August 11, 2005

ORLANDO, Fla. – The 2005 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted an Arab and Middle Eastern ministry strategy Aug. 11 by a vote of 858 to 6. The strategy's recommendations support Lutheran Christians of Arab and Middle Eastern ancestry in congregations, develop ministry with this ethnic community, and educate the general membership in appreciation of Arab and Middle Eastern heritage.

The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 8-14 at the World Center Marriott and Convention Center. About 2,300 people are participating, including 1,018 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Marked with the Cross of Christ Forever."

Members of the Arab and Middle Eastern community and ELCA staff members together developed the strategy beginning with a consultation in 1992. The Rev. Frederick Rajan, executive director, Commission for Multicultural Ministries, said there are now 4 million people of Arab and Middle Eastern heritage in the United States. "This ministry opportunity abounds," he said.

The ELCA has Arab language congregations in Brooklyn, N.Y., Chicago, Ill., and Dearborn, Mich. The strategy recommends the start-up of at least five new Arab and Middle Eastern congregations by 2015. Discussion in hearings named growing population concentrations in the Las Vegas and San Francisco areas.

The strategy recommends specific actions to "identify, equip, and nurture a new generation of clergy and lay leaders for Arab and Middle Eastern ministries." Financial support is also recommended for this ethnic-specific ministry. Rajan said, "Most Arab and Middle Eastern congregations simply cannot self- support," noting financial struggles of new immigrant populations.

Lutherans of Arab and Middle Eastern heritage embrace a role as bridge builders in the strategy. It recommends, "In order to neutralize mistrust and negative attitudes toward Middle Eastern people in particular, the ELCA Arab ministries and congregations can provide safe haven and function as community service centers."

The Metropolitan New York area has experienced this bridge building soon after the events of Sept. 11, 2001 and today.

"I hope the assembly understands the gifts we're receiving by doing this," said the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod. The Salam Arabic Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, "is one of the only places in the world where Christians and Jews and Muslims were talking together on the grass roots level," he said. The congregation maintains relationships with social service agencies, the FBI, the police force and others according to their pastor, the Rev. Khader El- Yateem, and offers language courses, youth programming and more for its community.

The Rev. Bassam J. Abdallah, consultant for Arab and Middle Eastern ministries, ELCA Multicultural Ministries, said, "[Arab and Middle Eastern Christians] have a very deep root in the history of the church. Lutheranism is foreign to the grand majority of people." He urged, "Please open your congregations and arms for them. They are your family in Jesus Christ."

ELCA News Service