What do our investments, purchasing decisions, and business practices say about our faith?
The ELCA has added and updated resources to help congregations, individuals, and church leaders consider how financial decisions can reflect Lutheran commitments to justice, human dignity, care for creation, and the common good.
The ELCA’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) resources connect the church’s social teachings with practical decisions about investing, purchasing, and corporate accountability. They offer guidance for evaluating business practices and considering how the use of financial resources can reflect our responsibility to our neighbors.
What’s new?
Among the resources published or updated in 2025 and 2026 are issue papers and investment screens addressing:
Artificial Intelligence: Ethical questions surrounding the development and use of AI.
Climate Risk: Environmental responsibility and the financial and social implications of climate change.
Nondiscrimination in Business Activities: Fair treatment and nondiscrimination in corporate practices.
International Access to Health Care: The role of businesses in expanding access to essential health care.
Human Rights: Corporate responsibility for respecting human rights.
Alcohol and Tobacco: Investment screening criteria informed by the church’s social concerns.
The collection also includes resources addressing violence, corporate conduct, and selective purchasing.
Why does this matter for Arizona congregations?
Our public witness extends beyond contacting legislators or supporting community ministries. Congregations make decisions about investments, endowments, vendors, purchasing, and stewardship. These decisions also offer opportunities to consider how our faith shapes our relationships with the wider world.
For example, a congregation finance committee might use the climate risk paper to begin a conversation about responsible investing. A stewardship team might explore how purchasing decisions reflect its values. A congregational study group might discuss artificial intelligence, human rights, or health care access using the ELCA’s resources as a starting point.
The goal is not to assume every congregation will reach identical financial decisions. Rather, these resources invite thoughtful discernment grounded in Lutheran theology and concern for our neighbors.
Take a look — and start a conversation
LAMA invites congregational councils, finance and stewardship committees, social ministry teams, and individual Lutherans to explore the collection. Choose one issue paper that connects with your ministry, read it together, and ask: How might this resource inform the decisions we make with the resources entrusted to us?
Explore the ELCA Corporate Social Responsibility Resource Collection
Faithful advocacy is about more than what we say to government. It also includes how we steward our resources, participate in the economy, and seek the well-being of our neighbors through everyday decisions.