The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has launched a new theological education program for Indigenous leaders. This is the first such program in that church and aims to widen theological formation beyond Western approaches.
The inaugural cohort of TEIL began their program on 9 October 2023, Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the USA. The program was launched with in-person classes, an opening ceremony, and a celebration attended by leaders across the ELCA. Photo: PLTS
A first-of-its-kind education for Indigenous leaders
(LWI) – To strengthen Indigenous ministries, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has launched a new education program called Theological Education for Indigenous Leaders (TEIL). “It allows students to access education and leadership development – and possibly become ordained – so that they might be even more effective leaders in their communities and congregations,” said Vance Blackfox, ELCA director of Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations.
Western theological education has remained the default methodology within the church in North America, including the ELCA. Native leaders from across the ELCA, in partnership with leaders from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) of California Lutheran University in Berkeley, seek to change that with the TEIL program.
“The TEIL program is a historic and first-of-its-kind opportunity for Indigenous leaders and our church,” said Blackfox, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. “Ninety percent of our instructors, whom we call wisdom keepers, are Indigenous, and the students will experience Indigenous pedagogy, or ways of learning about ministry and biblical studies, that are not offered anywhere else in our church.”
The TEIL curriculum was designed by and for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) leaders, with their leadership and ministry formation and Indigenous theologies in mind. The TEIL program is open to lay leaders and those on the ordination track.
Whereas in many seminary courses, the gospel is read through a Western lens, the classes offered in the 16-course TEIL curriculum include “Ministry in Indigenous Context”, “American Lutheranism and Indigenous History”, and “Truth and Healing.”
Blackfox identified several primary goals for the program. “One would be providing quality and appropriate classes and experiences for Indigenous students that empower them to be even stronger ministry leaders in their communities, congregations and Indigenous ministries, both as ministers and with their fellow lay members,” he said. “Two, to allow for their experiences and tribal lifeways also to contribute gifts to their learning environments while in the TEIL program.”
He also hopes to “continue to connect the church at large – the churchwide organization, synods, congregations, individuals – with ways of supporting Indigenous ministries in our church. And this is one tremendous way in which that can happen.”
“Strengthening our ministry”
The inaugural cohort of TEIL, comprised of 10 students representing a range of ELCA Indigenous ministries and congregations, began their program on 9 October 2023, Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the USA. The program was launched with in-person classes hosted at Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon, and an opening ceremony and shared celebration attended by leaders across the ELCA.
“The ELCA has committed to supporting Native-focused and Native-led leadership and education, and to developing future Native leaders, pastors and theologians,” said Elizabeth Eaton, ELCA presiding bishop. “The Theological Education for Indigenous Leaders program is one important way to honor that commitment. Our Indigenous leaders have vital gifts to offer this church, and the TEIL program is an opportunity to support their development meaningfully.”
Joann Conroy, president of the ELCA’s American Indian Alaska Native Lutheran Association (AIAN), agreed. “We’ve been invisible people for too long,” she said of AIAN members and leaders of the ELCA. “Being able to have TEIL is something that not only strengthens our ministry, wherever we happen to be situated but strengthens the church and recognizes the gifts we bring to the church.”
Seeds planted
TEIL student Amanda Vivier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, had been looking for just such a program. “My heart has been yearning for this connection and acceptance as an Anishinaabe leader and as a follower of Christ Jesus, so it was a no-brainer when the opportunity presented itself,” she said of enrolling in the program.
Vivier has served as spiritual director and minister for The Way (formerly Native American Christian Ministry) in Fargo, North Dakota, and Moorhead, Minnesota, since 2017 and is seeking ordination. “This is a huge blessing to the Indigenous population of followers of Christ Jesus,” she said of the TEIL program. “It has opened the door for me to pursue becoming a pastor while still being very engaged with my family and ministry.”
“This is a huge blessing to the Indigenous population of followers of Christ Jesus.”
Gabe Wounded Head is an Oglala Lakota student completing his undergraduate degree at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks this year. He has also applied what he is learning in TEIL to his college campus, where he is a chapel service leader and an active member of the Campus Ministry. “This program gave me a unique opportunity to take advantage of a new alternative viewpoint in biblical exegesis,” he said.
“A historical context creates a picture that the good news was not just meant for the European church, and it wasn’t just meant for the American church – it was meant for the people of God, worldwide,” Wounded Head said. He believes the seeds planted with TEIL will invite more voices into the ELCA, both from Indigenous communities and beyond current church membership.
Source: Living Lutheran: “A first-of-its-kind education for Indigenous leaders - Theological Education for Indigenous Leaders program launches”, by John Potter 09/01/2024
