Talking Together As Christians about Tough Social Issues
Talking Together as Christians about Tough Social Issues. A six-session introduction on how to begin conversations on tough social issues.
In its first social statement, The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective (1991), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America—in all its expressions—committed itself to foster moral deliberation on social questions, seeking to:
be a community where open, passionate, and respectful deliberation on challenging and controversial issues of contemporary society is expected and encouraged;
engage those of diverse perspectives, classes, genders, ages, races, and cultures in the deliberation process so that each of our limited horizons might be expanded and the witness of the Body of Christ in the world enhanced;
address through deliberative processes the issues faced by the people of God, in order to equip them in their discipleship and citizenship in the world;
arrive at positions to guide its corporate witness through participatory processes of moral deliberation; and
contribute toward the up-building of the common good and the revitalizing of public life through open and inclusive processes of deliberation.
The 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted seven “Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century.” The third initiative, “Witness to God’s Action in the World,” is intended to encourage congregations to “model life in community as they address pressing social issues, ethical questions, and community renewal.” Part of this includes congregations developing and exercising their skills in faith-based deliberation about tough social issues. This guide has been written in response to that initiative. It is intended for leadership teams of pastors and lay people. Here “talking together” is used as a more accessible synonym for what has previously been referred to as “moral deliberation.” The suggestions in this guide have been gleaned from groups and organizations with considerable experience in helping people with conversations such as these.
From the Introduction:
Many of us yearn for help in figuring out how God and our faith relate to the issues we encounter in our lives and society. As a church we confess that God is deeply involved in our lives and world, but figuring out how and what that means in relation to the specific issues and questions we face is often difficult. People in many congregations seem reluctant to talk together about such questions, especially if this will open up real differences among them.
What is considered a “tough social issue” to talk about varies greatly, depending on who people are, their culture, their history, current situation, and the usual ways their congregation does things. What is easy to talk about in an urban setting may not be in a rural setting, or vice versa. What is taboo in some cultures, such as issues related to sex or money, may not be in others. In some cases, people feel free to open themselves up to others—that’s part of what it means for them to be the church! In many other cases, people are reluctant to share their feelings and views—that feels too risky for them! They might express thoughts like those shared above. A given issue can affect some people in very different ways than it does others—due to what they’ve experienced, where they’ve come from, and individual personality differences. Talking about these things together brings these differences out in the open, which can be risky.
This 24-pg resource is available for purchase for $1.00 ea via ELCA Website #ELCACS1053 or via download free of charge, link below. ©1999
Dialogando En Conjunto Como Cristianos
This is the Spanish translation of the 21-page English guide, which aims to help leadership teams of pastors and lay people engage in faith-based moral deliberation about current social issues, as directed in the third ELCA initiative "Witness to God's Action in the World."
Available for purchase for $1.00 via ELCA Website. #ELCACS1060