Emerging Lutheran Leaders Plan, Train, Work for Social Justice

ATLANTA (ELCA) -- Back-to-back events here provided worship, workshops and conversation among people identified as "emerging leaders" of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) addressing social justice issues. About 30 attended "Strategic Planning for Transformation" Nov. 30, and a total of 60 attended "Emerging Leaders: Working for Social Justice" Dec. 1-2.
"We assembled emerging leaders who are working on community-based social change and direct-service projects. We brought them together to participate in a variety of skill-building workshops," said Loretta E. Horton, director for social ministries for congregations, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries, Chicago. "The purpose was to help them enhance the skills they already have, so they can continue to expand the ministries in their communities and to do their jobs better."
Horton said she hoped "these participants will be part of a movement that focuses on social and economic justice issues and that their communities will be changed and transformed." She said "transformation" -- helping people exercise their God-given talents and making communities better places to live -- is a goal in her work.
"Planning in a strategic way is the first step in change and community organizing," Horton told participants at the first event on strategic planning.
Bryan W. Barry, director of services for organizations, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, St. Paul, Minn., said he wanted participants to "learn a strategic planning process that fits your deal" and is not so strict that it inhibits "strategic thinking." Barry and the Wilder Foundation consult with nonprofit organizations on youth, family, elder and neighborhood issues related to management and community development.
Barry took participants through steps of strategic planning, encouraging them to re-evaluate their goals regularly because "the world keeps changing." He said planning addresses the "management of attention" -- giving the proper amount of attention to each of the things one wants to accomplish.
"I know you're really busy working on your own deal, but is there some way that you could do things together to make things easier?" Barry asked. He described several types of partnerships -- from cooperation and collaboration to merger -- which can benefit nonprofit organizations working together.
The second event involved several workshops and plenary speeches. It was held at the Interdenominational Theological Center -- a consortium of six denominational seminaries -- which houses several schools of theology, including the Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta (LTCA). LTCA is an extension program of the eight seminaries of the ELCA.
Tony Aguilar, assistant to the bishop for urban ministry and congregational development, ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod, presented a workshop on relationships and power. "Power is relational," he said, stressing the importance of understanding the interests of everyone involved in achieving an end.
People are spiritual, political, academic, journalistic, corporate and financial, said Aguilar. Through one-on-one relationships people learn each other's interests and understand how to involve others in change, he said.
Kay A. Bengston, assistant director for public policy advocacy, Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C., led a workshop on advocacy and welfare reform. LOGA is the federal public policy advocacy office of the ELCA.
Bengston defined advocacy as telling the stories of others or encouraging others to tell their own stories to the people who are setting policy. She explained the current status of welfare reform and provisions of the Hunger Relief Act, and she encouraged participants to be in consistent contact with members of Congress to keep them informed of programs that are working.
Nya Berry, president and CEO of Lutheran Family Mission, Chicago, presented two "Mastering Management Skills" workshops in sessions on "project management" and "people management."
"Front end planning prevents back end stress," was the motto Berry presented in project management. A similar message in people management stressed clear communication and goal setting.
Fran Frazier, an official with the Ohio Department of Human Services, Columbus, and a consultant for the Study Circles Resource Center, Pomfret, Conn., led a workshop on "Enhancing Facilitation Techniques" to get more out of meetings by facilitating them rather than by "running" them. A facilitator is "one who makes the way easy," she said.
Frazier offered several techniques for creating "a safe place" for those attending a meeting, such as setting mutually established expectations and principles of trust, hospitality and respect. "It's important that you know the reasons why people came to a meeting," she said.
Brother Shane Price, founder and director, Social Justice/Cultural Wellness Center, Minneapolis, presented a workshop on the use of "community peacemaking circles" in crisis intervention. A Native American process of sharing while seated in a circle can be used "to restore balance to an unbalanced state," he said.
Through storytelling, said Price, people learn they have more in common than in conflict. "The best communicator is an effective listener," he said.
Sheila Radford-Hill led a workshop on "Being an Effective Board Member" and gave one of the plenary speeches. The workshop profited from her experiences on six different boards -- including a four-year term as board chair for Bethel New Life, an ELCA social ministry organization in Chicago.
Radford-Hill discussed many of the themes in her book, "Further to Fly: Black Women and the Politics of Empowerment," in a plenary session. "Truth is about connecting with people, having real, personal relationships," she said. "You've got to get personal."
"It's hard to get personal with oppressed people," Radford-Hill said. "They don't want you to know that beneath the anger is pain."
"You've got to get personal with the oppressor too," she said. "Each side is in each of us."
"In order to speak the truth, you must seek the truth," said Radford-Hill. "Once you know the truth, you are called to share that truth in love. That is the basis of social justice."
Aisha Gabriel, a free-lance graphic artist with an emphasis on Web design, AfriCreative, Greenfield, Mass., spoke to all participants about the "new tools" that computers offer. She encouraged them "to expand your thinking about which one of these tools you will pick up to do your task" and to teach others to use computers wisely.
Literacy has defined societies for centuries, said Gabriel. "Today's literacy is computing."
Gabriel described a "wall" preventing those with the fewest resources from having access to computers. "There is a gap. There is something questionable about access," she said. "There is no reason for these. There are plenty of resources."
Gabriel encouraged her audience to look through discarded equipment for serviceable computers and to become educated consumers. She said everyone can learn to use current software to do more and to use new software to meet current and new needs.
"We put together a mixture of people who feel they're not doing enough," said Tina Dabney, project director for ministry with women and children living in poverty, ELCA Division for Church in Society, Chicago. They feel that way because "they have untapped resources and feel inadequate, especially when it comes to making decisions," she said.
"Training provides an opportunity to let them know what they are doing is real. It's important. It's critical," Dabney said in an interview. "You're doing it. Who else can have a better handle on solutions? Let us help you realize what you're doing and your resources," she said.
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