The September 30 deadline for members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) to provide feedback on the Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality is quickly approaching. Feedback provided on the document will be carefully considered by the ELCIC’s Human Sexuality Task Force and used to make further revisions to the document which will be brought before National Church Council (NCC) in February 2011.
“We are once again going back to our members and partners and asking for feedback, this time on the draft social statement,” says Judy Wry, chair of the Human Sexuality Task Force. “Feedback is critical to the process. On behalf of the members of the task force, I would like to thank everyone who has or will be taking the time to review the draft social statement and provide us with their thoughts and suggestions. The task force will be reviewing, compiling and considering all the feedback that is provided."
ELCIC members were first invited to respond to the draft when it was released on April 15, 2010. The draft social statement follows a church-wide initiative that saw ELCIC members participating in an ELCIC Study of Human Sexuality. The study, which was also prepared by the task force, engaged members of the church in dialogue and respectful conversation as part of a consultative process to generate feedback and inform the process of drafting a social statement.
Following a review of the statement by NCC, it is intended that it will be presented to the 2011 ELCIC National Convention. Delegates to the convention must endorse the final document if it is to become a social statement.
Within the ELCIC, "a social statement is a theological and ethical document that provides a foundation for understanding God’s living word in the light of the changing realities of the modern world. A social statement seeks to provide the social analysis and theological basis for the collective ELCIC understanding of a continuing crucial issue that arises out of the mission of the ELCIC." The social statement seeks to explore what it means to live faithfully when facing a variety of sexuality matters, such as identity, personal relationships, gender discrimination, marriage, family life, abuse and human trafficking. The draft of the Social Statement on Human Sexuality seeks to find words that the ELCIC holds in common regarding human sexuality.
To view the Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality, visit the following website: https://elcic.ca/Human-Sexuality/default.cfm
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 152,500 baptized members in 607 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.
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