituency “back home,” but vote their own conscience on the business of the church, and as each person feels the Holy Spirit is leading the church on the issue. This year’s assembly met last week in Milwaukee, WI.
What happened in Milwaukee:
This past week’s churchwide assembly, August 5-10, was full of important votes and actions, including:
● Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton was reelected for a second six-year term on the first ballot.
● A declaration of apology to our siblings of African descent, which was received by the African Descent Lutheran Association with thanks and a call for accountability and living into the words shared.
● Approved resolution declaring the ELCA is a “sanctuary church body,” encouraging participation in the ELCA AMMPARO initiative for migrant children, discernment of care for our immigrant neighbors in our context, and the promise of forthcoming resources for this work.
● Approved support for the World Council of Church’s Thursdays in Black, awareness movement for a world without rape and violence.
● Voted to commemorate June 17 as a day of repentance, in honor and remembrance of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9.
● Approved a declaration for inter-religious commitment, reaffirming ecumenical and interfaith partnerships.
● Approved the recommendations from a strategic taskforce which has been studying how to work toward authentic diversity in our church.
● Approved memorials: affirming but not “endorsing” the Poor People’s Campaign, care for immigrants and refugees, and other statements.
● Adopted a new social statement, “Faith, Sexism, and Justice: a Lutheran Call to Action,” and its implementing resolutions.
● Deacon Sue Rothmeyer was elected Churchwide Secretary, a full-time position which acts as executive administrator and leader on all constitutional matters and interpretation.
● Constitutional change for Deacons (rostered ministers of word and service) to be ordained, from the previous practice of consecration.
● Celebrated the milestones of 50 years of women's ordination, 40 years since the first woman of color was ordained, and 10 years since full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ clergy.
The third bullet point above was the decision to declare the ELCA a “sanctuary church body”. On August 7, day 3 of the Assembly, a memorial, or proposal, was put forth by the Metro New York Synod, that the ELCA declare itself a “sanctuary church.” The resolution was passed with an amendment, by a majority of the over 800 voting members. The amendment asked that the ELCA provide at the next triennial assembly in 2022 written guidance for congregations as to “what it means to be a sanctuary church.”
This is the text of the ELCA’s "sanctuary" resolution:
-“To receive with gratitude the memorial from the Metropolitan New York Synod concerning sanctuary;
-To reaffirm the long-term and growing commitment of this church to migrants and refugees and to the policy questions involved, as exemplified most recently in the comprehensive strategy Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities (AMMPARO);
-To recognize that the ELCA in congregations, synods and the churchwide organization are already taking the actions requested by this memorial; and
-To request that appropriate staff on the AMMPARO team, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and the Domestic Mission, Global Mission, and Mission Advancement units review the existing strategies and practices by the five current sanctuary synods and develop a plan for additional tools that provide for education and discernment around sanctuary;
-The ELCA declares itself a sanctuary church body; and
-To request the ELCA Church Council, in consultation with the appropriate churchwide unites and offices, provide guidance for the three expressions of this church about what it means to be a sanctuary church body and provide a report to the 2022 Churchwide Assembly.”
The Metro NY Synod Sanctuary Memorial:
As you can see, the ELCA’s action embraces the Metro NY Synod’s original Sanctuary memorial (full text here), which was passed in that Synod’s annual assembly in May of 2018. In that document, there are 16 resolutions in total, (“Resolved”…) toward the end of the Metro NY memorial document, divided up into 3 sections. If you read through these, it is clear that the bulk of what “sanctuary” means is to be a support to migrants and immigrants, whether legal and illegal or undocumented, as they seek refuge in the US, are detained, and advocate for just policies and practices, networking with other churches and organizations that support migrants’ and undocumented immigrants’ well-being and rights.
The 13th resolution is probably the most controversial: “Provide short term respite sanctuary during immediate crisis.” (There are some individual congregations of different denominations across the country that have done or are doing this, and you can look up their news stories online.) The Fox News channel’s “Fox and Friends” segment unfairly took this point as the full meaning of the ELCA’s “sanctuary church” resolution. (They also did not invite any ELCA representative to answer questions.) As you can read in the Metro NY’s resolution, it is much more than that. Individual congregations are free to engage in “sanctuary” activities up to and including crisis shelter, or not. It is up to each congregation how to engage in “sanctuary” as it encounters people who are in need of support. Here is a link to the Metro NY Synod’s description of further actions taken to embody the spirit of their resolution.
The roots of this line of action by the ELCA go back to 2014, when the plight of unaccompanied minors from Central America were highlighted by the media. Several ELCA synod bishops and lay people investigated over the next year, and the ELCA’s AMMPARO initiative finally took shape as a response to this crisis in 2016. It is described in detail on the ELCA website here.
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