ELCA NEWS SERVICE August 16, 2003 ELCA Assembly Reaffirms Work Against Racism 03-CWA-45-DM MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- The 2003 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Aug. 16 reaffirmed the church's efforts to work against racism. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 11-17 at the Midwest Airlines Center. There are about 2,100 people participating, including 1,031 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known: For the Healing of the World." By a vote of 916 to 53, the assembly adopted a recommendation from the memorials committee to reaffirm the values and goals in the ELCA's 1993 social statement "Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture." That statement, in the words of the memorials committee, calls on the ELCA to "confront racism, give public leadership and witness of racial-justice issues, and persevere in our mission and ministry in a multicultural society." The assembly also voted to "encourage members, congregations, synods, and agencies and institutions to join the churchwide organization in its commitment as described in 'Faithful Yet Changing: The Plan for Mission in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,'" the ELCA's new strategic plan. The strategic plan, which has been approved by the ELCA Church Council and is scheduled for presentation to the assembly Aug. 17, commits the church to: + "confront the scandalous realities of racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, age, gender, familial, sexual, physical, personal, and class barriers that often manifest themselves in exclusion, poverty, hunger, and violence,"and to + "pursue ardently the ELCA's commitment to becoming more diverse, multicultural, and multigenerational in an ever-changing and increasingly pluralistic context, with special focus on full inclusion in this church of youth, young adults, and people of color and people whose primary language is other than English." By a vote of 447 to 524, the assembly turned down an amendment that would have added a sixth "strategic direction" to the five already in the strategic plan: "to assist this church to become an antiracist, multicultural church." Janet Thompson, member of the ELCA Church Council and chair of its planning and evaluation committee, urged voting members to decline the amendment. She said that the Church Council decided that including antiracism efforts in the strategic plan's commitments means that those efforts will permeate all five of the strategic directions. -- -- -- Information about the ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.elca.org/assembly/03 on the Web. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news