Resolution Thirteen ...
A Resolution to Memorialize the Presiding Bishop of the
ELCA to Immediately Create a Roster of Retired Pastors Who Are Willing to
Be Called to Serve as Interim Pastors, or to Provide Pulpit Relief, to
Congregations in Disaster-Stricken Areas
WHEREAS, in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the financial,
emotional, and spiritual burdens on congregations afflicted by disaster
have increased enormously;
WHEREAS, a number of congregations in the Texas Louisiana Gulf
Coast Synod have been unable to call pastoral staff to lead them because
of the uncertainty of their circumstances in the wake of Hurricanes;
WHEREAS, the finances of some disaster-stricken congregations have
been so devastated that they are unable to adequately compensate their
pastors in order that they can continue to live in the communities where
they have been called to serve;
WHEREAS, the pastoral staffs of other congregations have been
severely taxed as a result of their responsibility not merely to lead
their own congregations, but to assist in the support and rebuilding of
other congregations destroyed—or placed at risk--by the hurricanes and
their aftermath; and,
WHEREAS, there is a need for an intentional commitment on the part
of the national church to provide additional, ordained leadership in times
of crisis in order to assist those churches in need of pastoral staff, and
to provide relief to those pastors who have struggled without respite
since these disasters.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod
memorialize the 2007 Churchwide Assembly and the Presiding Bishop to
request that:
1. the Presiding Bishop promptly undertake to identify and
create a list of retired, rostered clergy and chaplains who are willing to
serve in disaster stricken areas as intentional, interim pastoral staff
for those congregations that need pastors, or to provide respite and
relief to existing pastoral staff in disaster-stricken communities and
congregations that need additional help; and,
2. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America provide
resources sufficient to fund the amounts necessary to pay interim and
permanent pastoral staff salaries (if local congregations lack the means
to do so) in order to permit rostered clergy and chaplains to return to
the service of the church in disaster-stricken areas.
Person Submitting
Resolution: Kathy Patrick, Arthur Murphy, Joye Roll, Herb Palmer, Kathy Palmer,
Faith Lutheran Church, Bellaire, TX
Implications of Resolution (if adopted)
1. What is the financial impact of this resolution on the synod
budget?
None. This is an effort that should be funded by the ELCA.
2. What are the personnel implications within our synod (or
churchwide)? Who will be responsible for implementations of the resolution?
The personnel implications within our synod are that the Bishop of the
Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod would need to maintain a list of congregations
and/or pastoral staff that are in need of interim relief. The Bishop would then
need to identify—from the national list—candidates who would be appropriate to
serve those congregations.
3. How does this resolution enhance and forward the mission of the
church and our synod?
The experience of these devastating hurricanes has taught us that the
rebuilding of a community is critically dependent upon the immediate rebuilding
of churches, and the ongoing support of their ministry. In the wake of disaster,
the people of a community look to their church to provide a sense of stability
in times when much has been lost. Churches are also important centers for the
mobilization of aid to those desperately in need. Yet, even as we recognize this
is true, the physical and financial rebuilding of churches, and the maintenance
of their pastoral staffs has not been prioritized appropriately in the disaster
planning of the ELCA or Lutheran Disaster Relief.
Nearly two years after these devastating hurricanes, there are churches in
Louisiana and East Texas that are wounded and are still in need of healing and
support. These churches cannot survive--or thrive--without dedicated pastoral
staffs to help stabilize and support their movement from survival to revival.
Just as St. Paul asked the Romans and the Corinthians to provide financial
support to the church in Jerusalem, so the national church (and its rostered
leadership) should be willing to respond to the need of these churches for
pastoral leadership and support.
This resolution enhances the mission of the church and our synod because it
affirms that we are all one body in Christ, and that the call of the Holy Spirit
to service it is not limited by state or synodical boundaries. The coordination,
funding, and staffing of this effort is an essential part of the mission not
only of the Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, but of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, as well.
Return to Resolutions Page
Return to Assembly 2007
Page
|