Tag Archives: ELCA

Holy Trinity of New Prague followup

I previously mentioned Holy Trinity of New Prague at the end of my recent update on the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC). This church and city are near my home in Northfield, Minnesota, and I previously reported that this ELCA congregation was considering dual affiliation with LCMC despite clear messages from their ELCA Synod office that dual affiliation was unconstitutional. What is more, after the Synod Bishop was invited by ELCA supporters to speak, the Bishop was “uninvited” by the church council, and the meeting had to be arranged at the local Knights of Columbus meeting hall rather than at the church building. That much was previously discussed here.

The dual affiliation vote was scheduled for Sunday, August 14th, the same day that I traveled to Orlando for the start of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly (CWA11). The Delta flight from Minneapolis was full, and at least half the passengers were Lutherans like me traveling to the Assembly. While we awaited the prearranged shuttle to the convention center, I overheard a conversation about Holy Trinity, and I visited with Synod staff who had just learned that the vote to dual affiliate had failed 145 to 117.

Since then, I haven’t heard much from New Prague. Presumably, both sides are evaluating the consequences of this rejection of the leadership of the pastor and the council. What is the future of that pastor, who invested a heavy measure of his good will with the congregation, in a failed attempt to lead down a path the congregation chose not to follow? Will the pastor attempt to salvage his congregational standing? If so, how? Having cast his lot with LCMC, how will the pastor continue as rostered ELCA clergy? Even if the pastor is contrite, will the majority of the congregation have any confidence in and support for the pastor?

ELCA Church Wide Assembly ends

Two years ago, I attended the ELCA 2009 Churchwide Assembly (CWA09) as a volunteer, and I had plenty of opportunity to submit reports to the blogosphere. Many readers found this blog at that time and have continued as regular followers.

The 2011 biennial Churchwide Assembly (CWA11) convened in Orlando a week ago, Monday the 15th of August, and I was there as a voting member. I fully intended to provide ongoing blog updates, but that proved to be impossible due to time and energy spent in plenary sessions, worship, morning discussions in the lobby while sipping Starbucks coffee, or late night gab sessions with friends old and new.

I met a few blog or social media contacts face-to-face: blogger Pastor Justin Johnson from New York, Augsburg Fortress CEO Beth Lewis, and Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber of Denver. I rekindled friendships with the leaders of Lutherans Concerned/Goodsoil. I enjoyed a couple of long discussions with my cousin Bill Gafkjen, who is finishing his first year as Bishop of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod; Bishop Bill was added to the St. Olaf Board of Regents during the Assembly, so we look forward to seeing Bill in Northfield from time to time. John Nunes, President and CEO of Lutheran World Relief, offered a verbal book report to me and other conversation partners regarding my Wretched Man novel. And so many more …

So, please excuse the tardy nature of my assembly reports, which I will post here this week.

At this time, I will offer this foreword. On Thursday evening, Bishop Huck Usgaard gathered the voting members from the SE Mn Synod for a final prayer huggle. Erica Staab asked each to offer a one-word summation. Here are a few responses: awesome, overwhelming, fulfilling, gratifying, uplifting, powerful …

One veteran suggested this was the most spirited and spirit-filled Churchwide Assembly since the very first one two-and-a-half decades ago. Others offered these metaphors: a cleansing exhale after a long time holding our breath, all in the boat paddling in the same direction, eyes meeting in trust rather than averted in suspicion.

More to come …

ELCA Churchwide Assembly to consider anti-bullying resolution

I have two vivid bullying memories from my youth half a century ago.

I attended a small, mid-Minnesota K-12 public school, and the first memory is a positive one. In early elementary school, the class always formed a line in the hallway before moving anywhere (being line leader was a great honor). One day as the line was assembling, a high schooler who happened to be passing through the hall picked on one of my classmates—don’t remember who or why, but what I do remember was a senior, an athlete, upbraiding the one who did the taunting. In effect, the hero said, “if you want to pick on someone, start with me,” and of course, that was the end of it.

The second memory is one that makes me cringe, because I was the bully ringleader. In fourth grade, we had put together an exhibit of frontier days in Minnesota (it was the year of the Mn centennial) that included household items from the mid-nineteenth century. The gist of our bullying one day was to tease a girl from a poor family by suggesting that they still used these implements of a bygone era. Silly, yes. Trivial, no or I wouldn’t still feel guilty about it fifty years later.

Bullying among our youth, especially towards those perceived to be gay, has received a lot of attention recently, especially here in Minnesota where one large school district experienced a handful of teen suicides in which prior bullying may have been a factor.

In prior posts, I have repeated the haunting question of retired presiding Bishop of the ELCA, Herb Chilstrom, “what will you say to your sons and daughters, sisters and brothers and others in your churches when they tell you they are homosexual?”, and I have posed the further question whether one’s church is part of the problem or part of the solution. Clearly, the ELCA as a church body seeks to be part of the solution.

Of the sixty-five regional Synods of the ELCA, thirty-seven have passed a nearly identical anti-bullying resolution onto the Churchwide Assembly (CWA11) for consideration. CWA11 opens on Monday, the 15th of August, and I’ll be there as a voting member.

Here is pertinent language from these memorials (the full text is here—click on memorials committee report):

WHEREAS … research indicates children with disabilities or special needs are at a higher risk of being bullied than others (Rigby, K., 2002, New Perspective on Bullying. London. Jessica Kingsley Publications); and it has concluded, “Bullying around issues of sexual orientation, non-conforming gender behaviors, and dress was the most common form of bullying, second only to issues of appearance (e.g., body size and disability)” …

WHEREAS, in the social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust (2009), this church declares, “Likewise, it [the ELCA] will attend to the particular needs of children and the families of those with actual or perceived differences in sexual orientation or gender identity because they are especially vulnerable to verbal, physical, emotional, spiritual,
psychological, and sexual abuse;” …

WHEREAS, the voice of the church addressing the intersection of race, economic status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, psychological, and physical ability is a powerful witness …

Here then are the series of action items taken from the Alaska resolution simply because theirs is first alphabetically.

RESOLVED, that the Alaska Synod encourage new partnerships among our congregations, the synods, the churchwide organization, outdoor ministries, campus ministries, Lutheran School Associations, Lutherans Concerned/North America, Lutheran Social Services organizations, public schools, counseling centers, and other governmental organizations in order to support and offer preventative programs addressing bullying, harassment, and other related violence, especially with
higher risk populations; and be it further

RESOLVED, that these partnerships be encouraged to create or join with existing preventative programs which:

a. utilize positive, inclusive, empowering and developmentally appropriate materials,
b. raise participant’s awareness about the issue, c. focus on prevention,
d. seek to change bystander behavior into ally behavior, e. create partnerships between youth and adults; and be it further

RESOLVED, that these partnerships seek funding for these efforts from a combination of existing funds and new funding sources not otherwise accessible individually such as foundation grants, synod and other Lutheran organizational grants (e.g., Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Wheat Ridge Ministries, Women of the ELCA), private and governmental funding sources; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Alaska Synod memorialize the 2011 Churchwide Assembly to encourage, support, and publicize new partnerships in ministry that emerge in this church addressing the prevention of bullying, harassment, and related forms of violence, especially with higher risk populations.

The Memorials Committee issued a favorable recommendation including the following language (emphasis added):

Thirty-seven synods have presented similar memorials on the topic of “preventing bullying, harassment, and related violence.” These memorials ask the Churchwide Assembly to take action to expand the ministries of this church that address the problems of bullying, harassment, and related violence. The majority of the memorials cite two social statements in support of this request: (1) Our Calling in Education (2007), which affirms that opposition to bullying and other forms of harassment are components of truly safe schools, conducive to effective teaching and learning; and, (2) Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust (2009), which notes that children with actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity differences and their families are frequent targets of abusive behavior. The citations from the two social statements of this church rightly identify concerns within these statements that this church
should aggressively address bullying and related forms of abuse.

Lutherans Concerned North America sponsored and promoted these resolutions at the Synod level and will be advocating for them at CWA11.

Lutheran CORE update

Once an advocacy group within the ELCA, Lutheran CORE cut ties to the ELCA immediately after the 2009 Churchwide Assembly and in 2010 formed its own denomination, The North American Lutheran Church (NALC). That denomination meets this week in Ohio for their second annual convocation.

From their website and their recent newsletters, it is clear that CORE/NALC continues to self-define as opposition to the ELCA. To the question Who are you? the answer would appear to be, we are not the ELCA, and ELCA bashing continues to be the coin of their realm. A recent post on the CORE blog contains the entire letter of resignation from the ELCA by a pastor, who happens to be the blog moderator, and he graciously acknowledges that “many” of his former pastoral colleagues in the South Dakota Synod (not “most” and certainly not “all”) are “faithful Christians”. A newsletter article written by NALC Bishop Paull Spring asks, “What is to prevent the North American Lutheran Church from reverting to what the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is?”

The brochure announcing the Convocation and the accompanying theological conference contains the following:

Yet, some Christians and churches act as though …
This conference will seek to reaffirm the strong teachings of classical Lutheran theology, rather than follow the more fashionable trends of various liberal and liberation theologies.
it is time for Lutherans to reverse the direction of current mission policy, which is backed by a faulty theology.

The conference will feature the usual suspects that are continuously recycled–Braaten, Benne, Nestingen–and also a special guest speaker … a leader of the schismatic Episcopal group (ACNA).

Recent issues of the NALC newsletter suggest the denomination now numbers 200 congregations and 100,000 members. For comparison, the ELCA has roughly ten thousand congregations and 4 million members, the Missouri synod has 2.4 million members, and the Wisconsin Synod nearly 400,000 members. The other dissident organization that has split from the ELCA, Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) apparently has over 300,000 members.

The newsletters also note that CORE/NALC meets a couple of times a year with LCMC, “to consider how the two church bodies might better work together” but nothing substantial comes from these meetings other than “all those present were grateful for the chance to talk, listen and grow in their appreciation for each church body, better appreciating our similarities and differences. There was also a sense of hope for a developing partnership in mission and ministry.” My prediction is that too much turf would have to be surrendered by one or the other organization to form a meaningful partnership. As one LCMC pastor candidly acknowledged back in 2009 “LCMC and NALC will be splitting a small pie”.

Canadian Lutherans Approve Gay Clergy

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) consists of 152,000 baptized members spread over 607 congregations, which makes it the largest Lutheran body in Canada. The denomination maintains close relations with the US based ELCA.

In mid July, the denomination met for its biennial national convention, and approved a range of pro-LGBT measures.

Gay marriages have been performed and recognized in Canada since 2005, and the recent ELCIC resolutions allow clergy to perform such marriages without compelling them to do so:

… may, according to the dictates of their consciences as informed by the Gospels, the Scriptures, the ecumenical creeds and the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, preside at or bless legal marriages according to the laws of the province within which they serve.

Secondly, gay clergy will be permitted:

It is the policy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada that sexual orientation is not in itself a factor which disqualifies a candidate for rostered ministry or a rostered minister seeking a call.

Lutherans Concerned North America is the advocacy group that has promoted LGBTQ interests within the ELCA and also within the ELCIC. Here is LCNA’s longer report on the ELCIC actions.

Prelude to ELCA 2011 Churchwide Assembly

Every two years, the ELCA comes together in a national, churchwide assembly to conduct the business of the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. The Churchwide Assembly is the ultimate legislative authority of the church, so the decisions made by the approximately 1,000 voting members determine church policy.

The assembly consists of “voting members” rather than “delegates” because their charge is to represent the interests of the entire church and not merely their own congregation or regional synod. Representing roughly ten thousand congregations and over four million members, the voting members come from every corner of the US and the Caribbean. By constitution, the voting members consist of 60% laity and 40% clergy, equal representation of male and female, and 10% ethnic minority.

On August 14th, the 2011 biennial Churchwide Assembly convenes in Orlando and will run through the 19th. This will be the first national gathering of the church since the groundbreaking actions of the 2009 Churchwide assembly in Minneapolis that opened the pulpit to gay clergy. Since then, openly gay clergy have been received onto the ELCA roster in highly visible and celebratory “Rites of Reception”. Also in the interim, the Presbyterian Church USA has revised its policies to allow gay clergy, and the United Methodists are squirming with the issue. On the other hand, roughly 5% of the ELCA congregations have dissolved their relationship with the ELCA and joined one of two rival, conservative, splinter groups: the North American Lutheran Church and Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ.

I was present at the 2009 assembly as a volunteer for Goodsoil, an advocacy group for LGBTQ interests. Goodsoil is the face of Lutherans Concerned North America, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, and Wingspan. I will again be present this year in Orlando as a voting member, and I plan to live blog the event as I did in 2009.

Follow this blog with an RSS feed or via Twitter (@LiberalSpirit) for regular assembly updates (CWA11).

February and March figures of ELCA departing congregations

Here is the content of the email received from the office of ELCA Secretary for February figures:

As of 2/4/11, 716 congregations had taken first votes to leave the ELCA. These 716 congregations have taken a total of 759 first votes. (As you know, the greater number reflects that some congregations have taken multiple first votes.) Of the first votes taken, 532 passed and 227 failed. There have been 395 second votes — 375 passed and 20 failed.

Here is the corresponding statement for March:

As of March 3, 2011, 743 congregations have taken first votes to leave the ELCA. These 743 congregations have taken a total of 791 first votes. Of the first votes taken, 551 passed and 240 failed. There have been 437 second votes; 414 passed and 23 failed.

Listen to the children

I had coffee recently with the chaplain of St. Olaf, one of Northfield’s private, liberal arts colleges and an ELCA school with deep roots in American Lutheranism. His student based congregation is a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregation (open and affirming toward gays), but he said that status is old hat. Gay rights, including gay clergy and marriage equality, are no longer issues for this generation, he said. A fait accompli. De facto if not yet de jure. As baby boomers like me argue, this generation has moved on.

Just last week, a lesbian couple in the twin cities, after first being banned from processing together in a high school social, were welcomed enthusiastically by fellow students. Last fall, another twin cities student, a gay youth whose article in the school newspaper was banned, was later elected homecoming king. By the example of their experience, they hasten the inevitable change that is becoming matter-of-fact.

Another young man spoke eloquently recently about his personal experience. The nineteen year old college student from Iowa spoke before a legislative committee that is considering a constitutional amendment to overturn a ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court a couple of years ago authorizing gay marriage. This high-achieving student spoke of his experience of growing up with two moms.

Hear him speak.

Reconciling in Christ nationwide celebration

The “Reconciling in Christ” movement functions as an ancillary activity of Lutherans Concerned North America (LCNA), which is the well-organized and successful Lutheran LGBTQ advocacy group. From the LCNA website:

The Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Program recognizes Lutheran congregations that welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) believers. The complete Reconciling in Christ Roster now exceeds 450 settings, including congregations, synods, colleges, seminaries, and other organizations.

Yesterday, January 30th, many RIC congregations celebrated their RIC status. What follows is a sampling of blogosphere comments from RIC folks around the country.

From St. Andrew Lutheran Church of Parsipanny, New Jersey.

About ten years ago, our congregation voted, UNANIMOUSLY, to adopt a statement that we would be open and welcoming to ALL people who seek to know Christ, regardless of any discriminating factor, including their sexual orientation or gender identity. We became part of a community of believers, affiliated with Lutherans Concerned/North America, to adopt this statement. By doing so, we became a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Congregation.

This one of the things I love about my congregation. We voted unanimously to become RIC because it is part of the culture of who we are. There were no dissenters. We all knew this was the right thing to do. We were already living it; we should just say it out loud. All are welcome here.

[W]e really DO care. We DO care that you are here with us. We DO care that you feel welcome here. We DO care that you find a relationship with God and work to draw closer to Him. We DO care that you should not feel judged by the people here. We DO care that your gifts and talents are recognized and valued here. We DO care that you find fellowship with the other members of the body of Christ who worship here. We DO care…because you are a child of God… our brother or sister in Christ Jesus.

From St. Michael’s Church of Philadelphia:

Not only for once a year on “Reconciling in Christ Sunday”…but for everyday! A message we at St. Michael’s proudly uphold:

“All Are Welcome, All Are Welcome, All Are Welcome…Welcome Here”

A South Carolina newspaper reported that Reformation Lutheran of Columbia is becoming rejuvenated, along with its inner city neighborhood:

… an influx of urban pioneers, many of them gay and lesbian, began buying up the arts-and-crafts cottages and other homes that had fallen into disrepair.

The congregation decided to reach out to its new neighbors but found that many were suspicious of the church. That’s when the congregation underwent a series of conversations that let it to become a congregation intentional in its mission and outreach. Now the church, with 150 members, is a vital part of the community.

My wife and I were privileged to attend the celebratory service at St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Mn. For those who know the history of LGBTQ advocacy within the ELCA, St Paul Reformation is an iconic congregation. It was the first RIC congregation dating to 1984. It is the parish of Pastor Anita Hill, a national figure in the ELCA movement toward gay inclusion. Other prominent members include the lesbian couple, Ruth Frost and Phyllis Zillhart, who made history in San Francisco nearly twenty years ago, and Emily Eastwood, the executive director of LCNA. Click here for an earlier post about the recent Rite of Reception for Hill, Frost, and Zillhart which officially welcomed them to the clergy roster of the ELCA. We greeted all of these folks yesterday. Frost delivered the sermon, her first since becoming rostered (her current call is to a hospice ministry), and she told me that she and Phyllis will return to their former San Francisco congregation on February 27th for an historic celebration in which the St Francis congregation, once expelled, will formally return to the ELCA.

I was honored to play a small part by addressing the adult forum. We discussed the apostle Paul’s struggle with the Jerusalem leadership of the early Jesus movement and their “yes, but” attitude toward Gentile inclusion in the early church and the parallels with the current struggle for full inclusion of the LGBTQ community.

January figures of ELCA departing congregations

I just received the latest email from the office of the ELCA secretary. The numbers show a definite decrease in activity in December, probably reflecting the holiday season. Bottom line: through the end of 2010, a total of 353 congregations had voted twice to sever ties with the ELCA (as required by constitution). Out of 10,500 or so.

Here is the email:

Here’s the update on congregations that have taken votes to leave the ELCA. As of 1/6/11, 686 congregations had taken first votes to leave the ELCA. These 686 congregations have taken a total of 726 first votes. (The greater number reflects that some congregations have taken multiple first votes.) Of the first votes taken, 504 passed and 222 failed. 351 congregations have taken second votes (and two congregations have taken two second votes!) Of the total of 353 second votes; 334 passed and 19 failed.