wfn.org | Lutheran African Americans Focus On Criminal Justice

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 30, 1999

LUTHERAN AFRICAN AMERICANS FOCUS ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE
99-194-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- African American members of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are concerned about the
disproportionate number of Black men and women incarcerated in the
United States.
     During its seventh biennial convention here June 23-26, members of
the African American Lutheran Association (AALA) voted to communicate to
the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly the necessity of a churchwide emphasis
on the criminal justice system in this country -- a system that convicts
and imprisons "a grossly disproportionate" number of African Americans.
The 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly will meet August 16-22 in Denver.
     "Every speaker at AALA's convention lifted up concerns about the
criminal justice system or 'criminal injustice system' as one of our
speakers referred to it," said Sylvia Pate, AALA president, New Hope
Lutheran Church, Dayton, Ohio.
     "The number of Black females incarcerated has grown by about 230
percent over the last few years.  There is a lot of concern about why
this is happening and what happens after incarceration.  They lose their
right to vote and are disenfranchised which, in turn, disenfranchises
our community.  We feel that we need to rally our church around that
issue and begin to look at what the criminal justice system is doing to
young Black women and men," Pate said.
     AALA voted "to call upon the ELCA to utilize every available
resource for the development of a comprehensive strategy that addresses
the urgent and complex issues of the criminal justice system in this
country and provide opportunities for the development of prison
ministries, advocacy programs, services to families of the incarcerated
and congregation-based crime and violence prevention programs."
     AALA's 1997 convention called for a moratorium on all executions
in state and federal prisons; a moratorium on construction of all
minimum and maximum security correctional facilities and an end to the
incarceration of juveniles in adult penal institutions.
     "The Blood that Unites the Diaspora: A Consultation of Black
Peoples" was held June 4-7, 1998, at Tuskegee Institute, Ala.  AALA
approved a report on the consultation and voted to forward the report to
the ELCA Commission for Multicultural Ministries' steering committee for
consideration.
     Diaspora is defined as "people settled far from their ancestral
homeland."  The consultation marked the first time the ELCA brought
together Africans and African Americans.  The event offered daily
devotions, workshops, village meetings and plenary sessions.  Workshop
titles included Blacks in the Bible; Women and Children Living in
Poverty; A Focus on Youth: Rites of Passage; Immigration Policies and
Realities; and Economic Development and Global Sustainability: George
Washington Carver's Vision.
     "The consultation also featured a video teleconference linking
participants with people of Johannesburg, South Africa, and Sao Paulo,
Brazil," said the Rev. Eric T. Campbell, director for African American
ministries, ELCA Commission for Multicultural Ministries.  "This was a
way of connecting people of the Diaspora with the African
American/Black brothers and sisters of the ELCA," he said.
     The theme for AALA's 1999 convention was "Rekindling the Gift:
Strengthening, Building and Developing African American Leadership and
Congregations."
     The Rev. Titus D. Clark, Peoples Community Lutheran Church,
Baltimore, Md., preached at opening worship.  "Injustice anywhere is a
threat to justice everywhere," Clark said, citing the Rev. Martin Luther
King Jr.  He urged AALA members to "reach back" to the "have nots" in
the community and help people improve their lives.
     "We have been blessed with many talented people in our community.
God does not create people without talent," Clark said in an interview.
     "God has produced power in our midst.  God has produced educated
people, and all people have something to offer.  In 'rekindling the
gifts,' we need to recognize the strength, ability and potential we have
and not allow prevailing circumstances to determine our potential,"
Clark said.   "In order to 'rekindle the gifts,' we must reconnect with
our past and reach out to our neighbors, so that no one gets left
behind."
     "Even during the early part of the civil rights movement, with
limited resources, African Americans were able to do great and wonderful
things.  We will continue to move on, not as individuals but as a
collective body taking along with us those people who are weak and
bearing the burdens of the weak," he said.
     The opening worship featured a children's choir from Bethel
Lutheran Church, Chicago, and St. Peter Lutheran Church, Philadelphia.
Susubiribi, a Chicago-area African dance group, was a highlight of
worship.
     About 100 young people between ages 7 and 18 participated in a
"youth trek" during the assembly.  The trek included Bible study,
storytelling, music, small group discussions, problem solving and fun.
     "Youth are our present and future leaders," said Pate.  "The trek
provided an opportunity for youth to discover their gifts and
strengths."
     The assembly received a special greeting from the Rev. Tom J.
Barnett, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone
(West Africa).  Barnett told the assembly that Sierra Leone is a country
torn by a nine-year civil war that has created a humanitarian crisis
there.
     "Lutherans have been trying to bring the mission of Christ for the
people of Sierra Leone.  Our church ... has been blessed because of our
relationship with the Lutheran World Federation and our bilateral
relationship with the ELCA to organize relief emergency assistance,
whereby we've been able to bring used clothing, to bring food and to
give some medicine to people in need," said Barnett.  "That is how the
church has been trying to respond to the situation."
     Members of AALA received a copy of "This Far by Faith," a new ELCA
worship resource developed by theologians, musicians, liturgists and
congregation leaders from the African American community of the ELCA and
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.  The ELCA Division for
Congregational Ministries held a workshop at the assembly designed to
introduce the book.
     "This Far By Faith" includes 120 pages of liturgical materials, a
section of traditional and contemporary hymns and songs, a service of
"prayer and preaching" set in a revival format, and culture-specific
items including worship services that acknowledge Martin Luther King
Jr., Black History Month and Kwanzaa.
     "The African American Lutheran Association recognizes the fact
that it is the only official voice for African Americans and Blacks in
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America," Pate said.  "The
association wants to be that voice and to be recognized not only by our
community but also by the church and others."
     There are 227 ELCA African American congregations in the United
States and Caribbean (congregations whose baptized membership is 30
percent or more Black).  Forty-four percent of ELCA African Americans
are in congregations whose membership are 90 percent or more Black.

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