Someone wants you to know:
"The Forum Letter reported Bishop Landahl's participation in the installation of Pastor Goldstein at St. Francis Lutheran Church in San Francisco. The editor guessed that he wished to express sympathy for the noble struggle to "change ELCA policies toward sexual minority pastors," and then added: "This is not to suggest that, as a bishop in the ELCA, he is not also equally charged with upholding those policies St. Francis seeks to change."
"In January, February, and March of 2006 Bishop Landahl sent letters to the pastors in the Metro Chicago Synod that each began, "This kind of letter is difficult to write." Three pastors were removed from the ELCA roster for having sexual affairs outside of marriage. Two had sexual affairs with women in their congregations. The third case, however, was a single pastor who had had an affair with an adult male. A pastor in the Metro Chicago Synod reported that a little probing uncovered the following facts in the case: this pastor's affair took place over a year and a half ago, it did not involve anyone in his congregation, the informant who filed the complaint to the bishop's office was the ex-wife of this pastor's ex-lover who filed her complaint six months after her divorce, and the effect of removing this pastor from the roster was that he was shy a half of year of being in the Health Plan for 30 years, which would have enabled him to continue to receive health benefits (he has a diabetic condition). Our informant in the Metro Chicago Synod who knows this pastor well reports that said pastor repented of his action, made a confession and received absolution. Nevertheless, he was given the maximum penalty of being removed from the roster. Vision and Expectations was enforced. Then Bishop Landahl went off to be an "ecumenical guest" at St. Francis to preside at the installation of a pastor who has made no secret of his gay orientation."
Perhaps this was passed on to me because we carried the news about Landahl's participation in Pr Goldstein's installation, perhaps because Goldstein them visited this site in an effort to "continue the dialogue" or perhaps it is pure mischief, bu tthe fact it that these people and the congregation at St. Francis, San Francisco is trying to provide another test case in an effort to keep the issue alive.
I myself am torn between clossing this blog down now that it has become a tool for them or beat them at their own game (mischief that is). What do you think?
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The good ship ELCA...
Or the Shellfish blog...
5 comments:
Shrimp,
Keep this channel open. Don't close down. There are quite a few folks who use your info for the fight against revisionism. What is more, I have witnessed where people who come to this site look at the responses (like Vicar Megan's) and they go away more convinced than ever that they need to do something to stem the tide of bad biblical interpretation.
Peace in the Lord!
Rob Buechler
Correction noted, but I fell for that becasue Megan has refered us to her writing elsewhere (as well as her email if anyone wants to write her directly).
So, the discussion continues: I am one who speaks for the side which wishes to remain Confessional and in the ELCA, Megan speaks for those who have a very different view of the Confessions (one of the few who bothers to refer to them) and Paul as a member of another body who cannot be blamed when they write E?CA
BTW, you don't need to worry Rob, I checked and "You don't get off that easy" (the Big Guy said "Good try, but your fight ain't over")
Please keep this blog going. I us eit on a regular basis to keep in touch with what is happening in the ELCA. You provide excellent posts that are helpful to me in my discussions with other congregation members.
Pastor, I urge you to keep it up.
I say this as an Anglican who has seen his beloved Episcopal Church essentially destroyed in hardly more than a generation by a small but ruthless group of activists who have exploited the general level of Scriptural ignorance in the church, the feel-good theraputic emphasis of what little teaching has been taking place, and the spineless complacency of our bureaucrats-cum-bishops. I would not be surprised to learn that some of these same phenomena may occasionally be glimpsed in your ELCA.
Do not worry that opponents of your point of view may come by and comment on your blog. I urge you to visit other faithful Lutheran blogs and participate in their discussions; you will eventually develop (or perhaps you have already; this is my first visit here) an articulate and theologically-sophisticated group of regulars whose comments will overwhelm and refute the trollers.
After all, the Truth is on our side.
For an example of an outstanding and respected orthodox Christian blog dealing with the Episcopal controversy, take a look at http://titusonenine.classicalanglican.net
For the sort of meta-blog that might be useful for ELCA, check out http://anglican.tk
Keep up the fight. In the words of a Baptist Marine chaplain I knew many years ago, "God don't give you no problems that you an' Him together can't handle."
All right, all right, I won't pull it and will keep posting newsworthy stuff.
Want you all to know--I think people misunderstood-- I wasn't talking about ending it because GLBTQ people were coming by to post--I hope they do. That is in line with our Jude mindset. It was becasue it hit me the other day that their main hope for anything in the short game is to promote the St Francis thing.
Anyway, I hope you all coome back, including Rohrer and Goldstein.
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