wfn.org | Emerging Lutheran Leaders Plan, Train, Work for Social Justice

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

December 14, 2000

EMERGING LUTHERAN LEADERS PLAN, TRAIN, WORK FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
00-307-FI

     ATLANTA (ELCA) -- Back-to-back events here provided worship,
workshops and conversation among people identified as "emerging leaders"
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) addressing social
justice issues.  About 30 attended "Strategic Planning for
Transformation" Nov. 30, and a total of 60 attended "Emerging Leaders:
Working for Social Justice" Dec. 1-2.
     "We assembled emerging leaders who are working on community-based
social change and direct-service projects.  We brought them together to
participate in a variety of skill-building workshops," said Loretta E.
Horton, director for social ministries for congregations, ELCA Division
for Congregational Ministries, Chicago.  "The purpose was to help them
enhance the skills they already have, so they can continue to expand the
ministries in their communities and to do their jobs better."
     Horton said she hoped "these participants will be part of a
movement that focuses on social and economic justice issues and that
their communities will be changed and transformed."  She said
"transformation" -- helping people exercise their God-given talents and
making communities better places to live -- is a goal in her work.
     "Planning in a strategic way is the first step in change and
community organizing," Horton told participants at the first event on
strategic planning.
     Bryan W. Barry, director of services for organizations, Amherst H.
Wilder Foundation, St. Paul, Minn., said he wanted participants to
"learn a strategic planning process that fits your deal" and is not so
strict that it inhibits "strategic thinking."  Barry and the Wilder
Foundation consult with nonprofit organizations on youth, family, elder
and neighborhood issues related to management and community development.
     Barry took participants through steps of strategic planning,
encouraging them to re-evaluate their goals regularly because "the world
keeps changing."  He said planning addresses the "management of
attention" -- giving the proper amount of attention to each of the
things one wants to accomplish.
     "I know you're really busy working on your own deal, but is there
some way that you could do things together to make things easier?" Barry
asked.  He described several types of partnerships -- from cooperation
and collaboration to merger -- which can benefit nonprofit organizations
working together.
     The second event involved several workshops and plenary speeches.
It was held at the Interdenominational Theological Center -- a
consortium of six denominational seminaries -- which houses several
schools of theology, including the Lutheran Theological Center in
Atlanta (LTCA).  LTCA is an extension program of the eight seminaries of
the ELCA.
     Tony Aguilar, assistant to the bishop for urban ministry and
congregational development, ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod, presented
a workshop on relationships and power.  "Power is relational," he said,
stressing the importance of understanding the interests of everyone
involved in achieving an end.
     People are spiritual, political, academic, journalistic, corporate
and financial, said Aguilar.  Through one-on-one relationships people
learn each other's interests and understand how to involve others in
change, he said.
     Kay A. Bengston, assistant director for public policy advocacy,
Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C., led a
workshop on advocacy and welfare reform.  LOGA is the federal public
policy advocacy office of the ELCA.
     Bengston defined advocacy as telling the stories of others or
encouraging others to tell their own stories to the people who are
setting policy.  She explained the current status of welfare reform and
provisions of the Hunger Relief Act, and she encouraged participants to
be in consistent contact with members of Congress to keep them informed
of programs that are working.
     Nya Berry, president and CEO of Lutheran Family Mission, Chicago,
presented two "Mastering Management Skills" workshops in sessions on
"project management" and "people management."
     "Front end planning prevents back end stress," was the motto Berry
presented in project management.  A similar message in people management
stressed clear communication and goal setting.
     Fran Frazier, an official with the Ohio Department of Human
Services, Columbus, and a consultant for the Study Circles Resource
Center, Pomfret, Conn., led a workshop on "Enhancing Facilitation
Techniques" to get more out of meetings by facilitating them rather than
by "running" them.  A facilitator is "one who makes the way easy," she
said.
     Frazier offered several techniques for creating "a safe place" for
those attending a meeting, such as setting mutually established
expectations and principles of trust, hospitality and respect.  "It's
important that you know the reasons why people came to a meeting," she
said.
     Brother Shane Price, founder and director, Social Justice/Cultural
Wellness Center, Minneapolis, presented a workshop on the use of
"community peacemaking circles" in crisis intervention.  A Native
American process of sharing while seated in a circle can be used "to
restore balance to an unbalanced state," he said.
     Through storytelling, said Price, people learn they have more in
common than in conflict.  "The best communicator is an effective
listener," he said.
     Sheila Radford-Hill led a workshop on "Being an Effective Board
Member" and gave one of the plenary speeches.  The workshop profited
from her experiences on six different boards -- including a four-year
term as board chair for Bethel New Life, an ELCA social ministry
organization in Chicago.
     Radford-Hill discussed many of the themes in her book, "Further to
Fly: Black Women and the Politics of Empowerment," in a plenary session.
"Truth is about connecting with people, having real, personal
relationships," she said.  "You've got to get personal."
     "It's hard to get personal with oppressed people," Radford-Hill
said.  "They don't want you to know that beneath the anger is pain."
     "You've got to get personal with the oppressor too," she said.
"Each side is in each of us."
     "In order to speak the truth, you must seek the truth," said
Radford-Hill.  "Once you know the truth, you are called to share that
truth in love.  That is the basis of social justice."
     Aisha Gabriel, a free-lance graphic artist with an emphasis on Web
design, AfriCreative, Greenfield, Mass., spoke to all participants about
the "new tools" that computers offer.  She encouraged them "to expand
your thinking about which one of these tools you will pick up to do your
task" and to teach others to use computers wisely.
     Literacy has defined societies for centuries, said Gabriel.
"Today's literacy is computing."
     Gabriel described a "wall" preventing those with the fewest
resources from having access to computers.  "There is a gap.  There is
something questionable about access," she said.  "There is no reason for
these.  There are plenty of resources."
     Gabriel encouraged her audience to look through discarded
equipment for serviceable computers and to become educated consumers.
She said everyone can learn to use current software to do more and to
use new software to meet current and new needs.
     "We put together a mixture of people who feel they're not doing
enough," said Tina Dabney, project director for ministry with women and
children living in poverty, ELCA Division for Church in Society,
Chicago.  They feel that way because "they have untapped resources and
feel inadequate, especially when it comes to making decisions," she
said.
     "Training provides an opportunity to let them know what they are
doing is real.  It's important.  It's critical," Dabney said in an
interview.  "You're doing it.  Who else can have a better handle on
solutions?  Let us help you realize what you're doing and your
resources," she said.
     "We don't think have resources, but we do.  We only have to tap
into ourselves," said Dabney.
     Speaking from personal experience, Dabney said emerging leaders
need to know they're not alone.  "People must sit at the table and be
able to add their perspectives and see their perspectives as important,"
she said.
     Dabney and Horton coordinated the events which were sponsored by
the ELCA Division for Church in Society and Division for Congregational
Ministries.
     In the closing session, Horton expressed the ELCA's interest in
the participants' drive for social justice.  "This work is difficult
enough.  If it's not grounded in a strong faith, the work can chew you
up," she said.  "We're here to support you and your efforts."
     Participants came from 15 states -- Alabama, California, Florida,
Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Missouri, Montana, New York, Ohio, Texas and Virginia.  Stacy D.
Kitahata, dean of the community, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago,
served as chaplain for the events.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html