ELCA Intensifies Effort to Fight Racism

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In an effort to educate its 5.2 million members to be more aware of racism and equip them to fight it, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has developed a one-and-a-half-day program to bring anti-racism training to the entire church.
With only a little more than 2 percent of its members people of color or whose primary language is not English, the ELCA has failed to reach its goal to widen church membership to consist of 10 percent people of color between 1987 and 1997.
"While the ELCA has not achieved this goal, we must remember that the goal is not an end but a means to become a more multicultural church. This goal gives members of the ELCA purpose and direction," said the Rev. Frederick E.N. Rajan, executive director of the ELCA's Commission for Multicultural Ministries.
Staff, elected and volunteer leaders of the ELCA began participation in the anti-racism sessions last fall. New staff will participate in the sessions as they are hired. At the end of 1999, a report will be prepared listing follow-up activities by individual churchwide units.
"As we approach the 21st century, we need a cadre of church leaders who are skilled and equipped in effectively addressing racism so that a transformed, anti-racist and multicultural ELCA can begin to evolve," said Rajan. "In this way the church can lead by example as an active agent of God's healing within a racially-polarized society."
Rajan describes racism as "the misuse of God's gift of diversity." "Racism is a sin that permeates not only society but also the church. This radical and pervasive manifestation of the misuse of God's gift of diversity is an affront to the human race." In the midst of oppression, God's triumphant love in Jesus Christ calls and empowers us to resist the demonic systems of racism.
"God's people in our church over the last 10 years have asked the ELCA Commission for Multicultural Ministries to lead the way," he said.
The anti-racism training program is part of the ELCA Multicultural Mission Strategy developed by the commission. The churchwide organization's staff team on diversity and the ELCA's 65 synods have also called for a comprehensive anti-racism training program. Most of the 65 synods of the ELCA have passed assembly resolutions to dismantle racism. The 1989 ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted to "express clearly the position of the ELCA that racism is a sin; and to express the commitment of the ELCA in addressing in all aspects of its life and work the destructive results of racism."
The one-and-a-half-day, Scripture-based anti-racism sessions teach members of the church how to identify, address and confront racism, and create specific action plans to dismantle personal, cultural and institutional racism.
The ELCA hopes that educating its leaders is a good step toward overcoming racial barriers, Rajan said.
The anti-racism training program was developed by the Lutheran Human Relations Association (LHRA), Milwaukee. LHRA is a grass roots Lutheran organization in the United States. It strives to "bring people together to do justice by breaking down hostilities and fears between peoples; bridge racial, cultural, gender, class, age, ability and other separations in society; and to build up human community."
LHRA's mission is in response to the "growing separation between people of different races in a society bombarded by stereotypes and negative images, in a culture filled with fear, ignorance and uncertainty in relating to persons who are different from oneself." There is "need to unmask racism and build and model community in new ways as God's people. This model for breaking down racism and building up human community is grounded in a theological understanding that, through creation, everything is connected. That is the way God created us and all that exist."
Since the fall of 1998 ELCA churchwide offices, divisions, commissions, departments and their boards have completed the anti-racism sessions.
The Rev. Julius Carroll IV, board chair of the ELCA Division for Outreach, said, "The anti-racism training reminded all of us, in all races, that we still lie in two worlds and that it is not a level playing field in education, vocation or residential location.
"In order for systematic racism to change, it has to be done individually with each of us challenging societal stereotypes and breaking down barriers. Corporate attention needs to be paid to the sin of racism, and we need to be intentional about stamping it out," he said. Carroll is pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Oakland, Calif.
Robert A. Sandoval, Cross Hope Lutheran Church, Albuquerque, N.M., board member of the ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries, said one item heard "over and over at anti-racism training events is that we only need to fix the ones that are racist; then we will all live better together.
"This sin called racism is not going to go away by making a few people aware of it," said Sandoval. "Racism exists in the whole institution of the church, and it is keeping us from being who God intended us to be.
"There is a thing called 'privilege' that most people have, yet they are unaware of having it. When they realize that this privilege is tearing down the very foundations of our relationships, they want to deny having it or blame others for giving it to them. This behavior is encouraged and helped by the institution. It is only by changing the institution that we are ever going to realize that God wanted us all to live together."
Sandoval said through the death of Jesus Christ "we are free from sin. We need to make people aware of the sin of racism. It is a sin most people do not want to recognize, yet it is one sin that keeps us separated from each other and from God."
Sylvia Pate, president for the African American Lutheran Association of the ELCA, said, "The way in which we talk about racism has significant impact on our lives and the life choices we make. I believe it is time for us to stop lamenting about the pathologies of others, because it really is not our responsibility to persuade them to believe we are worthy.
"What we need to do is get on with the business of laying the groundwork for our own future. We need to spend our energies on working on our dreams. We need to spend more time focusing on our own spirituality and discover ways to lead lives of fulfillment. We need to grab onto our moments of happiness and joy in spite of the pathologies of others. We need constantly to remind ourselves that we are a creation of a God who loves us." Pate is a member of New Hope Lutheran Church, Dayton, Ohio.
Robert S. Schroeder, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Shawnee Mission, Kan., a member of the ELCA Church Council, said, "Evangelism and outreach in a multicultural mission field like the United States is not a matter of setting our table and asking others to come and eat, but it is making our meal a potluck and asking others to come and share."
President of Oak Grove Lutheran High School, Fargo, N.D., and board chair of the ELCA Division for Higher Education and Schools, the Rev. John Andreasen said the most exciting discovery he made during the anti-racism training was that "it's not just about recognizing people of color but people of culture. It's not just about granting visibility but participation.
"Within the ELCA, education institutions have greater exposure to cultural diversity than most of our congregations. Education institutions tend to be cross-cultural. Many of our schools have international components and more community diversity than in our congregations. But we still have a long way to go about our intentions to create a racial mosaic. There is a sense of excitement in discovering one another in living the fullness of life," said Andreasen.
In a Jan. 12 report prepared by<