Tag Archives: ELCA

Gay clergy return to ELCA

The “gay clergy” resolution passed at the 2009 ELCA churchwide assembly reads as follows:

RESOLVED, that the ELCA commit itself to finding a way for people in such publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as rostered leaders of this church.

This resolution didn’t actually change ministry policies, but effectively committed the church infrastructure to do so. The process is underway but not yet completed to amend the multi-page 1990 document entitled Visions and Expectations, to wit, the one sentence out of the lengthy document that stated,

Ordained ministers who are homosexual in their self-understanding are expected to abstain from homosexual sexual relationships.

Due to the 1990 policy, many gay and lesbian persons simply abandoned their call to the ordained ministry. Emily Eastwood, the head of Lutherans Concerned North America, is one example. Others left the ELCA and pursued their call to the ministry in other denominations such as the UCC or Episcopal Church. A few found Lutheran congregations willing to call them, despite the potential for ELCA punitive measures (the first congregations were expelled from the ELCA but later congregations were merely censured).

Although the revised ministry policies are not yet finalized or effective, the process of reconciliation and restoration is already underway. I previously reported on a San Francisco congregation that was expelled that is now engaged in discussions about returning to the ELCA and about their pastor’s restoration to the ELCA clergy roster.

The past week saw a few more examples of healing.

The blog of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) reports that a Missouri congregation that has been under censure for a decade has been restored to the good graces of the ELCA.

The censure against Abiding Peace Lutheran congregation in Kansas City, Missouri which has been in effect since March 2001 has been lifted. The censure was put in place because the congregation called and ordained ELM roster member Pastor Donna Simon the previous October. Bishop Gerald Mansholt of the ELCA Central States Synod lifted the censure.

Pastor Donna has served that congregation since her ordination and call. Donna Simon is a 1999 graduate of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, CA. She was extraordinarily ordained by ELM in 2000.

Her service and ministry drew praise from the bishop. In his letter to the congregation, he said of Pastor Donna, a lesbian not yet on the roster of the ELCA, and her service as pastor for nine years: “…though ordained outside the established processes of the Church, Pastor Simon has been a gracious witness among us in this synod as well as in the larger Church. She has spoken the truth in love, and shared her witness and struggle as a baptized child of God, even as she has prayed for a day of wider understanding and acceptance in the Church.”

Bishop Mansholt, in notifying the synod of the lifting of the censure, repeated the above praise for Pastor Donna and commented on the faithfulness of the congregation at Abiding Lutheran: “As the Church studied, prayed and conversed with one another over the matters of gay and lesbian people in the Church, Abiding Peace Church might have walked away. But they remained in the Church and stayed in dialog with brothers and sisters who were trying to make sense of these issues in the light of the Gospel. They kept on praying for a better day, a time of wider awareness and acceptance. . . . I know the congregation also longs for the day when their pastor might be welcomed onto the roster of the ELCA.”

Blog friend Susan Hogan at Pretty Good Lutherans also posts on this announcement, and there are some great comments following her post such as this one from Pastor Christine Iverson:

I served Abiding Peace as an intentional interim for more than 3 years. They called Pastor Simons a few years after I left. They never did want to leave the ELCA and the bishop at the time and they tried to find ways to continue together. The process that led to the censure decision was done with great care and inclusion and I think that probably had a part in the congregation’s decision to hang in there with us. Unfortunately, the bishop, synod council, pastor, and the congregation were bound by the requirements of the ELCA constitution.

On a personal note, when my daughter was very ill, Donna came and ministered to us both for which I will always be grateful. She is a gifted colleague.

On the other hand, conservative blogger “Shrimp” at Shellfish blog, offers the following condescending, sarcastic commentary:

We at Shellfish can imagine just how devastating it is to a small congregation (latest reported average Sunday attendance: 18) not being able to serve on a synod committee. But if Bishop Mansholt appreciates their constant presence, who are we (with “bound consciences” scandalized by Miss Simon serving as a pastor without any sign of repentance on her part) to object to welcoming them back fully?

And a comment to Shrimp’s post adds:

I just read of a pebble tossed down the slippery slope of an apostate church. Everyone therefore make a joyful noise, for avalanche starts in this very way.

It strikes me as revealing that the Henny Pennys who cluck about the demise of the ELCA do so with such self-righteous glee.

The same Extraordinary Ministries blog also reports on a former LCA pastor who left and became a UCC pastor because of the former ministry polices but now seeks to return to the ELCA. Pastor Vince Lavieri:

values the home that the UCC has given him during his time of exile from the ELCA, deeply appreciating the UCC’s particular insight that God Is Still Speaking. Vince is at core a confessional Lutheran who yearns to return to parish ministry in a Lutheran context.

Welcome home, Pastor Vince.

ELCA Lutheran Disaster Relief to Haiti swells

As the week draws to a close, the ELCA announced that total contributions received for Haiti now exceed $4.6 million!

CHICAGO (ELCA) — Since the earthquake in Haiti one month ago, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has received over 27,000 gifts totaling more than $4.2 million to support humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti. According to ELCA Treasurer Christina Jackson-Skelton, the ELCA received an additional $320,000 in a matching grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, bringing the overall total to more than $4.6 million in gifts to the ELCA.
     “We’ve seen a phenomenal response,” said the Rev. Daniel Rift, director, ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal. Rift said members of the ELCA have been “faithful in their giving, bearing witness to the hope for the Lutheran church and communities in Haiti.”
     One-quarter of Haiti’s population has been directly affected by the earthquake and that presents an overwhelming challenge for those responding with humanitarian aid, said Rift. “The only way to truly, effectively respond is to build long-term partnerships with Haitians,” he said.
     Financial gifts from the 4.6-million-member ELCA are used to purchase and distribute medicine, drinking water, food, emergency shelter, sanitation and hygiene kits and other materials to aid survivors of the earthquake. Lutherans are also working to provide psychosocial services and other support.
     The funds are distributed to three partner organizations of the ELCA working on the ground in Haiti — The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Geneva; Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Baltimore; and Church World Service (CWS), New York.

ELCA youth to return to New Orleans

By all accounts, the 2009 ELCA youth gathering in New Orleans was a smashing success. Here is a list of my prior blog posts about the New Orleans experience.

ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans (July 25, 2009)

The Journey to New Orleans (July 28, 2009), which is a diary like account of one Pastor and his entourage from Hector, Minnesota (my brother-in-law).

A thank you from a New Orleans resident (July 31, 2009)

These youth gatherings occur once every three years, so the next get-together will be in 2012, and the ELCA has announced a return to the scene of its recent success.

     CHICAGO (ELCA) — The Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will return to New Orleans in 2012. Returning to a host city consecutively is unprecedented in the history of ELCA Youth Gatherings, according to Heidi Hagstrom, director for youth gatherings, ELCA Vocation and Education. The gathering will take place July 18-22, 2012.
     Recognized as the largest event organized by the 4.6 million-member denomination, the ELCA Youth Gathering is a triennial event that brings together tens of thousands of high-school-age Lutherans from across the country and overseas for leadership development, faith formation, service opportunities and more.
     In the summer of 2009 about 37,000 Lutheran teenagers, adult leaders and others gathered in New Orleans not only to paint and make home repairs but to learn about and experience the faith of people who live there. Residents of New Orleans and others along the U.S. Gulf Coast continue to recover more than four years after Hurricane Katrina.
     “I don’t think that we have learned all we can from New Orleans, yet,” said Hagstrom. “New Orleans has so much to teach us about practicing God’s hospitality. By paying attention to the spirit’s activity in and through New Orleanians, I think we get a glimpse of God’s intention for the whole world,” she said.

Are ELCA Lutherans heretical? One scholar thinks not.

We all understand that the holier-than-thou-trinity of Lutheran CORE, WordAlone, and LCMC (Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ) believes that the Bible condemns all same gender sexual intimacy even for couples in a lifelong, monogamous relationship. Many of us (including the majority of voting members at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly) disagree, but what we find particularly odious about the rhetoric emanating from the schismatics are their self-righteous pronouncements that are sprinkled with judgmental terms such as “heresy”, “unchurched”, and “unbiblical”. There is the persistent implication that the ELCA has abandoned Biblical teaching and authority. “The ELCA is the one that has departed from the teaching of the Bible,” sounds the refrain. And this is no mere exegetical or theological debate, for the ELCA is now so polluted that the schismatics must leave for fear of contamination. One must be wary of the purity of the minister who offers the bread and wine, after all.

In response to the bluster of the schismatics, Rev Dr. Brian Peterson, Professor of New Testament, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, has penned a temperate and reasoned article.

“[W]e need to avoid, as much as possible, confusing the authority of the Bible with the authority of poor translations, incorrect assumptions, partial knowledge, or contested interpretations,” he begins, and “I do not believe that doing so constitutes the abandoning of the Bible’s authority. Honesty and the commandment not to bear false witness against others requires that we not confuse our disagreements about the meaning of these texts with faithlessness, heresy, or the denial of Scripture’s authority,” he concludes (emphasis mine).

Along the way, Dr. Peterson offers his scholarly interpretation of the so-called clobber passages, suggesting that they are difficult and uncertain, based on questionable “assumptions from first century culture, medicine, and science”. Of course, the Levitical lists of abominations derive from a worldview at least half a millennium earlier than the New Testament texts.

It is not my goal here to argue that my way of reading these texts is certainly the one right way. It has been my goal, however, to show how someone can read these texts with a high regard for their authority over the life of the church, and still speak in favor of the proposals adopted by the ELCA regarding homosexuality.

But serious questions remain about how these texts address the issues we are facing and the people involved. There are legitimate questions about how well the concerns addressed in these biblical texts correspond to the committed, exclusive, faithful, lifelong relationships that are the focus of the ELCA’s action. There are genuine difficulties in understanding some of these verses, and we ought to wonder whether, and why, we are trying to place too much weight on a few uncertain verses. Proper interpretation always involves listening to each text within the context of the whole witness of Scripture. There we hear with absolute clarity God’s desire and call for mercy, compassion, faithfulness, and love of our neighbors. We hear that God’s saving, sufficient grace has been poured out through Jesus Christ crucified and raised. We hear the promise that the Spirit will lead the church into God’s truth.

I believe that the ELCA Assembly’s actions have been shaped by, and are in agreement with, this authoritative biblical word.

Disagree if you will, but please don’t call us unchurched heretics.

Hat tip to blogger Ted Sitz for finding this article.

Church of England General Synod 2010 convenes

Today marks the start of the 2010 General Synod of the Church of England. As a non-Anglican, I may misunderstand the polity of the worldwide Anglican Communion; with that disclaimer, this is what I think I know, but I stand open to correction.

The Church of England, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, is the mother church for Anglican bodies around the world. While Archbishop Rowan Williams exercises the authority of persuasion and prestige, those Anglican bodies in communion with the Church of England are essentially self-governing. Thus, Archbishop Rowan unsuccessfully lobbied the Episcopal Church of America last year to refrain from allowing LGBT persons to be ordained as bishops.

Unrelated to the General Synod, Archbishop Williams hosted ELCA presiding bishop Mark Hanson and an ELCA delegation on Friday last. Lutherans and Anglicans already have close relationships (in the US, the Episcopal Church and the ELCA have full communion agreements and in Europe, the Anglicans and the Lutherans of the Baltic states have a similar arrangement in the Porvoo Communion), and the meeting stressed strengthening those relationships:

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson met with Dr. Rowan D. Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, in a private hour-long meeting Feb. 4 at Lambeth Palace here. After the meeting Hanson said the two discussed strengthening Anglican-Lutheran relationships, challenges each leader faces within his own communions, the proposed “Anglican Covenant” to deepen internal church relationships, global environmental issues, Christian-Muslim relationships, and mutual concern for conflicts in places such as Sudan and the Middle East.

Hanson told the ELCA News Service that the discussion of strengthening Anglican Communion relationships focused on existing full communion agreements — in Canada, Europe and the United States. “We talked not only about how this time of ‘reception’ can strengthen the ministries and mission we share, but provide new opportunities for us to be engaged in ways we haven’t even imagined,” Hanson said.

The two world church leaders discussed how both communions can focus on “the pressing issues of the world in which God has placed us,” said Hanson. He said the two agreed there is an urgent need for the United Nations and the U.S. and British governments to find a solution to the conflict in Sudan. The two also discussed commitment and concern for Palestinian Christians, and support for the Council for Religious Institutions in the Holy Land, for Lutheran and Anglican churches in the region and for dialogue with religious leaders in Israel.

In an official written statement to the archbishop, Hanson noted a series of priorities that Lutherans and Anglicans share, including care for the environment, working to end poverty and disease, and seeking peace and justice through greater interfaith understanding. He also noted that Lutherans and Anglicans have faced their share of “challenges in our communions.”

This latter statement about “challenges in our communions” is a bit of tongue in cheek understatement. The two clerics share a commonality as leaders of church bodies embroiled in controversy over LGBT issues, especially gay clergy. Yet, each has taken a different public posture. Bishop Hanson has attempted to remain neutral although the opponents of the ELCA’s pro-LGBT resolutions last summer would claim otherwise; to Lutheran CORE and the WordAlone Network, Bishop Hanson was a primary culprit and behind the scenes force that manipulated the church wide assembly actions, but this merely reflects a conspiracy theorist mentality, in my view. Archbishop Williams, on the other hand, has been outspokenly against the Episcopalian’s 2009 pro-LGBT actions.

The 2009 US Episcopal decision to allow gay bishops provides the dramatic undercurrent to the 2010 Church of England General Synod. The issue arises over the effort by conservatives to recognize the American dissident group of Episcopalians, the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). The Telegraph UK reports:

Leading conservative clergy have declared their support for a motion at this week’s General Synod which would ally the Church with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).

This was formed in opposition to the consecration of Gene Robinson, the first openly homosexual bishop, and the actions of liberals in the Episcopal Church of the US, which is the official Anglican body.

However, the House of Bishops has tabled an amendment to the Synod motion which would seek to defuse the issue by postponing a decision until next year.

The Rt Rev Nicholas Reade, Bishop of Blackburn, is opposed to the stance taken by his colleagues. He said: “I am hoping for a sign of early support for ACNA, not a report coming back to Synod by the end of 2011.”

The Rt Rev Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes, a fundamentalist on the Church’s evangelical wing, said: “It seems to me that the House of Bishops’ motion is just needlessly undermining, delaying and prevaricating.”

The original motion, put down by Lorna Ashworth, an evangelical from the Chichester diocese, comes after the Episcopal Church elected a homosexual priest, Mary Glasspool, to be a suffragan bishop in the Los Angeles diocese.

Christian Today offers more background and insight into the debate over the tabled resolution.

American Episcopal priest and blogger Scott Gunn has several posts about ACNA, and his latest is a warning for the Anglicans of the home country that countenancing the schismatics from America will only invite internal turmoil.

Like dealing with a child who is throwing a tantrum, you cannot reward bad behavior. Recognizing secessionists in America ensures they’ll be in England sooner rather than later. Making it clear that they will not be recognized by the Anglican Communion because they chose to walk apart will at least slow them down.

America Magazine, the Catholic Weekly, discusses a different issue which is of greater concern to Roman Catholics, and that is the recent papal invitation for disaffected Anglican priests to be accepted into Roman Catholicism.

The Church of England’s Parliament, known as the General Synod, meets this week, beginning today with an announcement on women bishops which is certain to have an impact on the numbers of Anglican traditionalists choosing to take up the Pope’s ordinariate offer.

Synod voted two years ago to move towards consecrating women bishops, but is yet to come up with a formula for doing so which doesn’t at the same time alienate traditionalists who oppose the move.

Does this make it more likely that C of E traditionalists will accept the Pope’s ordinariate offer? Yes and no. For those that have already decided, in principle, to accept the offer and are waiting on the details, it will confirm their decision. But the view among most traditionalists I have spoken to is that an early exodus would weaken their attempts to safeguard the ‘Catholic’ place in the Church of England. Supporters of women bishops be able to say, in effect, “they’re going anyway. Why agree to what they want?” As long as traditionalists remain in the C of E, the threat of their departure is likely to make supporters of women bishops more likely to negotiate.

You may follow the General Synod proceedings on the website of the Church of England.

Updated count of ELCA Lutheran congregational departures

Shrimp, a conservative blogger at Shellfish asked the secretary of the ELCA for a current status report on ELCA defections. Secretary David Swartling responded with the following update:

As of February 3, we have been advised that 220 congregations have taken votes to leave the ELCA. In 156 congregations, the first vote passed; in 64 congregations the first vote failed. 28 congregations have taken a second vote, all of which passed.

Remember, the ELCA consists of over ten thousand congregations spread over sixty five regional synods. The ELCA secretary noted that sixteen of the synods (1/4th) “have not reported any congregations that have voted to terminate their relationship with the ELCA.”

Shrimp made no comment on these findings, and for good reason. These numbers don’t fit the Lutheran CORE goal of a “reconfiguration of North American Lutheranism.” Lutheran pastor John Petty earlier suggested that a minimum of one thousand congregations would be necessary for a new denomination to be viable, and even then it would be small. That would be smaller than the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS claims 1,290 churches according to its website), which ranks a weak third in size behind the ELCA and LCMS even in its prime Midwest region. For comparison, the Association of Free Lutheran Churches (AFLC) claims 270 congregations, and the Lutheran Brethren 123.

These numbers beg another question: why is there a single large moderate Lutheran denomination and half a dozen, smaller, conservative ones? Is there something inherent in those who erect boundaries that makes them more exclusive? Pup tents vs big tent?

We are now approaching half a year since the church wide assembly in Minneapolis. These first six months have seen the plucking of the “low hanging fruit”, congregations that already had one foot out the door, including mega-churches in Glendale, Arizona and Lakeville, Minnesota. What will the next six months and beyond bring?

Without meaning to diminish the deep hurt in departing congregations and in many that remain in conflict within the ELCA, this first half year since CWA09 hardly signals the seismic shift predicted by the Lutheran CORE rabble rousers nor the wrenching schism that the media trumpets every time this congregation or that one votes to depart. What can the holier-than-thou trinity of Lutheran CORE, WordAlone Network, and Lutheran Congregations in Ministry truly aspire to? Another Lutheran Brethren? Another AFLC? Another WELS? Another LCMS? A “reconfiguration of North American Lutheranism”?

Steady as she goes.

ELCA Lutherans and social media

Through the Twitter use of #hashtags, it is possible to follow all Tweets that address issues of interest to an ELCA person. The hashtag is simply #ELCA. As I write this, a quick scan of a Twitter #ELCA search reveals first page results about Presiding Bishop Hanson speaking to the gathering of Anglicans in England, several links to a Lutheran Magazine article about hospitality (“The meaning of hospitality: It’s more than food and a comfy bed. It is about standing side-by-side with someone you may not agree with, may not understand, or don’t even like.”), and miscellaneous links to articles regarding ecumenism, migration, calendar of events, etc.

Some of the same articles appear with a search of the hashtag #Lutheran, but with a broader scope of Lutheranism to include LCMS items, Lutheran World Relief (LWF), and a few links to Lutheran theological articles.

Facebook promotes participation in interest groups, and a couple that I belong to include my local synod and a rapidly expanding new group called “Lovin the Lutheran Church” with a motto of “Proud to be Lutherans in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.” Facebook is not the place for an in depth discussion of an issue, but it can provide a quick link to news articles or blog posts. Facebook is for short comments and equally brief responses. The most recent comment as I post this is “A majority, but not 2/3, of Good Shepherd, Monroeville, PA, members vote to leave the ELCA. Congregation will remain, but is deeply divided,” and the comment also provides a link to a newspaper article. In less than 24 hours, this comment has received 23 replies.

Calendar of events: Lutherans and progressive Catholic

Lutherans Concerned North America Let Justice Roll Assembly 2010

“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” —Amos 5:24

You are invited to participate in Let Justice Roll, the biennial assembly of Lutherans Concerned / North America and Reconciling in Christ conference. Let Justice Roll will be held at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN July 7–11, 2010.

Let Justice Roll is more than a conference. It is an opportunity to explore and live out the work of reconciliation that we are called to do. Justice requires reconciliation, and reconciliation takes effort. Throughout our time together, we will work on justice issues from the intersection of oppressions (racism, sexism, ablism, etc.) and through the lens of full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the Lutheran Church.

Call to Action Shatter the Stained Glass Ceiling Tour

This link will take you to the calendar of events sponsored by Call to Action that promote female ordination within the Roman Catholic Church. Call to Action is a major progressive Catholic organization. The following is a short list of the soon to occur events, but click through for the full calendar and a map.

Santa Fe, NM
February 4, 7pm
St. Bede’s Episcopal Church
1601 St. Francis Drive

Albuquerque, NM
February 5, 7pm
Albuquerque Mennonite Church
1300 Girard Blvd. NE

Sarasota, FL, 2pm
February 20
St. Andrew’s UCC Church
6908 Beneva Rd. S.

Dallas, TX
February 27

Chicago, IL
March 2nd

WordAlone Network Annual Convention

April 18 & 19 at Calvary Lutheran, Golden Valley, Minnesota. Rescheduled to avoid a conflict with the LCMC convention a week later in Omaha.

Exegetical Theology and The Lutheran Confessions

I missed this one which occurred on Jan 19th, but I mention this Lutheran Church Missouri Synod conference because of one noteworthy speaker on the agenda: Mark Chavez, a director of Lutheran CORE and recently vice president of the WordAlone Network. It is fascinating that Chavez is warmly received as a speaker at an LCMS theological conference. I doubt whether any CORE or WordAlone speakers will be invited to a United Methodist, Presbyterian, UCC, Episcopal, Moravian, or Reformed Church in America theological conference. These denominations are the full communion partners of the ELCA and are considerably more “middle of the road” than the conservative LCMS, and Chavez’ participation at the LCMS conference is a clear indication of the veer to the right that CORE chooses to travel.

Second Fargo congregation restores ELCA Lutheran funding

Thanks to reader, Pastor Ray from Recovery Church of Fargo, for the link to a news story about the 2nd Fargo ELCA congregation to change course and reinstate funding to the ELCA. The story in Fargo’s Forum said that last September Pontoppidan Lutheran withheld funding by placing the ELCA pledged funds in escrow. Pontoppidan members voted this week to release the escrowed funds and also reinstate ongoing financial support of the ELCA.

Earlier posts here and here discussed similar funding restoration by Hope Lutheran, the largest Fargo ELCA congregation, and also by St. Luke’s of Cottage Grove, Minnesota.

A follow up to continuing ELCA Lutheran stories

Yesterday, I blogged about Hope Lutheran of Fargo. At Hope’s congregational meeting, the membership passed a resolution overturning the decision of the Pastor and the Council to withhold funding of the ELCA.

Turns out the same thing happened at St. Luke’s of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, according to a news report from the South Washington County Bulletin. In a comment to yesterday’s post, John Petty suggested, “yet another case where the pastor took the lead in opposing CWA [Church Wide Assembly] and fomenting dissension within his or her congregation.” John’s comment applies to the St Luke’s situation as well. According to the news report, the church council stopped funding the ELCA synod and national offices following a rant from the pastor:

In late August, when the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America met for its churchwide assembly in Minneapolis, St. Luke pastor Tim Housholder gave an impassioned speech to the group about his opposition to allowing gay clergy.

“I stand here finally on God’s holy word which calls homosexuality sin and calls all of those living out this lifestyle to the cross, not to receive tolerant love, but transforming and life-changing love,” Housholder said at the conference.

The news report indicated that the membership voted last Sunday at the annual meeting to partially restore congregational benevolence to the synod upon recommendation of the church council.

A second story that requires a follow up comes from the Northeastern Iowa synod of the ELCA. Just before Thanksgiving, this synod become a hot topic in the Lutheran blogosphere because the synod council passed a couple of resolutions that rejected the pro-LGBT decisions of the CWA. At the time, the Lutheran CORE website trumpeted the actions of the synod council as a harbinger of an anti-CWA groundswell. Turns out CORE was just a tad premature inasmuch as the Synod Council has now reversed course and rescinded its own resolutions.

Blogger friend Susan Hogan at Pretty Good Lutherans hosted a lively debate at that time, and she has reposted the discussion. The rescission was reported in a letter from the synod council vice president Karen Armstrong to the synod on Feb 1.

In her letter Armstrong wrote, “Our council received many responses to these (synod council) actions. There were some who misinterpreted our actions as being defiant of the churchwide decision, and even suggested that we had voted as a synod to leave the ELCA. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

She wrote that others were concerned that the synod council made decisions “that placed the council as a higher authority than the local congregation. There was also a concern that the synod council had placed itself as a higher authority than the churchwide assembly.”