I never thought of this before.

From Lutheran Core-News and Discussions

I’m glad I’m willing to read stuff from people smarter than me.

One of the questions, often raised by those in disagreement with an institution or entity that they previously have supported, is whether or not it is appropriate and faithful to use the redirection of financial support away from that institution or entity as a means to influence policy.

And where did the answer to this question come?

Going all the way back to the 1999 social statement on “Economic Life - Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All,” the ELCA has been clear about the need to maintain the connection between financial decisions and faith perspective, saying: “We commit ourselves as a church and urge members to … integrate social values into our investment decisions.”

And so:

As an expression of good stewardship, congregations should seriously consider whether the institutions, organizations and ministries they support through their benevolence dollars are in harmony with their local congregation’s faith perspective. If a congregation finds itself in conflict with the values of an institution, that congregation has an obligation to redirect its support to the needs of ministries that better share its own social values in faith.

Read the whole post.  With denominational offices in the United States increasing out of touch with reaching out with the Gospel and more in touch with politics, maybe we as congregations should heed their advice.

This entry was posted on October 16, 2009 at 5:29 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.