Contact: Pr. Jean DeVoll-Donaldson, Assistant to the Bishop               918-492-4288 Email:  jean.d-d@arokoffice.org               Pr. Melinda Harow – Faith Lutheran-Little Rock, AR               501-666-0850 Email:  pastor@faith-lc.org               Ms. Tanya Vasquez – Member of Christ the King Lutheran               Bentonville, AR                                                                                                     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ELCA web-site: www.elca.org/racialjustice

 ELCA GATHERS SYNOD ANTI-RACISM LEADERSMore than 100 ELCA synodical anti-racism leaders representing 30 synods and nine regions gathered in Baltimore for an anti-racism networking event Sept. 11-13, 2008. The event, At the Intersection of Race and Poverty, was attended by six bishops of the ELCA, one ELCA council member, 11 ELCA Churchwide staff, and eight ecumenical partners. The ELCA’s Delaware-Maryland Synod Anti-Racism Team hosted the gathering. Pr. Jean DeVoll-Donaldson, Pr. Melinda Harlow, and Ms. Tanya Vasquez enthusiastically represented the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod at the gathering.  

This powerful networking and capacity building event, made possible by a grant from the

ELCA’ s Conference of Bishops Ministry Among People in Poverty (MAPP) Committee, was the largest gathering to date in direct support of the ELCA’s commitment toward becoming an anti­racist church. The purpose of the gathering was three-fold: engage in reflection, mutual support, networking and team formation/strengthening; cultivate an increased analysis of race and poverty/wealth; and explore practical skills, resources and strategies for coordinated analysis and action.

 

Opening and closing worship and devotions focused on God’s call of radical inclusion found in the story of Peter and Cornelius (Acts, Chapter 10, NRSV).

 

Dr. Shakti Butler (www.world-trust.org), Dr. Paul Gorski (www.EdChange.org) and Ms. Maggie Potopchuk (www.mpassociates.us) served as keynote speakers. They are nationally and internationally recognized leaders in the racial and economic justice arenas. Crossroads (www.crossroadsantiracism.org), Lutheran Human Relations Association (www.lhra.org) and Paso Training and Consulting, among others, provided workshop training.

 

On September 11, the Ecumenical Partners Panel began with a clip from Traces of the Trade (www.tracesofthetrade.org) and a presentation from the film’s director, Katrina Browne, an Episcopalian. Browne shares her personal story as a white woman who discovered that her descendants were the most prosperous slave traders in U.S. history. Other models of institutional racial and economic justice programs were shared by participants from the Mennonite Central Committee, Christian Peacemaker Team, International Christian Community Churches, the Presbyterian Church USA, and the United Church of Christ. Friday evening, Loretta Horton, ELCA director for poverty ministries networking, and the Rev. Michael Russell presented Lazarus At the Gate, a new ELCA resource on poverty and wealth.

 

Synod capacity needs and assets named in the August 2008 Assessment Report of the Synod . . Anti-Racism Teams in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (www.elca.org/racialjustice) provided information for the gathering program. The most comprehensive assessment of synodical anti-racism efforts to-date, report findings and recommendations along with ideas generated at this September gathering will inform the next stage of ELCA Synodical anti-racism work.

 

For more information, contact Shenandoah Gale, ELCA Coordinator for Anti-Racism Education and Training, Office of the Presiding Bishop, racialjusticeinfo@elca.org, 773.380.2862. For media inquiries, contact John Brooks, Director, ELCA News Service, news@elca.org, 773.380.2958.

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