Shrimp here:

Farewell to meat?

I understand this blog as a place which employs a certain literary scornand disdain. Yes, we accuse, but only employing humor and embellishment to make a point about something not funny at all. The meat served here is the corruption of the church. There is no good lukewarm church. You human people need to wake up.You think because Rec 3 didn't pass you can go back into your shells? Ha, if it wasn't for the lay people, if it wasn't for the huge amount of effort by Solid Rock and WordAlone, the support staff whose salary you pay would have had you one more step to coven, not covenant.

Our enemy is not any flesh or blood, but the spirit of this world that blinds people into thinking they must make decisions about God, for God, and they end up playing God, but as deep as original sin goes, we play the fool and end up doing the devil's work.

This blog is just one, small project. It has been interesting. What follows may be the most absurd piece yet, inflammatory in fact, but its purpose is to show the absurdity. We humans have always worshiped ourselves, worship pleasure, worshiped false gods, but until the last decade, we never saw outright pagan worship done by clergy above ground.

Shrimp is taking a break concerning posting during Lent. I have to go hide anyway, the amateurs think they can get in good if they trade their steak for a plate of me and my cousins.

We shellfish wish everyone a good lent and that you keep the fast so you better participate in the feast. The only posts will be important news events.

We hope you are also organizing and presenting your resolutions on the authority of Schripture, promoting a Lutheran understanding of marriage, and for Pete's sake, settling on an orthodox candidate for Presiding Bishop.

We bid you peace and good-bye for now, but you think deeply about what lies behind the absurdity which follows.

Are we on our way to the anti-church?

Yes, Mardi Gras falls on the day before Ash Wednesday, but for some the excitement happens year round, as you can see at a worship service held at Trinity, Wall Street.

Isn't it rich, are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air.
Send in the clowns.

Isn't it bliss, don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around
One who can't move
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.

Don't you love farce?
(if you do, view the video)
My fault I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer,

Losing my timing this late
In my career?
And where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns.
Well, maybe next year.

Robert Goldstein to be installed as Lead Pastor

From the St. Francis Lutheran Church web site:

On Sunday, March 26 at 2:30 pm, Pr. Robert Goldstein will be formally installed as the Lead Pastor of St. Francis Church. Preaching will be The Rev. Paul R. Landahl, bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America; presiding will be the Rev. Dr. Susan Strouse of First United Lutheran Church in San Francisco; and performing the rite of installation will be the Rev. Daniel Solberg of St. Paulus Lutheran Church and dean of the Conference of San Francisco Lutheran Churches.

If you have hopes that the ELCA will be reformed, be outraged. In a denomination with a polity, consitution, tradtitions and Confessions, members would expect that their bishops would abide "by the rule of law." When we expect seminarians to "make an oath" to live a life "above reproach," why would a sitting bishop install a pastor in a church that has been removed from the roll for just such actions.

Bishop Landahl should be suspended from the Council of Bishops by the other bishops (along with Payne and Bouman)while they decide what they can do to restore integrity.

ELCA's Mountainous Sin (It's Nearly Broken-back!)

The Pietist just posted the following:

ELCA's Mountainous Sin (It's Nearly Broken-back!)

It should be slowly dawning on more and more members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) that "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore. The ELCA is coming out with a new hymnal in which they are removing most of the masculine language from Scripture and hymns and the usage of the current Lutheran Book of Worship. The question is raised again, "By whose authority do you do this?" The obvious subservience of ELCA leaders to the activists of the GLBT movement (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans-gendered) and their relentless push to normalize homoeroticism, raises the question, "By whose authority do you do this?"

If you write them, they will send you a form letter (probably becasue they get so many objections, yet they keep on going, like the Energizer Bunny). To the first example, they will say, "We studied it carefully." To the second, "We will take a four year journey together and then vote." It becomes more and more obvious that the staff people of the ELCA believe they have so much authority that they can reconfigure the way we are ordered as a society, and will reach even as far as a religious person can and change the words that come out of God's mouth.

Less that two years ago I set forth to see if I could come to understand how the ELCA got to where it is, and it slowly dawned on me that we have become so ill-versed in Scripture, and Lutheran theology (the Confessions) that many no longer can even recognize heresy. Examples abound. Go to www.herchurch.org and you'll find an ELCA congregation that invites women to go to Crete and pour libations on the altars of pagan gods. You might say that this is but one congregation and they hardly speak for the theology of a denomination? Well, go here
and you can see our top official float one heresy balloon after another, celebrating that since some theologian has written convincingly that God is at work in all religions (!!!) that we can rejoice that all are saved, that since another theologian has written convincingly that the Office of the Keys based on Jewish authorities of the time of Jesus actually means "loosing the current understanding of the law." (Martin Luther placed this traditional teaching of the place of the forgiveness of sins in the life of the Church in the Small Catechism part of our Confessions)

From its Presiding Bishop down through its synods, pastors, seminaries, and colleges, and from coast to coast, it is as though antidisestablishmentarianism (fanaticism, really) is in control. After the hot debate around sexuality at its biennial assembly, at which the pro-GLBT forces suffered defeat on their two resolutions, what Metro NY Bishop Stephen Bouman understood was, "We voted for a marvelously ambiguous opportunity to continue to be pastoral in our congregations [with] gay and lesbian people, including blessings of relationships." (no ambiguity for New England Bishop Margaret Payne went beyond that and told her pastors to go ahead and do it, but that's another story). Its publishing arm, Augsburg Fortress touts books about reclaiming Jezebel as a role model for women (a murderous, idolater!). The Lutheran magazine praises the movie Brokeback Mountain (a movie which one would expect a church magazine, regardless of which side of the gay movement you stand, would recognize as a celebration of a love affair that tears two families apart).

In the same issue one finds the cover story to be "A Celebration of Doubt" in which Martin Luther is used woefully. Luther, as he explained in his own words, experienced Anfechtungen, periods of prayer where his thoughts and words seemed to be informed by both God and the devil. His primary doubts were about predestination, whether he would go to heaven or hell, not the existence of God!

The ELCA's theme for camp ministry this year is "La Frontera" which is a "celebration of ambiguity" for our junior and senior high youth. There we read, "La Frontera is a place. It can mean a “place of transition,” a “place of indecision,” a “place of struggle,” “on the edge of a place,” or a “place of uncertainty.”
(Great! Let's devote all our resources to teach the next generation that ambiguity is real place)

Why? Why do we want to make lack of certainty the new dogma in a tradition named after a man whose whole life was about the truth could be known by everyone by reading the Word though the faith given by the Holy Spirit?

It is as though we want to celebrate that which we should be most troubled about: not knowing what lies behind the phrase, "the authority of Scripture."

It's not all that hard to figure out (and I say this after two years of research). Once a church is unsure of who wrote the Bible, it is a scary prospect, and they get about the business of ordering their lives differently. The problem soon becomes apparent when they begin to do it 180 degrees different. They can't get past the first bit of the Small Catechism, the Ten Commandments, "There shall be no other Gods before Me."

The good news is that many in the ELCA woke up just as I did and are taking an account of what is going on and what can be done about it. We are not bigots or hot heads. We merely want to have good order, a truly "safe place" for our children where they will learn that Scripture does indeed have clarity and an answer to all of life's questions and that the main thing is there is no ambiguity about the God who chose to reveal himself in Jesus Christ, who still send his Spirit to His Church and bestows believers with all His blessings.

Go to the LC3/CORE web site or their blog at http://commonconfession.blogspot.com and learn about the two newly formed groups for reform (CORE) and renewal (LC3) in the ELCA. Take the Common Confession to your Church Council and listen to the discussion and speak to the situation. If they find a problem with any of the simple seven statements of classic Lutheranism, our understanding may being its slow (or not so slow) dawning.

BTW, the LC3 blog is looking great these days. You should get involved with both LC# and CORE.

Are you working on your resolutions yet? end in any good ones and I'll post them.

Jesus heals (why are we surprised?)

"In desperation, I decided to give church another try a few weeks later. The speaker's words penetrated my heart as he talked about healing and forgiveness. I began to believe I could change, so I went to the local Christian bookstore to find a book that would help me overcome my homosexual desires.

"I wasn't sure where to look, so I used the "my friend has this problem and I'm trying to help her" scenario to ask. While the store didn't carry any books, the clerk gave me the name and address of a man in town who ran an ex-gay ministry.

"I kept the card for several weeks before I finally worked up the nerve to write this man a letter in which I cried out for help. Soon he called me and we arranged to meet.

"I was scared the first time I met Allen. I was 26 and had been struggling for 12 years. I'd never been able to talk to anyone openly about my sexuality. Yet that afternoon, as we sat in his living room, I let it all out. I couldn't believe there finally was someone else who understood.

"efore I left, Allen invited me to the support group he held once a month. Through the group, I learned a lot about why I struggled with homosexuality. I started to see how in my lesbian relationships, I'd been searching for the love and acceptance of the mother I felt I never had. Although it took five years, I eventually was able to forgive my mom and build a relationship with her. Amazingly, today we are both Christians and share a loving friendship.

"The biggest obstacle to my healing was dealing with the sexual abuse I'd suffered. The two men who abused me made me fear and distrust all other men. It wasn't until I turned 31 that I began accepting that the abuse wasn't my fault. I was an innocent child who had no control over what happened to me. I did what I had to do to survive at the time.

"My desires for women began to change when I attended my first ex-gay support group and met David. David also had struggled with homosexuality, and two years earlier had learned he had HIV. From the very first meeting, we connected.

"David showed me all men aren't bad. We had fun together. We went for long walks and talked about the future. He listened when I needed to talk and held me when I needed to cry. Most importantly, David was a man of God. His faith was like none I'd known before. He was a leader in his church and his community. He taught me about grace, forgiveness, and healing."

Read the whole thing at CT. Realize that the gays in the gay movement are most vulberable on this issue, and they have convinced many "comapssionate" mainliners that ex-gay ministries are a lie, therefore a cruel lie. The problem is, it is true that people can change, especially where they appeal to God's grace and enter into a supportive network of the local church and a program. From my experiece, there is little that is "gay" about the lifestyle and it is a bondage that can be broken,

RESOLUTION IN RESPONSE TO THE ACTIONS OF THE METROPOLITAN NEW YORK SYNOD: "initiate a consultation process"

RESOLUTION IN RESPONSE TO THE ACTIONS OF THE METROPOLITAN NEW YORK SYNOD SPECIAL ASSEMBLY IN OCTOBER

WHEREAS, the ELCA has engaged in a four year study examining the possibility of making changes to the policies regarding the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of partnered gay and lesbian persons, and

WHEREAS, the ELCA Church Council proposed to the 2005 Churchwide Assembly the adoption of a process whereby "exceptions" to the prohibition of the ordination of partnered gay and lesbian persons to the rostered ministry of the ELCA could be made, and

WHEREAS, the ELCA in assembly in August of 2005 rejected this proposal, keeping in place the present policy which prohibits the ordination of partnered gay and lesbian persons, and

WHEREAS, the Metropolitan New York Synod in special assembly in October of 2005 approved resolutions which call for "restraint in the administration of those policies that address the full service of partnered gay and lesbian persons in rostered ministry" and "requests other synods to join us in endorsing the practice of restraint" and determines that "the guidance of this Synod with regard solely to the
fact that an otherwise-qualified candidate for rostered ministry is in a loving, committed, same-gender relationship, is for the Candidacy Committee of this Synod to determine the matter primarily on the basis of whether the mission and pastoral needs of this Synod would be best served by accepting that candidate’s gifts for ministry" and establishes " that in every disciplinary action (including applications of ELCA
Constitution 9.23) solely concerning the fact that a rostered leader is in a loving, committed, same-gender relationship" a set of criteria is to be used which precludes the enforcement of the ELCA policy regarding homosexual relationships, and

WHEREAS, these resolutions have the cumulative effect of establishing within the Metropolitan New York Synod the possibility of ordaining and rostering partnered gay and lesbian persons, which was specifically rejected by the 2005 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, and of encouraging other synods to do likewise, and

WHEREAS, such actions would impair our common life as a church, undermine the decision-making process within the ELCA, and, specifically, render the past four years of study, deliberation, and decision on these issues to be irrelevant, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Synod Council of the Northeastern Iowa Synod, ELCA, express our disappointment and concern with regard to these actions by the Metropolitan New York Synod through the following communication to Bishop Mark Hanson and the ELCA Church Council:

(Adopted by Northeastern Iowa Synod Council, ELCA on 11/19/2005 by a
vote of 15 - Yes, 1 - No.)



(A copy of the letter that was sent to Bishop Hanson and the ELCA Church Council from the NE Iowa Synod Council)

Bishop Mark Hanson
ELCA Church Council

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has engaged in a comprehensive and important study over the past four years examining the theological, biblical, sociological, scientific, and ecclesiological issues surrounding the blessing of same-sex unions and the possible ordination within the ELCA of partnered gay and lesbian persons, with a view toward a possible change in the policies of our church regarding these matters. It has been a process that has been undertaken with great
seriousness and respect by people with widely diverging viewpoints. It has been a process which has engaged a large number of people across the ELCA, with more people responding to the study produced as a part of this process than to any other study that has been done in the ELCA. At the Churchwide Assembly in August of 2005, the voting members engaged in a discussion and debate concerning this issue which was remarkable for its civility and respect. After much debate and deliberation, the
assembly declined to accept the proposal put forward which would have provided for the ordination and rostering of partnered gay and lesbian persons under certain circumstances.

Given the actions of the 2005 Churchwide Assembly, we note with concern the recent actions of the Metropolitan New York Synod which, in our judgment, has the effect of undermining this process and the decisions which were made at the Churchwide Assembly in August. The proposals adopted at their special synod assembly in October would put into place a process for the ordination and rostering of partnered gay and lesbian
persons which would clearly contradict the decisions made by the Churchwide Assembly for the whole ELCA.

Therefore, we, the Synod Council of the Northeastern Iowa Synod, ELCA, urge you, Bishop Hanson, and the ELCA Church Council, to initiate a consultation process with the Metropolitan New York Synod with regard to their actions taken in October, with the end that the decisions of the 2005 Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA be implemented in the Metropolitan New York Synod in good faith.

Yours in Christ,

Northeastern Iowa Synod Council

FACING THE SPECTRE OF SCHISM

Shrimp here: You know, everyonce in a while I'm tempted to think that I'm too hard on revisionists, then I read something like the following and I realize that, no, this is a fight against people who want to rip the church apart. We, on the other hand, believe we are fighting to save the church.

I was so thankful last year when I read the following from the head of Integrity, the gay movement in the ECUSA, Michael Hopkins, that he had wished that in the past he would of come out and said that Scripture was wrong when it spoke agaist gay sex:

“Do you have the agenda of overturning centuries of Christian teaching about homosexuality, what the Bible says about homosexuals?” Pat Buchanan once asked me incredulously in a TV interview. I said something wonderfully nuanced. I should have simply said, “Absolutely.” The Bible and the Church have both been wrong. The Holy Spirit is teaching this to us. Jesus said she would do things like this and we shouldn’t be surprised when she does.”

The following is in that vein. Read the whole thing and look at the comments section, too.

FACING THE SPECTRE OF SCHISM
© 2006 by Maury Johnston

The "moment of truth" is fast approaching for the ECUSA, and this summer Columbus, Ohio, will have an opportunity to become as theologically significant as Nicaea or Chalcedon for American Anglicanism. One of the most bitter and divisive controversies of the last century may very well be put to rest with the embracing of an inclusive theological stance that stands unequivocally for justice and equality in Christ for the GLBT worshipping community. However, some centrists in the hierarchy of the ECUSA seem to believe that liberal theological apologists in our church should tone things down. To aggressively engage in heated controversy over doctrinal and moral issues is somehow seen by some as negatively divisive, and something to be avoided at all costs. Instead, they prefer to "kiss and make nice" and indefinitely prolong this dance of disagreement by endlessly proposing further studies and waiting periods before finally tackling the inevitable. This seems to be the essence of the most recent resolution passed by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in late January, 2006, where we are being implored to "continue listening to one another" in our contentious controversy regarding full GLBT acceptance (including same-sex blessings and the continuing ordination of gay and lesbian candidates) in the ECUSA. Such efforts are like trying to smooth out the ripples in a pond after a stone has been thrown into its center. We are simply expending too much energy trying to keep factions in a feigned appearance of unity when in reality we have what divorce courts so often hear as the underlying cause of most relational demises--irreconcilable differences.

What seems to be forgotten in this pressing desire to placate Canterbury's Windsor Report and the homophobic, African ecclesiastical contingency, is that the "unity" of the Church at the expense of justice for the GLBT faithful is a compromise which will temporarily apply a cosmetic veneer of congenial cooperation but can only weaken the internal integrity of the message and mission of this church.

I am writing this missive to promulgate what may be perceived by many in our ranks as a scandalous and divisive proposition: That the time for conversation and compromise is over; we have had over thirty years of discussions, dialogue, debate, conflicting biblical exegesis (as well as eisegesis), and ecclesiastical haggling over whether those within the GLBT community warrant total acceptance and inclusion as full-fledged members of the Episcopal Church with all concomitant privileges of membership in the Community of Christ, including the right to fully participate in all its sacramental rites of passage, including marriage and/or same-sex blessings. There is nothing more to be said that has not already been said or studied. It is time for "Yea" or "Nay." We are being confronted with the command which echoes down the centuries from the legendary challenge of Elijah: "Choose you this day!" The Episcopal Church has a choice set before it: To fully incorporate gays and lesbians at every level of its common life with full sacramental and liturgical equality of access to its rites and ceremonies, or to grant only a limited toleration of their presence, carefully circumscribed by a curtailment of access to matrimonial rites and privileges in order to satisfy the demands of the self-proclaimed defenders of "orthodoxy."

The ultimate irony regarding anti-gay, Anglican contingents who tout their doctrinal orthodoxy is that they are actually heretical. They have substituted an idolatrous regard for scripture as statically inerrant for a balanced view of the biblical documents as time-caught records of human striving for divine insight which should only be interpreted in the light of reason, and by the dynamic of living tradition which enables us to apply its guidelines with a sense of cultural relevance and spiritual continuity. Scripture, Reason, and Tradition: These triple pillars of Anglican theology have unfortunately been trumped by what I call the Nigerian Heresy (in honor of its most vocal and belligerent spokesperson) emanating from that infamous cabal of Third World primates who have suddenly discovered Sola Scriptura to be their theological stance of choice, even as they vociferously proclaim an adherence to apostolic Catholicity.

Read the whole thing.

In case you need a copy of it....

Statement on Sexuality Issues in the New England Synod of the ELCA
January 26, 2006
Bishop Margaret G. Payne

In my report to New England pastors at the Bishop’s Convocation in November 2005, I began by reminding those gathered of two important realities in our life as a synod: we abide by the policies of the ELCA and we are a Reconciling in Christ synod. Together, those two things mean that we work intentionally to welcome gay and lesbian persons and their loved ones into the life of the church while we honor the present policies of the ELCA. There are those among us who wish no change in our present policies while others work to advocate for change.

Since 2000 when the state of Vermont passed a law permitting same-sex civil unions, ELCA pastors have been asked to solemnize those unions and to offer pastoral support for those couples who have chosen to enter into such a union. Recently Connecticut passed a law allowing same-sex unions. In all of the states in our synod pastors have been asked to provide pastoral care and support for couples in same-sex relationships.

After I was elected bishop, according to my interpretation of the 1993 statement from the Conference of Bishops and after consultation with representatives of the Churchwide expression of the ELCA, I made it known that I believed it possible to regard officiating at a ceremony of civil union, and prayerful support of those couples, as appropriate pastoral care that did not necessitate discipline for the pastor as long as these guidelines were observed:

1. That pastors contacted my office to inform me of the details of the situation before they took part in any such ceremony
2. That they informed their congregation councils of their intent and made a final decision in consultation with them, understanding that I would not support them against their council if they acted independently opposed to the council’s advice
3. That the ceremony was not in any way presented as marriage or as an official rite of the ELCA
4. That the ceremony had the tone and intent of pastoral care, not a public display
5. That counseling be provided and that faithfulness in the relationship be as fully emphasized and expected as faithfulness in a heterosexual relationship

Until now I have not used the word “blessing” in connection with these ceremonies. However, I believe that the work of the ELCA Task Force for Sexuality Studies and the decisions at the 2005 Churchwide Assembly have shown that in this church there are differing opinions on whether or not that word may be used to describe the pastoral support offered to gay and lesbian couples. In the context of New England the word ‘blessing’ is deeply appreciated by gay and lesbian people and by those who love them and minister to them. This blessing might be considered part of the solemnization of a civil union or might be offered apart from a civil ceremony. For those to whom the word ‘blessing’ is an appropriate expression of the unconditional love that God offers to all people, it is especially important that all gay and lesbian people be intentionally included in that expression of God’s love.





Pastors in this synod differ in their beliefs about the appropriateness of using the term ‘blessing’ and they differ in their opinions about whether or not it is appropriate to preside at civil-unions or blessings. As long as a pastor is a responsible and responsive leader and a faithful pastor of the church, makes decisions in a collaborative fashion, and observes the policies of the ELCA, I trust and support that pastor’s discretion to make the appropriate pastoral decision in each situation. There are pastors in this synod who are not willing to preside at any form of same-sex blessing and I support them fully in that decision.

I have asked that pastors neither preside at same-sex marriages (which are legal in the state of Massachusetts) nor sign the marriage certificate. Generally a pastor has referred the couple to clergy of another denomination such as the United Church of Christ to officiate at the marriage.

Although I no longer regard consultation with me as mandatory, many pastors continue to contact me before becoming involved in any ceremony related to a same-sex union. There has not been a radical increase in these requests and there has not been an effort to present these civil-unions and blessings as rites of the church.

I am proud of the ELCA pastors in the New England Synod. There is a deep sense of support for gay and lesbian persons as well as a determination to interpret these acts most profoundly as pastoral care and welcome into a community of faith while observing the policies of the ELCA. In some cases, the people whose union is being blessed have been active and faithful members of a congregation and members want to be present for a blessing of the relationship. However, in most cases, the blessing is a very private experience which takes place in the home of the couple or one of their loved ones, the pastor’s office, or some setting other than the church building.

We have taken recommendation #1 from the 2005 Churchwide Assembly as seriously as we take our love for gay and lesbian brothers and sisters and our interdependence in the ELCA and together we continue to “concentrate on finding ways to live together faithfully in the midst of disagreements.”

During this year our Synod Council, in response to a request from our synod’s Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Understanding, is discussing Journey Together Faithfully, II as a group, and will respond to the Task Force and also consider producing a statement to be communicated to the ELCA Church Council. Congregation councils in our synod are invited to send statements to the Synod Council to further inform its deliberation. We look forward to the opportunity for further study and discussion as part of our commitment to continue to listen to one another as baptized brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ.

Report from WCC meeting in Brazil: Orthodox church sees gap with Protestants growing

Orthodox church sees gap with Protestants growing
21 February 2006

PORTO ALEGRE: Liberal reforms allowing female clergy and same-sex marriage are creating a widening gulf within world Christianity, a leading Russian Orthodox bishop said.

That growing divide may prompt Orthodox churches to consider a tactical alliance with Roman Catholicism to defend traditional Christian values, Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev said on the sidelines of the global assembly of the mostly Protestant World Council of Churches (WCC).

While Orthodox churches, with some 220 million members, are members of the WCC, now holding its global assembly in Brazil, Alfeyev – the chief Russian Orthodox delegate – said they have less in common with fellow members than they once had.

"The gap between the traditional wing, represented mainly by Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic Church, and the liberal wing, represented by many Protestant churches, is only growing day by day," he said.

"We (Orthodox and Catholics) are on the same side of the divide." "Traditional Christianity's very survival is in jeopardy. We have no right to delay this strategic alliance, because in 20-40 years it will be too late," he said in an interview, citing threats like "warrior secularism, warrior Islam or warrior liberalism present in Protestantism."

Alfeyev, the Bishop of Vienna also in charge of Russian Orthodox Church relations with the European Union, said the alliance should not be a matter of dogma and should precede the resolution of many centuries-old differences between the two oldest branches of Christianity, some dating back to the Great Schism of 1054.

His comments echoed ideas supported by Roman Catholic Pope Benedict, who has said closer ties with Orthodox churches are a top priority of his papacy. The Catholic Church represents over half of the world's 2 billion Christians but is not a member of the Geneva-based WCC.

Alfeyev said Russian theologians thought decades ago to "establish full Eucharistic contact" with the Anglican church.

"In the past years, it has become clear that it is completely impossible – dogmatically, ideologically and from the point of view of moral teaching, as the Anglican church shifted very far away from Orthodox dogma," he said.

Some Anglican churches in North America and Europe, as well as other Protestant churches, ordain non-celibate gay clergy and bless same-sex unions. Some also ordain women bishops.

These stances, Alfeyev said, make "any talk of unification very hard nowadays." The Orthodox Church does not accept the idea of female clergy as it attributes that development to the influence of secular processes of the past few decades.

Alfeyev said "a revelation from above" is needed for Orthodox churches to start ordaining women.

The Russian Orthodox Church recently broke off relations with the Lutheran Church of Sweden after it established an official ceremony to bless same-sex marriages, he said.

Alfeyev said his church accepts homosexuals as parishioners, treating them "with a sense of pastoral responsibility," but still considered gay relationships "sinful and not to be blessed or promoted," as seen in some Protestant churches. This echoes the traditional Catholic view.

In the wake of the growing differences with liberal churches, Alfeyev suggested an alliance with the Vatican and stressed there was no time to lose.

Alfeyev said the sides were trying to resolve their own issues, including the more modern problem of Catholic proselytism in Ukraine and Russia.

"I'm not calling for a dogmatic alliance. . .. We should unite in a joint testimony of traditional Christian values."

Alfeyev said the two sides were working to prepare a historic meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, which had not yet taken place "not because of our denial, but because we want it to actually change things and not be just a protocol event."

Someone want to forward this to Mark Hanson?

How's it looking today in the Anglican Communion?

From Canon Kendall Harmon of Titusonenine:

Once again Integrity tries the tired and failed “identity and inclusion” tack. But that isn’t the issue.

As the Texas Monthly article discussed a while ago notes:

“It is a common misconception that conservatives like Iker, Stanton, and Roseberry want to exclude gays from the church altogether. This is not what they say, and there is no evidence that it is true. (They are even agreeable to being part of a church that ordains homosexuals, as they have proven for more than two decades.) Their position is that Scripture holds homosexual acts to be unnatural, ungodly, and therefore sinful.”

What then is the symptomatic issue, the tip of the iceberg?

“So there are two issues coming out of this that need patient study. What is the nature of a holy and Christ-like life for someone who has consistent homosexual desires? And what is the appropriate discipline to be applied to the personal life of the pastor in the Church?”

Who said that? Archbishop Rowan Williams.

Behavior and standards for leadership are the heart of the presenting issue. It is the same issue for all five of the candidates. Do they display a pattern of life which the church recognizes as holy and Christ-like and therefore Christian?

In order to answer that question, what standard shall be used in terms of one of many aspects of the candidates behavior?

“The church overall, the church of England in particular, the Anglican communion has not been persuaded that same-sex sex can be holy and blessed. Were it to decide that by some process - unimaginable to most of you - it would be by an overwhelming consensus and only at that point would it be possible to say in the name of the church, this is holy and blessed. So I take my stand with the church of England, with the Communion, with the majority of Christians through the ages.”

Who is that? Again, Rowan Williams–KSH.

Why our PB Hanson wants to follow ECUSA's lead, when they are heading to "Time out!," well, can anyone tell me? If somone like Rowan Williams says that he cannot even imagine that a case will ever be made that homoesexual sex will be called a "holy and blessed" thing, why are we even having the discussion that this is a possible outcome for the ELCA.

We get letters

Really like to say "Thanks" to all who leave thoughtful posts. Recently a NY youth leader left a thoughtful reply. I, of course, never come to post myself unless something has rubbed my wound raw, so I like the pissy ones myself.

Anyway, a special thanks to Darel, who left a link downstream that everyone should check out. Do as I did and check out some of those pages quickly, then add the word "Griswold" after "chief heresiarch" (and do make sure you get to "Rich Anglican Fudge."

Thanks, Darel.

And now, my friends, after you have your fun, please do remember, attitude is everything, and pray for yourself and all the clergy (especially bishops)involved in this lunacy, and ask God for more love adn faith to endure, so that we do not fall for the evil which we fight.

Understand?

Really hard to believe category

Here are four statements. Which is true?

a) God loves everyone and Christians (even hot-heads who are fighting for the soul of their church) are called to love God AND their neighbor.

b) I am one angry crustacean and I write really pissy jabs at public officials who hold eccelsiastic office in the ELCA and ECUSA.

c) I do not hate gays.

d) I love my church.

Well, all three are true of course. And since things are going to heat up soon much more than pre-Orlando 2005 (back then we held out the hope that people would obey the rule of law once the eternal (well, OK, four year-long) Journey Together (hardly) Faithfully ran its course, well, I expect we will have a few more visitors and some will be people who self-identify as one of the alphabet in GLBT, you really need to hear this: WE LOVE YOU.

We, of course, love you so much we do not want you to participate in heresy. Yes, I (and a few million others) believe that you need to get your butt off the throne and let Jesus back on. To read the Bible with scissors in hand like Thomas Jefferson is not a sin, it is THE BIG SIN, Numero Uno, you shall have no other Gods before you sin.

To say this does not make me a fundamentalist. It is very Lutheran. Think about it, you are putting your eternal future in the hands of who? You? You are going to be the arbitrator?

The GLBT sympathetic chief Lutheran theologians (who have nothing but a "silly shellfish argument" (or here is one of the classics [look for Wm Witt's]going for them. Call it "contextual" if it makes you happy, but it is hardly a hermeneutic theory, much less a valid one. Don't get me wrong, they are really nice people, I mean, I know Ralph Klein and Barbara Rossing, really nice Lutheran people, love God and family and all that stuff, but they might as well have Asherah poles in their sacristys for the good they are doing their church right now.

The latter is true for all the theologians of the ELCA, the college and seminary professors, the pastors and especially the bishops who are not speaking up. You are more afraid of peer-pressure than you are of God, and your belly (financial well-being, pension, mobility, whatever) is your God.

So, just so you know, before the going gets rough, it may not sound like it, but not only am I not a really mean, fundamentalist, homophobic ranter, I am someone who has chosen to express tough love in a church polemic while we still have an Evangelical Lutheran here in America called the ELCA. Polemical, yes, crude at times, sorry, needs to be, we want the church to wake up.

learn from your political and theological opponents

Go to www.goodsoil.org and see the downloadable resolution templates. Change some words and submit them to your synod. Cut and paste their letter to the Church Council, change a few words and send it to Higgins Road.

GLBT holds high office because they began organizing and went out and did the local grunt work.

The time is now to get together with a friend, pray and determine to act politically, make a few phone calls and get theologically orthodox people nominated for synod positions. Get them on your synod council and reps to assembly.

Do it. No excuses. We should have more sympathy for the GLBT crowd than for lazy traditionalists. The former may be misguided, but the latter are hypocrites.

Time to network folks, either work to change the ELCA or start your own cell church. Fish or cut bait! (and believe me, as a crustacean, it aint easy to say that)

Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson wants to know, "What gospel are you proclaiming?"

Watch the video (if you look for the right place to click: View video of Bp Hansen (sic)

I'd love to hear your comments! (I'll save mine until someone replies)

No cheating, kids, listen to the whole thing....

New from Dr Gagnon

Friends,

I would like to alert you to an important new publication of mine: “Why the Disagreement over the Biblical Witness on Homosexual Practice? A Response to Myers and Scanzoni, What God Has Joined Together? This is my best and most updated "short" treatment—short relative, that is, to a 500-page book--on the subject of the Bible and homosexuality. This 112-page article appears in the online journal Reformed Review, a publication of Reformed Seminary (affiliated with the Reformed Church in America). Click here (http://www.westernsem.edu/Brix?pageID=17236) to be taken to the webpage for vol. 59.1 ("Autumn 2005," completed Feb. 2006), and then click on the pdf file containing my article; or, to go directly to the article, (http://www.westernsem.edu/wtseminary/assets/Gagnon%20Aut05.pdf).


Readers will find treatments here of every major issue in the debate, including discussion and analysis of:

* The different hermeneutical scales or interpretive grids used by proponents and opponents of homosexual practice (pp. 19-25).
* The difficulty in neutralizing Scripture for a pro-homosex agenda (pp. 25-30).
* The nature argument (pp. 30-46).
* The relevant biblical texts and the arguments used to limit their relevance for today's debate: Old Testament (pp. 46-54) and the New Testament (pp. 54-85), including Jesus (pp. 56-62) and Paul (pp. 62-85).
* The three main "new knowledge" arguments for dismissing the biblical witness against homosexual practice: the exploitation argument (pp. 65-76), the orientation argument (pp. 77-79), and the misogyny argument (pp. 80-82).
* Whether homosexual practice is the diet and circumcision issue of today (the Gentile inclusion analogy; pp. 86-90).
* The alleged analogies to slavery, women's roles, divorce/ remarriage and other changes to marriage over the centuries (pp. 90-97) vs. analogies to incest, polysexuality, and pedosexuality (pp. 98-101).
* Manipulative rhetoric in the church debates about homosexuality (pp. 103-114).
* The science side of the debate (pp. 114-30), including the question of the moral relevance of congenital influences and claims to an unchanging orientation (pp. 116-19), the question of whether culture can affect the incidence of homosexuality (pp. 120-25), and the question of whether "gay marriage" is good for society (pp. 125-30).

I use the book by Myers and Scanzoni as a stage from which to assess these issues and show how Myers and Scanzoni have not done their homework well in grappling with them. In fact, Myers and Scanzoni have, for the most part, ignored the wealth of counterarguments that can be arrayed against their positions. David Myers is a prominent professor of social psychology who teaches at Hope College (affiliated with the Reformed Church in America) and has written a number of standard textbooks on psychology as well as a number of general interest books. See his website at http://www.davidmyers.org or click here. Letha Dawson Scanzoni has written such books as All We're Meant to Be: Biblical Feminism for Today (with N. Hardesty) and Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? (with V. R. Mollenkott).


I also have 3 new articles in print publications:

1. “Scriptural Perspectives on Homosexuality and Sexual Identity,” in Journal of Psychology and Christianity 24.4 (Winter 2005): 293-303.

2. “The Old Testament and Homosexuality: A Critical Review of the Case Made by Phyllis Bird,” Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 117.3 (2005): 367-94.

3. “Sexuality,” in Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (ed. K. J. Vanhoozer, with C. Bartholomew, D. J. Treier, and N. T. Wright; London: SPCK; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 739a-48b.

For a description of these articles, go to http://www.robgagnon.net/ArticlesOnline.htm.

I hope that you will find these resources helpful.

Blessings,
Rob

Robert A. J. Gagnon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of New Testament
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

ELCA Task Force on Human Sexuality Begins Anew (Here we go!)

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 10, 2006

ELCA Task Force on Human Sexuality Begins Anew
06-019-FI

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Task Force on Human Sexuality met here Feb. 2-5, welcomed six new members and began discussing which topics to include in study materials to help the church develop a social statement on human sexuality by 2009.
The work of the task force was mandated by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 2001. The ELCA's chief legislative body, the churchwide assembly, meets every other year; the next assembly will be here in August 2007.
The 2001 assembly asked for recommendations on two key questions regarding homosexuality -- whether or not the church should bless same-gender relationships and whether or not it should allow people in such relationships to serve the church as
professional lay and ordained ministers. It also asked for a social statement on human sexuality.
The task force issued its report and recommendations on homosexuality in January 2005. Directing its attention toward developing the social statement, the task force asked the ELCA Church Council for and received an extension from 2007 to 2009 for proposing a social statement. On its new time line, the task force will prepare materials to guide the church's 4.9 million members in a 2007 study and response that will inform drafting of the social statement.
[My first comment is that it is highly unlikely that we have 4.9 million a year and a half from now. That will mainly be because laity and clergy are sick of the process and what comes out of it. I hope you know that this issue is not about sex, it is about, as Luther says, the clarity of Scripture.]
Goals for this particular meeting were to help new and continuing members function well together, "to start getting our minds around a very complex topic," and to identify priorities for the study process and the social statement, said the Rev.
Peter Strommen, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Minnesota Synod, Duluth, and task force chair.
"I'm noticing that everyone on the task force is engaged, energized," Strommen said. "There is a very rich field of insights and inquiry being brought to the table. There is a very strong desire for the faith to be able to speak a wise and
helpful word. We recognize this is an enormous topic. We have a lot of learning to do -- a lot of work to do," he said.
"We want to engage the entire church in an interesting, helpful, transparent process. Our deep desire is that by the time this is all done there is a social statement that will genuinely aid the ministry of the church on a very important
topic," Strommen said, noting that human sexuality is often "tragically misused in our society."
[If Stommen means by "tragic misuse" adultery, fornication, sodomy, prederasty, children having sex with other children, we agree, though I'm not sure that his use of adjectives is not tragic in itself]
Dr. Adina Nack, assistant professor of sociology, California Lutheran University (CLU), Thousand Oaks, Calif., made two presentations to the task force -- "Sexuality and Society" and "Sexuality Over the Lifespan." CLU is one of 28 ELCA colleges
and universities.
Nack used statistical averages to talk about the range of sexual behavior in U.S. society. She discussed popular culture and the media, research, differences between sex and gender, gender roles, sexual orientation, love and intimacy, extra-
relational sex, male and female sexual "scripts," the sexual body in health and illness, sexually transmitted infections, sex education and sexually explicit materials.
"Sexuality Over the Lifespan" included information about sexuality in infancy and childhood, influences in sexual development, family, adolescence, age of consent, early and young adulthood, being single, cohabitation, middle adulthood, marital
sexuality, divorce and widowhood, dating again, single parenting and stereotypes of aging.
"This group is undertaking a large and complicated task, so I wanted to give an overview of some of the major findings and debates among social scientists when it comes to studies of sexuality," Nack said later.
"I left people with more questions than answers, and unfortunately that's the reality of the subject matter," Nack said. "There are some clear answers (from) a standpoint of what seems to produce better health outcomes -- physical and mental
well-being -- but, when it gets to matters of morality and spirituality, it's a lot more fuzzy."
The Rev. James M. Childs Jr., former director, ELCA Studies on Sexuality, presented a paper, "Christian Perspectives on Sexuality." Childs is an advisor to the task force and a professor of systematic theology, Trinity Lutheran Seminary,
Columbus, Ohio. Trinity is one of eight ELCA seminaries.
Childs noted that the history of sexual ethics is marked by continuity and change. "It is important to recognize that the basic elements of traditional sexual ethics were shaped in circumstances very different from today, albeit lust has been a
constant," he said.
[albeit your lust for change seems to be a constant, Jim.]
"We need to be aggressive and honest in facing those realities by asserting a countercultural Christian vision where necessary but in terms that grapple with present consciousness, not simply a reiteration of past formulas. We also need to be
deliberate in asking what changes in communication and normative judgment may be needed to maintain continuity," Childs said.
[Counterculteral as in Brokeback Mountain, Jim, or as in the Bible?]
"We know the ideals expressive of God's purposes. We know the rules we have had in the service of those purposes and recognize the contextual nature of those rules," he said. "Do new developments in the present context suggest new ways to reformulate the ideals?" Childs asked.
[Please, no reformulating, please!]
The Rev. Kaari M. Reierson, associate director for studies, and the Rev. Roger A. Willer, senior research associate, ELCA Church in Society, direct the task force's work on the statement.
In addition to Strommen, task force members (+ continuing, * new)are:
+ Erin Clark, graduate student, University of Illinois at Chicago
+ Dr. Julio A. Fonseca, psychologist, Dorado, Puerto Rico
* The Rev. Carol S. Hendrix, bishop, Lower Susquehanna Synod, Harrisburg, Pa.
+ The Rev. Gary J. Liedtke, pastor, St. Luke Lutheran Church, Waukesha, Wis.
* Peter O'Malia, youth minister, Hill Avenue Grace Lutheran Church, Pasadena, Calif.
+ The Rev. Kevin R. Maly, pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church,Denver
+ Susan Salomone, program manager, Community Networks Day Habilitation Program, Enable (affiliate of United Cerebral Palsy), Syracuse, N.Y.
* The Rev. Scott J. Suskovic, pastor, Christ Lutheran Church, Charlotte, N.C.
+ Connie D. Thomas, principal, Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit, Chicago
* The Rev. David L. Tiede, retired president and professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.
* Dr. Marit A. Trelstad, assistant professor of religion, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash.
+ The Rev. Timothy J. Wengert, professor of Reformation history, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
* Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, graduate student, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J.
+ Dr. Diane M. Yeager, associate professor of religious ethics and religion and social theory, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Advisors to the task force include representatives of the ELCA Church Council, ELCA Church in Society, ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop, ELCA Vocation and Education, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and Lutheran Youth Organization.
The task force's next meeting will be here April 21-23. A writing team of Tiede, Wilson and Yeager will present initial work on the study materials. The Rev. Roland D. Martinson, professor of children, youth and family ministry, Luther
Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., will make a presentation. Luther is an ELCA seminary.
"I'm excited to see what this group ends up producing," Nack said. [I'm not, I'm dreading it. I fear they will come up with something that will be quoted for years (well as the 2009 ELCA Social Statement says, ans this is current ELCA policy, man-boy love is an inherent right and we need to understand that the need to make puberty the age of consent...]"As a professor at an ELCA school and someone who teaches sexuality, I would definitely like eventually to incorporate the finished social statement into my courses," she said.
"We have a lot of interest among our college students at the various ELCA campuses in talking about sexuality. It's going to be a great starting place for a lot of good campus conversations and interactions with campus pastors," Nack said.
-- -- --
Information about the Task Force on Human Sexuality is at http://www.ELCA.org/faithfuljourney/ on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog

Do pray for the members. Using NAMBLA is hyperbole but when I said I dread their statement, that was the straight truth.

I do think the powers that be are trying to drive us away

I don't know about you, but our congregation ended the "Every Home" plan of The Lutheran a long time ago. No, not over the gay issue, it was this-is-so-boring-and-it-has-nothing-good-to-with-me-and-my-congregation thing.

So, know that the last editor has been made Dean of Spirituality at LSTC (made perfect sense to me), the new one weighs in:

Change starts now-All the news of the ELCA that’s fit to print

[Well, I'd say he's off to a bad start: they print things that, as Paul says, it is a shame for us to have to speak aloud, and then they do not print what they need to, news of reform movements around the ELCA, though to be fair, they do a drip and a drab of that]

Since you’ve found me, you’re already aware some things are changing at The Lutheran.

The column of Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson relocated to the last page of the magazine, where the editor’s column used to run. This gives him more space (an additional 300 words) and affords him the last word as he strives to carry out his leadership role in our church.

Well, he will need all the help he can get...

The change also lets me “introduce” the magazine in a number of ways. Usually that will mean comment on the articles in the current issue, what the staff is working on and why, and noting trends and emerging issues. Editors’ musings rarely “sell” magazines: overall content and highly talented and thought-provoking writers do. So this editor moved out of the lead columnist role and into a more traditionally journalistic one of editorial assessment and professional observations on the church.

This month, with the start of the Lenten season of introspection and reflection, the staff’s cover story focuses on doubt. That may sound a little odd, but take time to digest the collections of faith-affirming testaments to confrontations with this age-old affliction. Then pause awhile with the article on “receptive” prayer: prayer that listens for the Spirit’s direction.

There is one item that may spur comments. A review in “Spiritual practices” lauds Brokeback Mountain. [Surprise!] This film sparked a wide range of reaction upon release. The opinion of the film critics is just that—their opinion. The Lutheran is charged with carrying pieces showing the width and depth of thought within the ELCA. The anticipated response, surely promoting other views, will be featured on future “Letters” pages.

Why wait for "Letters"? Let's see, high praise for a movie that praises adultery and the break-up of two families while two "I'm not queer, no me either" guys "find themselves." Makes perfect sense for a church magazine, that is, if you are a denomination that has seriously lost everything that is holy...

That brings us to spotting trends. I have noted in just under two months as editor a number (but not a deluge) of charges that The Lutheran features an editorial bias, is involved in a conspiracy to hijack the denomination [Gasp!-you jackass, do you think if you make a joke about it the truth will go away?] or promotes unsound theology. [He woould have a deluge but only a few are deluded enough to think it would matter] Examples: One reader saw a subliminal message in the colors of the stole used in the January cover photo [Yes, the ship is sinking and we go on about such importatn things as the colrs of the season], while another chided the article itself for promoting clericalism.

Read the magazine in its totality and over multiple issues. [Sorry, I'm afraid it has been deemed bad for one's health] The Lutheran remains committed to serving all members. We affirm the magazine’s concluding editorial guideline, urging its use by everyone: In all matters, the concept of “speaking the truth in love” must prevail. [Ya wouldn't know it if it came up and hit you over the head with a 2 by 4]

Do I sound angry...? Soory about the "jackass" ejaculation, but for someone I've never read before, you are the horse's patoot. How dare you make light of the loyal opposition in your lead-off column?

© 2006 The Lutheran is the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America [that part is true]

Statement on Sexuality Issues in the New England Synod of the ELCA

Statement on Sexuality Issues in the New England Synod of the ELCA
January 26, 2006
Bishop Margaret G. Payne

In my report to New England pastors at the Bishop’s Convocation in November 2005, I began by reminding those gathered of two important realities in our life as a synod: we abide by the policies of the ELCA and we are a Reconciling in Christ synod. Together, those two things mean that we work intentionally to welcome gay and lesbian persons and their loved ones into the life of the church while we honor the present policies of the ELCA. There are those among us who wish no change in our present policies while others work to advocate for change.

[Thank you. That would be a clear majority who wish no change as CWA vote indicated but the desires of the people were registered in reactions to Journey Together Faithfully showed almost two-thirds of respondants said "No change." The fact that Bp Payne is going ahead and interpreting Rec. 2 as a "Yes" perhaps indicates why the ELCA only read and tallied a sample of the responses. My charge is that the revisionists were going to go ahead and do what they wanted. The revisionists in Metro NY merely ignored the will of the Church in a different way, by planning on holding a "Special Assembly" if they didn't get their way]

Since 2000 when the state of Vermont passed a law permitting same-sex civil unions, ELCA pastors have been asked to solemnize those unions and to offer pastoral support for those couples who have chosen to enter into such a union. Recently Connecticut passed a law allowing same-sex unions. In all of the states in our synod pastors have been asked to provide pastoral care and support for couples in same-sex relationships.

[They all have been asked also to baptize babies by parents who had no intention of anything than having their child "done," have been asked to marry heterosexual couples who were already living together, and been told by couples in their congregation that they were getting a divorce. So what!]
After I was elected bishop, according to my interpretation of the 1993 statement from the Conference of Bishops and after consultation with representatives of the Churchwide _expression of the ELCA, I made it known that I believed it possible to regard officiating at a ceremony of civil union, and prayerful support of those couples, as appropriate pastoral care that did not necessitate discipline for the pastor as long as these guidelines were observed:

[Well, surprise, surprise, PB Hanson chose a revisionist to head up the study, one who already had her mind made up]

That pastors contacted my office to inform me of the details of the situation before they took part in any such ceremony
1. That they informed their congregation councils of their intent and made a final decision in consultation with them, understanding that I would not support them against their council if they acted independently opposed to the council’s advice
2. That the ceremony was not in any way presented as marriage or as an official rite of the ELCA
3. That the ceremony had the tone and intent of pastoral care, not a public display
4. That counseling be provided and that faithfulness in the relationship be as fully emphasized and expected as faithfulness in a heterosexual relationship

[Let's see, what does this mean? I wonder what proof a pastor has to give that they discussed this with their Council, how does one make sure this does not "present itself" as a marriage--no cake afterward with two figures in a tuxedo? If it is held in the sactuary of a church and two people say "I do" as long as you say this is not a marriage everyone is going to understand --nod, nod, wink, wink. I won't even comment on number 4. except to say I hope they do a better job on gays then we do on straight couples, but since this is such a controversial issue it will hardly be mentioned in a sermon --about as often as most pastors condemn divorce from the pulpit these days].

Until now I have not used the word “blessing” in connection with these ceremonies [what restraint!]. However, I believe that the work of the ELCA Task Force for Sexuality Studies and the decisions at the 2005 Churchwide Assembly have shown that in this church there are differing opinions on whether or not that word may be used to describe the pastoral support offered to gay and lesbian couples. In the context of New England the word ‘blessing’ is deeply appreciated by gay and lesbian people and by those who love them and minister to them. This blessing might be considered part of the solemnization of a civil union or might be offered apart from a civil ceremony. For those to whom the word ‘blessing’ is an appropriate expression of the unconditional love that God offers to all people, it is especially important that all gay and lesbian people be intentionally included in that expression of God’s love.


[It isn't the word we call it that counts, but what it is in God's sight, and what we do for which we will be called into presenting an account]

Pastors in this synod differ in their beliefs about the appropriateness of using the term ‘blessing’ and they differ in their opinions about whether or not it is appropriate to preside at civil-unions or blessings [as much good as that does them]. As long as a pastor is a responsible and responsive leader and a faithful pastor of the church, makes decisions in a collaborative fashion, and observes the policies of the ELCA, I trust and support that pastor’s discretion to make the appropriate pastoral decision in each situation [but anyone who does this in not being responsible and is in fact voiding an ordination vow to teach the Scriptures]. There are pastors in this synod who are not willing to preside at any form of same-sex blessing and I support them fully in that decision

[That's good news—so you and your staff will not hold it against them?].

I have asked that pastors neither preside at same-sex marriages (which are legal in the state of Massachusetts) nor sign the marriage certificate. Generally a pastor has referred the couple to clergy of another denomination such as the United Church of Christ to officiate at the marriage.

[Why not just refer the pastors who want to do perform them to the UCC themselves since it is clear that they do not value Lutheranism, but much prefer liberal protestantism. You could be an example to them all and lead an exodus of revisionists out of the ELCA!]

Although I no longer regard consultation with me as mandatory, many pastors continue to contact me before becoming involved in any ceremony related to a same-sex union [how often? How many marriages/blessings/civil unions have been done?]. There has not been a radical increase in these requests and there has not been an effort to present these civil-unions and blessings as rites of the church.

[That only goes to show that most gays are not interested in this issue, only a vocal few, and there is just something very wrong about overturning two thousand years of tradition for a few one-agenda people]

I am proud of the ELCA pastors in the New England Synod. There is a deep sense of support for gay and lesbian persons as well as a determination to interpret these acts most profoundly as pastoral care and welcome into a community of faith while observing the policies of the ELCA. In some cases, the people whose union is being blessed have been active and faithful members of a congregation and members want to be present for a blessing of the relationship. However, in most cases, the blessing is a very private experience which takes place in the home of the couple or one of their loved ones, the pastor’s office, or some setting other than the church building [We'd like some figures rather than anecdotes].

We have taken recommendation #1 from the 2005 Churchwide Assembly as seriously as we take our love for gay and lesbian brothers and sisters and our interdependence in the ELCA and together we continue to “concentrate on finding ways to live together faithfully in the midst of disagreements.”

[Rec 1 was nothing more than posturing—how can a confessionalist church place unity above truth?]

During this year our Synod Council, in response to a request from our synod’s Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Understanding, is discussing Journey Together Faithfully, II as a group, and will respond to the Task Force and also consider producing a statement to be communicated to the ELCA Church Council [Well, that is what activists do]. Congregation councils in our synod are invited to send statements to the Synod Council to further inform its deliberation [Wish they would, and ask for your resignation while they are at it]. We look forward to the opportunity for further study and discussion as part of our commitment to continue to listen to one another as baptized brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ.

Well, friends, you have to ask yourself what kind of masochist would look forward to more years of discussing this. I'm about spent on this—but, that is, of course, their strategy.

Do you know why Shrimp blogs?

Shrimp here. Got this email this morning:

Reviewing your posts and this one jumped out at me. I guess the first time I just gave it a quick glance and moved on, but much has happened in a short time. The more I am drawn into this battle, the more I feel enclosed in a darkness that is beyond this world.

A voice keeps saying "Go Back" and I don't know if it's lack of faith or a true warning that my soul is in danger. I have no doubt that it is NOT earthly powers we are are engaging, and I wonder if it would be better to just get out while I still can.

Then I read in Pope Benedict's Lent message about the "Gaze of Christ" and how he looked on them with compassion, and I gaze each Sunday on brothers and sisters that are lifelong friends, and their children and my own children; those from my very own body and those I have invited in, thinking I was bringing them to the House of God, and my heart breaks at the thought of abandoning them to these evil powers.
Never in my life did I imagine such evil days.
Fall on my knees. Weep biter tears.
And fast from food and sleep and all the ordinary pleasure of life, and still the darkness deepens around me.
Please tell me which way to go.

Posted by Anonymous to Shellfish at 2/02/2006 05:02:29 AM


Shrimp: That came as a response to a post I wrote two weeks ago:

Shrimp here. For those of you who don't know, I was wounded in the culture war back a few years ago and my wound has not healed nicely. It is hard to engage this issue and not suffer certain side effects. We need to think of the fight in the church over the true nature of the gospel as a spiritual battle. Those that want to promote this new, inclusive gospel have a veil thrown over them. We who want to fight for traditional understanding have a zealousness that comes from the Lord, but do not think that the devil does not want to use that to his advantage. If you are entering this debate, you need to take care of yourself spiritually, abandon yourself to God, ask for more faith, more love, and to see the sin within yourself. We need to not judge individuals, rather judge the movement, and even then to see them as victims of an ideology which is either demonic in origin or being used demonically. Reading Luther the other day I ran across this:

I perceive therefore that this man is driven by a messenger of Satan [II Cor. 12:7] … I pray that Christ in his mercy may bring them back to a sound mind. If they are not worthy, I pray that they may never leave off writing such books and that the enemies of truth may never deserve to read any others. There is a true and popular saying: “This I know for certain—whenever I fight with filth, Victor or vanquished, I am sure to be defiled.” (LW 36: 17)

Sounds kind of like, "If you are going to wrestle with a pig, you are bound to get dirty." Problem is, we aren't talking about getting dirt on our body, but losing souls to the devil and we can get obsessed in the fight in a way that is otherwise unexplainable-- if we are talking about fighting the devil, watch it that you are not in need of exorcism afterwards! And watch the bile production and agita factor (better hit your knees and hit the gym).

So, why do we blog? Same reason as for intercessory prayer. We are driven to it. I want to answer this person's question. What do you do? You thank God. See, God for you is real. The feeling you have as you look out on the pews Sunday morning, that is the compassion of Christ. Now you really know what the Greek word means that they taught us a seminary which the Elizabethans translated, "bowels of compassion." Jesus looked on the crowd and had compassion.

You really know it because you know it experientially. We're Lutherans, and we should know that Luther wrestled with God and the devil and it was this wrestling that led him to a theology of the cross, and for him it was not dark and gloomy at all. He stayed with it and he knew God was real, not some idea of God or a historic faith God, but the God who wrestled with Jacob.

Be thankful your heart is broken, not becasue you were passed over for promotion, a better call, or some honor, but a heart broken for the sheep who are so very, very fragile. They trust us. They think all of the clergy somehow know God. Ha! if they only heard the Bultmoanian confusion when we get together to talk about what to preach.

Since you have God breaking your heart, ask Him for more love, more faith. Ask him to help you write sermons just from reading His Word and praying. preach from the heart and tell the people how much God loves them,yes, enough to die on the cross, but also enough to not let them do what is right in their own eyes.

You will be fine. It is the pastors who are happy right now I worry about.