Lutheran Student Movement USA

LSM-USA Informational Packet

Alignment with the ELCA

Attention: Lutheran Student Movement (LSM) students, alumni, and supporting staff members,

As we approach the next meeting of our national assembly, in order to fulfill our obligation to Resolution 2007-3 we, the national council of LSM are required to provide further means of discussion whether or not to pursue official alignment with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), and how closer alignment may be fulfilled.

Through discussions with ELCA support staff and the LSM council, we have come up with four possible outlets for alignment.
1) Auxiliary Membership
2) Affiliate Membership (Affiliation)
3) Program of Vocation and Education Department of ELCA
4) To not pursue closer alignment with the ELCA.

I will briefly describe to you each of the five options and the pros and cons of each of the
options. At the conclusion of the descriptions, I will give you our plans for the future.

Auxiliary Membership

Example Ministry: Women of the ELCA (WELCA)
Looks like: We exist as a separate group from the ELCA, but they acknowledge that the work we are doing is within the theology and mission of their church.
Pros: We retain our independent status.
Cons: Since most auxiliary organizations exist separately from programs of the ELCA we could be risking (though unlikely) losing resources at the ELCA headquarters.

Affiliate Membership (Affiliation)

Example Ministries: Lutheran Social Services, Lutheran World Relief
Looks like: We exist as a separate entity and become more loosely connected with the ELCA, leaving us open to affiliating with other church bodies; however, affiliate membership is primarily only used for social ministry organizations.
Pros: We maintain the option of pursuing a "pan-Lutheran" identity, as a separate group from the ELCA.
Cons: It is unlikely that we would obtain this status because it is reserved generally for social ministries, which LSM’s existence does not fit. From past experience working with church bodies, efforts to affiliate with other national bodies have been not welcomed.

Program of Vocation and Education

Example Ministry: Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM)
Looks like: LSM would become a full-fledged program of the ELCA.
Pros: Official recognition as an ELCA ministry. Increased financial stability.
Cons: We lose our existence as a separate entity. We could lose control of our financial
spending. We could risk losing the power of our student leadership. It hinders our vision and purpose to remain a student led ministry.

Forgoing Closer Alignment

Example Ministry: Our Current Existence
Looks like: No Change
Pros: We maintain our current structure regarding personnel and financial structure.
Cons: We limit our marketability to campus ministries and Lutheran colleges supported by the ELCA. We fail to distinguish ourselves as a defined Lutheran group. We risk being misinterpreted as a just another Christian club/organization on campuses, such as Campus Crusade for Christ or Navigators.

I encourage you and those at your local ministry site to take these options into prayerful
consideration and continue the discussion about aligning with the ELCA. Feel free to post your opinions through our website (LSM-USA.org), on the LSM-USA Facebook group, and/or email me (lsmpresident@gmail.com) or Mike Yeutter, Chairperson of the Leadership and Evangelism Committee (yeutter@wisc.edu). Your thoughts and opinions will be discussed at the September meeting of the National Council. If you would like to write your own resolution regarding closer alignment, you are welcome to do so. Please consult Josh Kelly chair of Reference Counsel and Elections Committee before writing and submitting your resolutions (joshak0703@gmail.com). This will make sure that we do not have too many people writing resolutions that say the same thing.Again, thank you for your continued support of Lutheran Student Movement.

God Bless,

Craig Talmage
LSM-USA President