Why Lutheran Service Agencies Do What They Do

     CHANDLER, Ariz. (ELCA) -- They manage one of the largest organizations of housing, counseling, child care, foster care and adoption, refugee resettlement, employment services, disaster response, health care, nursing home and AIDS ministries in the United States and Caribbean.  More than 300 of them heard that "why" they do what they do may be more important than "what" they do.
     Participants were here April 22-25 from 32 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands for the first annual conference of Lutheran Services in America (LSA).  About 280 social ministry organizations operating in about 3,000 locations formed LSA as a corporate partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) in April 1997.
      "In the days ahead when your motivation is running low and your problems are running high, remember the source of your inspiration," said Bishop Howard Wennes of the ELCA's Grand Canyon Synod, reminding those at the event's opening worship that Jesus asked his disciples to care for the most vulnerable as though they were doing it for him.
     Wennes also brought a word of encouragement from the Bible: "Be not afraid."  He said, "This is the group that worries least of being safe in the church; and it's refreshing to be with you.  You are on the front lines of building a bridge between the world and God, between the church and society."
     "Out of deep-seated love for God and for people" the Lutheran church is involved in social ministry, said the Rev. Loren Kramer, president of the LCMS's Pacific Southwest District.  "This gathering is proof that there are fundamental and basic things that unite us in a common mission of helping people."
     Kramer said there is a "critical connection between the church and its social ministry organizations" to alleviate social ills.  "The church lives by the gospel.  It must proclaim the gospel.  It must also live the gospel," he said.  "What we believe is demonstrated by what we do ... the litmus test of our faith."
     "Find the language to describe why you're doing what you're doing instead of what you do or how you do what you do," Frances Hesselbein, president, Peter Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, New York, said in her keynote address.  "Leadership is a matter of 'how to be' instead of 'how to do it.'"
     Hesselbein described a circular method of management that disperses leadership responsibilities across the organization to replace a traditional hierarchy of authority.  "Leaders did not train to be leaders. They expressed themselves in their work and helped others to do likewise," she said.
     The social sector must see itself as an equal partner of government and business in helping people, said Hesselbein.  It must assess the needs of a community and select partners that will help meet those needs.  "I have worked with principled, effective leaders in business and politics, and I'm ready to partner," she said.
     Themes of articulating goals and forming partnerships continued into about 20 different workshops offered during the conference.  There were also pre-conference meetings and planned "conversations" during the event to encourage cooperation among participants with similar interests.
     One workshop showcased a new videotape and study materials, "Why We Do What We Do," produced by the LCMS.  The resource is to assist the staff members of Lutheran agencies in understanding what they do as ministry.
     Workshops on such topics as managed care coalition building, legislative advocacy and disaster response emphasized ways in which to "partner" with other agencies doing similar work -- not only with other Lutheran agencies but with other religious, private and government agencies serving people in the same territory.  Care team ministries promote organized ties between social ministry organizations and the lay members of nearby Lutheran congregations.
     A pre-conference meeting brought together ten agency executive directors who entered that position in the last year: Nya Berry, Lutheran Family Mission, Chicago; Yvonne Crumpton, Lutheran Congregations for Career Development, Chicago; G. Frederick Aigner, Lutheran Social Services, Des Plaines, Ill.; Stan Veit, Lutheran Social Services of Indiana, Fort Wayne, Ind.; Stephen Phelps, Council of Lutheran Churches, St. Louis; John W. Speckhard, Lutherans in Medical Missions, St. Louis; Sally Gammon, Good Shepherd Home, Allentown,  Pa.; Leslie Vance, Lutheran Social Services of Utah, Bountiful, Utah; John A. Noreika, Oakwood Village Retirement and Health Care Community, Madison, Wis.; and Roger W. Able, Lutheran Homes of Oshkosh, Wis.
     During one conversation leaders of eight Lutheran social service agencies described a vision of forming "a national Lutheran network of international adoption without creating a cumbersome and expensive bureaucracy.  We seek to develop and sustain an ongoing relationship that will bring together the considerable resources of the agencies within Lutheran Services in America in the arena of international child care."
     Another conversation presented the "theologian-in-residence" program of Lutheran Social Services of South Central Pennsylvania and Tressler Lutheran Services, Mechanicsburg, Pa.  The Rev. Foster R. McCurley works part time for each agency, not counseling one-on-one but working with staff, board meetings or groups of chaplains to help them determine the theological values of the organization and to deal with immediate ethical concerns.
     Between July 1, 1996, and June 30, 1997, the Lutheran agencies served 1,776,126 people -- 137,712 in residential services, such as 45,615 in nursing facilities. They employed 95,064 people; and 68,687 volunteers provided 5,068,524 hours of support.  The social ministry organizations received $3,073,566,000 -- 49.8 percent from government sources -- and spent $2,967,318,000 -- 88.3 percent on programs and 10.8 percent on administration.  The $3 billion budget makes LSA one of the largest charities in the United States.
     The assembly approved a 1999 budget for LSA that will not change membership dues, will increase the support from the ELCA and LCMS and will establish new service fee procedures.  There are several core services of LSA that are free to its members, and other services are offered on a variety of fee schedules.
     In the corporate partnership, the social ministry organizations elect nine of the LSA's 18 board members; the 5.2 million-member ELCA appoints six members; and the 2.6 million-member LCMS appoints three.
     The agencies elected Gene Svebakken, president and CEO, Lutheran Child and Family Services, River Forest, Ill., and re-elected Jane Hartman, president, Bremwood Lutheran Home, Waverly, Iowa, and David A. Jacox, president, Bethphage Mission Inc., Omaha, Neb., to three-year terms.   The Rev. Nelson C. Meyer, president, Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio, Columbus, Ohio, chairs the LSA board.  Joanne Negstad is LSA's president and CEO with offices in St. Paul, Minn.   The board will meet July 7-8 in Itasca, Ill. The next LSA annual conference will be April 17-20, 1999, in Washington, D.C.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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