ABOUT Public Church
PUBLIC CHURCH: A Definition by the ELCA
"Our Christian faith compels us to attend to the world through the lens of our relationship to God and to one another. As a public church, we have a responsibility to step outside our comfort zones and challenge ourselves to address issues that affect families, communities and neighbors throughout the world. As a church body, the ELCA uses its prophetic voice boldly to address important political, social and economic issues that affect local and global communities. This work grows out of our theological understanding of God at work in the world and is articulated in the social statements of this church, which you can find at ELCA.org/socialstatements on the Web."
PUBLIC CHURCH: Engaging the World
What can the Gospel reveal and heal about:
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racism
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homelessness
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hunger and food insecurity
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transportation infrastructure
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economic inequality
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housing access
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work and working conditions
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access to education
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access to health care
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social exclusion
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lack of employment opportunities
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controlled substance availability and substance use treatment
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mental health and access to mental health care
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corruption
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judicial system inequities
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PUBLIC CHURCH: Resources
ELCA:
Our-Work/Publicly-Engaged-Church/
ELCA Social Statements as Public Church
LSTC:
LSTC_faculty_definition_Public_Church.pdf
Blogs/On-Line Resources:
Ruby Sales, “Where does it hurt?”
Books/Articles:
Doak, Mary. A Prophetic, Public Church: Witness to Hope Amid the Global Crises of the Twenty-First Century. Liturgical Press, 2020.
Cumming, Ryan P. The Forgotten Luther II: Reclaiming the Church's Public Witness. Augsburg Fortress, 2019.
Neiman, James. “Centrifugal: Being a public church,” Living Lutheran. June 2016.
Howard, Charles Lattimer, Black Theology as Mass Movement. Palgrave, 2014.
McBride, Jennifer M. The Church for the World: A Theology of Public Witness. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Moe Lobeda, Cynthia. Public Church for the Life of the World. (Lutheran Voices) Augsburg Fortress 2004.
Marty, Martin. The Public Church: Mainline – Evangelical -Catholic, England: Wipf and Stock, 1981.
Wilmore, Gayraud. The Secular Relevance of the Church. Philadelphia, Westminster, 1962. Summary article with the same title available HERE.