"The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective"

The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective was adopted by the second Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Church in America (ELCA), in the summer of 1991. As with all ELCA social statements, it was adopted by a greater than two-thirds majority vote of the thousand or so voting members elected by synod assemblies in the ELCA’s 65 regional synods. One of the most notable features of the social statement is the word "A" in the title. It is clear that the ELCA in this statement is not claiming to make the single, definitive statement for all Lutherans everywhere and for all times. It is offered as the prayerfully considered perspective of this Church at this time. This same theme is articulated in the opening paragraph in which the ELCA acknowledges its call "to be a part of the ecumenical Church of Jesus Christ in the context in which God has placed it—a diverse, divided, and threatened global society on a beautiful, fragile planet. In faithfulness to its calling, this church is committed to defend human dignity, to stand with poor and powerless people, to advocate justice, to work for peace, and to care for the earth in the processes and structures of contemporary society" (emphasis added).

The statement goes on to assert that the work of the church as laid out in the opening paragraph "flows from its identity as a community that lives from and for the Gospel" and is one way in which "the Church witnesses in word and deed to Jesus as Lord and Savior…It is in grateful response to God’s grace in Jesus Christ," the statement continues, "that this church carries out its responsibility for the well-being of society and the environment" and becomes "a serving and liberating presence in the world."

The statement takes special care to get the prepositions right. In a section titled "The Church ‘In’ But Not ‘From’ the World," the statement claims, "the Gospel does not take the Church out of the world but instead calls it to affirm and to enter more deeply into the world. Although in bondage to sin and death, the world is [still] God’s good creation" The Church remains "restless and discontented with the world’s brokenness and violence. Acting for the sake of God’s world requires resisting and struggling against the evils of the world."

A section of the statement titled "The Church’s Responsibility in Society" continues the theme of the Church’s grateful response to what God has accomplished in Jesus Christ. "In witnessing to Jesus Christ, the Church announces that the God who justifies expects all people to do justice." At the same time, the statement guards against naïve assumptions about the motives of everyone involved in the public realm: "This church must participate in social structures critically, for sin also is at work in the world…This church, therefore, must unite realism and vision, wisdom and courage, in its social responsibility. It needs constantly to discern when to support and when to confront society’s cultural patterns, values and powers."

Quoting from the ELCA Constitution (Section 4.01.e), the social statement on Church in Society lifts up the baptismal vocation of Christians: since "daily life [is] the primary setting for the exercise of [the] Christian calling," it is primarily in their daily lives that Christians are to serve God and neighbor. "Christians also exercise their callings by being wise and active citizens…Along with all citizens, Christians have the responsibility to defend human rights and to work for freedom, justice, peace, environmental well-being, and good order in public life…An important way that Christians carry out their citizenship is through participation in voluntary associations and movements, both religious and secular."

In a critically important final section before adopting commitments and affirmations on the part of the ELCA, the social statement addresses issues relating to the commitment the ELCA made at its inception to be a community of moral deliberation. "Christians fulfil their vocations diversely and are rich in the variety of gifts of the Spirit. Therefore, they often disagree passionately on the kind of responses they make to social questions…Because they share common convictions of faith, they are free, indeed obligated, to deliberate together on the challenges they face in the world. Deliberation in this church gives attention both to God’s Word and God’s world as well as to the relationship between them. This church sees the world in light of God’s Word, and it grasps God’s Word from its context in the world….Scripture is the normative source in this church’s deliberations…Because of the diversity in Scripture, and because of the contemporary world’s distance from the biblical world, it is necessary to scrutinize the [biblical] texts carefully in their own setting and to interpret them faithfully in the context of today….[The ELCA] in its deliberations [also] draws upon the God-given abilities of human beings to will, to reason, and to feel. This church is open to learn from the experience, knowledge, and imagination of all people…In dealing openly and creatively with disagreement and controversy, this church hopes to contribute to the search for the individual as well as for the common good in public life."

In a concluding section, the ELCA Social Statement on the Church in Society commits the ELCA through all its expressions (churchwide, synods, congregations social ministry organizations, schools, etc.) to:

1. Foster in individual ELCA members an understanding of and commitment to their calling to be actively and critically engaged in the world in ministries of compassion, mercy, peace-making, healing, environmental stewardship and justice as well as being actively engaged in their calling as citizens in a democracy;
2. Witnessing as an institutional church to God’s will for the healing of God’s beloved creation; and
3. Embracing the ELCA’s self-appointed challenge to be a community of moral deliberation in which passionate and respectful deliberation on important social issues—deliberation informed by Scripture, tradition, human reason and experience—is engaged in pursuit of discernment of what God is calling us to in the here and now.

For the full text of the ELCA Social Statement, "The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective," visit the ELCA website: www.elca.org/socialstatements/churchinsociety

Center Priorities (.pdf)

Bulletin Inserts
Child Support (.pdf)
Environment (.pdf)
Housing Trust (.pdf)
Indigent Defense (.pdf)
Payday Lending (.pdf)
Minimum Wage (.pdf)

Advocacy Resources
Advocacy Guide (.doc)
Advocacy Portal (link)
Lending Info. (.ppt)
Richmond Map (.pdf)

For Small Groups
Eco-Stewardship (link)
Prayers for Creation (link)
Poverty Diet (link)

Policy Briefs
EITC (.doc)
TANF Child Support (.doc)
Payday Loans (.doc)
Healing Creation (.doc)
Child Ombudsman (.doc)
Affordable Housing (.doc)
Indigent Defense (.doc)
Minimum Wage (.doc)
Wage & EITC (.doc)
VA Tribes (.link)

Actions
Lending Petition (link)
Title Petition (link)
Wage Petition (link)

Reports
Budget Analysis (.pdf)
Food Stamps (.doc)
Lottery Study (link)

FAQ's (link)

Your donation helps the Interfaith Center advocate for a more compassionate Commonwealth. Your gifts support trainings, advocacy, community programs, and briefing development. Get involved and begin to Learn Pray and Act with us. Together we can!