ELCA NEWS SERVICE
January 19, 2007
Ramona Soto Rank, American Indian Leader, Lutheran Pastor, Dies
07-007-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Ramona Soto Rank, a leader in the
Lutheran church on matters concerning American Indians, died Jan.
12. She was 62. An enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes of
Oregon, she was an associate pastor for Augustana Lutheran
Church, Portland, Ore. Services will be held Jan. 20 there and
Jan. 22 at the Church and Tribal Community Center, Beatty, Ore.
When Rank became a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) in 2000, she was the second American Indian
woman to be ordained in the Lutheran church and the first in the
ELCA.
Marilyn Sorenson, director for American Indian and Alaska
native ministries and racial justice, ELCA Multicultural
Ministries, met Rank when they served together on the National
Indian Lutheran Board from 1978 to 1987.
Sorenson described Rank as "a strong, knowledgeable friend,
a colleague who could be funny. She could also be forceful when
the rights of Indian people were at risk. She was a strong
advocate for the sovereign and self-determination rights of
Indian people."
Rank proved to be "a good traveling companion," from the
unmarked roads of reservations to sessions of the U.N. Working
Group on the Draft Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous
People. "She was at home wherever we traveled," Sorenson said.
"She will be missed by all of the many family and friends
she loved. I will personally miss her intuition and wisdom,"
Sorenson said.
Born on the Klamath Reservation in Klamath County, Ore.,
Rank attended Colorado Woman's College, Denver. She served as
secretary to the General Council of the Klamath Tribes and as a
member of the Tribal Restoration Committee. She was executive
director of Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, an
organization representing 49 federally recognized tribes in
Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.
From 1978 to 1989, Rank coordinated Inter-Lutheran Native
American Concerns and served from 1980 to 1987 on the Division
for Parish Services board of the former Lutheran Church in
America. She was president of the American Indian/Alaska Native
Association of the ELCA (formerly the Native American Lutheran
Association), served on the ELCA Church Council and chaired the
ELCA Oregon Synod Multicultural Council.
Presenting the "American Indian/Alaska Native Strategic
Plan" to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 1997, Rank said, "Native
Americans are survivors of the 'Great American Holocaust.' This
is our land," she continued. "Our people have occupied North
America for more than 40,000 years. We dare not let other
Americans forget about us now."
A graduate of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS),
Berkeley, Calif., Rank worked with PLTS and Luther Seminary, St.
Paul, Minn., on curricula and experiences that help train church
professionals in the context of American Indian and Alaska Native
perspectives. She is a founder of the "One in the Spirit"
gathering that brings together clergy and lay people with
American Indian and Alaska Native theologians.
In 2005 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly named Rank to the
program committee of ELCA Multicultural Ministries.
Rank has been a featured speaker on "Day 1," a nationally
broadcast religious radio program. She and Augustana Lutheran
Church highlighted "The Disappearing 20-Somethings," the fall
2002 issue of Mosaic Television, a video series of the ELCA.
Rank is survived by her husband Larry, two daughters, two
sons and two grandsons.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
