CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Economic development among Africans and Blacks globally and advocacy for expanded immigration of Africans to the United States will be topics discussed when more than 300 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America meet June 4-7 in Tuskegee, Ala., under the theme "Africans and Blacks in the Diaspora."
Diaspora is defined as "people settled far from their ancestral homeland."
"This meeting brings together Africans and the descendants of Africans who were dispersed to several countries throughout the world as slaves," said the Rev. Eric T. Campbell, director for African American Ministries in the ELCA's Commission for Multicultural Ministries.
This "consultation of Black peoples" will bring together Africans and people of African descent from Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania, Germany, the Caribbean and the United States at one of the United States' first Black universities.
"Holding this event in the heart of the 'Black Belt'-- a rural area of the United States with a largely Black population -- is a way of building bridges with Africans and Blacks in the diaspora," said Campbell.
"We want to underline the economic disparities of people living in the Black Belt and show the similarities of Black people's struggles all over the world," Campbell said.
Dr. Musa Biyela, head of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Umphumulo in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, will be the keynote speaker at the event's "Village Banquet."
Other presentors will be John Whitfield, program director for immigration services, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, New York, and Dr. Richard Onukegam Nwachukwu, Dallas, Texas, president of Good Hope Enterprises, a publishing house which specializes in African authors.
The consultation is supported by a grant from Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal benefits organization, Minneapolis, and is co-sponsored by the Interdenominational Minister's Council of Tuskegee and Tuskegee University's Center for Continuing Education.
For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
