wfn.org | ELCA Falls Short of 10 Percent Goal

[Brenda Williams <BRENDAW@elca.org>]

Reply-To: ElcaNews <ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG>

ELCA NEWS SERVICE - NEWSBRIEF

December 4, 1997

ELCA FALLS SHORT OF 10 PERCENT GOAL

Members of the steering committee of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's
Commission for Multicultural Ministries expressed
concerns that the ELCA is falling short of its
commitment to become inclusive.  Meeting at the
ELCA churchwide office Oct. 17-18, the committee
reviewed a draft report of the demographic
composition of the ELCA's synod and churchwide
leadership.  Although the statistics show only
slight increases or decreases, the Rev. Frederick
R.N. Rajan, CMM executive director, pointed
out that after 10 years the ELCA is still far from
reaching its constitutionally mandated goal of 10
percent representation of people of color and/or
people whose primary language is other than
English.  The ELCA is now at 2.2 percent of that
goal, an increase from 1.8 percent in 1995.
"You can't say you have full partnership in the
life of the ELCA," he told the steering committee.
 "This [demographic composition] doesn't reflect
where this church wants to go."  The statistics
show that the church needs to be more intentional
with its hiring and nominating practices, said
Sylvia Pate, president of the African American
Lutheran Association, they also serve as a wake-up
call for the communities.  Pate said the
communities also need to nominate and train people
of color to serve on churchwide or synod staff and
boards. The committee decided it will take a
portion of its next meeting to continue analyzing
the data and discuss what it can do to help the
church reach its inclusivity goals.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or
NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html