Policy Criteria
The Lutheran Public Policy Office employs three interrelated criteria to discern legislative priorities each year:
ELCA Social Policy
ELCA Social Policy is articulated primarily in Social Statements, but also in Messages, Social Policy Resolutions, actions of the Churchwide Assembly and the Church Council, and the Social Statements of predecessor church bodies.
Current Events and Issues
Local and immediate circumstances affecting "the least of these in our midst" that are of particular concern to the church.
Director and Advisory Council
Multiple representatives from each of the Washington synods and Lutheran Community Services Northwest comprise the Advisory Council and, with input from the Director, meet quarterly to review, discuss and establish areas of focus for the church's advocacy in our state.