Chicago, USA - The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has approved the creation of a European American Association to join the church's five other ethnic associations in helping create a multicultural church.
The overwhelmingly white denomination has associations for African-Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Hispanics, Asians/Pacific Islanders and Arab/Middle Eastern Heritage.
In proposing the new ethnic grouping, the Multicultural Ministries' office said a recent churchwide reorganization made clear that "those in this church's European American community have not had the structure to journey together with the five ethnic associations."
The Rev. Sherman Hicks, executive director of ELCA Multicultural Ministries, said the new European American Association is part of "a new vision" for the ministries' work.
"This church has looked at 'multicultural' as basically 'ethnic-specific,' and that is not multicultural," Hicks said.
The Church Council voted during its Nov. 11-13 meeting in Chicago. The council serves as the denomination's legislative authority between churchwide assemblies.