CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Leaders of ethnic-specific ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are concerned about funds provided them to bring new missions into self-supporting congregations. The steering committee of the ELCA Commission for Multicultural Ministries addressed this concern and other items at its meeting here Oct. 13-14.
In a resolution developed and approved by members of the steering committee, staff of the commission will ask staff of the ELCA Division for Outreach to review the division's "current funding policies" designed to support ethnic-specific missions and newly-organized congregations. The commission will ask the executive director of the Division for Outreach to respond to the request by the steering committee's next meeting here Feb. 23-24, 2001.
As we heard reports from the committee's five ethnic-specific subcommittees, "all had the same complaint -- three to five years is not enough time for new missions to become financially self-sufficient," said the Rev. W. Arthur Lewis, director, Lutheran Theological Center at Atlanta, and chair of the steering committee.
The ELCA's ethnic-specific ministries are African American and Black, American Indian and Alaska Native, Arab and Middle Eastern, Asian and Pacific Islanders and Hispanic/Latino.
"Funding policies developed by the Division for Outreach do not recognize the unique challenges faced by ethnic-specific ministries and new missions," said Lewis in an interview.
"Many of our mission leaders are trying to put a church together with people who are unchurched and whose traditions are not Lutheran," said Lewis. "Most of the time, funding from the church used to support new ethnic-specific ministries is cut off before the ministry gets off the ground," he said.
In other business, two strategies designed to enhance the ministries of Latinos and Asian and Pacific Islanders were distributed to the steering committee. The two strategies are scheduled to be considered by the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Indianapolis.
Introducing the plan to the steering committee, the Rev. Pongsak Limthongviratn, ELCA director for Asian and Pacific Islander ministry, said, "There are approximately 12 million Asians in the United States. About 40 percent of Asians live in Hawaii, while the rest live throughout the United States. A goal [stated in the strategy] is to increase Asian membership [in the church] from 23,000 to 32,000, or 40 percent in the next eight years."
The plan articulates the relationship with the ELCA envisioned by Asian and Pacific Islanders. Specific areas of the strategy include congregation development, leadership development, resource development, social ministry, stewardship and Asian homeland mission work.
"Statistics show that the Hispanic/Latino community is the fastest growing group in the United States and in the ELCA," the Rev. Maria del Rosario Valenzuela, ELCA director for Hispanic and leadership ministries, told the steering committee. "This growth demonstrates a need for a national strategy," she said.
"The strategy was developed by the Latino community of the church, and it is designed to guide the ministries of the church for the future," Valenzuela said.
Specific areas of the strategy include insight on the identity of Lutheran Latino people, resource development, mission congregations, leadership development and social ministry.
The steering committee endorsed a recommendation to change the church's use of the name "Hispanic" to "Latino." The committee forwarded the recommendation to the ELCA Church Council for consideration at its meeting here Nov. 11-13. The recommendation was developed by the 1998 ELCA Caribbean Synod Assembly.
"Each ethnic community in the church is growing in population," the Rev. Frederick E.N. Rajan, executive director for the commission, told the committee.
"More people with diverse languages, cultures and religions are immigrating each day to this nation transforming and challenging us to deal with not only race, ethnicity and culture, but with multilingualism and religious pluralism, and a demand for equal rights and respect for all communities," Rajan said. "We must always explore ways to reach new people," he said.
The ELCA Commission for Multicultural Ministries gives advice and assistance to the ELCA's 10,851 congregations -- organized into 65 synods throughout the United States and Caribbean on ministry among people of color and whose primary language is not English. It develops workshops and resources, print and video, to help the church dismantle racism.
The commission holds an annual Multicultural Mission Institute to help congregations and individuals of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds "reach out to others and experience a multicultural community." The 2000 Multicultural Mission Institute took place Nov. 3-5 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, Los Angeles. The Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan, discussed the present situation of Christians living in the Middle East in a keynote presentation. - - -
Information about the ELCA Commission for Multicultural Ministries and the 2000 Multicultural Mission Institute is available at http://www.elca.org/cmm on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.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
