Authentic Diversity & Justice Working Group
Mission:
We build up disciples to proclaim through word and deed that the gospel of Jesus is one of liberating justice.
We work to promote the full engagement of our ministerium to open up our congregations to the mission of racial justice in our regional and local contexts, and find ways for our faith to play a role in these engagements wherever they lead us.
The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This year’s event will highlight some of the stories of the people, especially women, who kindled and tended the fires of freedom, often from behind the scenes. This “cloud of witnesses” includes biblical women who proclaimed life in the face of death; historic people who used their voices, hands, and feet to call for freedom; and local voices from Aliquippa and the greater Pittsburgh region who continue to strive for God’s vision of the beloved community.
Save the Date: Sunday, April 7, 2024
House of Prayer Lutheran Church, Aliquippa
Archive:
2023 Commemoration Service >>
”Learn, Advocate, Build” Pre-Event >>
2022 Commemoration Service >>
Also: Congregation Resources for Commemorating MLK Day >>
Racial Justice Training for Region 8 of the ELCA
swpasynod.org/calendar/rjt23
Region 8’s Racial Justice Training equips leaders (rostered and lay) to face the challenges of racism in a diverse, complex and changing world by providing tools and resources that foster healthy and holy conversations. Attending this training fulfills the ELCA’s directive that rostered ministers participate in racial justice training every two years.
Struggling with White Privilege and Following Jesus
A series of Lenten reflections, each week one individual will share about their personal awareness and struggle with white privilege and commitment to racial justice. See the full series >>
“Rev. Jehu Jones: The First Black Lutheran Pastor”
Wayfarer, February 2021 Article
Written by members of this working group:
Pastors Kerri Clark and Brenda Henry
"Say Their Names: Emanuel Nine Observance June 17, 2021"
Wayfarer, May 2021 Article
Written by Bishop Kurt Kusserow
Serving, Connecting, & Equipping Congregations:
We acknowledge and repent of our complicity, as individuals and the church, in the sins of racism and white supremacy.
We work to take steps toward healing, reconciliation, and equality for all people.
We equip and empower people in the SWPA Synod, both lay and rostered, to gain more knowledge and understanding and to work for justice for all people. Specifically, we offer a curated list of resources, book studies and discussions, workshops/webinars, opportunities for advocacy, and annual anti-racism training.
We welcome connections and cooperation with similar groups of other denominations and faiths.
How can congregations support authentic diversity & justice?
Engage in resources, webinars, conversations, book studies.
Read about our Churchwide support for working group like these >>
ELCA task force for strategic authentic diversity, which laid the ground work nationally for the creation of our regional working group.
TO GET INVOLVED, CONTACT:
Pastor Ryan Pusch
Chair
262-707-3038
rpusch001@luthersem.edu
Pastor Melissa Stoller
Director for Evangelical Mission & Assistant to the Bishop
412-367-8222
melissa.stoller@elca.org
Members:
Rev. Kerri Clark, Secretary
Rev. Brenda Henry
Rev. Jocelyn Johnston
Amy Kelly
Rev. Martin Rafanan
Group Resources
Line your shelves with great books for adults, teens, and kids, recommended by our Authentic Diversity & Justice working group. By purchasing from our list, 10% of the sale will go towards funding our annual MLK event.
Lent is both a time of reflection on the past and looking to the future; the 50th anniversary of the passing of Section 504 is an opportunity to see where the disability community has been, where they are now, and what we can do to support them moving forward.
This year's Lenten challenge from the synod's Authentic Diversity and Justice Working Group will open our minds and hearts to being aware of the way we have inadvertently excluded people from worship and community, and move in a direction towards inclusion.
The language of Advent has traditionally used images of light and dark and attached value to each of them. Though this language appears in Scripture, our modern usage is intricately tied to race and the value that is placed on skin color in our society. Why should we attend to this language? What are our alternatives? Is there a way to hold beloved traditions and hymnody while striving to love our neighbors?
Land Acknowledgement
The practice of including a land acknowledgement at the beginning of gatherings is growing increasingly common. This practice is intended to draw our attention to the tribes and people who have stewarded the land on which we gather, and to encourage further learning about their history and present circumstances. Below are some resources for learning more about land acknowledgements, and taking steps to include a land acknowledgement as part of your congregation's worship services.
Search your address to find out which Indigenous tribes have called this land home.
Find examples of land acknowledgements from Vance Blackfox, Director for the ELCA's American Indian Alaska Native Tribal Nations Desk, and read his article in November's Living Lutheran magazine.
Connect with the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center, which "promotes the socio-economic development of the Native American community and others who experience the same type of economic difficulties in the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area."
Read this local land acknowledgement shared at the installation (formally, "invitation to ecumenical service") of Pastor Kimberly Greway at St. John's Lutheran, North Versailles.
Unpacking White Privilege
I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening)
Bishop Kurt F. Kusserow shares a prayer in memory of the nine martyrs shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
The ELCA Prayer Service for Commemoration of the Emanuel Nine on June 17, 2020 marks the fifth anniversary of the evening nine people were shot and killed during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. We join in a time of repentance, mourning and prayer as we remember these nine martyrs and renounce the sins of racism and white supremacy.