This study guide provides congregations with the opportunity to wrestle with the content and meaning of “Declaration of the ELCA to People of African Descent” and its accompanying explanation. The declaration was adopted by the ELCA Church Council on June 27, 2019, and was presented to the 2019 Churchwide Assembly.
Truth & Healing Movement
The ELCA’s Truth & Healing Movement is an opportunity for this church to increase our understanding of our colonizing impacts on Indigenous people in the past and present. Over the next several months, there will be opportunities to learn, raise awareness and engage in other ways to impact hearts and lives across this church. We believe that the truth, and our knowing and embracing it, is the first step toward healing for all of us.
Take a minute to listen to the video. Check out the resources that are available. What action will you take today? How might these concepts enter your coaching conversations?
Do you know about the ritual of Land Acknowlegment? Learn more about what this ritual entails here.
In response to the need for open, honest, and spiritually-grounded conversations about race, ELCA's Coaching Ministry has begun a group process to address this: A 4-week series (one hour each) on Race Relations conversations facilitated by ELCA Coach and Deacon Tammy Devine (Coordinator for Generosity Ministries of the ELCA), Rev. Brenda Smith (former ELCA Program Director for Faith Practices), and Rev. Gwendolyn Snell (ELCA Coach and Race Relations Advocate).
Together in community, we develop skills of holy listening, have guided conversation, wrestle with powerful questions, listen to scripture, and pray together. The format is a series of conversations and is designed for a small group setting, ideally racially mixed.
The resource used for this process, Conversations: Race Relations, The Journey to Right Relationship – a Christian Response, was created for the ELCA in 2017 by Rev. Robin McCullough-Bade, after Alton Sterling, an African American, was killed by police outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 5, 2016.
The hope of the facilitators is that participants in these Race Conversations Cohort Groups will use their leadership skills to replicate this race conversation ministry in their context. A copy of the resource used for this vital ministry can be found at elca.org/racerelations.
If you are interested in joining one of these groups, please email tdevine59@gmail.com. There is currently no cost to participate, and we welcome donations toward ELCA Coaching's intentional equity and justice work: https://tithe.ly/give?c=1807940 (please designate Race Relations in the Note / Memo space)
African Descent Ministries of the ELCA celebrates Black History Month with “Talks at the Desk,” a four-part video series that will explore diverse expressions of the church.
Talks at the Desk
Black Joy Ep. 2
After viewing this video ask yourself these questions:
- What touched your heart in this video?
- How does this change your perception of God/the Beloved Community of God on earth?
- What step/work are you inspired to engage/do you feel called to as a result of viewing this video?
Talks at the Desk
Our Black Church Ep.3
After viewing this video ask yourself these questions:
- What touched your heart in this video?
- How does this change your perception of God/the Beloved Community of God on earth?
- What step/work are you inspired to engage/do you feel called to as a result of viewing this video?
Talks at the Desk
Black Lives Matter Ep.4
After viewing this video ask yourself these questions:
- What touched your heart in this video?
- How does this change your perception of God/the Beloved Community of God on earth?
- What step/work are you inspired to engage/do you feel called to as a result of viewing this video?
Coaching is currently supporting individuals, groups, and teams who identify with these communities:
- Latine/REDIL
- African-descent
- Asian/Pacific Islander
- Arabic/Middle-Eastern
- Native/Indigenous
- LGBTQIA+
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing
- Disability
- Neurodivergence
As we receive permission to include stories from this important work, we will continue to update and expand this space.
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