wfn.org | ELCA Team Supports Multicultural Strategies

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 2, 2000

ELCA TEAM SUPPORTS MULTICULTURAL STRATEGIES
00-151-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Multicultural strategies of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have been implemented with the help of
a multicultural initiatives coordinating team of the church.  Members of
the team met here May 18 to help the church meet its goal for full
partnership and participation of African American, Black, American
Indian and Alaska Native, Arab and Middle Eastern, Asian and Pacific
Islander, and Hispanic Lutherans in the life of the church and society.
     The multicultural initiatives coordinating team was developed in
1998 as a result of the ELCA's "Initiatives to Prepare for a New
Century."  The Initiatives --  pivotal areas of ministry for the ELCA in
the new century -- are to Deepen Worship Life; Teach the Faith; Witness
to God's Action in the World; Strengthen One Another in Mission; Help
the Children; Connect with Youth and Young Adults; and Develop Leaders
for the Next Century.
     The Initiatives were adopted by the 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
Leadership teams were formed to provide support for the work of
congregations, synods and churchwide organizations engaged in the
Initiatives.  Team leaders help provide an overall picture of how the
church may be different as a result of the Initiatives.
     In the last three years the multicultural initiatives coordinating
team has developed partnerships with all Initiative leadership teams to
"secure that they support the multicultural strategies of the church,"
said Evelyn B. Soto, chair of the multicultural initiatives coordinating
team.
     With only a little more than 2 percent of its members people of
color or whose primary language is not English, the ELCA failed to reach
its goal to widen church membership to consist of 10 percent people of
color between 1987 and 1997.  The 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly made a
"renewed affirmation of and commitment to" the 10 percent membership
growth goal and the Multicultural Mission Strategy adopted by the 1991
Churchwide Assembly.
     Soto said the multicultural initiative coordinating team has not
developed any projects of its own, but has consulted with each
Initiative leadership team to review their proposals, resources,
projects and events, "so that all ELCA congregations can utilize the
resources and participate in Initiative activities."
     Since July 1998, the multicultural initiatives coordinating team
has:
     + assisted members of the "Deepen Our Worship Life" team with the
development of a proposal for the translation of selected liturgies in
the Lutheran Book of Worship and With One Voice -- two worship resources
widely used in the ELCA.  Liturgies are being translated from English to
Chinese (Mandarin);
     + helped members of the "Teach the Faith" team to make "Living
Faith: An ELCA Call to Discipleship" available in Spanish -- "Viviendo
la fe: Llamando al discipulado en toda la IELA."  Call to Discipleship
is an invitation for all ELCA congregations to commit to a yearlong
focus on discipleship from September 2000 to August 2001.  "Lutheran
Basics" and "Doing Faith," resources that are part of the Call to
Discipleship, are also available in  Spanish -- "Los Fundamentos
Luteranos" and "Viviendo en la fe: Formacion del Cristiano;"
+supported members of the "Witness to God's Action in the World" team to
develop resources in Spanish in the area of moral deliberation --
helping members of the ELCA talk together about difficult social issues;
     + assisted members of the "Strengthen One Another in Mission" team
with the development of the Spanish-text version of "Sharing Faith" --
"Compartiendo La Fe," a Web site designed to welcome people outside the
ELCA who are seeking information on issues related to religion and
faith;
     + helped members of the "Help the Children" team to translate
"Safe Haven for Children" -- a resource that guides congregations as
they explore ways to make or renew their commitment to be safe havens
for children -- from English to Spanish;
     + assisted members of the "Connect with Youth and Young Adults"
team with the development of "Soulfuel" -- an ELCA Web site dedicated to
providing faith resources for 18- to 32-year-olds; and
     + helped members of the "Develop Leaders for the Next Century"
team to identify new leadership for the church.
     Members of the multicultural initiatives coordinating team are the
Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod,
New York; Rosemary Dyson, director for multicultural education, ELCA
Commission for Multicultural Ministries; the Rev. Nelson Rivera-Garcia,
professor, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia; Susan Niemi,
Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the ELCA,
Minneapolis; the Rev. Theodore W. Schroeder, director for congregational
resource development, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries; and
Soto.
     "The diversity of team members has offered an inclusive approach
to our process as we have worked toward the development of resources and
programs that will enhance and strengthen ethnic and language-specific
ministries of the ELCA," said Soto.

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