How Strategic and Authentic Is Our Diversity? ELCA Task Force Report
How Strategic and Authentic Is Our Diversity: A Call for Confession, Reflection, and Healing Action
As adopted by more than a two-thirds vote (855-13) by the 15th triennial Churchwide Assembly on August 9, 2019, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
At the 2016 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members considered a proposal to delete from the ELCA constitution language directing that 10% of the members of its assemblies, councils, committees, boards, and other organizational units be people of color or whose primary language is other than English.1 In response to the proposal, a resolution was presented to the assembly and adopted to create a Task Force for Strategic Authentic Diversity composed entirely of people of color (African Descent, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian and Pacific Islander, Arab and Middle Eastern, Latino) and inclusive of immigrant and LGBTQIA+ identities.
This task force listened to stories from across the ELCA and, mindful of working constructively with white allies within the church, consulted with the European Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice (EDLARJ). Throughout its work, the task force learned that the commitment and work of developing strategies for Multicultural Ministries has been done and continues to be happening in the church, though not always in full view or with public accountability. Drawing upon the Multicultural Ministries strategy document “A Strategy for Proclamation of the Gospel” (1991), the subsequent “Recommitment to a Strategy for Proclamation of the Gospel” (1997), and the recommendations of the 2016 Multicultural Summit, the task force believes the time has come for the ELCA to live even more intentionally into what God calls us to be together.
Sharing collective wisdom and reviewing historical documents, the task force has come to a consensus on the following statement and recommendations. This document offers the task force’s working definition of authentic diversity, provide a theological frame for the discussion, name the need for healing, address the question of structural accountability, examine our theological education and leadership development, and reflect upon our relationships with full communion, ecumenical, and interreligious partners and their related agencies. Finally, it will propose a set of recommendations in each of these areas.
From the Executive Summary:
Since its inception, this church has wrestled with the challenge of becoming an authentically multiethnic, multicultural church. The vision and promised “kindom” and reign of God lie within us. The transformative power for being God’s change agent in society is intricately bound to our own transformation as God’s people.
For the task force participants who created this report, the conversations, prayers, and reflections that informed the work were deeply personal and, at times, extremely painful. In many ways these conversations, prayers, and reflections have modeled the struggle toward authenticity in ethnic diversity that is both a challenge and an opportunity for this church in all its expressions.
The report calls not for a brand-new strategic plan but for this church, in faith and with integrity, to “go deeper.” It seeks:
Theological Framing and Equipping that more broadly reflect the wide ethnic diversity of who we are, have been, and are yet becoming. Our church must dig deeper into the history and emerging theology that ground, clarify, and justify our call and continuing commitment to ethnic diversity and inclusion.
Healing Action to address the personal woundedness perpetuated by racism and racial prejudice. Deeper diagnosis of the collective, structural, and systemic nature of these sins will give us the opportunity for deeper prescriptive action toward healing.
Structural Accountability to deepen the intentional focus of ELCA policies, governance, related structures, agencies, and organizations, so that they might serve the goals and initiatives of an authentically diverse church in society.
Theological Education and Leadership Development that, drawing on the aforementioned theological framing, equip leadership for a “metanoia movement,” a change of hearts and minds about the violent sin of racism and the value of diversity, equitable inclusivity, and racial justice.
Partnerships With Full Communion, Ecumenical and Interreligious Partners, and Related Organizations that deepen our shared commitment and struggle toward authentic diversity and inclusion in our systems, structures, and organizations.
The task force has discerned a call to engage these opportunities more fully, deepening our work, our journey, and our joy as our church moves toward Strategically Authentic Diversity.