ELCA and NCC Host Black Family Ministries Conference

ROSEMONT, Ill. (ELCA) -- Hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC) Black Family Ministry Project, "Strengthening Black Families in the New Millennium" was the theme that gathered more than 200 participants here for three days of workshops, Bible study, plenary sessions, keynote presentations and worship.
The NCC Black Family Ministry Project is an ecumenical collaboration of historically African American denominations and other denominations with significant African American membership. It is designed to assist congregations in helping Black families "rediscover, reclaim and live out their strengths, review their commitments to family life, maintain supportive extended family systems and enhance a belief system that has God as its center."
"The ELCA is one of 10 denominations that participate as a part of the Black Family Ministry planning team for the NCC," said Josselyn Bennett, director for age-span ministries, ELCA Division for Church and Society, and chair of the national and local planning teams.
"In the African American community the church is such a critical part of the community. We [Lutherans] are just one of the many churches on the corner. When you look around the African American community, the variety of churches on the next corner and at our back doors says to us that we have to be collaborative in this effort" of Black family ministry, said Bennett.
Although a goal of the ELCA is to have at least 10 percent of its membership be people of color or whose primary language is other than English, it has not been realized. Currently, people of color or whose primary language is other than English membership is 2.69 percent of the church. The African American/Black membership is 1.02 percent of the church.
"We have to look at the African American community not from a monolithic point of view. If we are going to be a part of the African American community and part of the church community, we are going to have to work collaboratively," she said.
"We continue to be very segregated at the 11 o'clock hour on Sunday morning. If we are going to survive as a community we have to break down those walls. We have to communicate the message that we are all here in this society together. What is it that the church can do to help communities deal with drugs, gangs, domestic violence, family values and other issues that are bombarding all of our families?" Bennett said.
"There are households where there are divisions in terms of where people will attend church. Some family members attend AME Zion, Baptist, Apostolic or Lutheran churches. We are saying that choice is fine, but how can we come together as the family of God and really work on the issues that affect us all as a community?" she asked.
Participants heard keynote presentations from Delores S. Williams, Paul Tillich Professor of Theology and Culture, Union Theological Seminary, New York, and Bishop Horace E. Smith, M..D., pastor of the Apostolic Faith Church, Chicago, and director of the comprehensive Sickle Cell/Thalassemia Program at Children's Memorial Hospital.
Workshops were offered on topics ranging from Christian education to the potential impact of the federal government's faith-based initiatives on the Black Family.
The goals of the 2001 conference were to:
+ Expand the number of institutions (public and private, religious and secular) and individuals who consciously participate in creating and sustaining effective family ministries in a time of dwindling economic and human resources; and
+ Encourage the design and implementation of a model that includes the concept of a "roundtable" at which the voices of those who serve and those who are served are given equal consideration.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html