wfn.org | African American ELCA Lutherans Focus on Evangelism

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 3, 1996

AFRICAN AMERICAN LUTHERANS
FOCUS ON EVANGELISM STRATEGY (63 lines)
96-16-048-RE

     WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- The message of the gospel does
not change, but the messenger must adjust the method of delivery
to the culture and needs of the audience.  That was the theme
delivered to 351 African American Lutherans gathered here June
13-15 to discuss evangelism in the African American community.
It was the largest gathering of African American Lutherans since
the founding of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in
1988.
     The event was at Washington's Renaissance Hotel and on the
campus Howard University.  It included worship and workshops in
which congregational teams were given tools to start building
evangelism strategies.
     Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Trinity United Church of Christ,
Chicago, said a major obstacle to evangelism among African
Americans for predominantly European denominations is cultural.
He said the emphasis on creating disciples through catechism,
without an equal emphasis on "an encounter with Jesus Christ"
runs counter to traditional African American church experience.
     The gathering was sponsored by the ELCA's Division for
Congregational Ministries (DCM) in cooperation with the Division
for Outreach and the Commission for Multicultural Ministries to
introduce new resources for evangelism and worship among African
Americans.
     It was attended by clergy and lay persons from predominantly
African American congregations and other ELCA congregations
serving African American communities.
     Participants reviewed two new ELCA resources: "Proclaiming
the Power: Evangelism in an African American Context," scheduled
for publication this summer, and a new African American Lutheran
hymnal supplement due in 1998.
     M. Wyvetta Bullock, DCM executive director, said the
conference and the new resources are part of an overall ELCA
strategy for outreach and evangelism among African American and
other ethnic communities.
     Wright was one of several speakers to address the gathering,
including Dr. E.K. Bailey, Concord Missionary Baptist Church,
Dallas; the Rev. Robert Burkins, Elmwood United Presbyterian
Church, East Orange. N.J.; the Rev. Raymond LeBlanc, First
Lutheran Church, Carson, Calif., and the Rev. Albert Starr Jr.,
Ascension Lutheran Church, Los Angeles.
     Bailey founded and built Concord into one of the largest
black Baptist congregations in the country.  The others have also
been successful at building African American congregations but
within predominantly white denominations.
     Bailey told the gathering every member of a congregation has
a responsibility for evangelism.  "Every member should be able to
tell the mission of his or her congregation and talk to everyone
who will listen," he said.
     "If you want a fire to spread, let it burn.  If you want
your church to grow, spread what you have."
     Burkins called for visionary leadership "that gives
direction to people's hopes."  He said, "Leadership does not
exist within a person; it resides in relationships between
persons."
     Many of those attending called for regional follow-ups for
those who could not attend and for a repeat conference in 1997.
Bullock said future conferences are being considered.

For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia
Christiansen, Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956