Pastor Bob Kaltenbaugh recently sent me a link to an article containing a series of questions and answers about the actions of the 2009 Church wide assembly.  The link is to the website of Ed Schroeder called Crossings, and the article is entitled “FAQ about recent ELCA decisions”.  Ed is a well known veteran of the LCMS / Seminex warfare of a generation ago.  He was on the seminary staff at Concordia and was one of those axed for moderate views.  The article can be an excellent resource for those facing congregational discussions, as it dispels a lot of the urban myths and falsehoods that are circulating.

It occurs to me that a list of questions ought to be prepared for Lutheran CORE.  Perhaps a CORE representative will make an appearance at your congregation, and it would be useful to have a series of questions at the ready.  With that in mind, I have prepared the following.

Status of women in CORE

It is official policy of CORE that “We believe and confess that the Bible is God’s revealed Word to us, spoken in Law and Gospel. The Bible is the final authority for us in all matters of our faith and life.”  Simultaneously, CORE criticizes the ELCA as “the one that has departed from the teaching of the Bible as understood by Christians for 2,000 years.”

With this strong Biblical basis for CORE, does CORE accept 1st Timothy 2:11-12 as authoritative?

Let a woman learn in silence with full submission.  I permit no woman to teach or have authority over a man; she is to keep silent.

Will this teaching be authoritative for CORE policies?  If not, how does CORE justify ignoring or disagreeing with this clear teaching of the Bible?  (are they contextualists on some issues but literalists on others?)

If so, will CORE allow women to vote? In equal numbers with men?

If yes, how will that equality be assured since CORE spokesmen have criticized the ELCA quota system?  Does CORE consider a mandated quota of equal numbers of male and female voters to be “hypersensitive feminism”?  (this terminology is used by CORE spokesperson Robert Benne in his essay, “Why there must be new beginnings”.)  Is the ELCA guilty of “hypersensitive feminism”?

What does CORE mean by saying that quotas arbitrarily fasten “on characteristics like race and gender but not necessarily putting an equal priority on characteristics like wisdom, fidelity, and zeal.”?  (From CORE and WordAlone spokesman James Nestingen article “Joining the Unchurched”).  Is this not a criticism of female voting members to synod and church wide assemblies?  Are female voting members less likely to exhibit “wisdom, fidelity, and zeal”?  Why is the Lutheran CORE advisory committee 90% male?

Does CORE believe that women are too powerful in the ELCA?  If CORE could turn back the clock 30-40 years, would it make sense to revisit the issue of women’s ordination?

Status of the laity in CORE

The ELCA mandates that 60% of the voting members at synod and church wide assemblies shall be laity.   Does the CORE criticism of quotas apply to the laity quota? (The Benne article criticized the ELCA structure that “allowed a lay-dominated bi-annual assembly to vote” on crucial matters.).

Does the ELCA allow too much control to the laity?  Will CORE ensure greater control by the clergy?  Bishops?  Seminary professors?  Why is the Lutheran CORE advisory committee 95% clergy or seminary?

Quotas generally

What about ethnic minorities?  Does CORE believe that ethnic minorities are too powerful in the ELCA?  Are these the ELCA quotas that CORE criticizes?

Is the CORE criticism of quotas directed at gender quotas?  Laity quotas?  Ethnic minority quotas?  All of these?  How will CORE ensure that it will not become dominated by white, male, clergy?  Or, would that be a good thing?

Divorced clergy

It is official policy of CORE that “We believe and confess that the Bible is God’s revealed Word to us, spoken in Law and Gospel. The Bible is the final authority for us in all matters of our faith and life.”  Simultaneously, CORE criticizes the ELCA as “the one that has departed from the teaching of the Bible as understood by Christians for 2,000 years.”

With this strong Biblical basis for CORE, does CORE accept Luke 16:18 as authoritative?

Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

If not, how does CORE justify ignoring or disagreeing with this clear teaching of the Bible?  (again, the point is that CORE seems to be ok with contextualizing some passages but not others.)

Will CORE ordain persons who have divorced and remarried?  Allow ordained clergy to divorce and remarry without losing their ordained status?  How can that be justified in light of this Biblical teaching, in the words of Jesus himself?

Is divorce and remarriage a lesser sin than a committed same gender relationship?  Even though Jesus spoke of one but not the other?  On what basis does CORE make such judgments?

These are a few lines of questioning that occur to me; perhaps you can think of others.  If so, please supply your thoughts with a comment.