2009 Churchwide Assembly Blog

Posts from Minneapolis: 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly

Assembly Online

Posted on August 20th, 2009 by Scott Post

There are a lot of ways to keep track of the events of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly online.  If you’ve been to the ELCA’s Assembly Multimedia page, you may find more options than you bargained for!  Here’s a quick walkthrough:

Assembly Video offers video highlights of the assembly, live video of the plenary sessions as they happen, and archives of past plenary sessions.

Photo Gallery shows the official ELCA online photo album. Additionally, any viewer can upload their own churchwide assembly images  to the “Your Photos” section.

Assembly Audio allows you to listen to both past and current plenary sessions, much like Assembly Video.

Assembly Blog takes you here! (Did you learn about the blog from the Multimedia page or from elsewhere? Leave a reply in the Comments section below!)

Tweet with us! displays the ELCA’s Twitter entries.  (Want to learn more about Twitter?) If you use Twitter, include “#CWA09” with your words to add your tweets to the pool being watched by others using Twitter.

ELCA Facebook lets you join the brief discussions taking place on the ELCA’s Facebook page.  (Don’t have a Facebook account? Creating one is fast and free!)

ELCA News Feed is a quick path to the ELCA News Service’s press releases on the events of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.  You can also subscribe to receive the news releases by email.

LutherLink is an online forum dedicated to ELCA members and leaders.  You can join discussion groups, participate in sermon text study, discuss ministry concerns, and much more.

Have you used any of these resources and want to share your thoughts? Leave a comment below, and participate in the CWA09 poll to the right!

Lutherans Garner Nationwide Attention

Posted on August 18th, 2009 by Scott Post

The 2009 Churchwide Assembly is up and running now, and the national media have risen alongside it.  If you’ve been watching the live video stream, you’ve kept on top of the events of the assembly as they happen.  It may still interest you to note the variety of news sources that have begun to focus on the ELCA this week:

Many at the assembly have objected to the perspectives expressed by these news sources.  Twitter user @tbuegler noted (by including hashtag #CWA09):

“Victory” language not helpful. Discernment isn’t a contest

Others have expressed disappointment at the level of attention directed only at the vote on the proposed social statement on human sexuality.  For reference, in the last 24 hours, the following actions have been taken by the assembly (see the full schedule or the voting results):

  • Parliamentarian procedure presented and discussed
  • Rules of Organization and Procedure passed; 861-137
  • Report of Presiding Bishop presented
  • First Presentation of 2010-2011 Budget
  • Introduction of HIV/AIDS strategy
  • Introduction of Proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality
  • Recommendation on Lutheran Malaria Initiative passed; 989-11
  • Hearings on specific events held

These hearings span a vast range of topics: Lutherans Read the Bible, Budget, Evangelizing Congregations, Lutheran Malaria Initiative, Middle East Strategy, Ministry Policies Recommendation, Proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality, Full-Communion Agreement with The United Methodist Church, Board of Pensions Update, HIV and AIDS Strategy, and World Hunger Appeal/Disaster Response.

The proposed social statement and ministry recommendation are certainly important considerations, but don’t let the secular media coverage fool you: there’s so much more to this assembly than sexuality.

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