Category Archives: Religious News

Native Americans and Christianity circa 2010

Without researching actual statistics, I doubt whether the percentage of native Americans within any Lutheran denomination is significant. Although the ELCA has general goals for minority membership, the reality remains that most of us are descended from northern European immigrants. The reasons are primarily historical; when our ancestors arrived to make America their new home, they were not here as missionaries, and their communities remained insular. My home congregation in Upsala, Minnesota, formed by Swedes in the 1880’s, continued with services in the language of the homeland until the 1920’s. Even the small pockets of Danes in the neighborhood were largely outsiders. When my grandfather Julius (the son of Swedish immigrants, and the youngest, rebellious sibling) married grandmother Olga (daughter of Danish immigrants) around the time of WWI, it was a mixed marriage.

Not so with Roman Catholics and Anglicans who came to the midwest first as missionaries to native Americans, and thus there are vestigial pockets of Catholic and Anglican native Americans. This was especially obvious to me as I attended several Episcopal Diocesan conventions this fall. In the Minnesota delegation and the northern Wisconsin Diocese of Fond du Lac, the Ojibwe lay and clergy presence was significant. Two years ago, an Ojibwe priest was a finalist for the office of presiding Bishop for the Minnesota diocese.

To what extent should native American cultural and religious heritage be reflected in their Christian religious practices? Earlier this fall, I attended a weekend religious retreat consisting of mostly Lutherans. A young man, a native American from Minneapolis, who had been raised Lutheran by his adoptive parents, was asked to offer a prayer. He did so with a native American chant, which I found refreshing and spiritual, but I wondered how others received it. No one said anything.

Yesterday’s Star Tribune newspaper (the leading Minnesota daily) contained an article about a small Roman Catholic congregation located within the native American community of Minneapolis whose members are nearly all native American. Seems the local archdiocese is coming down hard on certain of their rituals:

Buffalo hide adorns the altar. Sage is burned to help cleanse the heart, soul and mind. Ojibwe and Lakota languages are used in many of the prayers and songs. Traditional Indian elements like these have been part of the worship service for decades at the Church of Gichitwaa Kateri in Minneapolis, the only Twin Cities Catholic parish with a predominantly Indian congregation.

Founded in 1975, Gichitwaa Kateri has added Indian elements to the Catholic ceremony for nearly two decades. A lodge made of willow, structured like a dome-shaped Ojibwe wigwam, contains a bundle that holds sacred things, including the Eucharist. Traditional Ojibwe medicines such as tobacco, cedar, sage and sweet grass are used as regular parts of the Sunday Eucharist. Drums and prayers and songs in Ojibwe and Lakota are also prominent.

The future use of Indian practices, however, is being questioned by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which temporarily suspended mass at the church last month after conflict arose over the use of specialized wine.

The congregation had been using mustum, a grape juice with minimal fermentation, as part of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Not only does mustum have linkages to native American culture, it also is safe for the numerous recovering alcoholics within the congregation. Not good enough, says the archdiocese, and mass has been suspended at the congregation.

Maureen Headbird, 54, a church trustee, said the nearly 100 members of the tight-knit parish would be greatly saddened and disappointed if their church lost its distinctive elements, because they are an important part of their Indian heritage.

“We want to make sure our community stays the way it is,” said Headbird, who is Indian and was raised Catholic. “When you come to our parish, you really have to have an open mind to see what we do. Sometimes that doesn’t work out for everybody.”

ELCA Rites of Reception for gay clergy continue (updated with photo)

It was nearly twenty years ago that two San Francisco congregations of the ELCA defied the official ban on partnered gay clergy by extraordinarily ordaining a lesbian couple to a joint ministry call and a gay man to a second congregation. Since then, a number of other ELCA congregations and gay pastoral candidates have faced official sanctions for similar acts of civil disobedience, and the number of extraordinarily ordained clergy swelled to over twenty.

After the ELCA church wide assembly actions of 2009 (CWA09) reversed the ban on partnered gay clergy, these extraordinarily ordained clergy have been welcomed onto the rolls of rostered ELCA clergy through very public Rites of Reception. The first two, in particular, were especially symbolic as the three groundbreaking pastors from San Francisco and other pioneers in the Extraordinary Ordination movement were received as officially recognized ELCA clergy.

The Rites of Reception have continued in recent months.

Jen Nagel, Minneapolis, Sept 26th
Erik Christensen, Chicago, Oct 10th
Donna Simon, Kansas City, Oct 28th
Jodi Barry, Minneapolis, Oct 30th
Lura Groen, Houston, Nov 7th
Jay Wiesner, Philadelphia, Dec 12th

Pastor Jay Wiesner is a Facebook friend, and the list of well wishers is endless. Another Facebook friend, Pastor Anita Hill, was scheduled to be the preacher at Jay’s service yesterday, but with the historic blizzard in Minnesota, Pastor Hill’s flight was cancelled, and she was unable to preach. Sounds like another Facebook friend, Ross Murray, stepped into the breach. Jay and Ross are founders and mainstays behind the Minnesota camp for gay youth called “The Naming Project.”

Blessings on the continuing ministries of all.

UPDATE: Here is photo of the Rite on Sunday for Jay Wiesner and a link to a very nice article on the website of the SE Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA.

December figures of ELCA departing congregations

Here is the latest email received from the office of the ELCA secretary, David Swartling:

Here are the updated numbers on congregational votes to leave the ELCA: as of 12/7/10, 666 congregations had taken first votes to leave the ELCA. These 666 congregations have taken a total of 700 first votes. (As we’ve seen, some congregations have taken multiple first votes.) Of the first votes taken, 481 passed and 219 failed. 326 congregations have taken second votes (and one congregation has taken two second votes!) Of the total of 327 second votes; 308 passed and 19 failed.

Meanwhile, the silliness over the pending ELCA social statement regarding genetics continues. It was previously reported that this potential social statement has some Dakota farmers erroneously concerned that their farming practices are criticized by the statement. A Fargo newspaper has been in the firestorm. Following a newspaper report that a small rural ELCA congregation had decided to depart the ELCA based—in part—on the pending genetics social statement, a letter to the editor from that congregation denied that the genetics social statement was important for their decision, notwithstanding an earlier quote from the congregational president to the contrary.

So, who is fanning the flames? Who is spreading the misinformation? The usual suspects.

Many of those involved in agriculture think the ELCA should focus on its mission of preaching the Gospel and making disciples of Christ rather than telling them how to grow crops.

So says Lutheran CORE spokesman David Baer on the CORE blog, referencing a discredited Dakota Farmer magazine article.

Meanwhile, even as Baer and CORE criticize the ELCA for “focusing on political activities and social statements,” NALC bishop Paull Spring joined the efforts of Archbishop Tim Dolan, President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops, to oppose marriage equality in the political arena. The President of the Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America (a dissident splinter group from the Episcopal Church) also signed on to the effort.

CORE gave birth to its own denomination, the North American Lutheran Church (NALC) in August. Since then, over half the posts on the CORE blog continue to be harsh criticisms of the ELCA. One would think that the business of starting a new denomination would be their core focus going forward, but it seems CORE just can’t break their habit of ELCA bashing. Is antipathy toward another Lutheran and Christian denomination their core reason for existence?

The ELCA does not speak through a blog, but regularly issues press releases. In the 75+ ELCA press releases since the formation of the NALC, there were countless reports of ELCA missions and ministries but nary a word criticizing CORE.

Is the Family Research Council a hate organization?

The Family Research Council is the icon for the mix of evangelical Christian conservatism and politics. According to Wikipedia:

The Family Research Council (FRC) is a conservative, Christian right group and lobbying organization. It was formed in the United States by James Dobson in 1981 and incorporated in 1983 with George Alan Rekers and Armand Nicholi, Jr.The group was designed to be a lobbying force for conservative legislation on Capitol Hill. In the late 1980s, the group officially became a division of Dobson’s main organization, Focus on the Family, but after an administrative separation, FRC officially became an independent entity in 1992. Its function is to promote what it considers to be traditional family values. It contains a 501(c)(4) lobbying PAC known as FRC Action. Tony Perkins is the current president.

For anyone who pays attention to such matters, the names of Dobson and Perkins are well-known.

Meanwhile, the Southern Poverty Law Center is a similarly well-known civil rights group. Here is their Wiki entry:

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American “nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society”.The SPLC is internationally known for its tolerance education programs, its legal victories against white supremacists, and its tracking of hate groups, militias, and extremist organizations.The SPLC classifies as hate groups those organizations that it has determined “have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.”

The SPLC, based in Montgomery, Alabama, was founded in 1971 by Morris Dees and Joseph J. Levin Jr. as a civil rights law firm.Later, civil rights leader Julian Bond became its president.In addition to free legal service to the victims of discrimination and hate crimes, the Center publishes a quarterly Intelligence Report that investigates extremism and hate crimes in the United States.

Recently, these two organizations have collided over the decision of the Southern Poverty Law Center to designate the Family Research Council as a “hate organization” because of the recurring anti-gay rhetoric that spews from the Council. Does the unabashed resistance of the Council to gay rights, including marriage equality and the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, constitute hate speech? Here’s the take from an op-ed piece in the LA Times by Tim Rutten (emphasis mine):

It is perfectly possible for a church or an organization associated with a denomination or religious tendency — as the Family Research Council is with evangelical Protestantism — to oppose, say, marriage equality as a departure from tradition and traditional notions of civic virtue without defaming gays and lesbians as a group.

In other words, mere resistance to such policy measures does not constitute hate speech, but mean-spirited, hyperbolic falsehoods cross the line. Rutten continues:

But the council goes well beyond that. Over the years, it has published statistical compendiums purporting to quantify the “evils” of homosexuality. One of its pamphlets is entitled, “Dark Obsession: The Tragedy and Threat of the Homosexual Lifestyle.” At various times, its spokesmen have spuriously alleged that the gay rights movement’s goal “is to go after children” and that child molestation is more likely to occur in households with gay parents. Last week, one of its senior fellows, Peter Sprigg, told reporters on a conference call concerning repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that “homosexuals in the military are three times more likely to commit sexual assaults than heterosexuals are relative to their numbers.”

A blog that I have not previously encountered, entitled TeachtheFacts.org, comments about the Southern Poverty Law Center’s expansion of its efforts beyond race-based issues into the arena of discrimination based upon sexual orientation:

[W]hile plenty of African-Americans support gay rights, it is not a powerful movement within the black community, and there is some resentment when concepts and terms that successfully shifted the balance of power in the 1960s struggle against racial discrimination are applied to this new campaign.

On the other hand, the issues are parallel. Nobody asked to be black, and nobody asked to be gay. Both groups have faced prejudice and discrimination, both groups fought back against powerful opposition. African-Americans got there sooner and tipped the scales fifty years ago, while the revolution among LGBT citizens is largely considered to have begun for real after the Stonewall Riots in 1969. While the fight for racial justice is not finished, with racism having learned to disguise itself, principles countering racism are now embedded in our legal system and in the nation’s belief structures — everybody knows what is not acceptable.

Gays and lesbians lag far behind, “that’s so gay” is still common playground talk, and homophobia is still evident and open, requiring very little in the way of apology or justification in the public eye.

The SPLC may have made its name in the fight for racial equality, but the fight against prejudice and discrimination extends beyond any particular feature that distinguishes groups.

Not surprisingly, Perkins and other leading conservative religionists have responded forcefully to the addition of the Family Research Council to the list of hate groups. Perkins wrongly whines that the free speech rights of those of his ilk are threatened, but his organization “will not acquiesce to those seeking to silence the Judeo-Christian views held by millions of Americans”. The 1920’s quote of Sinclair Lewis sounds an apt response, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” Other Family Research Council responders continue to spread malicious falsehoods, such as the aforementioned lie that “homosexuals in the military are three times more likely to commit sexual assaults than heterosexuals are relative to their numbers.” Teach the Facts blog has quite a bit of factual information debunking this lie and others uttered by Perkins. The familiar adage, “everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts” is apropos.

The last word goes to Rutten:

Such rhetoric is eerily reminiscent of that with which religiously affiliated opponents of African American equality once defended segregation. It wasn’t all that long ago that some of them argued against school integration because, they alleged, black adolescents were uniquely unable to control sexual impulses and, therefore, would assault white schoolgirls. Exhortations against “race mixing” were commonplace pulpit messages short decades ago, though we now recognize them as hate speech. It’s past time to do the same with rhetoric that denigrates gays and lesbians.

So long as even the most objectionable religious dogma stays under the church roof, it’s a constitutionally protected view. People’s religious beliefs — even when noxious — are a private matter. Our churches are free to order their internal affairs as they will — to set the terms of sacramental marriage as they see fit, to discriminate in the selection of their clergy, to racially segregate their membership or to separate the sexes in their schools or places of worship.

However, when a group sets out to impose its views on the rest of society by lobbying for public policies or laws, it can no longer claim special protections or an exemption from the norms of civil discourse simply because its views are formed by religious beliefs. This is precisely the dodge the Family Research Council has been running.

Dakota developments

The Dakotas have seen more than their share of anti-ELCA sentiment since the actions of the ELCA church wide assembly in 2009 (CWA09). I don’t have the actual statistics, but it is my impression that the percentage of congregational departures from the ELCA is higher in the three Dakota synods than nationally (South Dakota synod, Eastern North Dakota synod, and Western North Dakota synod).

The public debate has shifted recently from the CWA09 pro-gay policies to a pending ELCA social statement on genetics.

First, a bit of background about social statements. Since the birth of the ELCA in 1988 as the result of merger of prior church bodies, the ELCA has adopted ten social statements on subjects such as abortion, race, health care, and most recently in 2009, human sexuality. The process begins with an enabling resolution arising from a church wide assembly or church council and typically continues over several years of discernment, discussion, and drafts and culminates in a document presented to a church wide assembly for ratification, which requires a 2/3 majority. For example, the recent human sexuality statement process began with an enabling resolution in 2001 and was ratified after a lengthy discernment and discussion process.

Social statements are developed through a participatory process over a 5-6 year period. In particular, this social statement involved a broad and reflective process of study, discussion, prayer, and dialog engaging the entire church beginning in 2002. It involved three studies and over 30,000 responses to those studies. In 2008, 111 synodical hearings took place. Forty-two synods adopted memorials to the churchwide assembly, some calling for its adoption (37) while others called for its rejection (5).

Now back to the current discernment process for the pending statement on genetics. The enabling resolution that began the process came from the 2005 church wide assembly, and the final document will likely be presented to the next church wide assembly for consideration and possible adoption in 2011.

Seems those who would wish the ELCA ill are spreading false information about the draft document in the Dakotas, and one congregation has publicly stated that its vote to withdraw from the ELCA was based in part on its perception that the statement was anti-farmer. According to a Christian Century article:

A rural North Dakota church has voted to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, not only to protest its recent policies to allow gay clergy but also its proposed statement on genetically modified foods.

Members of the Anselm Trinity Lutheran Church near Sheldon, N.D., interpreted the ELCA’s draft statement as saying farmers who use genetically modified seeds are “pretty much sinners,” said church council president Jill Bunn.

The North Dakota church has joined the more conservative Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ [LCMC], which attributes most of its growth to departing ELCA churches.

Eastern North Dakota Bishop Bill Rindy and others have jumped to the defense of the ELCA by attempting to correct the misinformation that is spreading. The Fargo Forum newspaper has a series of news articles and op-ed pieces; unfortunately, their articles are quickly archived and require a payment for access. Yesterday’s op-ed piece by local farmer and agronomist Sarah E.H. Lovas included the following comments [emphasis mine]:

I am a farmer from Hillsboro, N.D., and my farm enjoys biotechnology on 100 percent of the acres we farm. My day job is as an agronomist where I sell seed and monitor crop acres for farmers. The majority of the seed I sell is biotech and I use biotech in many of my agronomic recommendations.

Last summer, the infamous Dakota Farmer article was used as an instrument of fear in my congregation. My response was to read the ELCA Draft Statement on Genetics, pray and reflect on what the statement contained … I did not find any place in the document where the ELCA bans the use of GMO technology in farming. It does not outline specific farming practices at all. As a matter of fact, I found the document actually telling me to use GMO technology, but in a responsible manner …

I suggest that if you are a member of an ELCA church and this topic affects you, read the draft statement and respond. You do not need me or anyone else to tell you what your opinion is. Formulate your own. Make sure to read the draft statement, as there is a lot of misinformation floating around.

Thanks, Sarah, for offering more light and less heat to the discussion.

Meanwhile, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a post from the synod blog reports:

The South Dakota Synod is pleased to announce that a new ELCA community of faith is coming to life in the far northwest corner of Sioux Falls. A new sign stands tall on the land that the Sioux Falls Area Strategy Task Force chose years ago. And as the new overpass off I-90 at Marion Road opened this week, the area is poised for growth. Today, however, there are nearly 10,000 people in the area…without a gas station, a grocery store…or a church!

In September, the synod called Roe and Pat Eidsness to be lay mission developers, and they have literally moved into the neighborhood! They are currently meeting with prospective members in their home, even as they search for a larger, temporary meeting place. They have been visiting area congregations and meeting with Crossroads pastors to create awareness of the new mission start and to seek partners in the mission.

Our prayers and best wishes go out to Roe and Pat and the others behind this new start.

Midweek miscellany

Bavarian Lutheran Church

Lutherans in the United States and Canada trace their lineage through immigrants from northern Europe. Of course, Luther was German, and the Lutheran Reformation centered in the regions around the Baltic Sea. As the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), easily the largest and most moderate of the American Lutheran denominations, moves toward full inclusion for gays and lesbians, similar processes are underway in the traditional Lutheran churches of northern Europe. Sweden has a lesbian bishop. A bishop in Finland has announced an openness to “gender neutral marriage”. Now, the Lutheran church in conservative Bavaria announces that gay clergy partners who have entered into a legal civil union may live together in church owned parsonages:

Gay and lesbian Lutheran ministers in the conservative German state of Bavaria may live with their partners in parish parsonages, but only if they enter into a state-sanctioned civil union … According to church officials, six Bavarian ministers already live in same-sex civil unions.

Gay student editorial banned at Catholic high School

Sean Simonson is a senior at Benilde-St. Margaret’s, a Catholic school in St. Louis Park, Minn. His editorial entitled “Life as a gay teenager” drew heated comments in the student newspaper, The Knight Errant, and the article was removed. Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) reprinted the article in full. Here is a portion:

I have considered suicide. Yes, I have considered taking my own life. Unlike six other boys recently in the news, I never took the steps to follow through on my dark thoughts, but, unfortunately, I can understand what drove them to. Because I know what it’s like to be a gay teenager.

Imagine going through adolescence: hormones raging, body changing, and relationships that go a little deeper than friendship developing. Now, add on being gay.

Don’t believe being different is difficult? Try going through a day in the life of a gay teen.

Every day you hear someone use your sexuality — a part of you that, no matter how desperately you try, you cannot change — as a negative adjective. That hurts.

You fear looking the wrong way in the locker room and offending someone. Politicians are allowed to debate your right to marry the person you love or your right to be protected from hate crimes under the law. Your faith preaches your exclusion — or damnation. And no one does anything to stop it … Oh yeah, and the words “queer,” “homo,” and “faggot” that people throw around all the time? Yeah, those might as well be personal attacks.

As an aside, there is news today that Sarah Palin’s sixteen year old daughter Willow embarrassed herself with a Facebook homophobic rant, using the personal attack terms Simonson derides. What values is she learning from her mother?

Roman Catholic Council of Bishops signals move to the right

For progressive Catholics who thought that the solid swing to the right by the church hierarchy, away from Vatican II, couldn’t get worse, it just did. The conservative vice-president of the American Council of Bishops, in line for election to the presidency, was defeated by a right wing insurgency and an outspoken hard-liner, New York Archbishop Tim Dolan, was elected.

Conservatives [dislike the vice-president’s] reputation as a moderate who favors dialogue and persuasion over the more bully pulpit pronouncements of churchmen like … Dolan, a media-friendly but outspoken figure who became head of the New York archdiocese only last year.

[It was] conservatives’ main goal of thwarting the ascension of a progressive to the top spot; since the contemporary structure of the bishops conference was established in the 1960s, no sitting vice-president has ever been passed over for promotion to the presidency of the bishops — until now.

ELCA commits half a million dollars to cholera relief

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) announced Nov. 15 that it has committed $500,000 for the prevention and treatment of cholera in Haiti, as well as continued response to communities displaced by the January 2010 earthquake. The gift is in addition to the $25,000 the church committed last week for similar purposes in Haiti.

ELCA social statement on genetics

Critics of the ELCA can find the lamest of excuses to justify their stance. A small, rural, farm community congregation of the Red River Valley of North Dakota announced that part of their rationale for leaving the ELCA is a pending social statement on genetics.

Members of the Anselm Trinity Lutheran Church near Sheldon, N.D., interpreted the ELCA’s draft statement as saying farmers who use genetically modified seeds are “pretty much sinners,” said church council president Jill Bunn.

The church is located in the Red River Valley, where farmers often use enhanced seeds to help plants resist weed killers.

Turns out that the pending social statement, which is still in draft and discussion stage, says nothing of the sort.

“If anyone reads the statement for themselves they’ll see that it does not condemn genetically engineered seeds and it doesn’t make any recommendation on farm management practices,” said Roger Willer, the ELCA staff person working with the task force developing the statement.

Call to Action: progressive Catholics hold a convention

Along with a couple thousand others, I spent the weekend in Milwaukee attending the annual convention of Call to Action (CTA), a beleaguered group of progressive Roman Catholics. The conservative retrenchment of the Vatican and the American bishops marches on, and one wonders what the future holds for Catholic progressives. I met hundreds of interesting persons with fascinating stories: former priests and nuns who are now married, many gays or parents of gays, and numerous women who have recently been ordained to the priesthood or who are anticipating ordination in the near future.

“What,” you ask, “women ordained as Catholic priests?”

Roman Catholic Womenpriests is a movement less than a decade old that began with the 2002 ordination of seven women (six Europeans and one American). Since then, the movement is growing rapidly (despite excommunications), and I can attest to a sense of vibrancy at the Womenpriests’ booth that attracted an earnest crowd. One of the priests at the exhibit told me that their booth at the 2008 CTA Convention attracted a few curiosity seekers, but overall the mood was “don’t get too close to these excommunicated dissidents”. Last year, at the 2009 CTA convention, she reported that the fear of contagion had dissipated and the curiosity level had increased dramatically. This year, the Womenpriests booth was filled with visitors who had moved beyond curiosity to genuine interest. Their US map with red and green dots signifying locations of ordained womenpriests and pending ordinations was a hit with many asking for more specifics so they could attend a nearby Eucharist celebrated by female clergy.

Are progressive Catholics coming to the realization that their future lies outside the patriarchal hierarchy and beyond the control of the Vatican? If so, where? If not, how can progressive Catholics effect reform within the existing conservative power structures?

Enter the American Catholic Council. The Council also had an energetic presence at the CTA conference, passing out brochures inviting all to a Pentecost gathering next June. CTA is one of the member organizations of the Council, which also includes other Catholic reform organizations.

American Catholic Council is a movement bringing together a network of individuals, organizations, and communities to consider the state and future of our Church. We believe our Church is at a turning point in its history. We recall the promise of the Second Vatican Council for a renaissance of the roles and responsibilities of all the Baptized through a radically inclusive and engaged relationship between the Church and the World. We respond to the Spirit of Vatican II by summoning the Baptized together to demonstrate our re-commitment. We seek personal conversion to renew our Church to conform to the authentic Gospel message, the teachings of our Church, and our lived context in the United States. Our reading of the “signs of the times”, as we experience them in the US, our plan and our agenda are set out in our Declaration. We educate; we listen; we facilitate discussions and encounters; and, we build toward an American Catholic Council that will convene in Detroit over Pentecost weekend in June of 2011. At this Council we hope to proclaim our belief in the Rights and Responsibilities of US Catholics.

June 10, 2011. Mark the date.

On a personal note, I had the opportunity to visit with keynote speaker, retired Episcopal Bishop and noted author John Shelby Spong, and we discussed our mutual suspicion that the Apostle Paul may have been a conflicted gay man (which is developed in my novel, A Wretched Man). Bishop Spong said he first encountered that theory in a 1930’s book by theologian Arthur Darby Nock. We also discussed our mutual admiration for recently deceased British theologian Michael Goulder, who rekindled interest in the theory of Christian origins that posits a fundamental opposition between Paul the Apostle on one side and the Jerusalem Christians Peter and James, Jesus’ brother, on the other. This dispute provides the main plot line of A Wretched Man.

I also visited with Linda Pinto of CORPUS who favored me with an early report on her reading of the novel:

It was indeed a delight to meet you at CTA. I am, however, a little annoyed. I packed your book (a present to my husband) and at the last moment thought….you might browse through it at the airport. As the hotel forgot to change their clocks, they woke me up at 3:45 am rather than 4:45 am. So, with that much time to kill, I started to read A Wretched Man. WOW!!!! I am addicted. My annoyance comes from the fact that I had to return to work today and my husband insisted that I keep the book at home for his consumption!

I love your attention to detail and description. I love the interplay between the story of Paul and Jesus. And I love your description of Jesus’ family.

That is to say, get me a book review and I will publish it in CORPUS REPORTS.

Anyone interested in writing a book review for CORPUS? Contact me.

November figures of ELCA departing congregations

The figures are out for November. The latest figures follow the August convocation of the North American Lutheran Church (NALC), the Lutheran CORE spawned denomination that promises a “realignment of North American Lutheranism”. One regular commenter here (an ELCA critic) predicted that the months following the NALC startup would see a short term surge in ELCA congregational votes followed by a gradual withering down of congregational defections.

The actual figures don’t suggest any significant surge and it is too early to discern whether the process will slow:

as of 11/3/10, congregations have taken a total of 629 first votes [representing 596 congregations since some congregations have taken multiple first votes]. Of the first votes taken, 431 passed and 198 failed. 308 congregations have taken second votes (and one congregation has taken two second votes!) Of the total of 309 second votes; 291 passed and 18 failed.

For purposes of quantifying any recent surge, I think the “first vote” figure is most illustrative. As of Sept 2, 529 first votes had been recorded, so exactly 100 new first votes occurred in the last two months. This is slightly higher but similar to the monthly pace of first votes during the first year following the ELCA churchwide assembly of 2009 (CWA09). On the other hand, these figures do not suggest any slowing of the pace, either.

According to the NALC website, the dissident denomination lists forty-four member congregations at this time.

What the Lutheran Magazine printed and didn’t print

The Lutheran Magazine is the award-winning official publication of the ELCA. In the latest issue, Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson proclaims “Days of Timidity are over”. The Bishop does not mention the present controversy with Lutheran CORE/NALC (North American Lutheran Church) and LCMC (Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ), but undoubtedly that was on his mind. He writes,

In these uncertain and challenging times, I have pondered Paul’s words to Timothy: “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7; New International Version).

Timidity is not one of God’s gifts to us, but we must assess it if we run the risk of becoming a timid church body.

A timid church focuses on what is lost or lacking: members, financial assets, numbers of congregations, or the number of students in programs and schools. A timid church battens down the hatches and tries to hold on to what and who remains.

A timid church defines itself (or lets others do so) on the basis of controversies or partisan divisions. Yearning for a life without tension, a timid church faces the future with fear and foreboding.

Most of all, a timid church has lost confidence — faith — in the gospel and the power of the Spirit to work through the gospel. A timid church has lost its trust in God’s promise to be faithful to God’s promise, and each part becomes preoccupied with its own survival. A timid church does not entrust its whole life to the power and promise of Christ’s death and resurrection.

As I said to synod bishops, synod vice presidents and seminary presidents in early October, I believe it is time for us to declare together: “In the name of Jesus Christ, our days of timidity are over!”

It is time for us to say with confidence: “By the power of the Spirit, we are a church confident that we have all we need. We have the treasure God has entrusted to us: the treasure of the gospel, incarnate in Jesus Christ.”

So, in response to the title of this post, this is what the Lutheran has printed. What is it that it did not print? Daniel Lehmann is the editor of the Lutheran, and he wrote a statement of policy in the September issue in which he said that NALC would receive no special treatment:

Page 8 of this issue contains a 203-word article (“Another Lutheran body formed”) on the founding of another Lutheran denomination. No more, no less.

The North American Lutheran Church came about in response to the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly decisions on sexuality. Its leadership hails from the ELCA roster. Many of the 18 churches that signed on before the actual creation of the NALC were once ELCA congregations.

What we have here is a classic case of schism — a formal division or separation in the Christian church. That cleaving causes pain as your editor knows, having left the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod decades ago in another schism.

So now the NALC becomes, in the eyes of this magazine, one more Lutheran denomination. Just as the staff follows major events in the life of the LCMS, the same will be true with the NALC. The Lutheran won’t give it any special coverage just because of its heritage. This group, like Elvis, has left the building.

Octogenarian Carl Braaten is an esteemed elder of Lutheran academia; in his later years, he has grown fond of bashing the ELCA. He is one of the coterie of theologians who attempt to provide academic cover for the CORE/NALC dissidents, but his hyperbole has too often drifted into name-calling and petulant whining. Recently, in response to Editor Lehmann’s statement above, Braaten has written an open letter:

he accuses Lehmann and the magazine of being lackeys of the ELCA leadership, taking “the side of the bureaucrats”
he suggests the policy announced by Lehmann is “petty”
he whines about the refusal of the magazine to accept advertising for CORE’s theological conference, protesting that the conference was coincidental to the formation of a new denomination a month later
he disagrees that CORE/NALC is schismatic [how many times have we heard “we did not leave the ELCA, the ELCA left us]
he again takes the opportunity to swipe at the ELCA quota system for voting members and “radical theological feminism” [is that a euphemism for ordaining women?]

There’s a very small country church near Northfield that had a part time pastor. Early on, it became obvious that the church would vote to leave the ELCA, and the pastor made it clear that she would remain an ELCA pastor and would not leave with the congregation. When the day came for the final vote, everyone knew that would be the pastor’s last day. After the vote to leave became official on a Sunday afternoon, the congregation called the ELCA synod office that week requesting assistance with pulpit supply for the following Sunday.

the Lutheran Magazine

Minnesota Public Radio and anti-gay bullying

With kudos to Locally Grown Northfield blog and its commenters, here is a link to yesterday’s program on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), which continues the discussion regarding religion’s role in fostering anti-gay attitudes that are manifested in bullying and teen sexual angst.

Consider Justin Anderson, who graduated from Blaine High School outside Minneapolis last year. He says his teenage years were a living hell. From sixth grade on, he heard the same taunts.

“People say things like, ‘Fags should just disappear so we don’t have to deal with them anymore’; and, ‘Fags are disgusting and sinful,’ ” he told the Anoka-Hennepin School Board. “And still, there was no one intervening. I began to feel so worthless and ashamed and unloved that I began to think about taking my life.”

Anderson told his story at a public hearing last month — a hearing convened because in the past year, the district has seen a spate of student suicides. Four of those suicides have been linked to anti-gay bullying.

Justin Anderson survived. Justin Aaberg did not. Aaberg, 15, loved the cello, both playing and composing numbers like “Incinerate,” which he posted on YouTube. Justin was openly gay. He had plenty of friends, but he was repeatedly bullied in his school. In July, his mother, Tammy, found her teenage son hanging from his bed frame.

“They were calling him, ‘Faggot, you’re gay,’ ” she recalls. ” ‘The Bible says that you’re going to burn hell.’ ‘God doesn’t love you.’ Things like that.”

But a representative of the Minnesota Family Council (the same group behind the flyer that appeared in my mailbox directed to “serious Catholics”—see yesterday’s post), disagreed:

she wants to keep the neutrality policy because she says that controversial topics like sexual orientation should be taught in the home or church — not in school. And she believes that changing the policy to allow such discussions is a ploy to normalize homosexuality for kids.

“It becomes homosexual advocacy when you allow this curriculum to come in under the guise of anti-bullying,” she says.

I actually agree with her in part. Sexual orientation issues ought to be openly discussed in our churches; unfortunately, I sense that the message in conservative churches only reinforces the gay angst, and the silence of many moderate and progressive churches, borne of fear of giving offense, is a sin of omission. Listen again to the words of Cody Sanders quoted in an earlier post:

These messages come in many forms, degrees of virulence, and volumes of expression. The most insidious forms, however, are not those from groups like Westboro Baptist Church. Most people quickly dismiss this fanaticism as the red-faced ranting of a fringe religious leader and his small band of followers.

More difficult to address are the myriad ways in which everyday churches that do a lot of good in the world also perpetuate theologies that undergird and legitimate instrumental violence. The simplistic, black and white lines that are drawn between conceptions of good and evil make it all-too-easy to apply these dualisms to groups of people. When theologies leave no room for ambiguity, mystery and uncertainty, it becomes very easy to identify an “us” (good, heterosexual) versus a “them” (evil, gay).

If anti-gay bullying has, at any level, an embodied undercurrent of tacit theological legitimation, then we simply cannot circumvent our responsibility to provide a clear, decisive, theological response. Aside from its theological base, anti-gay bullying is a theological issue because it calls for acts of solidarity on behalf of the vulnerable and justice on behalf of the oppressed.