Two Basic Reforms for the ELCA

Lyall A. Schwarzkopf

 

   If we could make only two changes to the Constitution of the ELCA to create substantial reform, what would they be?  One, elect one person from each Synod to be the Churchwide Council.  Two, require ratification by congregations or Synods of all new policies or amendments to policies; and new Constitutional, Bylaw, and Continuing Resolution provisions or amendments adopted at Churchwide Assemblies.

 

Start with the Constitution

   Changing the ELCA’s Constitution and Bylaws is the only way to bring about these two reforms in the church.  In 1987 when the ELCA merger was accomplished, the Constitution and Bylaws of the ELCA were written to put all control of the church into the Churchwide Council, the Churchwide officers, and the Churchwide Assembly.  Through the passage of these two reform amendments to the Constitution, the people in the church will be able to curb some of that power.

 

First Major Reform - Each Synod Represented on Churchwide Council

   Today the Churchwide Council controls Constitutional and Bylaw changes at the Churchwide Assembly by its appointment of the members of the Reference and Counsel Committee.  This Committee reviews all Bylaws and Constitutional changes and reports their recommendations to the Churchwide Assembly.  In general, the Churchwide Council will appoint people to the Reference and Counsel Committee who believe as they do.  Therefore the recommendations of the Reference and Counsel Committee will be what most of the Churchwide Council wants.  As a “voting member” to the Churchwide Assembly, I have seen how most Assembly members will follow the recommendations of the Reference and Counsel Committee. 

 

   In addition, the Churchwide Council controls which synodical resolutions will be approved by the Churchwide Assembly through its appointment of the members of the Memorials Committee.  The Memorials Committee reviews all synodical resolutions and recommends to the Churchwide Assembly which resolutions to pass or defeat and which ones to refer for more study.  Again, in the past, the “voting members” of the Churchwide Assembly have tended to follow the recommendations of the Memorials Committee.

 

   If the first reform were approved, the Synods, through their members on the Churchwide Council, would control these appointments and hopefully the recommendations of the Counsel and Reference Committee and the Memorials Committee at the Churchwide Assembly would likely be more in line with the Synods.

 

Second Major Reform - Local Ratification

   Currently, when the Churchwide Assembly passes a Constitutional, Bylaw or Continuing Resolutions provision or amendment, recommended by the Churchwide Council, it immediately goes into effect.  If the provision or amendment affects the Synod and/or the congregation, each Synod and/or congregation MUST change its Constitutions and Bylaws to reflect the churchwide change.  If it affects only the administrative operation of churchwide organization, then that structure will be changed.  In addition, if a churchwide committee, department, or division develops a new policy or changes an existing policy, either ecclesiastical or secular, the Churchwide Assembly will be asked to approve it.  Once it is approved, it becomes churchwide policy.  You may or may not support the policy, but it is policy of the ELCA.

 

   If the second reform were in effect, the Constitutional, Bylaws, or Continuing Resolution proposal or amendment could not become effective until either a majority of the congregations or 60% of the Synods have ratified the proposal or amendment.  The same would hold true for new policies or for policy changes approved by the Churchwide Assembly.  This reform would provide the ELCA members in the synods or the congregations the right to decide if they agree with the Churchwide Assembly.  The second reform is an effective check on the power of the Churchwide Assembly, the Churchwide organization, the Churchwide Council and the Churchwide officers.

 

Reform is not Easy

   In the 2003 Churchwide Assembly some Synod Bishops and “voting members” proposed to amend the ELCA Constitution so that the Churchwide Council would be 65 members, one from each Synod.  It lost 428 to 554.  Another Constitutional amendment was proposed to require ratification by a majority of the Synods within 12 months after the Churchwide Assembly had passed a Constitutional amendment.  That motion lost by a vote of 701 to 285.  This shows how hard it has been to pass these two reforms in the ELCA today. 

 

How Does Reform Come About?

   Everything begins with the “voting members” you elect from your Synod to the Churchwide Assembly.  You should elect the same “voting member” over many years so he or she will learn how the Churchwide Assembly works and so they get to know the ELCA is controlled.  The “voting members” should be people who will represent you and will have your values with a desire to reform the ELCA.  This needs to be done nationwide and then, after a few years, the “voting members” to the Churchwide Assembly will have enough votes to pass the two reforms described above. 

 

Lyall A. Schwarzkopf is a member of El Milagro/The Miracle Lutheran Church,

Minneapolis

He is an experienced parliamentarian and  has career experience in secular government

 

 

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