2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
The 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly will be held July 28–Aug. 2, 2025, at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Ariz.
The ELCA Churchwide Assembly, the primary decision-making body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is a process of communal spiritual discernment. When the ELCA Churchwide Assembly convenes, its voting members meet with confidence in God’s grace around word and water, wine and bread, to carry on their work on behalf of the entire church. Over the course of the assembly, voting members:
- Hear reports and review the work of churchwide officers, leaders and units.
- Receive and consider proposals from synod assemblies.
- Elect officers, board members and other leaders as specified by the constitution or bylaws.
- Establish ELCA churchwide policy.
- Worship together.
- Adopt a budget.
- Conduct other business related to the ELCA churchwide organization.
For the Life of the World
The first Council of Nicaea was convened 1,700 years ago, beginning the process of setting forth Christian convictions in what we know today as the Nicene Creed. The creed proclaims the life-giving truth of the triune God and our steadfast faith in Jesus Christ “for … the life of the world to come.” These convictions continue to live and breathe among us in word and sacrament.
Early in her tenure, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton set forth her own convictions to guide the members of the ELCA in understanding our unique identity, and these convictions have become a recognized way of articulating who we are:
- We are church.
- We are Lutheran.
- We are church together.
- We are church for the sake of the world.
We are church for the sake of the world — for the abundant life promised by God and fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for all creation.
We recognize the wisdom of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who said, “The church is the church only when it exists for others.” Our constitution’s “Statement of Purpose” boldly proclaims this commitment to be a people “called and sent to bear witness to God’s creative, redeeming, and sanctifying activity in the world.”
Rooted in the ancient creeds, we are called to live boldly in service to a world longing for healing, justice and hope. We will continue to faithfully pursue God’s mission of reconciliation for the life of the world.
Menu Title
History
