Living Faith – Exploring the Social Statements of the Church

Living Faith is a series exploring the social statements of the ELCA. The ELCA – Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – is the national church of which All Saints is a part.

“ELCA social statements are teaching and policy documents that provide broad frame-works to assist us in thinking about and discussing social issues in the context of faith and life. They are meant to help communities and individuals with moral formation, discernment and thoughtful engagement with current social issues as we participate in God’s work in the world. Social statements also set policy for the ELCA and guide its advocacy and work as a publicly engaged church. They result from an extensive process of participation and deliberation and are adopted by a two-thirds vote of an ELCA churchwide assembly.”

www.elca.org

This summer, members of All Saints community are invited in join in a series of discussions of ELCA social statements. Because some of the statements are long, and we want time for people to read them, we will take two weeks between gatherings. If you do not read them all the way through, you can still join us for discussion; the main points of each will be included in the opening presentation.Discussions will be Sundays at noon -after the second service. We will gather both in person and on Zoom, with an opening presentation together and separate discussion groups for Zoom and in-person participants.

May 16Introduction and Framing, Economic Life
May 30Health and Health Care
June 13Race, Ethnicity and Culture
June 27Immigration (Social Message)
July 11Caring for Creation
June 25Faith/Sexism/Justice
August 8The Church and Criminal Justice