Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium In 2013 the annual American Indian and Alaska Native Symposium at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago was renamed in honor of Vine Deloria Jr., an alum of Augustana Seminary, Rock Island, Ill., a predecessor school of LSTC. The symposium has been held in November each year since it began 15 years ago and is co-sponsored by the Pero Center for Intersectionality Studies at LSTC and the ELCA’s Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations. All events will be accessible online, and the theme is tribal sovereignty. At the height of the American India ..read more

In the United States, November is Native American Heritage Month. Racial Justice Ministries would like to elevate the voices and work of our Indigenous siblings by bringing attention to the multitude of events by the ELCA’s Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations. A full list of offerings for this month can be found here, but there are two events that we would especially like to highlight: Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium In 2013, the Annual American Indian and Alaska Native Symposium at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago was renamed in honor of Vine Deloria Jr., an alum of A ..read more

The following is cross-posted from Living Lutheran. You can find the original post here. Para celebrar el Mes de la Herencia Hispana, del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre estamos hablando con luteranos de ascendencia latiné para amplificar las voces de nuestros hermanos en Cristo. Hoy estamos hablando con Rev. Alejandro Mejía, director de la misión evangélica del Sínodo de Delaware-Maryland. Las respuestas han sido editadas para su publicación. ¿Cómo está usted conectado a la ELCA? Nací y crecí en Colombia, América del Sur. Mi familia siempre ha pertenecido a la iglesia luterana. Recuerdo es ..read more

The following message is shared on behalf of Vance Blackfox (Cherokee), Interim Senior Director, Ministries of Diverse Cultures and Communities. During September, we remember the survivors and descendants of U.S. Indian Boarding Schools. On Saturday, Sept. 30, we observe the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools. You can participate by wearing an orange shirt and posting a photo of yourself or members of your congregation or community on social media. Use the hashtags #ELCA #TruthAndHealing and #DayOfRememberance. If you would like to support the National Nati ..read more

Cross posting from ELCA Advocacy blog. Resounding Call from March on Washington Then and Now By guest blogger Jennifer DeLeon, ELCA Director for Racial Justice [more] As we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, the resounding importance of that pivotal event echoes powerfully into the present day. The factors that propelled the March, including ending racial segregation, fighting for economic justice and securing voting rights, remain as urgent and relevant as ever. Racism—a mix of power, privilege, and prejudice—is sin, a violation ..read more

You can’t change what you don’t know. So how much do you know about the impacts of colonization on Indigenous people in past generations and in the present? What does “MMIW” mean to you? When we know the truth and embrace it, we begin the process of building and strengthening right relationships with our Indigenous neighbors. To that end, last month the ELCA launched a Truth and Healing Movement. Watch a video of Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton announcing the creation of the movement. As explained in a news release, “[t]he ELCA’s Truth & Healing Movement will enlist and empower members ..read more

As we continue to celebrate Black history month we invite you to watch episode 2 of the series, Talks at the Desk, season 2: In this episode we travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands and visit several of the oldest Lutheran churches in the Western hemisphere. This episode explores the history and impact of colonialism both past and present. We meet wise and courageous people of faith who remind us about sacred struggles of the past and the presence of God and ancestors today in the work that remains to be done. African Descent Ministries of the ELCA celebrates Black History Month Talks at the Desk ..read more

The African Descent Ministries of the ELCA is celebrating Black History Month with season two of Talks at the Desk, a video series that explores diverse expressions of the church. A new video will premiere each Wednesday in February at 7:30 pm Central time. Watch them live on YouTube or  Click here to watch now. Join us to hear youth, young adults, rostered leaders, elders and friends of our communities share their own sacred stories. For more updates, follow @ELCAADM on Twitter and Instagram or check out facebook.com/elcaadm ..read more

I was 4 years old when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. I was too young to understand the import of his words while he lived. Yet I remember the importance of those words, his struggles and his assassination to the Black community as I grew up in Chester, Penn. The community felt he was one of theirs. Not only was he a marvelous young African American preacher and civil rights leader, but he was also educated at Crozer Theological Seminary, just up the road in Upland, Penn.   In the late 60s and the 70s a framed picture of the civil rights leader hung in almost every Black home ..read more

It is my prayer that each of you had a wonderful Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and that as you looked around you saw more and more non-Indigenous people observing this holiday in ways that lifted up the gifts and beauty of the Indigenous people in what is presently known as the United States.   For those of you who are not counting, it has been just over a year since the position titled Director of Indigenous Ministry and Tribal Relations for the ELCA was created.  And while it is positioned in the Service and Justice home area, it is no longer considered an ethnic specific ministry and i ..read more