The ELCA 2025 Churchwide Assembly

Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will gather for the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, July 28–Aug. 2 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Ariz. Meeting under the theme “For the Life of the World,” the assembly will participate in plenary discussions to make decisions about the work of this church. They will also spend time in worship and engage in various ways of theological reflection.

The triennial gathering — the highest legislative body of the denomination — is composed of an allocated 845 voting members, serving on behalf of the 2.7 million members of the ELCA. The ELCA’s 65 synods elect voting members to serve at churchwide assemblies.

The Southwestern Washington Synod, which is our Good Shepherd synod, is sending six voting members to the Assembly, along with our Bishop-elect Keith Marshall.  Pastor Carol Tomer is one of the two clergy in our synod’s delegation of six.

Two key action items at the assembly are election of the ELCA’s presiding bishop and secretary. The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, the first female presiding bishop of the ELCA, was elected in 2013 and reelected to a second term in 2019. She will retire at the end of her current term. Deacon Sue Rothmeyer, elected secretary in 2019, will retire at the end of her current term.

Voting members will also consider:

  • The proposed social statement Faith and Civic Life: Seeking the Well-being of All and its proposed implementing resolutions. The statement addresses critical questions about life in society including the purpose of civic life, God’s call to be active in civic life, the appropriate use of power in government, the harms of Christian nationalism and the public role of rostered ministers in speaking about political issues.

  • Proposed editorial changes to the social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust in response to the memorial “Reconsideration of Social Statement on Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust,” which was approved by the 2022 Churchwide Assembly. The proposed changes are language updates to bring the social statement up to date and in line with current law and the church’s emerging understanding of the diversity of what makes a family.

  • Reception of the 2024 Lutheran-Orthodox Common Statement on the Filioque. Filioque refers to the words “and the Son,” which divided the Eastern and Western churches when they were added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in 1054.

  • Proposals (known as memorials) from the ELCA’s 65 synods that address social justice issues and matters relating to the structure of the ELCA. Topics include: missing and murdered Indigenous women; Indian boarding school remembrance; discourse on Israel-Palestine and an end to the occupation of Palestine; recommendation No. 1 from the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church (CRLC), addressing immediate action on dismantling racism; restoration of USAID funding; and reconsideration of the ELCA social message on end-of-life decisions.

  • Amendments to “Constitutions, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the ELCA.”

  • Budget proposals for fiscal years 2026, 2027 and 2028.

The assembly will have the opportunity to participate in an AMMPARO candlelight prayer vigil recognizing and preserving the human dignity of all God’s people, with special emphasis on migrant, asylee and refugee communities.

An exhibition powwow will feature dancers, drummers and singers from the tribal and urban Indian communities in the Phoenix area. This exhibition will be an opportunity for assembly participants to learn from their Indigenous siblings about the dances, songs, regalia and other elements of powwow tradition and culture.

Pre-events for the 2025 Churchwide Assembly offer a way for YOU to participate in preparing for the Assembly.  These events  include:

  • An online Bible study series that will be held Wednesday evenings in July. Each session will focus on the assembly theme “For the Life of the World” through one of three lenses: climate justice, gender justice, and war/conflict and reconciliation. Recordings will be made available.

  • Virtual hearings will address certain proposals scheduled for assembly action. Voting members, advisory members, resource members and other categories approved by the Church Council may attend with voice. Others may watch the hearing but will not have voice.

More information about the pre-events, including dates and times, is available here.
These online events are happening TODAY and several days upcoming THIS WEEK and next.

You can also view much of the assembly through livestreams.  Live video of the plenary sessions will be accessible at www.elca.org/CWA.

And you can read materials on various dimensions of the assembly’s work here: ELCA Resource Center

And, we ask that you pray for the Holy Spirit to guide the work of the Assembly. 

About the Assembly’s theme, “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.