Our office is located on the ancestral land of the Miwok and Nisenan tribes, who continue to live here today. Rancherias in the region include the Wilton Rancheria, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, and the Nevada City Rancheria which is seeking reinstatement of federal status for Nisenan people in Nevada County. To learn about ancestral lands and local tribes throughout California, take a look at this map. For a liturgical resource, click here.
We represent the coordinated witness of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on issues of public policy in the state of California. In addition to our presence on legislative matters, we provide education and networking for our 400 ELCA congregations across the state. We work hand in hand with other faith-based and secular groups seeking peace and justice.
Our work is guided by the social statements of the ELCA. These statements are teaching and policy documents which provide a theological framework for discerning how to respond to issues such as criminal justice and immigration. Statements result from an extensive process of participation and deliberation and are adopted by a two-thirds vote of an ELCA churchwide assembly.
LOPPCA is advised by a Policy Council. The goals, objectives, and activities of the office are administered by the Director.
Our Partners
The Lutheran Office of Public Policy – California is an interdependent partnership advocacy ministry of ELCA Advocacy and the Pacifica, Southwest California & Sierra Pacific Synods.
Congregations
We support over 400 ELCA congregations in California, in the Sierra Pacific, Southwest California, and Pacifica synods.
We are also committed to working cooperatively with all agencies and institutions affiliated with the ELCA, including Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, California Lutheran University, and Lutheran homes for the aging. LOPPCA works in cooperation with Lutheran social ministry organizations, which provide direct services and client advocacy for low-income people and others with special needs.
Why Advocacy?
Through Baptism, we are called to be agents of peace and justice in this world. As a church, we recognize the political and civic aspects of a faith birthed in the midst of empire 2,000 years ago. The work of the ELCA in our time includes that of being a Publicly Engaged Church:
We are a publicly engaged church that rolls up our sleeves and gets to work.
We do God’s work in the world, the work of restoring and reconciling communities. We pursue justice and seek peace no matter how long the journey or wide the chasm. Because we are grounded in God’s love and forgiveness, we are well equipped to live and serve here and now, in the world, with all its complexities, tensions and ambiguities.
There is no aspect of life in which God is not active, no place where God is not present.
And this is exactly where we are called to participate in God’s work, in the thick of life, embracing individuals, families and communities that are hungry for hope and healing, justice and peace, advocates and partners.
Our faith and our call to boldly serve and love our neighbor take us into:
Advocacy, corporate social responsibility, racial justice, science and ethics, peacemaking, justice for women, social issues, and community organizing. We are drawn into every corner of life, society and its institutions to bring the good news of Jesus Christ and to work for lasting, positive change that upholds human dignity.
Text in this section is from the ELCA webpage, Publicly Engaged Church.