WHO WE ARE

The Multiethnic & Intersectional Network is a practitioner-led movement within the ELCA cultivating congregations and leaders who embody shared leadership, shared power, and authentic belonging across race, ethnicity, ability, language, sexuality, class, gender, culture, theology, etc. This is not a program.

We are the resource. The network itself is the living, breathing community of diverse lay and rostered leaders across synods, congregations, and churchwide expressions, including seminarians, deacons and other ministry partners.

WHAT GROUNDS US

We are grounded theologically in the biblical vision of every ethnos, every nation gathered as one body. We believe multiethnicity and intersectionality are not optional strategies, but essential characteristics of the Church. Christ is just like the human body, a body is a unit and has many parts. This embodied diversity before God is a visible sign of being human today that must aid the larger church and the world.

(Matthew 28; Acts 2; 1 Corinthians 12; Galatians 3:26-29)

WHAT WE MEAN BY MULTIETHNIC & INTERSECTIONAL

Multiethnic is not simply demographic diversity. It is: A Christ-centered community where multiple racial and ethnic groups share worship, leadership, power, formation, and prophetic witness.

Intersectional recognizes that identities overlap, and lived experience cannot be reduced to a single identity. It is: A Christ-centered community where people from different identities, backgrounds, and traditions do not have to give up parts of themselves to belong.

This network holds these two realities together: multiethnic and intersectional. The work is ongoing, imperfect, worth pursuing, and embodied, not aspirational.

HOW ARE CONGREGATIONS/MINISTRIES INVITED

The network began in 2025 with 13 congregations nominated by their bishops in financial partnership with CCL and Innovation home areas to commence the initial study process and consultation. It has grown to 50 congregations/ministries that embody vibrant multiethnic and intersectional ministry, still nominated by bishops, DEMs, churchwide, and current network practitioners. Congregations are vetted with local bishops and invited to send one rostered and one lay leader of color.

Criteria include:

• Public commitments to diversity and belonging

• LGBTQ affirmation or journeying towards RIC or visible inclusion

• Multilingual or cross-cultural engagement

• Diverse shared leadership structures

Interest now far exceeds capacity, and the next phase will expand access to all ministry leaders who aspire to embody these values.

WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN NATIONAL GATHERINGS

The network started with 7 ELCA synods, however today it engages 25 synods. Ongoing work includes:

• Monthly regional cohorts for prayer, support, and peer learning

• Monthly leadership team meetings for visioning and formation

• Quarterly peer-to-peer accompaniment Annual Leadership trainings

• Direct relationship-building with synods and churchwide partners.

This work is about sustained formation.

REAL IMPACT AT A GLANCE

This movement is already producing fruit.

• Strengthened Leaders – Lay and rostered leaders are discovering their voice, deepening belonging, and returning to ministry with renewed hope.

• Replicable Pathways – Congregations receive clear frameworks, diverse worship models, leadership formation, and practical next steps they can implement immediately.

• Cultural & Structural Change – Shared leadership and governance are reshaped, whiteness is intentionally de-centered, and justice is integrated into the church’s theology and practice.

• Growing Movement - Gatherings are at capacity, high satisfaction rates, energy is rising, and leaders are returning home equipped to lead real change.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI)

Phase one focused on building the resource: the network itself.

Phase two will multiply impact outward.

Leaders nurtured within this network are now positioned to engage in the following ways:

• Mentor congregations across synods.

• Facilitate workshops and gatherings. Accompany ministries seeking to embody ELCA’s future vision.

• Support a new, younger, more diverse, justice-rooted church.

The network is a tool for the ELCA and the nation to live into its stated and embodied future. We pray the fruit will not remain inside the network, but trust our Divine Parent will use it to permeate the American Christian Church.