In response to my request to the office of the ELCA secretary, I received an email from The Rev Ruth E Hamilton, Ph.D., which is reprinted below:
These are the latest statistics:
As of April 7, we have been advised that 308 first votes have been taken by congregations to terminate their relationship with the ELCA (some congregations have taken more than one first vote). Of those 308 first votes, 221 passed and 87 failed. Synods also have informed the Office of the Secretary that 90 congregations have taken a second vote, 89 of which passed. (This does not mean that all of these congregations have been removed from the roster because Synod Council approval is required for congregations established by the ELCA and former congregations of the Lutheran Church in America, and, in some cases, the vote is disputed because questions exist regarding the process. The Office of the Secretary will remove a congregation from the roster only upon advice of the synod.) As of this date 46 congregations have been removed.
For comparison purposes, the website of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) reports 185 new congregations since CWA09. It would appear that a heavy preponderance of the congregations departing the ELCA are coming to rest in LCMC, which raises interesting issues for the Lutheran CORE progeny, the new denomination scheduled to start next August, which will be called the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). Again, remember that the ELCA counts over 10,000 congregations on its rolls.
wow. I didn’t realize that my congregation was the ONLY one where the second vote did not result in severing ties with the ELCA.
No wonder the leadership is so brassed off at my church. The all assumed it was in the bag.
The interesting thing about LCMC is that a number of churches joined them a few years ago and they are still being counted as LCMC even though not all those churches have voted to leave the ELCA. I question the numbers because not all who leave join LCMC. Although I am no authority, my feeling is that when the NALC actually gets going, we will see at least a few more churches leave. I am glad that enough time has elapsed now that some people seem to be saying “wait a minute, we don’t have to leave to protest. ” But of course , I have been wrong before.
I’m curious about the difference between LCMC and NALC. The LCMC goes to great pains to describe itself as an “association,” whereas the NALC clearly considers itself a “church.” (The ELCA considers LCMC a church body – “if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck,” the saying goes – and has considered it so since 2003.) I wonder what qualitative difference will exist between LCMC and NALC.
I am not the expert on this but since we just went through the LCMC thing, my understanding is : To bishop or not to bishop- that is the question.
Obie, thanks for the invitation to respond to this. I have a chart that is posted at http://wordalone.org/pdf/ComparisonLCMC-NALC.pdf
This is a revision of an earlier snarkier (hard to believe, I know) version of this chart. This one was reviewed with Pastor Paull Spring and got his sign off on it, though that has apparently caused some distress in NALC circles.
We are very well aware of a few congregations that have voted to join LCMC with the intention of joining NALC upon its inauguration. We are fine with that.
I am at the LCMC Leadership Conference in Omaha. Good conference. Over twice as large as last years. Had an interesting conversation with David Householder http://robinwoodchurch.wordpress.com/ about whether protestants can sustain 7 figure denominations. He thinks not. I am nearly convinced.
@Chris: LCMC is a church body, but the choice of the term “association” instead of “denomination” is one of structure; we felt that denom had certain baggage regarding control and structure that we did not want, since our emphasis is on the authority of congregations under Scripture. IMNTBHO, the two terms are both acceptable.
Of course news is a hot commodity here. I fear for a congregation spoken of here. The bishop seeks a victory, even if it is Pyrrhic.
Thanks, Obie, for checking on the stats. We just checked the online edition of The Lutheran to see if the stats appear there this month. They don’t, unless they’re tucked into an article with an unrelated headline.
Another noticeable absence: Although the ELCA constitution requires publication of the names of congregations removed (publication being in the ELCA periodical, AKA The Lutheran)we haven’t seen any congregaqtions’ names published as of yet. Maybe a message to Daniel Lehman at The Lutheran would be a good (if not welcomed)reminder.
The reality is that some of us have been saying since last August that the true extent of what is going on in the ELCA will not be known for several years. It may well be that in the next few years 10% or less of congregations vote to leave.
However, what of those small churches in rural areas who must merge or close? How many members have just walked? Here in Grand Canyon Synod, 10 churches with 12,000 members have left, but that doesnt’ count those in conflict or who have walked.
Judging the strength or weakness of the ELCA by votes is only one indicator. By the way, our congregation voted 85% last Sunday to leave in a first vote. Minimal questions as we had already had three forums, no clapping or cheering, and right after the vote we went to prayer, which included prayers for the ELCA and bishops and pastors. It was not a joyous day.
We are going non-affiliated. To be honest, I am concerned about some of the attitudes present in some of the options. While we can’t live with the scriptural viewpoints the ELCA has adopted, neither do I feel called or compelled to join something that is based on what it is against or that seems to focus only on human sexuality.
I have committed to speaking well of all people, even if I disagree with them.
Church Grandma/Grandpa: The Lutheran published notices about several churches leaving the ELCA in this month’s issue, some from pre-CWA 09 and some post. It seems as though with the process of taking two votes, waiting for synod approval, completing final processing of paperwork, etc, there is a fairly long lag between when the process starts and when the end of the relationship between the congregation and denomination is official. Unfortunately, I would bet that the list of congregations leaving the ELCA in next month’s issue will be much larger.
This is exactly the sad situation. I know of at least two congregations (one large, one small, both relatively rural) where votes to leave failed, and the nearly 2/3rds who voted to leave formed new congregtations. What is left behind in the ELCA congregation is not sufficient to sustain a church. About a year ago, I thought the ELCA would lose 1500 congregations. I no longer consider that the case. But I believe that in five years, they will be closing 1500 or more.
But no worries. They have over 10,000!
So sad.
@Tony Stoutenburg
Personally Tony, I am waiting to see what happens when the NALC gets going. Some members are more comfortable with a hierarchy. If you aren’t following a bishop or a pope, does that make that the membership can call you pastors “Your Holiness”?:-)
The thing is there are pastors with nice personalities and pastors who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. It isn’t so much the theology as how one is treated in a church. Are we just sinners or are we people who need the Lord to help us solve our problems and comfort us in sorrow?
It’s a much, much bigger issue than ELCA/LCMC–first and second votes.
It’s about archetypal civilization patterns.
Your blog is about “a spirit of a liberal.”
There are two kinds of liberals. River liberals and desert liberals.
H.G. Wells wrote lucidly on this topic in 1925:
http://wp.me/pGQxY-9o
The “votes” are just symptoms of the ongoing primal human organizational struggle.