ELCA Conference of Bishops Agrees to HIV and AIDS TestingShrimp is speechless.
08-200-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In response to the development of an HIV and AIDS strategy by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the ELCA Conference of Bishops agreed to the presence of health screeners at its March 5-10, 2009, meeting for the purpose of providing HIV and AIDS testing to all members.
The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the church that includes the ELCA's 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary. Its March 2009 meeting is to be held in Itasca, Ill.
More than 1.2 million people are living with HIV in North America, while the number of people worldwide living with HIV is estimated to be 33 million, according to the 2008 report on the global AIDS epidemic by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. More than 2 million people died from AIDS in 2007. Seventy-two percent of these AIDS-related deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, the report said. It also noted that because of expanding life-saving treatment, the annual number of AIDS deaths globally has declined in the past two years.
The proposal for testing conference members was brought to the October 2008 conference meeting by its Ministry Among People in Poverty (MAPP) Committee. The action formally encouraged all bishops "to be supportive and involved with local events on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1." Under the umbrella campaign, "Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise," the theme of World AIDS Day 2008 is "Lead. Empower. Deliver."
In its action, the conference noted it has an opportunity to raise awareness about AIDS-related issues including prevention, testing, treatment, care, stigma and discrimination. "By personally engaging in and supporting actions on World AIDS Day … ELCA bishops can help encourage all people to 'know their status' by being tested and help break down the stigma surrounding the disease," the conference action said.
The Rev. Paul Stumme-Diers, bishop, ELCA Greater Milwaukee Synod, and chair of the MAPP Committee, said the conference acted because of the ELCA's work to develop an HIV and AIDS strategy, expected to be considered by the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
"We wanted to do something concrete to help amplify that initiative," Stumme-Diers said. "Part of the message of doing this is to remind people of both the importance of being tested for HIV and AIDS and also the confidentiality that surrounds that whole process. That way it's more inviting for people to participate in that, and it ensures the health and welfare of society when those confidentialities are kept."
Because African religious leaders have been willing to state publicly that they have been tested, their actions have helped lessen stigma associated with the disease and have provided strong encouragement to others to be tested, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, and president, the Lutheran World Federation, Geneva.
"I believe ELCA bishops being tested will be a similar act of accompaniment and encouragement for ELCA members and global companions," Hanson said. "This decision by ELCA bishops is one more sign of this church's commitment to respond to the HIV and AIDS pandemic."
Stumme-Diers, whose synod maintains companion relationships with Lutherans in El Salvador and Tanzania, said education and testing are important topics for these global partners when it comes to addressing HIV and AIDS.
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Information about the ELCA Conference of Bishops is at http://www.ELCA.org/cob on the ELCA Web site.
Audio of comments by Bishop Paul Stumme-Diers is at http://www.ELCA.org/audio 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
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Purpose Driven Bishops
Shrimp here. Well, if it's good enough for Rick Warren, it must be good enough for the ELCA Conference of Bishops. This just in from the ELCA News Service:
Sunday, November 23, 2008
"ELCA council says majority enough..."
Shrimp back. As promised a few moments ago, here's Pastor Mark Chavez' report on the ELCA Church Council's decision. Shrimp out.
ELCA council says majority enough to change sexuality standards
By Mark C. Chavez
Director of Lutheran CORE
The ELCA Church Council decided at its meeting Nov. 15-17 in Chicago to recommend a simple majority vote at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly on recommendations from the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality and the ELCA Church Council regarding the rostering of practicing homosexuals as pastors and ministers.
The Constitutional and Legal Committee of the Church Council had voted unanimously prior to the meeting, with some abstentions, to recommend a two-thirds vote on all resolutions or memorials that relate to the subject of the social statement on sexuality, including the rostering proposals. The committee gave four reasons for recommending a two-thirds vote:
Next an amendment was offered to delete the two-thirds rule, thereby making it a simple majority decision. After much discussion the council approved the amendment 19-10, with one abstention.
Council member Mark Helmke, from San Antonio, Texas, then offered an amendment to restore the 2005 Churchwide Assembly two-thirds rule, which applied to changes in existing ELCA policies (the 2005 rule was narrower in scope than the two-thirds rule recommended by the Constitutional and Legal Committee).
A council member requested a written ballot (not normally used) for the vote on the Helmke amendment. The amendment was defeated 18-14 with two abstentions.
The Constitutional and Legal Committee did very good work. The committee's arguments for the two-thirds rule were articulate and logical, and the committee demonstrated great care for the well being of the ELCA.
However, a clear majority of the council wants the ELCA to approve of rostering practicing homosexuals as soon as possible -- this was stated in the discussion -- and voted for a simple majority rule even though the decision flies in the face of all the council's other priorities.
Most of the council meeting was taken up with serious matters -- how to reverse the steady decline in benevolence from congregations to the synods and churchwide organization; how to reverse the steady and accelerating loss of ELCA members; what to do about the worst ever drop in average worship attendance; how to increase the multiracial and multicultural composition of the ELCA; how to move toward communal discernment at Churchwide Assemblies so there is less vying for votes and outcomes with winners and losers; and how to strengthen ecumenical relationships.
The majority on the council that is dead set to get the ELCA to change its standards for ministry is apparently willing to sacrifice just about everything to attain its goal.
The ELCA suffered a big loss in benevolence after the fiasco in 1993 with the first draft of a social statement on human sexuality and ELCA leaders know it could happen again if the 2009 assembly approves ordaining practicing homosexuals.
The council heard a report from churchwide staff and a consultant about a possible five-year major initiative (appeal for funds) in conjunction with the ELCA's 25th anniversary. The consultant said that in working with the churchwide staff it was clear that the major initiative would need contingency plans for the possible outcomes of the 2009 assembly. He said the ELCA could be a very different church after next August, a clear reference to the decision on rostering practicing homosexuals.
Does the majority on the council not realize that by pushing its homosexual agenda it could lead the ELCA into deeper financial troubles?
Every other denomination in North America that has approved of practicing homosexuals as ministers has suffered huge membership losses -- 30 to 50 percent. Most have done nothing more than approve of the equivalent of a local or synodical option. Does the majority on the church council think that the ELCA will be the exception and not suffer a huge membership loss?
The Rev. Stephen Bouman, executive director of the Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission churchwide unit, told the council that the ELCA's new mission congregations have not thrived, especially those connected with ethnic strategies. He said that thus far "ethnic strategies are just words" in the ELCA. Action and results are needed.
ELCA Secretary David Swartling reported that most of the increase in the multi-racial composition of the ELCA is the result of marriages -- in other words, not drawing in new members and families who are not Caucasian.
Does the majority on the church council not know that non-Caucasian people -- Christians and people of other faiths -- overwhelmingly disapprove of homosexual behavior?
If the ELCA changes its standards for ministry it will make it all the more difficult for ELCA congregations to reach Latinos, Asians and African Americans, not to mention immigrants from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Is the majority on the council willing to sacrifice its multicultural and multiracial goals for the sake of one narrow goal?
The Church Council is disturbed by the divisive votes of recent Churchwide Assemblies, but the surest way to increase the divisiveness is to lower the bar to a simple majority for very important decisions. The Legal and Constitutional Committee had it right -- raise the bar higher, not lower. Is the majority on the council unable to see that its decision will make assemblies even more contentious and divisive?
The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox churches have made it very clear that their relationship with The Episcopal Church is severely ruptured because of the local option by diocese that exists in The Episcopal Church. Lutheran churches in the Lutheran World Federation in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America have made it very clear that if the ELCA and other Lutheran churches approve of homosexual behavior, the unity of the Lutheran World Federation is at stake.
Does the majority of the council not know that its single-minded focus on homosexuality may well undermine more than 50 years of ecumenical work and cut off the ELCA from most of the Christian churches in the world?
Perhaps the most tragic dimension of the majority's decision is the certain damage that will be done to ELCA congregations should the ELCA change its ministry standards. Many congregations will lose members and many will be deeply divided -- some already are.
The majority on the council is concerned about pastoral care for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, but seemingly oblivious to the overwhelming pastoral care that will be needed for millions of members and thousands of congregations should the majority on the council have its way.
ELCA council says majority enough to change sexuality standards
By Mark C. Chavez
Director of Lutheran CORE
The ELCA Church Council decided at its meeting Nov. 15-17 in Chicago to recommend a simple majority vote at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly on recommendations from the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality and the ELCA Church Council regarding the rostering of practicing homosexuals as pastors and ministers.
The Constitutional and Legal Committee of the Church Council had voted unanimously prior to the meeting, with some abstentions, to recommend a two-thirds vote on all resolutions or memorials that relate to the subject of the social statement on sexuality, including the rostering proposals. The committee gave four reasons for recommending a two-thirds vote:
1. It sets a clear rule for all matters and heads off potential confusion and ambiguity.During the council's discussion of the committee's recommendation, an amendment was offered to lower the bar from two-thirds to 60 percent, but that amendment was overwhelmingly defeated.
2. Since the social statement needs a two-thirds vote all matters relating to it should also require a two-thirds vote.
3. If the council wants the Churchwide Assembly to move toward communal discernment, then a two-thirds vote helps move the Churchwide Assembly in that direction.
4. The Church Council (and Churchwide Assembly) will have to deal with the rules anyway, so the committee's recommendation was a starting point for discussion.
Next an amendment was offered to delete the two-thirds rule, thereby making it a simple majority decision. After much discussion the council approved the amendment 19-10, with one abstention.
Council member Mark Helmke, from San Antonio, Texas, then offered an amendment to restore the 2005 Churchwide Assembly two-thirds rule, which applied to changes in existing ELCA policies (the 2005 rule was narrower in scope than the two-thirds rule recommended by the Constitutional and Legal Committee).
A council member requested a written ballot (not normally used) for the vote on the Helmke amendment. The amendment was defeated 18-14 with two abstentions.
The Constitutional and Legal Committee did very good work. The committee's arguments for the two-thirds rule were articulate and logical, and the committee demonstrated great care for the well being of the ELCA.
However, a clear majority of the council wants the ELCA to approve of rostering practicing homosexuals as soon as possible -- this was stated in the discussion -- and voted for a simple majority rule even though the decision flies in the face of all the council's other priorities.
Most of the council meeting was taken up with serious matters -- how to reverse the steady decline in benevolence from congregations to the synods and churchwide organization; how to reverse the steady and accelerating loss of ELCA members; what to do about the worst ever drop in average worship attendance; how to increase the multiracial and multicultural composition of the ELCA; how to move toward communal discernment at Churchwide Assemblies so there is less vying for votes and outcomes with winners and losers; and how to strengthen ecumenical relationships.
The majority on the council that is dead set to get the ELCA to change its standards for ministry is apparently willing to sacrifice just about everything to attain its goal.
The ELCA suffered a big loss in benevolence after the fiasco in 1993 with the first draft of a social statement on human sexuality and ELCA leaders know it could happen again if the 2009 assembly approves ordaining practicing homosexuals.
The council heard a report from churchwide staff and a consultant about a possible five-year major initiative (appeal for funds) in conjunction with the ELCA's 25th anniversary. The consultant said that in working with the churchwide staff it was clear that the major initiative would need contingency plans for the possible outcomes of the 2009 assembly. He said the ELCA could be a very different church after next August, a clear reference to the decision on rostering practicing homosexuals.
Does the majority on the council not realize that by pushing its homosexual agenda it could lead the ELCA into deeper financial troubles?
Every other denomination in North America that has approved of practicing homosexuals as ministers has suffered huge membership losses -- 30 to 50 percent. Most have done nothing more than approve of the equivalent of a local or synodical option. Does the majority on the church council think that the ELCA will be the exception and not suffer a huge membership loss?
The Rev. Stephen Bouman, executive director of the Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission churchwide unit, told the council that the ELCA's new mission congregations have not thrived, especially those connected with ethnic strategies. He said that thus far "ethnic strategies are just words" in the ELCA. Action and results are needed.
ELCA Secretary David Swartling reported that most of the increase in the multi-racial composition of the ELCA is the result of marriages -- in other words, not drawing in new members and families who are not Caucasian.
Does the majority on the church council not know that non-Caucasian people -- Christians and people of other faiths -- overwhelmingly disapprove of homosexual behavior?
If the ELCA changes its standards for ministry it will make it all the more difficult for ELCA congregations to reach Latinos, Asians and African Americans, not to mention immigrants from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Is the majority on the council willing to sacrifice its multicultural and multiracial goals for the sake of one narrow goal?
The Church Council is disturbed by the divisive votes of recent Churchwide Assemblies, but the surest way to increase the divisiveness is to lower the bar to a simple majority for very important decisions. The Legal and Constitutional Committee had it right -- raise the bar higher, not lower. Is the majority on the council unable to see that its decision will make assemblies even more contentious and divisive?
The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox churches have made it very clear that their relationship with The Episcopal Church is severely ruptured because of the local option by diocese that exists in The Episcopal Church. Lutheran churches in the Lutheran World Federation in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America have made it very clear that if the ELCA and other Lutheran churches approve of homosexual behavior, the unity of the Lutheran World Federation is at stake.
Does the majority of the council not know that its single-minded focus on homosexuality may well undermine more than 50 years of ecumenical work and cut off the ELCA from most of the Christian churches in the world?
Perhaps the most tragic dimension of the majority's decision is the certain damage that will be done to ELCA congregations should the ELCA change its ministry standards. Many congregations will lose members and many will be deeply divided -- some already are.
The majority on the council is concerned about pastoral care for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, but seemingly oblivious to the overwhelming pastoral care that will be needed for millions of members and thousands of congregations should the majority on the council have its way.
ELCA: Majority Vote for Gay Ordination?
Shrimp here.
The ELCA Church Council is recommending that any changes in ministry standards presented by the ELCA Task Force on Human Sexuality be able to be approved by a simple majority, the ELCA News Service reported here Friday afternoon.
Of course, the ELCA Constitution requires a 2/3rds majority for social statements, so either the Church Council is recommending that the Assembly follow the ELCA Constitution or the reporting of that particularitem is confused. As for ministry standards, those who remember that changes to them presented at the 2005 Churchwide Assembly required a 2/3rds majority need to remember that was the rules recommended by that ELCA Church Council. The current standards were established by the ELCA Church Council in 1990, a vote that only required a simple majority of that body. Traditionalists might, therefore, be thankful that the Church Council hasn't already just changed the rules by its own majority vote. Apparently the ELCA's leadership -- and his abstention notwithstanding that clearly includes the Presiding Bishop -- have decided to pass that buck to the Churchwide Assembly, and have overcome the sense from 2005 that approving in-same-sex relationship GLBTQ pastors (and other rostered leaders) ought to require a very positive vote.
Lutheran CORE's Executive Director Pastor Mark Chavez offers a fuller report of the Church Council's actions here, along with some thoughts of his own, of the Church Council's actions. Of course, we'll post that here ourselves in a few moments.
Shrimp pausing....
The ELCA Church Council is recommending that any changes in ministry standards presented by the ELCA Task Force on Human Sexuality be able to be approved by a simple majority, the ELCA News Service reported here Friday afternoon.
The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) recommended rules of procedure to the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, focusing discussion on votes related to social statements and recommendations from a task force report, both of which will be considered at the next assembly.You can read the full report of Church Council actions here.
The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met here Nov. 14-17. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 17-23, 2009, in Minneapolis.
The council's actions related to a proposed social statement on human sexuality, currently in the final writing stages, and a separate report with recommendations on ministry standards. Both documents are being prepared by a task force. They will become public Feb. 19, 2009, and will be transmitted by the council with recommendations to the 2009 assembly for consideration.
The social statement was requested by the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The 2007 Churchwide Assembly requested the task force report and recommendations. That assembly asked the task force to "specifically address and make recommendations to the 2009 Churchwide Assembly on changes to any policies that preclude practicing homosexual persons from the rosters of this church." The ELCA maintains a roster of its ordained clergy and three rosters of its lay ministers: associates in ministry, deaconesses and diaconal ministers.
The council recommended the 2009 Churchwide Assembly retain rules that require a two-thirds vote to adopt social statements and amendments to the ELCA Constitution and Bylaws, both required by the ELCA Constitution. It declined two proposals to recommend that a two-thirds vote be required to adopt recommendations or resolutions related to a task force report. If the assembly agrees, only a simple majority will be needed for such proposals under Robert's Rules of Order, unless the proposals call for constitutional or bylaw changes, said David D. Swartling, ELCA secretary.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, abstained from voting on the rules because he chairs the assembly, he told the council. Swartling reminded the council that the churchwide assembly has the final say on its rules of procedure.
Of course, the ELCA Constitution requires a 2/3rds majority for social statements, so either the Church Council is recommending that the Assembly follow the ELCA Constitution or the reporting of that particularitem is confused. As for ministry standards, those who remember that changes to them presented at the 2005 Churchwide Assembly required a 2/3rds majority need to remember that was the rules recommended by that ELCA Church Council. The current standards were established by the ELCA Church Council in 1990, a vote that only required a simple majority of that body. Traditionalists might, therefore, be thankful that the Church Council hasn't already just changed the rules by its own majority vote. Apparently the ELCA's leadership -- and his abstention notwithstanding that clearly includes the Presiding Bishop -- have decided to pass that buck to the Churchwide Assembly, and have overcome the sense from 2005 that approving in-same-sex relationship GLBTQ pastors (and other rostered leaders) ought to require a very positive vote.
Lutheran CORE's Executive Director Pastor Mark Chavez offers a fuller report of the Church Council's actions here, along with some thoughts of his own, of the Church Council's actions. Of course, we'll post that here ourselves in a few moments.
Shrimp pausing....
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Synod Suspends Newmarket Congregation
Shrimp here, with the latest on Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church of Newmarket, Ontario. You might recall this as the Toronto-area congregation that called Lionel Ketola, a man "married" to another man, as the first ELM rostered pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Eastern Synod Bishop Michael Pryse has since the original announcement of the call made clear that, while the standards prohibiting the ordination of practicing homosexuals should be changed to allow this, he will nonetheless enforce those standards. (See here, here, and here for background.)
Now comes this letter posted on Holy Cross' web site from Bishop Pryse:
Shrimp notes that this punishment does not include any threat to expel the congregation. It is public discipline of a congregation, though, something that (so far as we know) no longer happens in any ELCA synod.
Shrimp out.
Now comes this letter posted on Holy Cross' web site from Bishop Pryse:
Dear Pastor Dawn and friends,Holy Cross has kindly linked some of the reactions -- thus far Pastor Dawn Hutchings' Sunday sermon, comments from Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries and Lutherans Concerned/North America, and a press report -- here.
At its November 13-15, 2008 meeting, the Eastern Synod Council received and took action on the recommendations of the Investigative Committee appointed on September 30, 2008 as per ELCIC Administrative Bylaws, Part II, Sections 2 and 6. Specifically, this committee was asked to investigate and bring recommendations in response to actions taken by your congregation which are contrary to the constitutional requirement that congregations "assure that only those on the roster of this church serve it in a pastoral capacity."
The ruling of the Synod Council is as follows:Should you wish, you may appeal this decision to the ELCIC Court of Adjudication within thirty days of receipt of this communication.
- That Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Newmarket be suspended as per the following terms:
- the loss of delegate status at all conference, synodical and national conventions of the
ELCIC, and- the loss of lay and clergy eligibility for election to all governing bodies of the ELCIC.
- That this suspension not preclude the members of Holy Cross from fully participating in the programmatic and worship life of this church.
- That this suspension remains in place for the duration of Mr. Lionel Ketola’s call to Holy Cross, Newmarket, or until such time as Mr. Ketola’s call to Holy Cross is approved through the candidacy process of the ELCIC.
As we have interacted over the several months which have brought us to this present moment, it has been my persistent hope and desire that we would continue to be in relationship, regardless of the important decisions we have made. This is a commitment that I continue to take very seriously, as indeed does the Eastern Synod Council.
While clear in their resolve to act responsibly in accordance with our church’s governing documents, the Synod Council experienced no joy in making this decision. Indeed, it is this Council’s expressed desire to responsibly work toward changing policies that preclude the full participation of all God’s people in our ecclesial life.
Please know that this communication is accompanied by my prayers and very best wishes, as well as those of the Eastern Synod Council. May God continue to grant us generous gifts of patience, wisdom and mutual forbearance in our shared life.
Your brother in Christ,
+Michael
Bishop Michael J. Pryse
Shrimp notes that this punishment does not include any threat to expel the congregation. It is public discipline of a congregation, though, something that (so far as we know) no longer happens in any ELCA synod.
Shrimp out.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Your ELCA Benevolence Dollars at Work
Shrimp here. One of our correspondents, a pastor in a predominately rural, midwest ELCA synod, forwards the following e-mail sent through that synod's office:
Shrimp out.
The ELCA Justice for Women program is pleased to announce the first of its kind - an insightful theological conference to engage current and future Lutheran church leaders in euro-feminist, womanist, mujerista, Asian, and other feminist theologies. The conference, held at the Renaissance O'Hare Hotel in Chicago, will feature many accomplished presenters, including Cynthia Moe-Lobeda and Deanna Thompson. For more information and registration, please visit http://www.elca.org/justiceforwomen/conferenceShrimp again. We've not attached the detailed flyer. But you can find some of those details here. And you can also find the call for papers which has "the criteria used to choose the presenters."
We hope you will share this information widely in your synods and networks. Attached is a detailed flyer for your use. If space is limited, feel free to simply use the previous paragraph. For conference-related questions, contact Juli Bey at Juli.Bey@elca.org
Thanks for your partnership in communication.
Wendy Blanck
Executive Administrative Assistant
ELCA Communication Services
8765 W Higgins Rd
Chicago, IL 60631-4178
Phone: 800/638-3522 x2951; 773/380-2951
Fax: 773/380-2406
wendy.blanck@elca.org
www.elca.org
Shrimp out.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Wachet auf! ruft uns die Stimme
Shrimp here. In a Christianity Today blog entry reporting on the west-central Illinois Diocese of Quincy's vote last Friday and the upcoming vote this weekend in the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, to leave The Episcopal Church entitled "The (Episcopal) Snowball Effect," Timothy Morgan brings to our attention a campaign beign organized for next year's TEC General Convention.
The group WAKE UP wants the repeal of Resolution B-033 which, believe it or not, formally expects Episcopal Church leaders to refrain from same-sex rites and consecration of non-celibate bishops who are in homosexual relationships. Morgan quotes WAKE UP:
Shrimp out.
The group WAKE UP wants the repeal of Resolution B-033 which, believe it or not, formally expects Episcopal Church leaders to refrain from same-sex rites and consecration of non-celibate bishops who are in homosexual relationships. Morgan quotes WAKE UP:
WAKE UP is a coalition of concerned Episcopalians who seek a Full Inclusion Church. We came into being during the summer of 2006, following the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. While pleased at the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as Presiding Bishop, we experienced the passage of Resolution B-033 as a betrayal of the Church's professed acceptance of lesbian and gay Christians as full members of the Body of Christ. We also view with alarm the attempts of some, both within and outside the Episcopal Church, to move us in a direction of exclusion, intolerance, and dogmatic "purity codes" that have never been part of the Anglican heritage. Our primary purpose is to TAKE ACTION to STOP THE APPEASEMENT of theological bullies, and protect the Anglican heritage of inclusion and openness that has been passed down to us. We value the unity of the Anglican Communion, but not at the price of appeasement and injustice.Makes the ELCA's pro-gay Good Soil coalition sound positively moderate, doesn't it? At least for now. But observe how the more things go the gay lobby's way within the church, the more strident its language becomes...
Shrimp out.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
CORE Connection - November 2008
CORE Connection - News from Lutheran CORE - November 2008
A PDF version of this newsletter is available online at http://www.lutherancore.org/newsletters.shtml
We encourage you to read the newsletter in its PDF form if possible.
You are encouraged to copy this newsletter and to share it widely.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Signers to Open Letter on sexuality draft top 1,200
More than 1,200 ELCA lay members and pastors have added their names to the Open Letter calling for major revisions to the Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality being considered by the ELCA.
The Open Letter and the list of signers were sent to the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality, ELCA Church Council, and ELCA Conference of Bishops as a response to the draft social statement.
"We are very pleased with the significant response to the Open Letter. We hope to grow a much longer list of signatures," said the Rev. Paull Spring, chair of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee.
"We pray that the Task Force will take seriously the concerns and suggestions expressed in the Open Letter and in the reviews submitted by many faithful church members and that they will be clearly represented in the next draft of the social statement."
The Open Letter was originally signed by the 11 members of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee and the 18 members of the Lutheran CORE Advisory Council.
ELCA members are invited to add their names to this Open Letter as a part of their response to the sexuality draft social statement. The list of additional signers is posted online at www.lutherancore.org.
Links to detailed reviews of the draft statement and to other helpful documents on human sexuality are available at www.lutherancore.org in the marriage and family educational resources section.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
What's next for the ELCA sexuality social statement?
The deadline for responses to the ELCA's Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality was Nov. 1. However, ELCA members still have two opportunities to shape the social statement that will be considered by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.
The Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality will meet Nov. 7-8 to review responses to the draft statement and to consider changes to the document. They will provide a report to the ELCA Church Council's Nov. 14-17 meeting.
On Thursday, Feb. 19, the Task Force will release its proposed text of an ELCA social statement on human sexuality and its recommendations on whether the ELCA should change its teaching and policy to allow pastors and other rostered leaders to be in same-sex sexual relationships.
The ELCA Church Council will decide the form of the proposals that will be considered by the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly and may edit the proposed social statement and other Task Force recommendations.
Synod Councils may respond to the Task Force recommendations and offer advice to the ELCA Church Council through resolutions prior to the council's March 27-29 meeting.
ELCA members are encouraged to communicate with their synod council members and synod bishop about the revised social statement draft and about whether the ELCA should change its teaching and policy to allow pastors and other rostered leaders to be in same-sex sexual relationships.
On Thursday, April 2, the version of the social statement text recommended by the ELCA Church Council will be released online. The Church Council's recommendations on whether the ELCA should change its teaching and policy to allow pastors and other rostered leaders to be in same-sex sexual relationships will also be released that day.
ELCA Synod Assemblies have the opportunity to respond to the Church Council's recommended social statement text and its recommendations regarding whether the ELCA should change its teaching and policy to allow pastors and other rostered leaders to be in same-sex sexual relationships through memorials and resolutions.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
'God's Word or Ours?' - Call to Faithfulness conference
by Pastor Ken Kimball
"God's Word or Ours?" a two-day conference Sept 28-29 drew upward of 125 ELCA lay and clergy from five states (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) to Nazareth Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Call to Faithfulness, a reform group centered in the Northeast Iowa Synod, organized the event. Call to Faithfulness is one of the member organizations of Lutheran CORE.
Keynote presenter, Dr. Robert Benne, Director of the Center for Religion and Society at Roanoke College in Salem, Va., drew upon his own theological and vocational journey as an ethicist in recounting how the ELCA has reached the predicament in which classical (i.e. traditional-orthodox) Lutheranism and Lutherans are marginalized while revisionist ideology and ideologues have come to dominate the leadership and structures of the ELCA.
Following a trajectory that began to emerge in its predecessor bodies (ALC, LCA) during the 1960's, much of the ELCA's leadership has chosen liberal Protestantism and its utopian Kingdom of God paradigm over the classical Lutheran understanding of the church and her reason for existence. The church as agent and tool for social change trumps church as sinners gathered around Word and Sacrament. Traditional-orthodox piety and terminology are either viewed with suspicion and disdainfully dismissed as irrelevant or interpreted in ways antithetical to their original use and meaning.
Dr. Benne's prescription did not include breaking away and formation of a new church body but rather for congregations to draw upon and strengthen their confessional identity (Lutheran distinctives) and for the growth of reform groups and associations. In particular, he expressed his hopes for Lutheran CORE to serve as a connection and central organizing point for classical Lutheran congregations and groups, essentially operating as the church within the ELCA, particularly where ELCA churchwide and synodical leadership has failed or refuses to provide confessionally and Biblically faithful leadership and support.
The Rev. Dr. Roy Harrisville III, pastor of Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Menomonie, Wis., led a presentation on the ELCA's Book of Faith Initiative. He concluded that "It's okay." That is not a ringing endorsement of everything that comes out under the Book of Faith banner or product-line but a carefully considered view of the initiative as a neutral tool, the effect of which will depend on who uses the tool and how.
Dr. Harrisville encouraged traditional-orthodox ELCA Lutherans to see the Book of Faith initiative as an opportunity to be seized and used. The Bible and the reading of it by ELCA Lutherans favors the traditional-orthodox. He urged us to be proactive and critical in approaching the support materials put out by Augsburg Fortress. But he gave us hope as well of the level of input to date by traditional-orthodox Lutheran scholars, himself included. In the end, the key focus must be on the reading of Scripture itself.
The Rev. Steven King, pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Maple Lake, Minn., presented "Resources for Reform." He shared and reviewed resources for women's Bible studies and catechism instruction from Sola Publishing. Pastor King also serves as director of education for Sola Publishing and the WordAlone Network, one of the member organizations of Lutheran CORE.
The Rev. Erma Wolf, pastor of the Brandon-Split Rock Lutheran Parish in Brandon, S.D. and vice-chair of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee, gave an overview of the Lutheran Coalition for Reform: its basic principles and strategic focus. She also provided an update on what the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee has been working on recently.
A "confessional caucus" of 20 or so synodical reform leaders was held over lunch on Sept. 29 in hopes of mutual encouragement and establishing and strengthening connections between colleagues in reform (especially as some are in synods where they are very isolated and beleaguered). Among the synods represented at this caucus were Northeast Iowa, Northern Illinois, Central/Southern Illinois, Southeast Iowa, Western Iowa, Nebraska, and Southwest Minnesota. The hour's time was quickly exhausted by persons introducing themselves and sharing briefly on the situation in their synod.
A five-CD set of recordings of the presentations at the conference is now available. Each set contains the major presentations and the closing panel discussion. If you would like a set of CDs, please send your mailing address and a check for $7.50 payable to Call to Faithfulness to: Call to Faithfulness, c/o Pastor Gary Hatcher, PO Box 638, Greene, IA 50636.
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Braaten notes theological issues challenging the ELCA
Following are excerpts of an address given by Lutheran theologian Carl E. Braaten Oct. 14 at a forum sponsored by Lutheran CORE at La Casa De Cristo Lutheran Church in Scottsdale, Ariz. The entire address is available at www.lutherancore.org.
+ People in the ELCA are riled up about sex. And it's not because they wanted to be. This was not the topic of their choice. It's been foisted on them from above. And they are worried about how the lengthy process of discussion and deliberation will end.
The Deep Underlying Problem
+ The theological issues troubling the ELCA were looming large long before the ELCA took up Hollywood's favorite topic as its chief preoccupation. The underlying theological problem in the ELCA is much deeper than sex. The lack of consensus in the church on the ethics of sex is epiphenomenal, that is, it is a secondary complication of a much deeper condition that the ELCA shares with all other mainline Protestant churches.
+ Christianity is like a bucket brigade. It is something handed down from generation to generation. Each generation of believers must take responsibility to pass on the "faith once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). The cumulative result of churches doing that for 2,000 years is the mainstream of the Christian tradition. That's where we want to situate ourselves. We have received that tradition, founded on the Bible, and it is our turn now to pass it on to our children and grandchildren without abbreviation, without compromise, and without tailoring it to suit our own whims and fancies. In other words, we are called to be faithful. But today something of a paradigm shift is occurring in American Lutheranism, such that the church we are passing on to our children is vastly different from the church we received from our fathers and mothers in the faith.
+ Of course the church must change since it lives in history. Nothing remains exactly the same. The church must change in order to remain the same. But some changes are good and some are not, and that is what the controversy in the church is all about. We must discern the spirits. Not everything is up for grabs. We have sound criteria to tell what kinds of change are good for the gospel and what are not. We do have an agenda faithful to our confessional Lutheran tradition, a tradition that claims to be true to the classical teachings of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, standing firmly on the pillars of Holy Scripture and the orthodox Creeds.
+ Our central concern is theological, what we believe about the triune God, salvation through Christ alone, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, true preaching of the Word and faithful administration of the Sacraments.
The Pervasive Issues and Isms
+ The ELCA Constitution and Confession of Faith are just fine. We have no quarrel with them. But they are often treated as just a piece of paper. Even some bishops ignore them. We know the rules of the game, but there is no penalty for ignoring them, and no discipline, no accountability. That's the end-product of rampant individualism, again the hallmark of ancient and modern gnosticism.
+ Let me give you a laundry list of the hot button isms shaking the foundations: The first is the doctrine of the Triune God and the challenge of radical theological feminism.
+ The second major issue challenging the ELCA and other churches, again a symptom of the disease we have called gnosticism, is the uniqueness of Christ and the challenge of radical religious pluralism. From the start Christianity entered a world of many religions, but not one of the apostles believed that they are all equally valid as ways of salvation. But that is exactly what the Protestant gnostics of today are teaching in the name of the pluralistic theology of religion.
+ The third critical issue has to do with the authority of the Bible and the challenge of historical relativism. Another name for it is reader-response hermeneutics. Truth is in the eye of the beholder. You italicize the words of Scripture that turn you on, and chalk all the rest up to the primitive notions of an ancient Semitic people. The Bible becomes a wax nose, so much putty in the hands of the artist who makes it conform to the culture of modernity.
+ The fourth issue is of concern to every pastor, the absolute gospel and the challenge of American religion, the neo-pagan gnosticism infiltrating the practices of worship. Religion sells when it can satisfy the search for self-fulfillment. Gnosticism is all about the self; it appeals to the sovereign autonomous self. It's all about me. The churches that grow best in a mass culture engage in Christianity-Lite, throwing over-board all the excess baggage like traditional dogmas, liturgies, hymnody, and moral codes of conduct. Success is quantifiable in terms of numbers -- members, budgets, buildings, and programs. . . . American religion is a consumer's delight; it can be altered and tailored to meet the taste of the individual consumers. Traditional creeds, ceremonies, symbols, sacraments, and practices are set aside for the immediacy of experience, leaving our people adrift in a narcissistic culture of decadence and death. The bottomline of American religion is all about what I feel.
+ The fifth issue is about the Church as a divine institution and the challenge of the democratic cult of egalitarianism. . . . The church is not a democracy. It is not "of the people and by the people." It is of God! Christ is king, the Lord of the church.
+ The sixth issue has to do with ecumenism and the challenge of modern Protestantism. . . . There is no consensus in the ELCA on any of the ecumenical agreements we have reached with other churches.
+ As a Lutheran I am unapologetically an ecumenical theologian. But there are limits to unity. We cannot be for church unity at all costs. There are sects with which we cannot be in altar and pulpit fellowship. Where there is heresy and apostasy in the church, that calls for separation. There is one thing worse than schism, and that is commingling with idolaters and blasphemers. It has come to that at previous times in church history. . . We in the ELCA have not reached such a point, but let there be no mistake about this. It could happen here and there in American Christianity, triggering a kind of realignment of churches that some are already calling for.
+ The seventh issue has to do with the integrity of the church and the challenge of confusing the law and the gospel of God, of failing to make the proper distinction between law and gospel.
Where Do We Go From Here?
+ As in the case of Katrina, the traditional levees that kept Lutheranism from conforming to the surrounding culture of American religion no longer hold. They are broken.
+ I am not in favor of shopping around for another church. It is a romantic notion to think that there is a more perfect church out there. Every one has its own share of problems.
+ Our situation is not altogether bleak and hopeless. Thousands of pastors and congregations are doing things just about right. Many reform-minded confessors are doing ministry faithful to the common core of evangelical faith and orthodox doctrine. We have the Bible; it is the Word of God. Who knows what will happen when we take the initiative to actually read it?
+ Ecclesia semper reformanda! That is a Latin slogan of our Lutheran tradition. The reformation of the church must continue. When the church finds itself living in the dark ages, as it is today, we trust that God will create movements for renewal and reform, as he has always done in the past. We have his promise that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. We must understand that we are back into the raw missionary situation of New Testament Christianity, one in which true Christian faith cannot count on its cultural plausibility in a neopagan environment.
+ The only thing that matters in true Christian worship is the presence of the living God through the audible words of preaching according to the Scriptures and the visible words of Holy Communion according to our Lord's institution.
+ The church should always be in the business of reaching out to add new members, of course, but more importantly today it needs to re-evangelize the members it already has, to make clear its difference from the world, stressing that the Christian faith is utterly unique and fundamentally different from other religions and ideologies, and that what she has to offer the world cannot be provided by any other agency or community in the world. To pray and work for a new reformation is not to wait for things to happen elsewhere than in each of our local congregations. That is where the action is. Don't think it is in Chicago or Rome or Geneva. We meet Christ at home in our local parish, not in the church bureaucracy that we create to do some of the things we cannot do on our own. Every ordinary congregation is endowed with an extraordinary message. It is a message of the dying and rising of Jesus and that all who believe in him share in the salvation he brings. What more do we want? What more do we need?
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Lutheran Church of Norway rejects same-sex marriages
The Council of Bishops of the Lutheran Church of Norway decided in October that Lutheran pastors may not preside at weddings for same-sex couples or provide blessing services for homosexual relationships.
The bishops said that pastors may pray for same-sex couples but may not bless their relationships. Civil marriage services in churches were also rejected by the bishops. The Church of Norway -- a member of the Lutheran World Federation -- is the country's state church and counts 83 percent of Norway's 4.6 million people as church members.
Same-sex civil marriage will be legal in Norway starting in January. The Norwegian parliament voted in June to amend the country's definition of civil marriage to make it gender neutral.
According to the legislation,"Only if and when the liturgy of the Church has been changed, will priests be able to marry lesbian and homosexual couples in the Church of Norway."
In November 2007, the General Synod of the Church of Norway decided that individual bishops may decide whether or not to allow clergy under their supervision in be in same-sex sexual relationships.
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30 states affirm traditional marriage in constitutions
Voters in Arizona, California and Florida approved amendments to their state constitutions, which define marriage as between a man and a woman in the Nov. 4 elections.
Thirty states now affirm marriage as between a man and a woman in their constitutions. An additional 14 states have state laws affirming traditional marriage.
Constitutional amendments have been seen as the only option for supporters of traditional marriage given that some courts have imposed same-sex marriage on states with traditional marriage laws.
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Oct. 10 that same-sex couples have a right to marry in that state.
May 15 the California Supreme Court overturned a 2000 referendum vote that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The California Supreme Court was overturned by the voters by the constitutional amendment Nov. 4. The amendment was approved by 52 percent of California voters.
Florida and Arizona approved constitutional amendments Nov. 4 defining marriage as between a man and a woman by 62 percent and 57 percent of voters, respectively.
Massachusetts became the first state to permit same-sex marriages in 2004 when its state Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a right to marry. Several states offer same-sex couples rights similar to those offered to married couples, but they do not call those arrangements marriages.
The ELCA teaches that "marriage is a lifelong covenant of faithfulness between a man and a woman" (Sexuality: Some Common Convictions, 1996 ELCA Message).
In spite of ELCA teaching and policy, some ELCA pastors have presided at same-sex marriages or services of blessing, and some ELCA bishops allow pastors in their synods to do so.
"The constitution and bylaws, as well as related policy documents of the ELCA, do not provide a basis for pastors of this church to officiate at a same-sex marriage," explains ELCA Secretary David Swartling. "Under ELCA policy, marriage is defined as a covenantal relationship between a man and a woman. The Churchwide Assembly has had opportunities to change this policy, both to make it less restrictive and to make it more restrictive. It has declined to do so."
"In light of ELCA policy, pastors, synodically authorized ministers, and congregations may be subject to discipline if they officiate at same-sex marriages and allow them to take place in their buildings," Swartling said.
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ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod promotes 'Goddess' conference
The ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod promoted a "Goddess" conference in one of its official publications.
The synod's Oct. 23 "Wednesday Three Things" electronic newsletter for clergy and lay leaders included an announcement promoting "Come Now, O Wisdom -- Faith and Feminism, Womanist / Mujerista Conference" Nov. 7-9 at "herchurch" in San Francisco.
The synod reported that the purpose of the conference is "To provide opportunity for feminist faith seekers, church leaders, Interfaith leaders, politicians and artists to experience and discuss the urgent implications of God/dess imagery and gender issues which transform the church, the world and our daily lives so that together we seek and speak justice."
"Keynote speaker will be Carol Christ, Ph.D. who is the author of the widely reprinted essay, 'Why Women Need the Goddess,' which has awakened us to the Sacred Feminine and introduced many to the rebirth of the ancient religion of the Goddess," the synod newsletter reported.
Carol Christ is the author of several books including She Who Changes: Re-imagining the Divine in the World and Rebirth of the Goddess: Finding Meaning in Feminist Spirituality.
"Herchurch" -- also known as Ebenezer Lutheran Church -- is led by the Rev. Stacy Boorn, an ELCA pastor. Herchurch is one of the most heterodox churches in the ELCA.
The congregation's website -- www.herchurch.org -- describes the congregation as an "emerging feminist faith community." The site includes a rewriting of the Lord's Prayer that begins "Our Mother who is within us . ." The site also sells and promotes a "Goddess Rosary" and reports that "Each morning Pastor Stacy and members of herchurch pray the Goddess Rosary."
Dr. Mary Streufert, ELCA Director for Justice for Women, is one of the speakers for the conference.
The ELCA will host its own feminist theology conference Jan. 23-24 in Chicago called "Transformative Lutheran Theologies Conference: Feminist, Womanist and Mujerista Perspectives."
The ELCA website reports that its conference is "Designed to engage church leaders in the transformative theology of women in the academy for the sake of the church, this conference entails both formal papers and dialogical engagement."
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San Francisco Lutherans plan transgender ordination
Former ELCA congregation First United Lutheran Church in San Francisco voted Oct. 19 to call Jay Wilson as pastor. An ordination service is planned for Dec. 6.
The Internet site of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries says that "Jay Wilson is a queer and genderqueer transguy, autistic and disabled, who identifies as a Lutheran postmodern, third-wave feminist, academic geek, disability rights activist, and social justice advocate."
ELM is an organization that "approves" the ordinations of individuals who refuse to abide by the ELCA's standards for the sexual conduct of pastors. ELM reports that Wilson was removed from the ELCA candidacy process for reasons of "gender identity and sexual orientation."
Wilson has a Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. "While attending Luther Seminary, he co-founded AGAPE, a group for LGBTQ students and allies, and transitioned female-to-male in appearance while living on campus," ELM reports.
Wilson entered seminary with a female identity as Jamie Wilson but began identifying herself as male. Her 2004 internship — at an ELCA church with a pastor in a same-sex sexual relationship — attracted attention throughout the ELCA.
First United was one of the first ELCA congregations to call a practicing homosexual as its pastor. The congregation called Jeff Johnson in 1989. Johnson and two lesbian women were ordained in 1990 in the first ordination service held in defiance of ELCA teaching and policy. The congregation was removed from the ELCA in 1995 as a result of that action.
Because First United Lutheran Church is not an ELCA congregation, ELCA policies do not apply to its actions. However, any ELCA clergy participating in the service could be violating standards for ELCA clergy.
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Hanson warns bishops to prepare for synod financial crisis
ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson warned synod bishops to prepare for congregations to leave their synods or to withhold financial support if the 2009 ELCA Church-wide Assembly votes to change church teaching and policy to allow pastors to be in same-sex sexual relationships. Bishop Hanson made the comments during the Conference of Bishops' fall meeting Oct. 2-7 in Chicago.
"Bishop Hanson recommended that synods have budgetary contingency plans in the event that the 2009 assembly changes the policy and congregations leave," Bishop Michael Rinehart of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod reported in an e-mail message to synod pastors and other leaders.
The bishops also began work on their response to the action of the 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to "request the Conference of Bishops to enter into discussion and consideration of the matter of the accountability of bishops to the adopted policies, practices, and procedures of the ELCA and to formulate a clear statement of such accountability for consideration and adoption by the 2009 assembly of this church."
This request came, in part, because some synod bishops have refused to enforce ELCA policies including policies regarding pastors in same-sex sexual relationships.
"We continued discussion of our Relational Agreement as a first step in responding to a request from the churchwide assembly regarding how bishops hold one another accountable to the policies of this church," reported Bishop Marie C. Jerge of the Upstate New York Synod.
Among other actions, the Conference of Bishops issued a pastoral letter on the country's current financial crisis.
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Lutheran homosexual activists ordain hospital chaplain
Jodi Barry, a woman in a committed same-sex relationship, was ordained Saturday, Oct. 25, at Grace University Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Minneapolis.
The ordination was "authorized" by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, an organization that "approves" the ordinations of individuals who refuse to abide by the ELCA's standards for the sexual conduct of pastors. The ordination marks the first time that ELM has ordained someone without a call from a congregation.
Barry is a graduate of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, a United Church of Christ seminary. She has been a chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minn., for several years. She is also the youth director at Grace University Lutheran Church.
The ELM web site reports that "Jodi is married to the Rev. Dr. Jenny Mason and both are members of the ELM Roster." Mason was removed from the ELCA clergy roster in 2001.
More than 20 clergy participated in Barry's ordination including some ELCA pastors. The Rev. Daniel A. Garnaas, pastor of Grace University Church and an ELCA pastor, preached for the service. Anita Hill, a lesbian woman who was ordained in 2001 in defiance of ELCA standards, presided at the service. Hill is on the staff of St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in St. Paul, Minn.
Barry's ordination was the third unauthorized ordination of a person who refused to abide by the ELCA's expectations for ordained ministers this year. ELM reports that there have been 15 unauthorized ordinations in the ELCA's 20-year history.
The participants in these ordinations have acted in ways that violate the ELCA constitution. The ELCA constitution states that "Ordained ministers shall be subject to discipline for . . . willfully disregarding the provisions of the constitution or bylaws of this church" (20.21.01).
None of the people ordained in these services was approved for ordination in accordance with the standards and process outlined in the ELCA constitution (7.31.13). Each of them refuses to abide by ELCA standards.
Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries reports that it "credentials and rosters qualified candidates of all sexual orientations and gender identities for ministry." Its web site reports 38 "rostered clergy," four people "approved for call," and three seminarians.
Some ELM-rostered clergy are serving as pastors in ELCA congregations in violation of ELCA constitutional standards.
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Dioceses leave Episcopal Church, join Anglican province
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh voted Oct. 4, to become the second diocese to leave The Episcopal Church. Two more dioceses are expected to ratify votes to leave the denomination in November.
The dioceses are amending their constitutions to affiliate with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America until an alternative Anglican province is formed in North America.
The Diocese of Quincy in west central Illinois will meet Nov. 7-8 and the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, will meet Nov. 14-15 to decide whether to ratify last year's votes to leave The Episcopal Church.
On Dec. 8, 2007, the Diocese of San Joaquin in central California voted overwhelmingly to affiliate with the Province of the Southern Cone. Only five of its churches chose to remain aligned with The Episcopal Church.
Lay delegates to the Pittsburgh Diocese convention voted 119-69 in favor of the new alignment. Clergy approved it 121-33. Three-fourths of the diocese's 74 congregations are expected to remain in the diocese. Nineteen congregations have decided to keep their affiliation with The Episcopal Church.
"We deeply value our shared heritage and years of friendship with those still within that denomination, but this diocese could not in good conscience continue down the road away from mainstream Christianity that the leadership of The Episcopal Church is so determined to follow," said the Rev. Peter Frank, director of communications for the Pittsburgh diocese.
"We are deeply thankful to the Province of the Southern Cone for offering us a clear way to stay within The Anglican Communion as the necessary work of building a new province goes forward. We also owe a debt of gratitude to Christians of many denominations and traditions both here in Pittsburgh and around the world that have prayed for us, encouraged us and stood with us as we have made this decision," he said.
Bishop Jack Leo Iker wrote to members of the Diocese of Fort Worth noting "Ten Reasons Why Now Is the Time to Realign." "This is God's time -- our kairos moment -- and it has been coming for a long time. We believe that God the Holy Spirit has guided and directed us to this particular time and moment of decision. . . . We have explored every avenue and exhausted every possibility. Now is the time to decide to separate from the moral, spiritual, and numerical decline of TEC."
"This decision is about the truth of the Gospel and upholding the authority of the Holy Scriptures. . . . Many leaders of TEC are teaching a false Gospel and leading people astray. Now is the time for us to take a bold, public stand for the biblical faith and practice of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church," wrote Bishop Iker.
The Episcopal Church has taken a hostile stance toward departing dioceses and congregations. The denomination has filed lawsuits to try to claim church property.
"By initiating lawsuits against those who for conscience sake know they must leave an unfaithful Church -- lawsuits, by the way, that Primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion begged be dropped -- leaders of The Episcopal Church have instead chosen to intensify their legal efforts to gain control over property and money. Such material things are not essential, but they are helpful tools," said Bishop John-David Schofield of the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin.
Episcopal church leaders took action Oct. 17 against San Joaquin diocese clergy "to inhibit the 52 clergy unless they recant and return to The Episcopal Church within six months."
Anglican leaders responded by noting that "The Episcopal Church no longer has any jurisdiction over the Anglican Clergy of the Diocese of San Joaquin, and any actions taken by The Episcopal Church concerning their ecclesiastical status within the worldwide Anglican Communion is of no force or effect."
The Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori charged Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan with "abandoning the Communion of the Church." The "deposition" states that effective Sept. 20, "Bishop Duncan shall be deprived of the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority of God's word and sacraments conferred at ordination in this Church."
Bishop Duncan, who led the Diocese of Pittsburgh for 11 years, was received as a bishop of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone prior to the deposition. Southern Cone Archbishop Gregory Venables appointed Bishop Duncan to be the Southern Cone's "commissary" in the diocese. Bishop Duncan is expected to again be elected as bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh Nov. 7.
A PDF version of this newsletter is available online at http://www.lutherancore.org/newsletters.shtml
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Signers to Open Letter on sexuality draft top 1,200
More than 1,200 ELCA lay members and pastors have added their names to the Open Letter calling for major revisions to the Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality being considered by the ELCA.
The Open Letter and the list of signers were sent to the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality, ELCA Church Council, and ELCA Conference of Bishops as a response to the draft social statement.
"We are very pleased with the significant response to the Open Letter. We hope to grow a much longer list of signatures," said the Rev. Paull Spring, chair of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee.
"We pray that the Task Force will take seriously the concerns and suggestions expressed in the Open Letter and in the reviews submitted by many faithful church members and that they will be clearly represented in the next draft of the social statement."
The Open Letter was originally signed by the 11 members of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee and the 18 members of the Lutheran CORE Advisory Council.
ELCA members are invited to add their names to this Open Letter as a part of their response to the sexuality draft social statement. The list of additional signers is posted online at www.lutherancore.org.
Links to detailed reviews of the draft statement and to other helpful documents on human sexuality are available at www.lutherancore.org in the marriage and family educational resources section.
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What's next for the ELCA sexuality social statement?
The deadline for responses to the ELCA's Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality was Nov. 1. However, ELCA members still have two opportunities to shape the social statement that will be considered by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.
The Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality will meet Nov. 7-8 to review responses to the draft statement and to consider changes to the document. They will provide a report to the ELCA Church Council's Nov. 14-17 meeting.
On Thursday, Feb. 19, the Task Force will release its proposed text of an ELCA social statement on human sexuality and its recommendations on whether the ELCA should change its teaching and policy to allow pastors and other rostered leaders to be in same-sex sexual relationships.
The ELCA Church Council will decide the form of the proposals that will be considered by the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly and may edit the proposed social statement and other Task Force recommendations.
Synod Councils may respond to the Task Force recommendations and offer advice to the ELCA Church Council through resolutions prior to the council's March 27-29 meeting.
ELCA members are encouraged to communicate with their synod council members and synod bishop about the revised social statement draft and about whether the ELCA should change its teaching and policy to allow pastors and other rostered leaders to be in same-sex sexual relationships.
On Thursday, April 2, the version of the social statement text recommended by the ELCA Church Council will be released online. The Church Council's recommendations on whether the ELCA should change its teaching and policy to allow pastors and other rostered leaders to be in same-sex sexual relationships will also be released that day.
ELCA Synod Assemblies have the opportunity to respond to the Church Council's recommended social statement text and its recommendations regarding whether the ELCA should change its teaching and policy to allow pastors and other rostered leaders to be in same-sex sexual relationships through memorials and resolutions.
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'God's Word or Ours?' - Call to Faithfulness conference
by Pastor Ken Kimball
"God's Word or Ours?" a two-day conference Sept 28-29 drew upward of 125 ELCA lay and clergy from five states (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) to Nazareth Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Call to Faithfulness, a reform group centered in the Northeast Iowa Synod, organized the event. Call to Faithfulness is one of the member organizations of Lutheran CORE.
Keynote presenter, Dr. Robert Benne, Director of the Center for Religion and Society at Roanoke College in Salem, Va., drew upon his own theological and vocational journey as an ethicist in recounting how the ELCA has reached the predicament in which classical (i.e. traditional-orthodox) Lutheranism and Lutherans are marginalized while revisionist ideology and ideologues have come to dominate the leadership and structures of the ELCA.
Following a trajectory that began to emerge in its predecessor bodies (ALC, LCA) during the 1960's, much of the ELCA's leadership has chosen liberal Protestantism and its utopian Kingdom of God paradigm over the classical Lutheran understanding of the church and her reason for existence. The church as agent and tool for social change trumps church as sinners gathered around Word and Sacrament. Traditional-orthodox piety and terminology are either viewed with suspicion and disdainfully dismissed as irrelevant or interpreted in ways antithetical to their original use and meaning.
Dr. Benne's prescription did not include breaking away and formation of a new church body but rather for congregations to draw upon and strengthen their confessional identity (Lutheran distinctives) and for the growth of reform groups and associations. In particular, he expressed his hopes for Lutheran CORE to serve as a connection and central organizing point for classical Lutheran congregations and groups, essentially operating as the church within the ELCA, particularly where ELCA churchwide and synodical leadership has failed or refuses to provide confessionally and Biblically faithful leadership and support.
The Rev. Dr. Roy Harrisville III, pastor of Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Menomonie, Wis., led a presentation on the ELCA's Book of Faith Initiative. He concluded that "It's okay." That is not a ringing endorsement of everything that comes out under the Book of Faith banner or product-line but a carefully considered view of the initiative as a neutral tool, the effect of which will depend on who uses the tool and how.
Dr. Harrisville encouraged traditional-orthodox ELCA Lutherans to see the Book of Faith initiative as an opportunity to be seized and used. The Bible and the reading of it by ELCA Lutherans favors the traditional-orthodox. He urged us to be proactive and critical in approaching the support materials put out by Augsburg Fortress. But he gave us hope as well of the level of input to date by traditional-orthodox Lutheran scholars, himself included. In the end, the key focus must be on the reading of Scripture itself.
The Rev. Steven King, pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Maple Lake, Minn., presented "Resources for Reform." He shared and reviewed resources for women's Bible studies and catechism instruction from Sola Publishing. Pastor King also serves as director of education for Sola Publishing and the WordAlone Network, one of the member organizations of Lutheran CORE.
The Rev. Erma Wolf, pastor of the Brandon-Split Rock Lutheran Parish in Brandon, S.D. and vice-chair of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee, gave an overview of the Lutheran Coalition for Reform: its basic principles and strategic focus. She also provided an update on what the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee has been working on recently.
A "confessional caucus" of 20 or so synodical reform leaders was held over lunch on Sept. 29 in hopes of mutual encouragement and establishing and strengthening connections between colleagues in reform (especially as some are in synods where they are very isolated and beleaguered). Among the synods represented at this caucus were Northeast Iowa, Northern Illinois, Central/Southern Illinois, Southeast Iowa, Western Iowa, Nebraska, and Southwest Minnesota. The hour's time was quickly exhausted by persons introducing themselves and sharing briefly on the situation in their synod.
A five-CD set of recordings of the presentations at the conference is now available. Each set contains the major presentations and the closing panel discussion. If you would like a set of CDs, please send your mailing address and a check for $7.50 payable to Call to Faithfulness to: Call to Faithfulness, c/o Pastor Gary Hatcher, PO Box 638, Greene, IA 50636.
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Braaten notes theological issues challenging the ELCA
Following are excerpts of an address given by Lutheran theologian Carl E. Braaten Oct. 14 at a forum sponsored by Lutheran CORE at La Casa De Cristo Lutheran Church in Scottsdale, Ariz. The entire address is available at www.lutherancore.org.
+ People in the ELCA are riled up about sex. And it's not because they wanted to be. This was not the topic of their choice. It's been foisted on them from above. And they are worried about how the lengthy process of discussion and deliberation will end.
The Deep Underlying Problem
+ The theological issues troubling the ELCA were looming large long before the ELCA took up Hollywood's favorite topic as its chief preoccupation. The underlying theological problem in the ELCA is much deeper than sex. The lack of consensus in the church on the ethics of sex is epiphenomenal, that is, it is a secondary complication of a much deeper condition that the ELCA shares with all other mainline Protestant churches.
+ Christianity is like a bucket brigade. It is something handed down from generation to generation. Each generation of believers must take responsibility to pass on the "faith once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). The cumulative result of churches doing that for 2,000 years is the mainstream of the Christian tradition. That's where we want to situate ourselves. We have received that tradition, founded on the Bible, and it is our turn now to pass it on to our children and grandchildren without abbreviation, without compromise, and without tailoring it to suit our own whims and fancies. In other words, we are called to be faithful. But today something of a paradigm shift is occurring in American Lutheranism, such that the church we are passing on to our children is vastly different from the church we received from our fathers and mothers in the faith.
+ Of course the church must change since it lives in history. Nothing remains exactly the same. The church must change in order to remain the same. But some changes are good and some are not, and that is what the controversy in the church is all about. We must discern the spirits. Not everything is up for grabs. We have sound criteria to tell what kinds of change are good for the gospel and what are not. We do have an agenda faithful to our confessional Lutheran tradition, a tradition that claims to be true to the classical teachings of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, standing firmly on the pillars of Holy Scripture and the orthodox Creeds.
+ Our central concern is theological, what we believe about the triune God, salvation through Christ alone, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, true preaching of the Word and faithful administration of the Sacraments.
The Pervasive Issues and Isms
+ The ELCA Constitution and Confession of Faith are just fine. We have no quarrel with them. But they are often treated as just a piece of paper. Even some bishops ignore them. We know the rules of the game, but there is no penalty for ignoring them, and no discipline, no accountability. That's the end-product of rampant individualism, again the hallmark of ancient and modern gnosticism.
+ Let me give you a laundry list of the hot button isms shaking the foundations: The first is the doctrine of the Triune God and the challenge of radical theological feminism.
+ The second major issue challenging the ELCA and other churches, again a symptom of the disease we have called gnosticism, is the uniqueness of Christ and the challenge of radical religious pluralism. From the start Christianity entered a world of many religions, but not one of the apostles believed that they are all equally valid as ways of salvation. But that is exactly what the Protestant gnostics of today are teaching in the name of the pluralistic theology of religion.
+ The third critical issue has to do with the authority of the Bible and the challenge of historical relativism. Another name for it is reader-response hermeneutics. Truth is in the eye of the beholder. You italicize the words of Scripture that turn you on, and chalk all the rest up to the primitive notions of an ancient Semitic people. The Bible becomes a wax nose, so much putty in the hands of the artist who makes it conform to the culture of modernity.
+ The fourth issue is of concern to every pastor, the absolute gospel and the challenge of American religion, the neo-pagan gnosticism infiltrating the practices of worship. Religion sells when it can satisfy the search for self-fulfillment. Gnosticism is all about the self; it appeals to the sovereign autonomous self. It's all about me. The churches that grow best in a mass culture engage in Christianity-Lite, throwing over-board all the excess baggage like traditional dogmas, liturgies, hymnody, and moral codes of conduct. Success is quantifiable in terms of numbers -- members, budgets, buildings, and programs. . . . American religion is a consumer's delight; it can be altered and tailored to meet the taste of the individual consumers. Traditional creeds, ceremonies, symbols, sacraments, and practices are set aside for the immediacy of experience, leaving our people adrift in a narcissistic culture of decadence and death. The bottomline of American religion is all about what I feel.
+ The fifth issue is about the Church as a divine institution and the challenge of the democratic cult of egalitarianism. . . . The church is not a democracy. It is not "of the people and by the people." It is of God! Christ is king, the Lord of the church.
+ The sixth issue has to do with ecumenism and the challenge of modern Protestantism. . . . There is no consensus in the ELCA on any of the ecumenical agreements we have reached with other churches.
+ As a Lutheran I am unapologetically an ecumenical theologian. But there are limits to unity. We cannot be for church unity at all costs. There are sects with which we cannot be in altar and pulpit fellowship. Where there is heresy and apostasy in the church, that calls for separation. There is one thing worse than schism, and that is commingling with idolaters and blasphemers. It has come to that at previous times in church history. . . We in the ELCA have not reached such a point, but let there be no mistake about this. It could happen here and there in American Christianity, triggering a kind of realignment of churches that some are already calling for.
+ The seventh issue has to do with the integrity of the church and the challenge of confusing the law and the gospel of God, of failing to make the proper distinction between law and gospel.
Where Do We Go From Here?
+ As in the case of Katrina, the traditional levees that kept Lutheranism from conforming to the surrounding culture of American religion no longer hold. They are broken.
+ I am not in favor of shopping around for another church. It is a romantic notion to think that there is a more perfect church out there. Every one has its own share of problems.
+ Our situation is not altogether bleak and hopeless. Thousands of pastors and congregations are doing things just about right. Many reform-minded confessors are doing ministry faithful to the common core of evangelical faith and orthodox doctrine. We have the Bible; it is the Word of God. Who knows what will happen when we take the initiative to actually read it?
+ Ecclesia semper reformanda! That is a Latin slogan of our Lutheran tradition. The reformation of the church must continue. When the church finds itself living in the dark ages, as it is today, we trust that God will create movements for renewal and reform, as he has always done in the past. We have his promise that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. We must understand that we are back into the raw missionary situation of New Testament Christianity, one in which true Christian faith cannot count on its cultural plausibility in a neopagan environment.
+ The only thing that matters in true Christian worship is the presence of the living God through the audible words of preaching according to the Scriptures and the visible words of Holy Communion according to our Lord's institution.
+ The church should always be in the business of reaching out to add new members, of course, but more importantly today it needs to re-evangelize the members it already has, to make clear its difference from the world, stressing that the Christian faith is utterly unique and fundamentally different from other religions and ideologies, and that what she has to offer the world cannot be provided by any other agency or community in the world. To pray and work for a new reformation is not to wait for things to happen elsewhere than in each of our local congregations. That is where the action is. Don't think it is in Chicago or Rome or Geneva. We meet Christ at home in our local parish, not in the church bureaucracy that we create to do some of the things we cannot do on our own. Every ordinary congregation is endowed with an extraordinary message. It is a message of the dying and rising of Jesus and that all who believe in him share in the salvation he brings. What more do we want? What more do we need?
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Lutheran Church of Norway rejects same-sex marriages
The Council of Bishops of the Lutheran Church of Norway decided in October that Lutheran pastors may not preside at weddings for same-sex couples or provide blessing services for homosexual relationships.
The bishops said that pastors may pray for same-sex couples but may not bless their relationships. Civil marriage services in churches were also rejected by the bishops. The Church of Norway -- a member of the Lutheran World Federation -- is the country's state church and counts 83 percent of Norway's 4.6 million people as church members.
Same-sex civil marriage will be legal in Norway starting in January. The Norwegian parliament voted in June to amend the country's definition of civil marriage to make it gender neutral.
According to the legislation,"Only if and when the liturgy of the Church has been changed, will priests be able to marry lesbian and homosexual couples in the Church of Norway."
In November 2007, the General Synod of the Church of Norway decided that individual bishops may decide whether or not to allow clergy under their supervision in be in same-sex sexual relationships.
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30 states affirm traditional marriage in constitutions
Voters in Arizona, California and Florida approved amendments to their state constitutions, which define marriage as between a man and a woman in the Nov. 4 elections.
Thirty states now affirm marriage as between a man and a woman in their constitutions. An additional 14 states have state laws affirming traditional marriage.
Constitutional amendments have been seen as the only option for supporters of traditional marriage given that some courts have imposed same-sex marriage on states with traditional marriage laws.
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Oct. 10 that same-sex couples have a right to marry in that state.
May 15 the California Supreme Court overturned a 2000 referendum vote that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The California Supreme Court was overturned by the voters by the constitutional amendment Nov. 4. The amendment was approved by 52 percent of California voters.
Florida and Arizona approved constitutional amendments Nov. 4 defining marriage as between a man and a woman by 62 percent and 57 percent of voters, respectively.
Massachusetts became the first state to permit same-sex marriages in 2004 when its state Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a right to marry. Several states offer same-sex couples rights similar to those offered to married couples, but they do not call those arrangements marriages.
The ELCA teaches that "marriage is a lifelong covenant of faithfulness between a man and a woman" (Sexuality: Some Common Convictions, 1996 ELCA Message).
In spite of ELCA teaching and policy, some ELCA pastors have presided at same-sex marriages or services of blessing, and some ELCA bishops allow pastors in their synods to do so.
"The constitution and bylaws, as well as related policy documents of the ELCA, do not provide a basis for pastors of this church to officiate at a same-sex marriage," explains ELCA Secretary David Swartling. "Under ELCA policy, marriage is defined as a covenantal relationship between a man and a woman. The Churchwide Assembly has had opportunities to change this policy, both to make it less restrictive and to make it more restrictive. It has declined to do so."
"In light of ELCA policy, pastors, synodically authorized ministers, and congregations may be subject to discipline if they officiate at same-sex marriages and allow them to take place in their buildings," Swartling said.
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ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod promotes 'Goddess' conference
The ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod promoted a "Goddess" conference in one of its official publications.
The synod's Oct. 23 "Wednesday Three Things" electronic newsletter for clergy and lay leaders included an announcement promoting "Come Now, O Wisdom -- Faith and Feminism, Womanist / Mujerista Conference" Nov. 7-9 at "herchurch" in San Francisco.
The synod reported that the purpose of the conference is "To provide opportunity for feminist faith seekers, church leaders, Interfaith leaders, politicians and artists to experience and discuss the urgent implications of God/dess imagery and gender issues which transform the church, the world and our daily lives so that together we seek and speak justice."
"Keynote speaker will be Carol Christ, Ph.D. who is the author of the widely reprinted essay, 'Why Women Need the Goddess,' which has awakened us to the Sacred Feminine and introduced many to the rebirth of the ancient religion of the Goddess," the synod newsletter reported.
Carol Christ is the author of several books including She Who Changes: Re-imagining the Divine in the World and Rebirth of the Goddess: Finding Meaning in Feminist Spirituality.
"Herchurch" -- also known as Ebenezer Lutheran Church -- is led by the Rev. Stacy Boorn, an ELCA pastor. Herchurch is one of the most heterodox churches in the ELCA.
The congregation's website -- www.herchurch.org -- describes the congregation as an "emerging feminist faith community." The site includes a rewriting of the Lord's Prayer that begins "Our Mother who is within us . ." The site also sells and promotes a "Goddess Rosary" and reports that "Each morning Pastor Stacy and members of herchurch pray the Goddess Rosary."
Dr. Mary Streufert, ELCA Director for Justice for Women, is one of the speakers for the conference.
The ELCA will host its own feminist theology conference Jan. 23-24 in Chicago called "Transformative Lutheran Theologies Conference: Feminist, Womanist and Mujerista Perspectives."
The ELCA website reports that its conference is "Designed to engage church leaders in the transformative theology of women in the academy for the sake of the church, this conference entails both formal papers and dialogical engagement."
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San Francisco Lutherans plan transgender ordination
Former ELCA congregation First United Lutheran Church in San Francisco voted Oct. 19 to call Jay Wilson as pastor. An ordination service is planned for Dec. 6.
The Internet site of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries says that "Jay Wilson is a queer and genderqueer transguy, autistic and disabled, who identifies as a Lutheran postmodern, third-wave feminist, academic geek, disability rights activist, and social justice advocate."
ELM is an organization that "approves" the ordinations of individuals who refuse to abide by the ELCA's standards for the sexual conduct of pastors. ELM reports that Wilson was removed from the ELCA candidacy process for reasons of "gender identity and sexual orientation."
Wilson has a Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. "While attending Luther Seminary, he co-founded AGAPE, a group for LGBTQ students and allies, and transitioned female-to-male in appearance while living on campus," ELM reports.
Wilson entered seminary with a female identity as Jamie Wilson but began identifying herself as male. Her 2004 internship — at an ELCA church with a pastor in a same-sex sexual relationship — attracted attention throughout the ELCA.
First United was one of the first ELCA congregations to call a practicing homosexual as its pastor. The congregation called Jeff Johnson in 1989. Johnson and two lesbian women were ordained in 1990 in the first ordination service held in defiance of ELCA teaching and policy. The congregation was removed from the ELCA in 1995 as a result of that action.
Because First United Lutheran Church is not an ELCA congregation, ELCA policies do not apply to its actions. However, any ELCA clergy participating in the service could be violating standards for ELCA clergy.
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Hanson warns bishops to prepare for synod financial crisis
ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson warned synod bishops to prepare for congregations to leave their synods or to withhold financial support if the 2009 ELCA Church-wide Assembly votes to change church teaching and policy to allow pastors to be in same-sex sexual relationships. Bishop Hanson made the comments during the Conference of Bishops' fall meeting Oct. 2-7 in Chicago.
"Bishop Hanson recommended that synods have budgetary contingency plans in the event that the 2009 assembly changes the policy and congregations leave," Bishop Michael Rinehart of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod reported in an e-mail message to synod pastors and other leaders.
The bishops also began work on their response to the action of the 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to "request the Conference of Bishops to enter into discussion and consideration of the matter of the accountability of bishops to the adopted policies, practices, and procedures of the ELCA and to formulate a clear statement of such accountability for consideration and adoption by the 2009 assembly of this church."
This request came, in part, because some synod bishops have refused to enforce ELCA policies including policies regarding pastors in same-sex sexual relationships.
"We continued discussion of our Relational Agreement as a first step in responding to a request from the churchwide assembly regarding how bishops hold one another accountable to the policies of this church," reported Bishop Marie C. Jerge of the Upstate New York Synod.
Among other actions, the Conference of Bishops issued a pastoral letter on the country's current financial crisis.
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Lutheran homosexual activists ordain hospital chaplain
Jodi Barry, a woman in a committed same-sex relationship, was ordained Saturday, Oct. 25, at Grace University Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Minneapolis.
The ordination was "authorized" by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, an organization that "approves" the ordinations of individuals who refuse to abide by the ELCA's standards for the sexual conduct of pastors. The ordination marks the first time that ELM has ordained someone without a call from a congregation.
Barry is a graduate of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, a United Church of Christ seminary. She has been a chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minn., for several years. She is also the youth director at Grace University Lutheran Church.
The ELM web site reports that "Jodi is married to the Rev. Dr. Jenny Mason and both are members of the ELM Roster." Mason was removed from the ELCA clergy roster in 2001.
More than 20 clergy participated in Barry's ordination including some ELCA pastors. The Rev. Daniel A. Garnaas, pastor of Grace University Church and an ELCA pastor, preached for the service. Anita Hill, a lesbian woman who was ordained in 2001 in defiance of ELCA standards, presided at the service. Hill is on the staff of St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in St. Paul, Minn.
Barry's ordination was the third unauthorized ordination of a person who refused to abide by the ELCA's expectations for ordained ministers this year. ELM reports that there have been 15 unauthorized ordinations in the ELCA's 20-year history.
The participants in these ordinations have acted in ways that violate the ELCA constitution. The ELCA constitution states that "Ordained ministers shall be subject to discipline for . . . willfully disregarding the provisions of the constitution or bylaws of this church" (20.21.01).
None of the people ordained in these services was approved for ordination in accordance with the standards and process outlined in the ELCA constitution (7.31.13). Each of them refuses to abide by ELCA standards.
Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries reports that it "credentials and rosters qualified candidates of all sexual orientations and gender identities for ministry." Its web site reports 38 "rostered clergy," four people "approved for call," and three seminarians.
Some ELM-rostered clergy are serving as pastors in ELCA congregations in violation of ELCA constitutional standards.
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Dioceses leave Episcopal Church, join Anglican province
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh voted Oct. 4, to become the second diocese to leave The Episcopal Church. Two more dioceses are expected to ratify votes to leave the denomination in November.
The dioceses are amending their constitutions to affiliate with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America until an alternative Anglican province is formed in North America.
The Diocese of Quincy in west central Illinois will meet Nov. 7-8 and the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, will meet Nov. 14-15 to decide whether to ratify last year's votes to leave The Episcopal Church.
On Dec. 8, 2007, the Diocese of San Joaquin in central California voted overwhelmingly to affiliate with the Province of the Southern Cone. Only five of its churches chose to remain aligned with The Episcopal Church.
Lay delegates to the Pittsburgh Diocese convention voted 119-69 in favor of the new alignment. Clergy approved it 121-33. Three-fourths of the diocese's 74 congregations are expected to remain in the diocese. Nineteen congregations have decided to keep their affiliation with The Episcopal Church.
"We deeply value our shared heritage and years of friendship with those still within that denomination, but this diocese could not in good conscience continue down the road away from mainstream Christianity that the leadership of The Episcopal Church is so determined to follow," said the Rev. Peter Frank, director of communications for the Pittsburgh diocese.
"We are deeply thankful to the Province of the Southern Cone for offering us a clear way to stay within The Anglican Communion as the necessary work of building a new province goes forward. We also owe a debt of gratitude to Christians of many denominations and traditions both here in Pittsburgh and around the world that have prayed for us, encouraged us and stood with us as we have made this decision," he said.
Bishop Jack Leo Iker wrote to members of the Diocese of Fort Worth noting "Ten Reasons Why Now Is the Time to Realign." "This is God's time -- our kairos moment -- and it has been coming for a long time. We believe that God the Holy Spirit has guided and directed us to this particular time and moment of decision. . . . We have explored every avenue and exhausted every possibility. Now is the time to decide to separate from the moral, spiritual, and numerical decline of TEC."
"This decision is about the truth of the Gospel and upholding the authority of the Holy Scriptures. . . . Many leaders of TEC are teaching a false Gospel and leading people astray. Now is the time for us to take a bold, public stand for the biblical faith and practice of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church," wrote Bishop Iker.
The Episcopal Church has taken a hostile stance toward departing dioceses and congregations. The denomination has filed lawsuits to try to claim church property.
"By initiating lawsuits against those who for conscience sake know they must leave an unfaithful Church -- lawsuits, by the way, that Primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion begged be dropped -- leaders of The Episcopal Church have instead chosen to intensify their legal efforts to gain control over property and money. Such material things are not essential, but they are helpful tools," said Bishop John-David Schofield of the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin.
Episcopal church leaders took action Oct. 17 against San Joaquin diocese clergy "to inhibit the 52 clergy unless they recant and return to The Episcopal Church within six months."
Anglican leaders responded by noting that "The Episcopal Church no longer has any jurisdiction over the Anglican Clergy of the Diocese of San Joaquin, and any actions taken by The Episcopal Church concerning their ecclesiastical status within the worldwide Anglican Communion is of no force or effect."
The Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori charged Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan with "abandoning the Communion of the Church." The "deposition" states that effective Sept. 20, "Bishop Duncan shall be deprived of the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority of God's word and sacraments conferred at ordination in this Church."
Bishop Duncan, who led the Diocese of Pittsburgh for 11 years, was received as a bishop of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone prior to the deposition. Southern Cone Archbishop Gregory Venables appointed Bishop Duncan to be the Southern Cone's "commissary" in the diocese. Bishop Duncan is expected to again be elected as bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh Nov. 7.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Shepherds say "Yikes!"
Cap'n Bill here: Strange post-election day reports reaching me out at see from America way. One pastor tells me that the day after election he got a mailer from a new clergy group warning athe secular direction an Obama presidency could take. It took him a few more days to figure out that the mailer sat in the bulk mail room until the day after the election because the workers there figured it would no longer affect the election. Seems the back of the mailer had a picture of Obama and a warning. They group has an interesting web site. We are not endorsing them but passing their message along because it is a "sign of the times". We see a link with them as "Watchmen on the Heights":
Dear Congregational Leader,
Our nation faces a fork, a divergence between the high road and the low road -- and you and your congregation could very well determine the direction we take. The high road upholds America's peaceful tradition of Judeo-Christian tolerance and morality. The low road marches us toward militant secular-paganism, militant Islam, or both.The high road upholds traditional marriage between one man and one woman, and the sanctity of innocent human life that springs from such unions. The low road favors homosexual "marriage" and child sacrifice (we're not referring to familiar abortion here – see below).
The high road upholds the rights of pastors, priests and rabbis to "speak truth to power" in the tradition of Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, (and for Christians) John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, Stephen and Jesus. The low road would officially censor the Judeo-Christian view from the public square.
Shepherds and Watchmen
Exaggerations? Decide for yourself – but please do so quickly; there's not much time left. Confirm the facts we cite herein via the footnotes. Click the live links in this online edition of our new journal of opinion, The Judeo-Christian View. Verify what we say to be true. Then, speak to your congregation with boldness and clarity, so you and they may pray and act with wisdom, before it's too late.
DISCLAIMER: Who are we to so encourage you? Well, just a handful of Americans who are also rabbis, priests, pastors and teachers ourselves – Jews, Catholics Protestants, black, white and brown – who fervently pray that the light of the Judeo-Christian view, the light of the Scriptures and Liberty, will never, ever be snuffed out in our precious, free and tolerant land. We have nothing whatsoever to do with any national political campaign or candidate, and we certainly are not telling you or anyone how (or whether) to vote, endorse, or oppose – nor do we ourselves here do so.
But, you no doubt recognize that it is the role of congregational leaders to guard our sheep – and to stand as the Good Shepherd would to protect them from moral error (Ezekiel 34). You surely realize that we as watchmen will be held to account if we fail to sound the alarms (Ezekiel 33). So, we urge only that you pray, preach and teach according to conscience and your rights of free speech and free exercise of religion, fully protected by the First Amendment. In that spirit, here are some hard, documented facts your congregation needs to know right now.
Go to the site: http://www.thejudeo-christianview.com/
Interfaith Video Sermon for Your Congregation
Mild version above suitable for all audiences. Click Here to view the graphic version-adult discretion required. For instructions on how to make use of the Interfaith Video Sermon or any video below for your congregation, simply click here.
Anytime a group emerges which is comprised of Jews, Roman Catholics, Protestants and of different ethnicities, that alone is interesting. It usually shows that something really scares them.
Dear Congregational Leader,
Our nation faces a fork, a divergence between the high road and the low road -- and you and your congregation could very well determine the direction we take. The high road upholds America's peaceful tradition of Judeo-Christian tolerance and morality. The low road marches us toward militant secular-paganism, militant Islam, or both.The high road upholds traditional marriage between one man and one woman, and the sanctity of innocent human life that springs from such unions. The low road favors homosexual "marriage" and child sacrifice (we're not referring to familiar abortion here – see below).
The high road upholds the rights of pastors, priests and rabbis to "speak truth to power" in the tradition of Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, (and for Christians) John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, Stephen and Jesus. The low road would officially censor the Judeo-Christian view from the public square.
Shepherds and Watchmen
Exaggerations? Decide for yourself – but please do so quickly; there's not much time left. Confirm the facts we cite herein via the footnotes. Click the live links in this online edition of our new journal of opinion, The Judeo-Christian View. Verify what we say to be true. Then, speak to your congregation with boldness and clarity, so you and they may pray and act with wisdom, before it's too late.
DISCLAIMER: Who are we to so encourage you? Well, just a handful of Americans who are also rabbis, priests, pastors and teachers ourselves – Jews, Catholics Protestants, black, white and brown – who fervently pray that the light of the Judeo-Christian view, the light of the Scriptures and Liberty, will never, ever be snuffed out in our precious, free and tolerant land. We have nothing whatsoever to do with any national political campaign or candidate, and we certainly are not telling you or anyone how (or whether) to vote, endorse, or oppose – nor do we ourselves here do so.
But, you no doubt recognize that it is the role of congregational leaders to guard our sheep – and to stand as the Good Shepherd would to protect them from moral error (Ezekiel 34). You surely realize that we as watchmen will be held to account if we fail to sound the alarms (Ezekiel 33). So, we urge only that you pray, preach and teach according to conscience and your rights of free speech and free exercise of religion, fully protected by the First Amendment. In that spirit, here are some hard, documented facts your congregation needs to know right now.
Go to the site: http://www.thejudeo-christianview.com/
Interfaith Video Sermon for Your Congregation
Mild version above suitable for all audiences. Click Here to view the graphic version-adult discretion required. For instructions on how to make use of the Interfaith Video Sermon or any video below for your congregation, simply click here.
Anytime a group emerges which is comprised of Jews, Roman Catholics, Protestants and of different ethnicities, that alone is interesting. It usually shows that something really scares them.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Presiding Bishop's Statement on 2008 Presidential Election
Shrimp here. The following e-mail was forwarded to us by an ELCA rostered leader who received it this afternoon:
Shrimp out.
November 5, 2008So, what does the Presiding Bishop write? We clicked the URL and read.
Dear Colleague in Ministry:
Today I released a statement to the ELCA on the outcome of the 2008 U.S. presidential election. The complete text of my statement can be found on the ELCA Web site at . Please distribute this message as you wish.
As always, I remain grateful for the partnership and ministry that we share.
Sincerely,
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
ELCA Presiding Bishop
November 5, 2008Yes, Bishop Hanson issued a statement for 2004 Presidential Election, too. Not finding any congratulations in that one, though.
Presiding Bishop’s Statement on 2008 Presidential Election
Americans have chosen a new president in an historic election. I congratulate Senator Obama on his election to our nation’s highest office, and express gratitude to Senator McCain for his continuing commitment to public service. I commend both for participating in our nation’s democratic process, which serves our venerable tradition of the peaceful transfer of power.
We look to the future as a nation troubled by economic crisis and continuing wars. Such complex realities call for both humility and ingenuity. In the midst of these challenges, we as Lutherans also look to the future as a community of faith and a people of hope. We bring to the public square a longstanding and effective commitment to serve our neighbors and a conviction that government is instrumental in God’s purpose for humanity when public officials work for justice, peace, order and the common good.
Scripture is clear about what should matter to us as Christians in public life: hospitality to strangers, concern for people in poverty, peacemaking and care for creation. From these core biblical values, I appeal to President-elect Obama to establish the following priorities for his administration:I call on all members of this church to join me in committing to work with this new administration across the broad spectrum of our Lutheran partnerships and networks. Remain active in public service, be in conversation with each other and within your communities on these issues, and engage members of Congress and this administration through this church’s advocacy ministry. Pray for President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden, and their families, and for their work and service on behalf of our country.
- a response to the current economic crisis with special focus on low-income people
- a robust diplomatic effort to restore U.S. credibility abroad
- a fulfillment of the promised U.S. funding share of the Millennium Development Goals
- strong support for alternative energy research to end our dependence on oil and establish a new green economy
- fair and humane immigration reform
- serious re-engagement with a peace process for Palestinians and Israelis
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Shrimp out.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Born Gay or a Gay Basher? No Excuse
Food for thought...
Born Gay or a Gay Basher? No Excuse
by Frank Turek
After my last column, I got an e-mail from retired FBI agent Bob Hamer. Bob’s the author of a riveting new book that takes you undercover with him into the world of drug bosses, hit men, and his last assignment, the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). After I sent him a copy of my new book on same-sex marriage, he wrote back:
“Thanks so much for sharing your book. It was powerful and I need to re-read it because it said so much. It actually brought back memories of the NAMBLA conferences I attended. I listened to men justify oral sex on 18 month olds. How often I listened to men claim their pedophilia was an inborn trait; it was natural, ‘this is the way God made me.’”
This “born that way” argument is fueling the case for same-sex marriage in California. Is it a good argument?
I know this is a difficult and emotional issue for many people, but I think the reasonable answer is no. Not only is the evidence for being “born that way” questionable, even if it were true, it should have no impact on our marriage laws.
First, after many years of intense research, a genetic component to homosexual desires has not been discovered. Twin studies show that identical twins do not consistently have the same sexual orientation. In fact, genetics probably explains very little about homosexual desires. How would a homosexual “gene” be passed on? Homosexuals don’t pass on anything because they don’t reproduce.
Second, the “born-that-way” claim is an argument from design— “since God designed me with these desires, I ought to act on them.” But the people who say this overlook something more obvious— they were also born with a specific gender. This raises the question: Why are you following your desires but not your gender? After all, we’re not sure if your desires were designed or the result of your upbringing, but we are certain that your anatomy is designed. So why not follow your anatomy rather than your desires? Ignoring your desires may be uncomfortable, but ignoring the natural design of your body is often fatal.
Third, even if desires are not a choice, sexual behavior always is. So even if a person honestly believes that he’s been born with homosexual desires, he is certainly capable of controlling his sexual behavior. If you claim that he is not—that sexual behavior is somehow uncontrollable—then you have made the absurd contention that no one can be morally responsible for any sexual crime, including rape, incest, and child molestation.
Fourth, being born a certain way is irrelevant to what the law should be. Laws are concerned with behaviors not desires, and we all have desires we ought not act on. In fact, all of us were born with an “orientation” to bad behavior, but those desires don’t justify the behaviors. For example, if you are born with a genetic predisposition to alcohol, does that mean God wants you to be an alcoholic? If someone has a genetic attraction to children, does that mean God wants you to be a pedophile? (According to pedophiles it does!) What homosexual activist would say that a genetic predisposition to anger justifies gay-bashing? (Born gay? What if the gay basher was born mean?) Continued...
Born Gay or a Gay Basher? No Excuse
by Frank Turek
After my last column, I got an e-mail from retired FBI agent Bob Hamer. Bob’s the author of a riveting new book that takes you undercover with him into the world of drug bosses, hit men, and his last assignment, the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). After I sent him a copy of my new book on same-sex marriage, he wrote back:
“Thanks so much for sharing your book. It was powerful and I need to re-read it because it said so much. It actually brought back memories of the NAMBLA conferences I attended. I listened to men justify oral sex on 18 month olds. How often I listened to men claim their pedophilia was an inborn trait; it was natural, ‘this is the way God made me.’”
This “born that way” argument is fueling the case for same-sex marriage in California. Is it a good argument?
I know this is a difficult and emotional issue for many people, but I think the reasonable answer is no. Not only is the evidence for being “born that way” questionable, even if it were true, it should have no impact on our marriage laws.
First, after many years of intense research, a genetic component to homosexual desires has not been discovered. Twin studies show that identical twins do not consistently have the same sexual orientation. In fact, genetics probably explains very little about homosexual desires. How would a homosexual “gene” be passed on? Homosexuals don’t pass on anything because they don’t reproduce.
Second, the “born-that-way” claim is an argument from design— “since God designed me with these desires, I ought to act on them.” But the people who say this overlook something more obvious— they were also born with a specific gender. This raises the question: Why are you following your desires but not your gender? After all, we’re not sure if your desires were designed or the result of your upbringing, but we are certain that your anatomy is designed. So why not follow your anatomy rather than your desires? Ignoring your desires may be uncomfortable, but ignoring the natural design of your body is often fatal.
Third, even if desires are not a choice, sexual behavior always is. So even if a person honestly believes that he’s been born with homosexual desires, he is certainly capable of controlling his sexual behavior. If you claim that he is not—that sexual behavior is somehow uncontrollable—then you have made the absurd contention that no one can be morally responsible for any sexual crime, including rape, incest, and child molestation.
Fourth, being born a certain way is irrelevant to what the law should be. Laws are concerned with behaviors not desires, and we all have desires we ought not act on. In fact, all of us were born with an “orientation” to bad behavior, but those desires don’t justify the behaviors. For example, if you are born with a genetic predisposition to alcohol, does that mean God wants you to be an alcoholic? If someone has a genetic attraction to children, does that mean God wants you to be a pedophile? (According to pedophiles it does!) What homosexual activist would say that a genetic predisposition to anger justifies gay-bashing? (Born gay? What if the gay basher was born mean?) Continued...
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