CHICAGO — Officials of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will vote to add screening procedures for potential pastors and professional lay leaders next month, according to a news release. Officials said they hoped to learn some lessons from the recent criminal sexual misconduct conviction of a former ELCA pastor in Texas. A procedural review led to revisions of the "Candidacy Manual" for the ELCA.

The board of the ELCA Division for Ministry approved the revisions at an Oct. 8-10 meeting and recommended that the ELCA Church Council adopt the 2004 edition of the candidacy manual at its Nov. 11-15 meeting.

"The system is not broken, but there are some areas where it can be improved," said the board chair, the Rev. Robert J. Karli, First English Lutheran Church, Austin, Texas. The conviction in Texas raised some concerns that the revisions are meant to address, he said.

"There is provision in the revised candidacy manual for background checks on persons who are coming into candidacy. There is some debate as to the effectiveness of those, and yet that's something that's standard procedure in many areas of employment," Karli said.

"There is more explicit indication of sharing all pertinent information among the various parties involved — candidacy committees, seminaries, intern supervisors," Karli said.

The Texas case drew attention to the need for greater screening of candidates, said Carol W. Schickel, an ELCA associate in ministry and director for candidacy, ELCA Division for Ministry.

"We don't want what happened in Texas to happen again," she said.

If the council adopts the revised manual, it will go into effect on Feb. 1, 2005.