When the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was formed in 1988, it established a Multi-Cultural Ministries Unit (MMU) as part of an effort to become a more diverse church. This unit provided staff and support for the multi-cultural ministries and offered financial support for the ethnic/cultural/racial groups to create membership associations.

In 2003, the ELCA went through restructuring and the MMU was eliminated. The ethnic associations advocated for the ELCA to revisit its proposal to maintain and expand the MMU. At this time the ethnic associations asked for a group of white Lutherans to form to stand with them in the church and be funded and included in this MMU. The thinking was that in the MMU, white Lutherans would be present at the table as one among equals rather than as a majority. A group of about 25 white Lutherans organized over the next few years and in November 2008 launched the European American Lutheran Association (now EDLARJ). Unlike the other ethnic associations tasked with representing specific ethnic and cultural concerns in a predominantly white church, EALA was tasked with addressing our white peers about white privilege and power. Hence, the transition from EALA to European Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice.

The EDLARJ board consists of laypeople and clergy from around the ELCA who are committed to dismantling white supremacy in our church.