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- Following his report to the assembly, Chris Boerger, ELCA secretary, received the Servus Dei award, which honors and expresses appreciation for officers as they complete their terms. Credit: Janine Truppay
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- Around 750 Lutherans, including voting members and community members, departed from the Wisconsin Center and walked to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office to host a prayer vigil advocating for migrant families. Credit: Janine Truppay
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- Voting members cast their first common ballot, which relates to the ELCA Church Council, churchwide boards and committees, and their first ballot for ELCA secretary. Credit: Janine Truppay
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- During his report to the assembly, Bill Horne, ELCA vice president, talked about the ELCA’s relationship with its neighbors that he witnesses on his travels to congregations around the country. “I have been fortunate to witness our members consistently emphasizing their unity in Christ as the common identity that we all share as Lutherans,” he said. “The communities we serve challenge us to live this belief out in everything we do.” Credit: Will Nunnally
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- Voting members continued discussion and deliberation over memorials that were removed from en bloc for individual consideration. Credit: Janine Truppay
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- The assembly received greetings from several guests, including Susan C. Johnson, national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and Panti Filibus Musa, archbishop of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria and president of the Lutheran World Federation. Credit: Will Nunnally
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- Philip Johnson, president of Finlandia University in Hancock, Mich., and president of the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities, greeted the assembly and informed them of a shared statement the network endorsed on the vocation of Lutheran higher education. Credit: Will Nunnally
The 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly reconvened Aug. 7 at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee. During morning plenary, Chris Boerger, secretary of the ELCA, gave his report and was later presented with the Servus Dei award. Later, assembly attendees and community members participated in the AMMPARO (Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities) walk and prayer vigil in support of migrant families.
During afternoon plenary, the assembly heard the report from the ELCA vice president, Bill Horne. Voting members continued debate and action on memorials, including adoption of a memorial making the ELCA a sanctuary church body. The ELCA is the first North American denomination to declare itself a sanctuary church body. Voting members also cast their first ballot for ELCA secretary: with 866 ballots, 646 votes were required for an election. There was no election.
