To reconcile

"In these trying circumstances, the black revolution is much more than a struggle for the rights of Negroes. It is forcing America to face all its iterrelated flaws - racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism. It is exposing the evils that are rooted deeply in the whole structure of our society. It reveals systemic rather than superficial flaws and suggests that radical reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

What does it mean to be a reconciling community?

In modern terms - a reconciling congregation is a congregation that is inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities. This is simply amazing work in the church today and something my seminary is very proud to be apart of. BUT there are other things the church needs to reconcile. I was struck by one of the founders of Black Lives Matter when she said this is a tangible thing she would like to see in the short-term future of the organization:

"I would like to see some truth and reconciliation.. pay attention to the trauma that is being carried by our communities and has been carried through generations. We need a massive investment in our people and a massive disinvestment in the state mechanisms that are killing our people and.. paying attention to what does it look like to reconcile this countries violent past, its violent present so that we can transform our future into something that is built on care, that is built on connection and interdependence."

- Alicia Garza

This is something that I do believe is the churches business, just like it was absolutely the churches business to reconcile with the LGBTQ community. I have the feeling we have not moved so quickly with reconciling in black communities because the Lutheran church is the whitest Christian denomination. According to the 2015 pew research, the ELCA is 96% white! Wow! BUT I recently was delighted to see this new ELCA movement starting up called Decolonize Lutheranism. The main focus is not on black communities, but it sure is a great start! Check it out at decolonizelutheranism.org

So, what would it look like for us to be a reconciling community?

In my dream world it would look like a black lutheran pastor leading her/his community into the future the Black Lives Matter Movement envisions. By speaking the truth of the past and the present and working to create more leaders in the community to fight against corrupt government systems that are killing them. But this is not my dream world, so in real life there might not be a black lutheran pastor available and there might not be an ELCA church in a given black neighborhood. So we shall work to break ground on these issues. Within the church I pledge to decolonize lutheranism and outside the church I pledge to fight for policy and laws that will protect black lives, and to have the hard conversations, and to end mass killing and mass incarceration of black lives. What does reconciliation mean to YOU?