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Ramona Soto Rank, American Indian Leader, Lutheran Pastor, Dies


From <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>
Date Fri, 19 Jan 2007 15:50:16 -0600

Title: Ramona Soto Rank, American Indian Leader, Lutheran Pastor, Dies ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 19, 2007

Ramona Soto Rank, American Indian Leader, Lutheran Pastor, Dies 07-007-FI

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Ramona Soto Rank, a leader in the Lutheran church on matters concerning American Indians, died Jan. 12. She was 62. An enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes of Oregon, she was an associate pastor for Augustana Lutheran Church, Portland, Ore. Services will be held Jan. 20 there and Jan. 22 at the Church and Tribal Community Center, Beatty, Ore.

When Rank became a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 2000, she was the second American Indian woman to be ordained in the Lutheran church and the first in the ELCA.

Marilyn Sorenson, director for American Indian and Alaska native ministries and racial justice, ELCA Multicultural Ministries, met Rank when they served together on the National Indian Lutheran Board from 1978 to 1987.

Sorenson described Rank as "a strong, knowledgeable friend, a colleague who could be funny. She could also be forceful when the rights of Indian people were at risk. She was a strong advocate for the sovereign and self-determination rights of Indian people."

Rank proved to be "a good traveling companion," from the unmarked roads of reservations to sessions of the U.N. Working Group on the Draft Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People. "She was at home wherever we traveled," Sorenson said.

"She will be missed by all of the many family and friends she loved. I will personally miss her intuition and wisdom," Sorenson said.

Born on the Klamath Reservation in Klamath County, Ore., Rank attended Colorado Woman's College, Denver. She served as secretary to the General Council of the Klamath Tribes and as a member of the Tribal Restoration Committee. She was executive director of Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, an organization representing 49 federally recognized tribes in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

From 1978 to 1989, Rank coordinated Inter-Lutheran Native American Concerns and served from 1980 to 1987 on the Division for Parish Services board of the former Lutheran Church in America. She was president of the American Indian/Alaska Native Association of the ELCA (formerly the Native American Lutheran Association), served on the ELCA Church Council and chaired the ELCA Oregon Synod Multicultural Council.

Presenting the "American Indian/Alaska Native Strategic Plan" to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 1997, Rank said, "Native Americans are survivors of the 'Great American Holocaust.' This is our land," she continued. "Our people have occupied North America for more than 40,000 years. We dare not let other Americans forget about us now."

A graduate of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS), Berkeley, Calif., Rank worked with PLTS and Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., on curricula and experiences that help train church professionals in the context of American Indian and Alaska Native perspectives. She is a founder of the "One in the Spirit" gathering that brings together clergy and lay people with American Indian and Alaska Native theologians.

In 2005 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly named Rank to the program committee of ELCA Multicultural Ministries.

Rank has been a featured speaker on "Day 1," a nationally broadcast religious radio program. She and Augustana Lutheran Church highlighted "The Disappearing 20-Somethings," the fall 2002 issue of Mosaic Television, a video series of the ELCA.

Rank is survived by her husband Larry, two daughters, two sons and two grandsons.

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog


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