Four ELCA Congregations Model Community Renewal

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Four congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), noted for service and fellowship in their communities, will serve as models for an ELCA community renewal endeavor.
Angelica Lutheran Church, Los Angeles, Calif.; Centro Comunitario de la Iglesia Luterana La Sagrada Familia (Community Center of Holy Family Lutheran Church), Chicago; Colton Lutheran Church, Colton, Ore.; and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Baltimore, were chosen by team leaders of the ELCA's Initiative "Witness to God's Action in the World: Moral Deliberation and Community Renewal." A focus of the Initiative is to help congregations of the ELCA revitalize communities.
The Initiative is one of seven ELCA "Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century." In 1997 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted on seven significant areas of ministry for the 21st century. Leadership teams were formed early last year to provide overall guidance for the work of congregations, the ELCA's 65 synods and churchwide organizations. Team leaders help provide an overall picture of how the church may be different as a result of the Initiatives.
Team leaders of "Witness to God's Action in the World: Moral Deliberation and Community Renewal" are responsible for planning a community renewal phase and providing funds to support congregations that address housing and job development and link with community organizations, social ministry organizations, other congregations and synods of the ELCA, and ecumenical colleagues.
The congregations "were chosen on the bases of strength and commitment of the leaders and their realistic visions," said Trudy Brubaker, director for corporate social responsibility, ELCA Division for Church in Society, Pittsburgh. Other considerations included diversity and ethnicity, she said.
Centro Comunitario de la Iglesia Luterana La Sagrada Familia in Chicago has developed a job training and computer literacy program. The Rev. Jose Miguel Diaz-Rodriguez, pastor and executive director for the community center, teaches computer classes twice a week for adults and youth. The ELCA has made a financial commitment to subsidize the training of two immigration specialists. Other plans for the center include child care, leadership development, board development, youth ministry and church administration.
Angelica Lutheran Church is located in the Pico-Union community of Los Angeles, which for the last 20 years has been the entry point for the first generation of Hispanic immigrants from Central America. The church houses many relief and development programs for the community, but members of the congregation have expressed a need for programs that address job training and job readiness. The congregation will house a family resource center, a child care facility, building renovations and programs that will teach HIV/AIDS awareness, money management, life skills and parenting.
Colton Lutheran Church, Colton, Ore., is located at an intersection of two small roads, where the only industry is a small gas station. Several residents have in-house businesses. In 1998 the congregation celebrated 90 years of ministry, but the average worship attendance is about 40.
The Colton Community Center is an old but sound building which has been empty for the last two years. Plans to revitalize the center include using the building in the morning as a senior citizen center with games, crafts and monthly health screening. At noon meals will be offered for children participating in the afternoon after-school program. In the evening the building will be a place where the local community college will hold classes for adults.
Members of Colton Lutheran Church have a history of providing services to the community. In the 1950s, the congregation built a nursing home facility for the community run by a Lutheran pastor and his family until 1996. Camp Colton, which began in the 1920s, was an active Lutheran camp run by the church for several years.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Baltimore, houses the Children's Memorial Museum and Peace Center. The museum and center, developed in 1996, house photos, texts and toys that tell the stories of children killed in Baltimore. Programs at the center and museum are designed to teach children alternative, peaceful ways to manage conflict and handle violence. The ELCA is working to train leaders in fund-raising and leadership development at the center.
"We want to be a full partner in the renewal and development of the physical structures to make safe places for people," said Gaylord Thomas, ELCA director for community development services.
ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson said, "When folks see signs of positive change around them, their spirits are lifted and their hope renewed. They are reminded of the God who 'makes all things new.'"

[**Kimberly J. Groninga is director of communication for the ELCA's Southeastern Iowa Synod.]

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