ELCA 1993 Social Statement

Below is a one page rewrite of what the social statement says. I had to summarize it for conference that is on the 19th. If you read it before next week and find I should add something or there is any glaring mistakes please let me know so that can be done. Over all this social statement does a good job of stating why we need to practice care for creation, it gives suggestions on how as a church we should be going forward and more than that it gives some concrete ways that individual churches can get involved. Unfortunately it is a political document and does not quite go far enough and paint the true picture of the situation. Perhaps this is because it is 1993 or perhaps it is ...... Any way we need to be aware of what God is up to and how we can further this care for creation in our own context.


Food and Faith:
Ethical Dimensions of America’s Food System
An ELCA Perspective

“Given the power of sin and evil in this world, as well as the complexity of environmental problems, we know that we can find no ‘quick fix’ –whether technological, economic, or spiritual. A sustainable environment requires a sustained effort from everyone.
“The prospect of doing too little too late leads many people to despair. But as people of faith, captives of hope, and vehicles of God’s promise, we face this crisis.” (Social Statement on Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice p. 12, ELCA 1993.)
We as a church take very seriously God’s command for humanity to have dominion over the Earth. This dominion is not dominance rather a responsibility to be good stewards of the land. We are to care for God’s creation in all aspects of our lives. We recognize that we can no longer look at the earth as a boundless warehouse that will continue to provide food and resources forever.
Our captivity and sin lie at the roots of this predicament. We have given into the temptation that more is better and in our push for more we have depleted our resources. Our wants have overtaken our needs. Our desire to have the best food and have it now have driven our economy and food production in such a way that keeping up with the demand has harmed the environment, and our constant push will eventually lead to an unsustainable system.
However, our tradition gives us hope. Hope that there is forgiveness of sins, hope that there is new life and hope that there is salvation. This hope comes through the precious blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross and through his resurrection. In Christ we are justified by grace through faith. This grace is a gift from God freely given out of His love for humanity and requires no effort of our own.
In this we are born into new life. It is with this new life that we find hope in our current situation. We are called to serve and keep the earth, trusting its bounty can be sufficient for all, and sustainable. For this to happen changes need to be made. The ELCA calls for a system of justice through participation, solidarity, sufficiency, and sustainability. We pray that we may be a place where differing groups may assemble and discuss the tough issues and that common good be pursued. We pray also for humility to stand with creation and the wisdom to care for it in proper ways. We pray that we may find the courage to change our ways public and private so that there would be enough. Finally, we pray for the inspiration and fortitude to treat our dominion with care and compassion.
To accomplish this we must commit as a church to act on many levels, as individuals, as worship and learning communities, as a committed community, as a community of moral deliberations, and as an advocate. As individual we can make care of creation choices in our own homes, things such as recycling, or buying locally grown products. As a worship community we must dedicate time to the education of care for creation practices, provide education and communication and provide and support programs throughout the year. As a committed community we will work toward sufficiency and sustainability through audits and evaluations. Through moral deliberation we will provide space and time that will allow differing viewpoints to come together for discussion. Finally, as advocates we will support those who work towards the goal of a sustainable food system both privately and publicly.


(All material and paraphrasing in this document are taken from Social Statement on Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice, ELCA 1993)