WHEREAS, from 1819 to 1969, countless Indian day schools and over 520 Indian boarding schools operated in the United States, with 417 receiving federal support [1], where Native children were forcibly taken from their families and communities, prohibited all expression of Native language and culture, and required to perform manual labor [2], with a goal to “Kill the Indian in him, and save the man” [3]; and

WHEREAS, religious organizations collaborated with the federal government in operating more than half of these federally-funded schools; and predecessor denominations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) operated Bethany Indian Mission Boarding School in Wittenburg, Wisconsin [4], and other non-federally funded boarding schools, day schools, and related institutions [5]; and

WHEREAS, these schools were part of a larger strategy of physical and cultural genocide that included forcing Indigenous people and Tribal Nations off of their original homelands and onto reservations so that settlers and governments could claim the stolen land for themselves, undermining sovereignty [6], and perpetrating extermination in multiple other ways; and

WHEREAS, boarding school students, which at one point included over 83% of all Native children [7], often suffered physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse that caused deep trauma for the children, their families, their tribal communities, and subsequent generations [8]; and an untold number of children died while at boarding schools (nearly 1,000 identified to date) [9]; and

WHEREAS, the ELCA has committed to work against injustices and toward healing as stated in “The Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery” (2016) [10] and the “Declaration to American Indian and Alaska Native People” (2021) [11], therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the East Central Synod Wisconsin Synod Assembly memorialize the 2025 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to address the legacies of our church’s role in Indian Boarding Schools through the following actions:

1. Actively invite and equip all congregations, synods, and affiliate ministries to commemorate the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools annually on or near September 30th;

2. Broaden and deepen awareness at congregation, synod, and churchwide levels of Christian and Lutheran roles in Indian boarding schools, through creation of adult and children/youth educational programs and materials and through consistent publishing of articles in all of the church’s publications;

3. Provide on-going recognition of and support for the growing network of lay people and clergy volunteering their time in the work of the ELCA Truth-Seeking & Truth-Telling Initiative on Indian Boarding Schools (see www.elca.org/IndianBoardingSchools) to locate all known records related to the ELCA’s predecessor bodies’ involvement with Indian boarding and day schools and to educate others about Indian boarding schools;

4. Encourage ELCA affiliate ministries to commit to learning the truth of their involvement with Indian boarding schools, in partnership with the ELCA Truth-Seeking & Truth-Telling Initiative; and to responsibly create paths to healing and repair;

5. Organize and care for all information in the ELCA’s possession that was recorded about Indian boarding and day schools and the students who attended them, forcibly or otherwise; carry out this work in partnership with the ELCA Truth-Seeking & Truth-Telling Initiative and the ELCA Archives; recognize that this information belongs to and is a source of healing for student survivors, their descendants, communities, and Tribal Nations; and ensure that the records and research are made accessible to Indian boarding school survivors and their families in a responsible manner; and

6. Identify sources of funding to sufficiently support research and organizing efforts; and to sufficiently support digitization and labeling of all ELCA Indian boarding school archival record.

Author: Elizabeth M. Andress, Co-lead (lay volunteer), ELCA Truth-Seeking & Truth-Telling Initiative on Indian Boarding Schools; liz@solbrack.com, 651-983-8105 (m)

WHEREAS, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has faced challenges in addressing abuse by clergy, and currently lacks holistic systems and processes for reporting and addressing misconduct consistently and transparently as a national body, leading to failures in holding abusers accountable and protecting victims; and

WHEREAS, There is a need for a clear, consistent reporting system across all synods, including a path and requirements for reporting misconduct by synod-level leaders and the retention and transmission of disciplinary records, including a shared database accessible to all bishops and synod staff members that would help track patterns of behavior and improve the current system; and

WHEREAS, There is a need for mandatory reporting requirements for synod staff and churchwide employees to notify both churchwide officials and law enforcement when notified of physical, sexual, or domestic abuse; and

WHEREAS, There is a need to preserve and centrally maintain disciplinary records and ensure their submission to the churchwide organization; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the East Central Synod of Wisconsin Assembly memorialize the 2025 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to request that the ELCA develop and implement a clear, consistent reporting system across all synods for reporting misconduct by current and former rostered leaders, along with appropriate supporting systems to drive accountability for abusive actors, transparency throughout the churchwide body, and provide compassion, support and healing for victims of abuse; and

2. That the ELCA establish requirements to preserve, maintain and report allegations of physical,

sexual, or other instances of clergy abuse, to the churchwide office for inclusion in a central database. This would include victim statements, notes, supporting evidence/records, and applicable disciplinary committee records, findings, and recommendations; and

3. That the ELCA establish an ombudsperson to lead efforts with reporting and compliance, including the creation of a shared database accessible to all bishops and synod staff members which documents all allegations to ensure that rostered leaders with a history of abuse, misconduct, or criminal activity are barred from seeking calls in other synods/districts; and research the possibility and potentially implement a process for disclosing that database with other denominations upon request; and

4. That the ELCA prioritize competent crisis response, consistent information-sharing about rostered leaders with concerning histories, and provide resources for people who have suffered abuse by clergy; and

5. That the ELCA offer training and resources to all synod staff regarding a trauma-informed approach to receiving reports of misconduct including the implementation of mandatory reporting requirements for allegations of abusive, exploitive, or illegal behavior to the churchwide organization and law enforcement.