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Can the ELCA be Multicultural? I'm Glad You Asked...

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I always chuckle a little bit whenever someone asks me the question - often with furrowed-brow and misplaced intensity: "Can the ELCA be multicultural?" It's a tough answer. Internal estimates place the whiteness of our denomination at almost 95%. Pew Research results of diversity among US religious groups.The ELCA is second from the bottom. Click for larger. This summer's sobering PEW research study of ethnic diversity in US religious communities had us at 96% white , making us the whitest church in the United States despite decades of trying to be otherwise. So sure, there is cause for worry, but having been in the vanguard of this very discussion for some time now, I always sport a sly grin whenever this topic pops up - because there is some little-known good news that invariablly twists the corners of my mouth a jaunty angle. The ELCA already is multicultural. It's true. Firstly, I know this because since beginning Th.M./Ph.D. studies at th