The 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly was held in Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 8-12, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Fifteen sisters and brothers from the Western North Dakota Synod gathered with nearly 1,000 of their siblings from across this church under the theme, "Embody the Word."
There’s importance in the double meaning of the two words of this year's theme.
Embody – meaning both the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the life of the church emerging from a pandemic.
Word – meaning both Jesus Christ and scripture.
Luke 24:45 states, “Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.” We embody the Word, both Jesus and the scripture, by speaking it and proclaiming it. In 1522: Martin Luther’s translation of the New Testament made the Word accessible to the people and revolutionized the Christian movement worldwide. 500 years later, the call to make Jesus accessible to the people still exists today and as we look to the future of this church.
The ELCA Churchwide Assembly, the primary decision-making body of this church, 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 heard reports and reviewed the work of churchwide officers, leaders, and units; received and considered proposals from synod assemblies; elected officers, board members, and other leaders as specified by the constitution or bylaws; established ELCA churchwide policy; worshiped together; adopted a budget; and conducted other business related to the ELCA churchwide organization.
