2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Transcription

1 SECTION 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE A. INTRODUCTION Table of Contents... A-1 Greetings National Bishop... A-3 Local Arrangements Committee.. A-4 Convention Worship Committee. A-5 Letters of Greeting.. A-6 Convention Appointments, Committees & Co-ordination... A-18 List of Attendees.... TBD B. INFORMATION FOR ATTENDEES Information Letter No. 2 B-1 Program-at-a-Glance... B-8 TCU Place Floor Plans B-9 Convention Hotels and Maps of Saskatoon... B-11 Our Exhibitors.... B-14 Our Sponsors B-16 Delegate Expense Form B-17 Delegate Meals and Transportation Allowances B-18 Evaluation Form. B-19 C. AGENDAS Agenda for Convention.. C-1 Agenda for Corporation Meeting, Luther College... Agenda for Corporation Meeting, Lutheran Collegiate Bible Institute... C-9 C-10 Delegate Orientation to Convention Procedures C-11 Standing Rules of Order. C-13 Guide for Those Speaking at Microphones C-17 Acronyms... C-18 D. GOVERNANCE DOCUMENTS Vision and Mission Statement... D-1 ELCIC National/Synodical Responsibilities.. D-2 ELCIC Constitution... D-3 ELCIC Administrative Bylaws.. D-19 ELCIC Corporate Bylaws.. D-40 E. OFFICERS REPORTS Report of the National Bishop... E-1 Report of the Vice-President.. E-14 Covenant People: In Mission for Others, Thirteenth Biennial Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada A-1

2 SECTION PAGE E. OFFICERS REPORTS (continued) Report of the Secretary... E-15 Nominating Committee. E-16 Nominees Biographies.. E-18 Nomination Bio Form E-37 Report of the Treasurer.. E-38 Report of the Department of Finance and Administration E Audited Financial Statement... E-48 F. NATIONAL CHURCH COUNCIL REPORT Report of the National Church Council. F-1 Appendix #1 Appendix #2 Appendix #3 Appendix #4 Appendix #5 Appendix #6 Appendix #7 Appendix #8 Appendix #9 Appendix #10 Appendix #11 Appendix #11b Appendix #12 Appendix #12b Appendix #13 Appendix #14 Appendix #15 Appendix #16 Appendix #17 Appendix #F-A Appendix #F-B Appendix #F-C Appendix #F-D Letter to Group Services Inc... Letter to Pam Radunsky, Evangelical Lutheran Women Inc..... Letter to Synod Bishops, Peace in the Holy Land... Letter to Bishop Munib Younan, Peace in the Holy Land.. Letter to Prime Minister, Peace in the Holy Land... Letter to Prime Minister, KYOTOplus goals.. Letter to Premier of NWT, KYOTOplus goals... Letter to Prime Minister, Cancellation of Illegitimate Debt... Program Committee for Leadership for Ministry Report Letter to Prime Minister, Affordable Housing Letter to Prime Minister, Human Trafficking. Letter to Premier of BC, Human Trafficking.. Letter to Minister of Immigration, Mikhail Lennikov, Sanctuary. Letter to Minister of Public Safety, Mikhail Lennikov, Sanctuary Agreement between EKD and ELCIC. ELCIC Guidelines for Appointments.. ELCIC Guidelines for Retired Rostered Ministers.. Recommendations of the Committee of Reference and Counsel ELCIC Budgets for 2012 and List of Convention Motions... Structural Renewal Task Force Report Financial Resource Generation Strategy Proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality The Public Witness of the ELCIC F-33 F-34 F-36 F-37 F-39 F-43 F-45 F-47 F-50 F-56 F-58 F-60 F-62 F-63 F-64 F-70 F-71 F-75 F-77 F-86 F-A 1 F-B 1 F-C 1 F-D 1 G. CORPORATION REPORTS Reports of the Schools Luther College of Regina G-1 Lutheran Collegiate Bible Institute (LCBI) High School... G-4 Report of ELCIC Group Services Inc. (GSI) G-8 Report of Evangelical Lutheran Women Inc.... G-10 H. PARTNER REPORTS Report of Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR)... H-1 Report of Lutheran Council in Canada. H-3 Covenant People: In Mission for Others, Thirteenth Biennial Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada A-2

3 May 1, 2011 Dear Delegates, Visitors, and Guests to National Convention: Greetings and welcome to the 13th Biennial Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada! As our time together draws nearer, I am looking forward to our National Convention with a spirit of joy and anticipation and I hope you are too! Our convention theme this year, Covenant People: In Mission for Others, focuses upon the responsibility we bear toward each other and toward others by virtue of our heritage as covenant people. God joins us together in the covenant of baptism and called to live our lives as disciples of Jesus. I have been encouraging the ELCIC community in the direction of spiritual renewal and a more profound witness to our neighbours. We will explore aspects of this call to read, pray, worship, study, serve, give and tell throughout our assembly. The word treaty is a synonym for covenant, so the theme Covenant People: In Mission for Others gives us the opportunity to explore how we as a church and as Canadians are treaty people, and challenge ourselves to a stronger relationship with our indigenous brothers and sisters. We ve tried to bring some innovations to National Convention this year. In our planning and our reporting we are trying to be a greener church in response to the motion from the last convention. We are reintroducing a banquet to help us celebrate our 25th anniversary as a church. We ve changed the format of the forum time and will meet and learn together as a whole group about our relationship with indigenous peoples in Canada. These changes are spelled out more fully in the National Bishop s Report to Convention that you will find in this Bulletin of Reports. I trust that these changes and indeed the whole convention experience as we gather to worship, study, pray, sing, have fun, learn, and do the business of the church will help us deepen in our discipleship and grow in spiritual renewal. Please join me in praying for our church as we prepare to meet in convention. May God bless you and grant you safe travel! Yours in Christ, Rev. Susan C. Johnson National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada Covenant People: In Mission for Others, Thirteenth Biennial Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada A-3

4 May 1, 2011 Dear Delegate: As the saying goes, Saskatoon Shines! It s no secret our prairie city has a tried and true reputation for offering visitors a warm down home welcome. As our city s spring blossoms fade into bright days of summer our Local Arrangements Committee continues to be hard at work preparing final details to make your convention stay shine as you arrive for the 13th Biennial ELCIC National Convention, July 14 to17. Following your registration at TCU Place in the heart of downtown Saskatoon, and as you participate in the convention, please remember to stop by and visit us at the hospitality desk. We look forward to assisting you with any inquiries and to making your convention experience a happy one. As always, we welcome the support of volunteers during the convention. Various volunteer opportunities are available. Please visit the Volunteer link on the 2011 Convention website: Perhaps someone accompanying you to the convention would like to help out. If volunteering is of interest, please contact: djmeyer@sasktel.net. The convention theme in 2011 is one that reflects on caring and commitment: Covenant People: In Mission for Others. We trust that this convention focus will encourage all of us to make a difference and to reach out in faith, hope and love. Sincerely, Joan Meyer, Chair Kathy Birg, Vice-Chair Local Arrangements Committee Covenant People: In Mission for Others, Thirteenth Biennial Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada A-4

5 COVENANT PEOPLE: IN MISSION FOR OTHERS The heart of our gathering as church is worship. At the 2011 ELCIC National Convention delegates and visitors will share our rich heritage of liturgy and song. When we gather at TCU Place in Saskatoon, worship will take place in the same assembly space as our business sessions. Worship in Word and Sacrament opens and closes the convention and begins and ends each business day. Our worship and work are one. Our worship will express the richness of our Lutheran and ecumenical traditions, resources from other communities and cultures, and the vitality and diversity of creative talents from across our National Church. Our core resource for convention worship is Evangelical Lutheran Worship. All delegates and visitors are asked to bring a copy for use at the convention. If you cannot access one, copies will be available for sale or you may sign one out by deposit at the time of registration. Worship presiders and proclaimers include our National and synodical bishops, as well as other pastors, lay ministers and gifted musicians from across our church and the community of Saskatoon and area. Convention chaplains are Rev. Val From and Rev. Ali Tote. We are also delighted to have serving as principal Convention Musician, Joy Berg. Through baptismal waters and in God s Word proclaimed, through the prayers of God s people and in Jesus meal of himself given for all, through assembly song and in mutual acts of peace sharing, forgiveness and healing, we receive all we need to faithfully live out our calling together to be Covenant People: In Mission for Others. So come, let us worship and work together! In the Holy Spirit of hope, with Christ at the centre of all we do, by God s grace; The Convention Worship Committee David Hunter Katherine Soule Blaser Lisa Skogsrud Anna Marie Skogsrud Barbara Groote Dennis Hendricksen Covenant People: In Mission for Others, Thirteenth Biennial Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada A-5

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9 3074 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg MB R3K 0Y2 Phone: (204) Fax: (204) Toll Free: LUTHCAN ( ) To Delegates of the 2011 National Convention Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada Office of the President THE REV. ROBERT BUGBEE, D.D. Dear sisters and brothers: I treasure this opportunity to greet you in Christ s Name and on behalf of the congregations, pastors and deacons of Lutheran Church-Canada. May the Lord bless the speaking and listening that happens during your time in Saskatoon. As you mark 25 years since the founding of the ELCIC, this will be a moment of thanksgiving for you and your parishes across the country. Anything good that took place in your midst in this quarter-century happened because of the undeserved blessing of God, and I m confident you will use this moment to praise and thank Him. It s also a moment for reflection, as you take stock of things that have gone well and sometimes not so well in your life together. It s a sober moment, too, both in your church and in ours, for any number of reasons. Inter-Lutheran relationships in Canada are far more distant than they were a few decades ago. There is little sign that will change in the near future. In general, Christianity seems to be losing its hold on the Canadian people. We are all struggling with the influences of materialism, self-centeredness, the urbanization of our land, to name just a few challenges. Congregations in rural areas, accustomed to robust ministry for generations, now find it hard to maintain full-time pastoral service in their midst; the cost of worker benefits in the church seems unmanageable for some parishes; the reluctance of local congregations to pass a strong portion of their offerings on to the work of the regional and national church puts pressure on leaders trying to do more with less. The renewal of Lutheran churches in Canada will not come through pronouncements by church presidents and bishops. It will not be kindled by ecclesiastical meetings in board rooms or convention halls. The renewal of Lutheran churches, if it is to happen at all, will take place in local congregations among the rank-and-file people of God. Most of their names will never make headlines. As your national bishop noted in a Canada Lutheran column a while back, there s this problem, Christianity Lite, in which even regular churchgoers are not very rooted in the truths of the Gospel and not as devoted to it as they ought to be. It s an inter-synodical problem; an international problem. It should be a five alarm crisis for Lutheran Christians in many parts of the world. It s not receiving nearly enough attention in places where the church has existed for a long, long time. Alarming as it is, it s also liberating to face this fact. The solution does not have to be some new thing nobody ever thought of before. It doesn t require you to be a professional theologian. It can begin unfolding when we find our way back to the great solas of Luther s Reformation: solus Christus, Covenant People: In Mission for Others, Thirteenth Biennial Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada A-9

10 sola gratia, sola fide, sola Scriptura Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone. When Christ is preached as the Saviour of sinners; when God s Law is sounded in all its severity and people are invited to flee for refuge to the Jesus Who died for them and was raised again; when we stop playing church and put our effort into the kind of teaching and programming that kindles true faith and helps it mature; when we aren t satisfied merely to say nice things about the Bible, but actually to live immersed in the Word on a daily basis and to let that Word call the shots instead of our slogans, our polished statements, and our institutional strategizing; only then we will become the sort of blessing to our neighbours the Lord intends us to be. Only then we will be the kind of churches our members can passionately love. Then we will not be able to stop them from wanting to invite their unchurched friends to find a home with Christ, too. I take this opportunity to thank your ELCIC representatives on the Lutheran Council in Canada, who work with us to ensure a Lutheran presence in military and prison chaplaincy, and in the scouting movement. I appreciate their collegiality very much. As I send these lines your way, I pray that God will lead you to decisions faithful to His revealed Word and decisions that will contribute to the unity of the Lutheran family in Canada and around the world. Sincere greetings in Christ, Robert Bugbee, President Lutheran Church-Canada Covenant People: In Mission for Others, Thirteenth Biennial Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada A-10

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18 2011 CONVENTION APPOINTMENTS CONVENTION CHAPLAINS Valerie From, Saskatoon, SK Ali Tote, Saskatoon, SK CONVENTION WORSHIP COMMITTEE David Hunter, Co-Chair Katherine Soule Blaser, Co-Chair CONVENTION COMMITTEES Reference and Counsel Minutes Elections TBA TBA TBA Registration and Credentials TBA Parliamentarian Bishop (Retired) Richard Smith Dennis Hendricksen Barbara Groote Lisa Skogsrud Anna Marie Skogsrud Local Arrangements Committee Joan Meyer, Chair and Secretary Kathy Birg, Vice-Chair Margareth Peterson, Registration Arnie Leis and Peter Salekin, Treasurers Fran Seidler and Susan Miller, Office Beverly Pavelich, Hospitality David Hunter, Worship Dr. Faith Rohrbough, Head Usher Ev Schumacher, Head Usher Elaine Hesje, Head Steward Margaret Fast, Head Steward Joan Meyer, Kathy Birg, Transportation CONVENTION CO-ORDINATION Gloria McNabb, CMA, Convention Manager Faye Schultz, Co-Convention Co-Coordinator Susan Michaels, Co-Convention Co-Coordinator Catherine Crevici, Convention Banner & Graphics Norm Coull, Copy Editing Trina Gallop, Convention Communications Barb Wiebe, Convention Registration Rick Natividad, Website Barbara Palz, Convention Accounting Covenant People: In Mission for Others, Thirteenth Biennial Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada A-18