ELCA Council Urged to Diversify Denomination
Members of the ELCA board of directors were challenged to change the demographics of the 97% white denomination.
Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) board of directors were challenged to make the 97% white denomination more multi-cultural and more evangelical, during the ELCA Church Council meeting on Nov. 11.
The Church Council, which serves as the ELCA’s legislative authorities between the biennial Churchwide Assemblies, met at the denomination’s headquarters in Chicago, Ill, on Nov. 11-15, 2004. Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson encouraged those in attendance to adopt ministry strategies for African Descent, and Arab and Middle Eastern communities during the upcoming churchwide assembly that is slated for August 8-15, 2005.
"Let [these ministries] shape how we are as a church in an increasingly pluralistic society," Hanson said.
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He also said the ELCA can make a difference in the religious landscape on behalf of Lutheran Christians, according to the ELCA news service.
“I am not willing to say that in that religious landscape we have nothing to say as Lutheran Christians,” Hanson said.
"I really do believe that our members want to be part of a church that matters and makes a difference in the world," the presiding bishop said. "We are always in the process of becoming such a church. I share my gratitude with you of being privileged to lead such a church.”
Meanwhile, on the political landscape, Hanson shared his experience talking with the Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (and Palestine) over the death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
According to the ELCA news, Hanson said Younan asked the ELCA members to remember that Palestinians are “more mature than is reported in the media and some people believe.”
Hanson also said Younan asked the church to challenge President George W. Bush “to be a peace broker and to work for a two-state solution" in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Hanson questioned what was meant by “morality” being the number one issue for the election. Noting that neither Bush nor Senator Kerry address “moral issues” such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, lack of clean water, genocide and war, Hanson asked, “What does it mean for those of us who care about those things and are dismissed as not caring about moral values?"
“Fear hardens lives, and fears close borders," Hanson added. "Faith opens our eyes. Fear causes us to flee the world; faith gives us the courage to go out into the world. Faith causes us to see the world through the eyes of the cross."
