Our frustration with the complex problems contributing to violence may make us long for simple solutions. Such are the circumstances under which we, as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, speak to the death penalty. At the request of a number of congregations to synod assemblies, and in response to the memorials of those synods, the 1989 Churchwide Assembly placed the issue of the death penalty on the church's social agenda. Discussions on the death penalty then took place in local churches and at synodical and regional hearings. While we all look to the Word of God and bring our reason to the death penalty issue, we can and do assess it with some diversity.
Social statements acknowledge diversity and address members in their Christian freedom.
This church has not finished its deliberation on the death penalty. Members continue their discussion, knowing they have in common the goals of justice, peace, and order. As a Church united in joy over the good news of God's healing grace, we minister to a battered society. As a church united for mission, we organize for ministries of restoration. On the basis of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions we hold that, through the divine activity of the Law, God preserves creation, orders society, and promotes justice in a broken world.