#DecolonizeLutheranism and a question on leadership

As the Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly is fast approaching there is an opportunity to send questions to Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton. My friend and colleague, Jeremy Serrano, wondered... if we had an audience with Presiding Bishop Eaton, what would we ask?

I wrestled with the prompt because it is a good prompt to get me thinking about synod assembly and what we can do and the conversations we can start (and continue to wrestle with embodied words) as being church together. I actually have a lot of questions with topics ranging from the current status of theological education to administering the sacraments (what can I say, I’m curious and have a broad array of interests in the world of the church). As synod assemblies are taking place, I am noticing information that is not at all new: white males are the majority of synodical bishops within the ELCA. But what has piqued my interest are synods currently holding elections for the office of bishop. In the three elections that have recently taken place (Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Pacifica, and Northwestern Ohio Synods), white males are now the position of bishop-elect. I will pray for the bishops-elect, their synods, and how they will live out being “Church Together” (the thread of the Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly this year, I mean no jest or discrediting with the quotation marks).

I truly believe that the Holy Spirit moves as she will, but what happens when the moves of the Spirit crash into and against cultural norms? I’m led to wonder, are there scales on our eyes? Could we have hearts of stone? Are we comfortable... and complacent? Or are those currently in power uncomfortable when that power is handed over to under-represented, oppressed, and marginalized populations? 

Council of Bishops at Presiding Bishop Eaton's Installation, October 5, 2013

The current statistics are as follows: out of a total of 65 synodical bishops, three bishops can identify as race other than white. Nine of the synodical bishops are women. Looking at these numbers as a woman of color whose family has a history on the not-so-nice-side of colonialism, these numbers are disheartening.

Don’t get me wrong, I get that good order needs to happen for good ministry to take place. But sometimes, good order is not enough to bring about prophetic leadership. Strong and effective leaders are needed... but I am NOT convinced that all strong leaders are white men. I wonder what has led to our demographics within the population of synodical bishops? Is it that our church leadership also reflects the statistics within the most recent Pew Research Center report naming the ELCA as the whitest mainline protestant denomination? (A rhetorical question, because yes, the math says so).

My question for Presiding Bishop Eaton is a personal one, especially with the recent dialogue taking place around #DecolonizeLutheranism. It’s weird to think that the first woman of color within the ELCA I witnessed preaching a sermon... was myself. On a video cassette. To review my sermon for my homiletics class in seminary.  

This is not okay. Within our denomination, we continually say that we strive for diversity, yet it seems that our actions do not reflect our words. Also, speaking about the desire for diversity within the ELCA is a whole other blog post (I encourage you to read Elle Dowd’s blog post, “The problem with‘diversity’ as #ChurchGoals” ).  As a denomination, wrestling has recently taken place on how to talk about racial issues in the church. LSTC has been having intentional conversations. My alma mater, PLTS, has wrestled with such conversations after painful events on campus. Yes, these conversations are uneasy and awkward. They are wrought with tension. They deal with identity, a very personal, embodied, and incarnational issue. But these conversations must continue if we are to profess what we preach. These conversations must continue if we are to respond to our neighbor in need. These conversations must continue if we profess that all are created in God’s image.

There have been two webcasts from Churchwide, “Confronting Racism” with Twitter conversations (#ELCAConfrontRacism). A third webcast is going to take place later this week. My question for Bishop Eaton came from the Twitter conversation that took place in January. While the tweet was liked and retweeted fifteen times, it is a question that has entered into the Internet ether. My question, “How can the church lift up leaders of color and not tokenize them?” is a question that does not come with a simple answer.

How can the church lift up leaders of color and not tokenize them? #ELCAConfrontRacism

— Tuhina Verma Rasche (@tvrasche) January 15, 2016

But as a leader in the church, I believe it is a question worth asking again and again. I believe it is worth wrestling as the body of Christ to seek out the moves of the Spirit in exploring the answer(s).