CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "The Lutheran," a magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will work to increase its coverage of ethnic-specific ministries and events with help from the ELCA's Commission for Multicultural Ministries (CMM).
Regular dialogue between staff of The Lutheran and CMM will be more intentional under a new plan the magazine's advisory committee and the commission's steering committee developed together. Both committees adopted the plan together at the CMM steering committee meeting held here Oct. 16-17.
"We hope that more journalists will contribute stories to the magazine," said Hazel H. Reinhardt, Edina, Minn., chair of The Lutheran's advisory committee. "The magazine is a consumer product that strives to meet the needs and desires of its readers."
The plan calls for the staff of the commission and magazine to develop a "data bank" of writers from the ELCA's five ethnic associations-- African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Arab and Middle Eastern, Asian and Pacific Islander, and Hispanic.
Under the plan the magazine will offer a summer or extended internship program to train people with skills in journalism. The magazine will also make "every effort" to recruit and hire a person of color to its editorial staff when a vacancy occurs.
"I am pleased with the magazine's coverage of the entire church community, particularly within the last six months," said the Rev. W. Arthur Lewis, Atlanta, chair of CMM's steering committee. "I am prayerful that the new relationship between both churchwide units will continue in good faith."
The CMM steering committee passed a resolution Feb. 27 that called for the magazine to "intentionally expand its coverage of multicultural ministries." The magazine will also work to recruit and hire a person of color to its editorial staff and assist the ELCA in implementing its multicultural goals.
In other business at its October meeting, the commission's steering committee passed a resolution calling for the ELCA's Department for Human Resources "to monitor the progress toward the recruitment of persons of color and/or primary language other than English for senior executive positions" in the churchwide office.
"We cannot continue begging for participation in a land that is ours and in a church that is ours," said Ira Frank, Messiah Lutheran Church, Auburn, Wash., in support of the resolution.
"I believe it's time for us to stop lamenting about the pathologies of others, because it is really not our responsibility to persuade them to believe people of color are worthy," said Sylvia Pate, Dayton, Ohio, president of the African American Lutheran Association of the ELCA.
For information contact:
Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Director (773) 380-2955 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
