Since its inception the E.L.C.A. has been committed to be multi-racial in every aspect of the organization. Nationally and Synodically our Constitution, By-Laws and Continuing Resolutions require that no less than 10% of all aspects of their work be served and/or staffed by persons of color or whose primary language is other than English.
According to the latest statistics available from various ELCA web sites, in 2007 by persons of color or whose primary language is other than English are represented by slightly more than 3% of the ELCA total membership!
This apparent failure to achieve the visions of 1987 ought not to be attributed to any lack of effort. One of the Program Units of the ELCA is Multicultural Ministries and Synods have committees and programs whose major purpose is to foster multicultural ministries. Further, hundreds (if not thousands) of individuals have given hours of effort and service towards these goals.
Since annually across the “ELCA land” there are many programs focusing on dealing with “racism”, one might reason that the failures in this area arise from racism. Such a conclusion would not be “unreasonable”. The many ways that racism is incorporated into almost every facet of life in the United States should be familiar to any serious student. Further, in recent times there is increased awareness of how economic classism also impacts the problems. [While that has truth, it is this author’s opinion that the root causes of those economic disparities are usually related to the structural racisms that shape life in our nation.]
The May 29, 2007 issue of The Christian Century has two articles which suggest additional factors to consider as we continue to “be” a church that reflects the multi-culturalism of God’s creation.
The first is James Byassee’s article “Africentric church” (pp 18-23). His focus is on the Trinity UCC congregation in Chicago led by Pastor Jeremiah Wright. This congregation’s roots trace back to the efforts by the UCC to “create an integrated church at a time when whites were not much interested in integration.” They also wanted the “right kind of black people…those who were middle class and ‘high potential’ enough to integrate easily into the white-majority denomination.” The article goes on to report that one of the UCC’s black ministers in the 1960s actually said from the pulpit “We will tolerate no ‘niggerisms’ in our services.”
So, Pastor Wight set out toe demonstrate what a “Christianity…steeped in long-neglected Africanity” would look like. Would they continue to be a “white church in black face”? – or did they want to be “a black church in a black community”? And, since they answered “yes” to the latter question Trinity has mushroomed in almost every way a congregation can!
As I read those words, I remembered comments made when the LCA first ordained women. “Why can’t they be just like men ministers?” [Sort of being “male with a female’s face!] We now understand that women will serve differently than men as ministers – and we are the richer for it.
But are we really open to blacks being Lutheran as blacks? I confess that I have no true picture of that. The pictures I do have are more indicative of how much racism has shaped my life: music with drums, shouts of “amen” et al, services longer than 60 minutes, etc.
That brings me to the second article: “Hope or Hype” by Gary Dorrien. Talking about Barack Obama, he quotes from Obama’s book The Audacity of Hope: “Rightly or wrongly. White guilt has largely exhausted itself in America; even the most fair-minded of whites, those who would genuinely like to see racial inequality ended and poverty relieved, tend to push back against suggestions of racial victimization—or race-specific claims based on the history of race discrimination in this country.”
Dorrien then adds: “Whenever white people are dominant, whiteness is transparent to them because white supremacy makes white culture normative. The problem is not merely racial bias, but a structure of power based on privilege that presumes to define what is normal and that grants certain privileges to whites as they daily bread.” This has caused “push back” against the cause of racial justice. He quotes Obama: “…most white Americans figure that they haven’t engaged in discrimination themselves and have plenty of their own problems to worry about….That makes it imperative for those who care about racial justice to talk about the common good, not about a racial “us and them”.”
Two thoughts as to how we might as a Synod and a Church might move forward.
Rather than focus attention on increasing attendance by “persons of color or whose primary language is other than English” in our predominately white congregations, could we locate a parish willing to “die” and be re-born as a black parish? Might this be an approach to resolving what to do with Salem or Calvary or Messiah in Rockford? Bring in a black Lutheran minister as a mission developer, give him/her the freedom to “Africanize” Lutheranism [what ever that may mean], and pledge sufficient financial support for no less than five (5) years!
Change the name of the Northern Illinois Synod’s Anti-Racism Team to the Team for Justice.
Let me know your thoughts.
