ELCA Social Teachings

[1] As 16 invited individuals gathered in Chicago in autumn of 1989, it soon became apparent that this group of Lutherans was very special. Several members of the Department for Studies selected members of the task force for the Division for Church in Society based on prior knowledge of potential candidates, telephone interviews, and recommendations […]

[1] Ten years have flown by; it was such a great experience to be part of the task force. I think often of the people I met. I keep in touch with Lisa Lundgren. [2] Living in South Central Nebraska farming is my main concern. Farmers are going to minimum tillage (preventing the erosion of […]

[1] In a meeting I was recently asked what I thought about Wittenberg’s statement of institutional values. All I could think to say was “Values are good. These seem fine.” (It had been a long meeting.) I suspect that some readers may have a similar reaction to the proposed social statement “Caring for Health: Our […]

[1] I serve the church as President and CEO of Immanuel Health Systems (IHS), Omaha, Nebraska. IHS, which began its ministry in 1887 under the leadership of Rev. E.A. Fogelstrom, is affiliated with the Nebraska Synod, ELCA. Over the years, Immanuel became of a pillar of the Augustana Synod with its Deaconess Institute and “works […]

This essay results from a war-long discussion by an ethics class that met during winter and spring 2003, sponsored by the Alaska Lay School of Theology and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and under the direction of Larry Jorgenson. A Nation Still at War [1] Our Vice President predicted that the Iraq war’s duration would be […]

The following paper was presented at an International Symposium on “Religions, Morality and Social Concerns” at Fudan University, Shanghai, China in April 2003. The university’s newly established Institute of Religious Studies brought together Christians (Protestant and Catholic), Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Marxists and others from China, other Asian countries, Europe and the United States. According to […]

[1] The three Abrahamic religions all share hope for God’s peace on earth. For Jews, Muslims, and Middle Eastern Christians the word for peace is shared as well: the Hebrew shalom is, in Arabic, salaam. Arabic speakers often greet others with salaam aleik, “peace be with you,” followed by the typical reply, Allah i salmik, […]

[1] In the wake of the September 11, 2001 tragedies in New York City and Washington, D.C., and the subsequent “new kind of war” being waged by the United States and its coalition partners, it may be useful to review the statements relating to war and peace from the antecedent Lutheran church bodies of the […]

[1] We begin Journal of Lutheran Ethics (JLE) in the shadow of the horrendous and shattering events of September 11, 2001. As we planned and prepared for this journal, little did we anticipate the critical historical moment that is now upon us all. Little did we imagine that people everywhere would be struggling through the […]

A Special Calling in History [1] In 1998, in a series essay on the 21st century in Atlantic Monthly, Bill McKibben examines the population question and concludes as follows: The bottom-line argument goes like this: The next fifty years are a special time. They will decide how strong and healthy the planet will be for […]