Three-year church engagement project to kick off at National Convention.
What does it mean to be a church for today, and for the future? It’s a question at the heart of an exciting new initiative within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), one that’s calling the church to imagine bold possibilities while facing present-day realities.
A newly-formed steering committee, aptly titled Facing Today—Dreaming for the Future, will explore these questions and more as it embarks on a three-year project aimed at guiding positive transformation within the ELCIC’s national and synodical structures. The initiative will consider current financial realities and the evolving landscapes of congregations across the country, while creating space for meaningful conversations about what it means to be church in the years ahead.
In January 2025, officers of the synods and national church gathered in Winnipeg for a consultation, also titled Facing Today—Dreaming for the Future. Together, these elected leaders worked collaboratively to explore the challenges of declining revenue and consider potential changes to the ELCIC’s organizational structures. A full report from the consultation, along with eight motions, was presented to National Church Council in March 2025. Among these was a motion to establish a steering committee which would further explore these challenges and considerations of structural change through a process of broad consultation.
“A big part of this group is to get out there and connect,” said steering committee member Reis Cooper, a lay member from the Synod of Alberta and the Territories. “We want to be the glue that is out there collecting all the information and bringing it back here for discussion. We want all voices to be heard, and that can be difficult, but we are up for the task. And we aim to supply consistent communication throughout this process.”
Beginning with a with a year-long focus on listening and learning, the committee will utilize various engagement methods to connect with as many ELCIC members as possible. Through congregational visits, presentations, meetings, one-on-one conversations, online submissions, and more, they plan to gather feedback on the hopes and aspirations of church members for the future of the ELCIC.
“Serving at the congregational level, while being involved with many initiatives in my Synod and part of conversations at National Church Council, I am excited about the work the whole church is doing to discern together where the Holy Spirit is leading us,” said steering committee member Rev. Katrina Vigen of Redeemer, Vancouver.
“I am excited to be part of the church at this time, as it feels like an awesome privilege to be involved with this birth, just as we eagerly await new life,” Rev. Vigen continued. “And we want to hear from everyone. What are we facing today and what can we dream of together for our future? We have started a journey, and we don’t know where God is guiding us, but we know and we trust that God is leading us, that the Holy Spirit is ahead of us.”
Facing Today—Dreaming for the Future has two one-hour timeslots at the upcoming 2025 ELCIC National Convention. Delegates will take part in table group discussions to share their input on the future direction of the ELCIC, including structural change within the church at both synod and national expressions.
“A key concept is that we don’t want to do this in isolation,” Cooper added. “We want very much to have every congregation’s voice heard. There will be polls, surveys, chances for in-person information sessions and more.”
The steering committee, made up of 12 members, includes two representatives from each of the five synods (one lay, one rostered) as well as two members from the ELCIC’s National Church Council (one lay, one rostered). A consulting group has also been formally engaged in the process, which includes five individuals led by Canon Ian Alexander and Rev. Peter Elliott, both of whom have recently been involved in similar strategic planning processes through the Anglican Church of Canada.
“After Convention, we’re going to go to Synod councils, and we’re going to find ways, whether it’s through personal visits, whether it’s through online consultations, surveys, or all of the above, of reaching into every congregation and giving, hopefully, every member of the ELCIC an opportunity or more than one opportunity to express themselves,” Alexander said. “We want to hear what their sense of vision and purpose for the church is. What are their hopes, what are the concerns, even fears, maybe. What would you like to see as the potential future of the church?”
“This is more or less a church-wide consensus building project that starts with deep intentional listening,” Alexander continued. “Then in the second phase, the church can expect that we’ll be coming back and saying, ‘here’s some things people suggested, here’s some ideas we’ve heard.’ Then it becomes a reality of testing some options. So, by the 2028 National Convention, we will have some suggestions for how the whole ELCIC – nationally and regionally – might get transformed, restructured, reorganized.”
