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.
I’ve been wondering what happens to Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries in the wake of CWA09? Does anyone know?
A little quibble about “civil disobedience” in the above news story … maybe it would be more correct to use the phrase “religious rule disobedience” since the civil law and authorities could care less what any particular denomination or religion does when it comes to ordaining a person.
Daniel & others with the same question:
Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) exists to expand ministry opportunities for publicly-identified LGBTQ pastors and rostered lay leaders. We celebrate all the wonderful changes in the ELCA, yet you can see from that mission statement that the work of ELM clearly continues in the wake of CWA09…in fact, with more rostered leaders choosing to and able to be public about their orientation or identity, there will be more need for this kind of support.
Many people are familiar with ELM’s work with extraordinary candidacy–a Lutheran candidacy route that allowed people to be public about their orientation and partner and be credentialed for Lutheran ministry. With the change in ELCA policy, ELM is suspending this part of our work. We want to support the ELCA’s candidacy process. We are launching a new program of accompaniment for LGBTQ candidates in hopes of making this a just and healthy process for all.
Another major part of our work over the years has been making grants to ministry led by publicly LGBTQ rostered leaders. This work continues and will grow as the need grows. We are giving away $61,000 in grants in 2011.
Finally, we have long supported a community of publicly-identified LGBTQ rostered leaders for networking, community and professional development. In the past, this was known as the “ELM Roster” and included only those credentialed by ELM. In the future, this community expands to include all publicly-identified LGBTQ rostered leaders in the Lutheran church. There will be a first gathering of these folks in Wisconsin in April of next year.
Anyone who is interested in learning more about the future of ELM is invited to email me at director@elm.org or visit our blog: http://www.extraordinarylutheranministries.blogspot.com. Our website, http://www.elm.org, is under construction right now, so the blog has more up-to-date info. The new website will launch by the end of this year.
Thank you! Amalia Vagts, Executive Director, ELM
@Amalia Vagts
The positive role of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) in the history of our church vis a vis our LGBTQ clergy, and by extension to the whole LGBTQ community, cannot be understated. In many ways, ELM was the sanctuary in the storm, a safe place for LGBTQ clergy to belong and to be affirmed while the rest of the church wrestled at our own ford in the Jabbok. But, ELM’s contribution has been even more than that; we have all learned more about ourselves and what it means to live the gospel. We have a better understanding of the power of God’s call even in the face of rejection.
ELM is aptly named; their service has indeed been extraordinary, and it is great to hear from Amalia with the good news for future plans.
BLESSINGS!