How are Priorities Chosen?

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.

Learn more about ELCA Social Policy.

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.