By J.A. Dunn

OCALA — A group of clergy and laity came together May 10 to redefine, reorganize and revitalize the conference’s Ethnic Local Church Concerns (ELCC) ministry.

This was the group’s second meeting.

Established decades ago to include African-American voices within the Florida Conference, ELCC has grown to include Haitians, Hispanics and other ethnic groups.

The group of about 18 people gathered at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church here to continue conversations about restructuring and regaining the focus ELCC has lost in recent years.

Led by Bill Walker, conference director of Connectional Ministries, the group grappled with its lack of leadership and problems afflicting African-Americans.

“The majority of the leadership in the Florida Conference are people who look like me,” Walker said. “It doesn’t matter what color you are or what language you speak, there are leaders in all of us. We need to develop persons in all ethnic groups who will be able to present themselves as leaders in the local church and work.”

Gainesville District Superintendent the Rev. Geraldine McClellan said there have been great strides within the African-American church, but there is more work to be done.

“We’ve come a long way with a long way to go,” McClellan said. “There is so much more ground to gain.”

The group struggled with the idea of how the ELCC could embrace, enhance and empower African-American churches.

Walker said there are so many groups springing up within the Florida Conference that very little is getting done.

“We’re not getting anywhere,” Walker said of the ELCC. “We need to be effective and coherent so we can live out what Christ calls us to be.

“I think this could be a group of people of various ethnic concerns to keep the majority group accountable and paying attention. We want to bring together an ELCC that will be useful and responsible.”

The ELCC began in the Florida Conference as a mandate of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in either the late 1960s or early 1970s, said the Rev. Dr. Larry Rankin, director of the Conference Council on Ministries’ Missions Ministry Team. He was assigned the staff person for the ELCC in 1997.

Rankin said over the years ELCC has become unsure of what it is or how to become more relevant to African-American churches.

Walker ended the meeting by reminding the group they are no longer knocking at the door of the United Methodist Church and are part of the general church.

After the meeting, the Rev. Moses H. Johnson said he was pleased the meeting went well.

“I think the ELCC has to move into the area of being a voice for the ethnic community within the Florida Conference,” said Johnson, who is pastor of Bartley Temple United Methodist Church in Gainesville.

The Rev. D’Mrtri Crafton Cato-Watson, of Harris Chapel United Methodist Church in Fort Lauderdale, said she is excited the ELCC will be more active than it has been in the past. She hopes the ELCC will influence the conference, as well as advocate on behalf of its constituents.