Beth Smaligo was one of the young-adult voting members of the 2011 Churchwide Assembly.
“Wonderful and overwhelming” is how Beth Smaligo describes her experience at the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
“I pretty much took everything in like a little child,” Beth says. “But being in a convention center with so many people all at once was overwhelming, and having some of the plenary sessions extended was also overwhelming. But the entire atmosphere of the assembly was wonderful.”
Beth was a voting member at the Churchwide Assembly, the ELCA’s chief legislative authority. Voting members make important decisions on behalf of this church, which is no small task. Just ask Beth.
“Getting into the business of the church, listening and voting was a very deep and fulfilling experience for me,” says Beth.
Witnessing the official launch of the ELCA Malaria Campaign and the adoption of the “Genetics, Faith and Responsibility” social statement “spoke a lot to me about what this church is committed to doing in the 21st century,” she says.
An insatiable curiosity
Beth is a member of Harrold Zion Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Greensburg, Pa., and she’s also a busy college student. She attends the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, double-majoring in English literature and communications with a minor in music.
So while attending the Churchwide Assembly was unlike anything Beth has ever experienced, one thing was familiar. There were people there her age.
Of the 1,025 voting members at the 2011 Churchwide Assembly, 109 of them were under the age of 30, and 22 voting members were under the age of 18 — an unprecedented representation.
And as chair of the assembly, Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, felt the impact.
Young voting members “brought almost an insatiable curiosity about how our Lutheran faith informs their life in such a rapidly changing, complex and diverse world,” he says.
“From my first meeting with youth and young adult voting members at a pre-assembly welcome dinner, I was struck by the depth and breadth of their questions,” says Hanson. And throughout the assembly, “I was so impressed by how often it was young adults who were speaking to almost every issue that went before the assembly.
“Often, young adults were on both sides of an issue. They brought theological wisdom, life experience, and passion for a church that will make a difference in the lives of others in the world, especially those who are suffering,” says Hanson.
Following closing worship, Bishop Hanson said he was approached by a young voting member who came to him with tears in her eyes. “She said to me, ‘Bishop, I came to this assembly not sure I was even a Christian anymore, and now I’m leaving with my faith deeply renewed.’”
Beth’s faith was also deepened. Among her profound experiences at the assembly was time spent with her prayer partner, another voting member her age.
“My prayer partner had some pretty compelling stories to share, and it was good to connect with someone instead of being lost in the crowd.”
When asked if she would return to a Churchwide Assembly, Beth responds with a resounding “Yes!” Her next opportunity is Aug. 12-18, 2013, when the assembly convenes in Pittsburgh.
I will say right up front that although I was raised a Lutheran, I am now a Catholic. I am astounded by this article. I know that the decision of CWA09 had a profound impact on the ELCA, both financially (involving millions of dollars in church contributions) and in terms of membership. A Churchwide Assembly decides doctrine and policy for the ELCA, just as a Council like Vatican II decides doctrine for the Catholic Church. How is it possible that the ELCA chooses as a voting member, a lovely young girl -- with little or no theological training -- or one who would even say: "Bishop, I came to this assembly not sure I was even a Christian anymore," to decide church doctrine that could make or break the ELCA for years to come?
kkahler,
Jesus picked tax collectors and illiterate fishermen to start His church. Faith isn't about head-knowledge or being trained, but about trust in Christ's death and resurrection alone and only for the forgiveness of our sins. That's not something that can be taught, but is a gift given freely to all of us by God. Furthermore, those disciples Jesus picked to start His church get accused of having little to no faith all the time, so even that may not be a good criterion.
On a practical level, there are two issues to consider. One is that the church is called to proclaim the Gospel to the whole world, and we need experience from all walks of life in deciding how best to proclaim that Gospel. The other issue is that theological training is no guarantee for correctly deciding church doctrine. We have the Reformation as the best example of this, along with the Crusades, and various prominent heretics, but the other good example are scholars, who have a great degree of expertise, like Bart Ehrman, Robert Eisenman and others. Many of these people, although highly educated, lose their faith as they probe more deeply into the OT, NT or Dead Sea Scrolls. Those reasons even leave out invoking Luther's 'every person with a Bible is his/her own priest.'
I was just reading the recommendations from LIFT. (the italics are mine) Sounds to me like these ideas have been tried before....
The presiding bishop and Conference of Bishops should be given stronger roles in "engaging critical issues," the LIFT report said. Social statements (teaching documents on social issues approved by Churchwide Assemblies) have often been controversial as they have dealt with such things as abortion and sexuality.
The "discernment" sought should focus on the ELCA's "identity and mission," the report said, with the presiding bishop being the "prime catalyst" in the conversations.
http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=10178
Stronger roles does not mean excluding young adults from the process. Actually, I think it's very important with issues like sexuality and abortion to include everyone in the discussion. What would the uproar be like if the Presiding Bishop had decided that we were going to allow clergy to officiate for same-gendered marriages, and ordain said people? Instead, we had 2/3rds of the CWA (and lots of Synod Assemblies) adopt the Sexuality statement, and allow those congregations that really really wanted to, to call pastors in publicly accountable, monogamous, lifelong same-gendered relationships. It's way easier to implement something like this when people had a voice.