“Lutheran CORE is continuing in the Christian faith as it has been passed down to us by generations of Christians. The ELCA is the one that has departed from the teaching of the Bible as understood by Christians for 2,000 years,” said the Rev. Paull Spring of State College, Pa., chair of Lutheran CORE. “I am saddened that a Lutheran Church that was founded on a firm commitment to the Bible has come to the
point that the ELCA would vote to reject the Bible’s teaching on marriage and homosexual behavior. It breaks my heart.”

“The assembly has voted to remove the ELCA from the universal Christian consensus on marriage and homosexual behavior. Lutheran CORE intends to remain faithful to the clear teaching of Scripture and the consistent teaching of the Christian Church worldwide and throughout time,” said Ryan Schwarz of Washington, D.C., a member of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee, who was a finalist in Friday’s
election for ELCA Vice President.

Read it all.

Theologians and church analysts said both votes could influence other Protestant denominations — including Presbyterians and United Methodists — that are struggling to reconcile conflicts over homosexuality and the Bible.

One scholar characterized the move by the two groups as a “watershed moment in American Christianity” that could further divide churches already laboring to stem the flight of traditionalists.

“Those who have been actively campaigning for a change of this sort in the other mainline denominations will see this as a sign that they should intensify their efforts,” Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, said in an e-mail. “For those of us who have opposed this on biblical grounds, it is bound to reinforce the sense that we are no longer welcome in the mainline.”

Read it all.

But for some lifelong Episcopalians the national church is moving too far and too fast.

“It’s like a friend of mine said, before 2003, I was sitting on the front row, after 2003, I was sitting in the middle, and after this General Convention, I’m sitting on the back pew, with one eye on the door,” said David Keller, a member of Christ Church in Greenville.

Keller led the 1994 diocesan nominating committee in that selected Henderson as bishop of the Upper Diocese. But Keller said he has gradually retreated from administrative church responsibilities as the national and local church has struggled with the gay and lesbian issue. A loyal lay reader of the scriptures, he said he is taking a sabbatical from that Sunday routine as well.

“An awful lot of people that I know who are very upset about what is going on have already stopped going to church or just jumped ship,” said Keller, who as a delegate to the 2003 national convention voted against Robinson’s ordination.

He said he was in a “wait and see attitude” and was keenly interested in the theological counsel of South Carolina’s other Episcopal bishop, Mark Lawrence, who leads Lowcountry Episcopalians and considers himself an orthodox Episcopalian.

Read it all.

Quoting the Bible and denomination founder Martin Luther, delegates sought to place the decision within their interpretation of their Lutheran faith.

“We live today with an understanding of homosexuality that did not exist in Jesus’ time and culture,” Tim Mumm, a lay delegate from Wisconsin and supporter of Lutherans Concerned, an gay-rights organization, said during the debate. “We are responding to something that the writers of Scripture could not have understood.”

But other said the recommendations weaken the Biblical standards of the church.

“As Luther taught us, Scripture does not have a wax nose,” said the Rev. Ryan Mills, a delegate representing Texas and Louisana. “It cannot be twisted into anything we want it to say. But that’s just what we’re doing with these following recommendations.”

Read it all.

Pastor Richard Mahan of the ELCA West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod was among several speakers contending that the proposed changes are contrary to biblical teaching. “I cannot see how the church that I have known for 40 years can condone what God has condemned,” Mahan said, “Nowhere does it say in scripture that homosexuality and same sex marriage is acceptable of God.”

But others said a greater acceptance of people who are gay and lesbian in the church was consistent with the Bible. Bishop Gary Wollersheim of the ELCA Northern Illinois Synod said, “It’s a matter of justice, a matter of hospitality, it’s what Jesus would have us do.” Wollersheim said he had been strongly influenced by meetings with youth at youth leadership events in his synod, a regional unit of the ELCA.

Read it all.

In a phone conversation before the afternoon session, during which delegates would decide the issue of ordination, [South Carolina Bishop Herman R.] Yoos said he voted in favor of recognizing same-sex unions but that he planned to vote against ordaining gays and lesbians in committed, publicly accountable relationships.

“My position is we need to live with same-sex unions blessed and recognized for a period of time to discern whether to take the next step or not.” Yoos said he is not necessarily opposed to the idea, but he is cautious about moving too fast. He called the new policy a profound and historical change but worried that two such changes in quick succession might be one too many.

Proponents of the new policy pledged to work with the church to achieve reconciliation.

“Today I am proud to be a Lutheran,” Emily Eastwood, executive director of Lutherans Concerned/North America, said in a statement. “The ELCA has always had gay ministers, now those and all ministers are free to claim who they are and to have the love and support of a life-long partner, regardless of orientation or gender identity, which is all we ever asked.”

The Rev. Steve Plonk, pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Mount Pleasant, said the debate certainly has infiltrated his congregation, which includes some who want the church to lead on the issues of gay marriage and ordination, others who embrace a more orthodox view and insist the church shouldn’t even discuss the matter and still others who hope for careful, gradual progress.

Read it all.

Pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America can bless same-sex unions after a vote Friday by delegates at the Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis.

“I’ve been a life-long member at Redeemer Lutheran Church [in Atlanta], and I was never comfortable asking my church to bless my relationship,” said Bob Gibeling, who is at the assembly.

“This offers great hope to me that when I find a future life-long partner, my own beloved congregation will want to bless that union.”

Read it all.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s 11th Churchwide Assembly continued debating human sexuality on Friday morning, and approved allowing congregations to bless same-sex couples by a vote of 771-230.

After a long week of hearings and debates, some voting members of the ELCA assembly cried as they spoke, or choked back tears. Even a resolution that called on ELCA members to “bear one another’s burdens, love the neighbor, and respect the bound consciences of all” became a point of contention.

Pastor Steven Frock of the Western Iowa Synod cited Jesus’ warning that those who cause little ones to sin face a sharp judgment in eternity.

“Are you willing, and can you so casually, place your mortal souls at risk?” he asked. “If you have any doubts at all, I ask you not to step off this precipice.”

Read it all.

Sexuality may not be the gospel, but it is a big deal””and we ignore that at our peril. Sexuality is bound up with the question of the human future””the begetting and the rearing of the next generation. Sexuality furnishes the most pungent similes and metaphors in Scripture for describing the intimate, self-giving love of God for the human family. Relationships grounded in human sexuality””husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons””are woven throughout the biblical story. How our church, how any church, treats marriage and family life will either enhance or detract from our service in God’s mission in the world. Make no mistake: sex is a big deal!

So, I ask, how have we in the ELCA done in formulating a social statement on human sexuality? Has our great church produced a great document that does justice to the gravity and grace of human sexuality? Have we in the ELCA addressed as powerfully and as richly as possible the real social issues that arise from our life as sexually-differentiated human beings? Are we now poised to be a church that has something powerful to say to our society in the early 21st century about the wonder of human sexuality and the tremendous possibilities of well-ordered sexual lives, for the sake of our human future? Are we ready to speak confidently, compellingly to our society as a church that still believes that “the Lord God in his goodness created us male and female, and by the gift of marriage founded human community in a joy that begins now and is brought to perfection in the life to come?”[2]

Alas, as I read Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, I cannot honestly say that we have done our best to plumb the heights and depths of human sexuality so as to say something meaningful and compelling to the society in which we live. As a colleague in ministry put it, only we Lutherans could take something as exciting as sex and write about it in such a pedestrian way.

Let me name three deep concerns that I have about Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.

1. Framing the Issue. Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, although proposed to us as a theological teaching document consistently fails to exhibit a deep engagement with and thoughtful appropriation of the Lutheran theological treasury. The rich law-gospel dialectic for which Lutherans are known is not the “operating system” in this teaching document. The document sets aside””in a footnote, no less![3]””our time-honored understanding of “orders of creation” as deep, dynamic, caring structures that God has built into the Creation to bring forth and sustain human life in all its multi-form abundance. In the place of such profound theological and ethical categories, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust sees everything sexual through the sociological lens of “trust in relationships” or “social trust.” (The word “trust” shows up nearly two hundred times in the document!) Now, to be sure, social trust is a very good thing! Even thoughtful pagans will agree to that. But “social trust” is scarcely a suitable “lens” for a distinctively Christian or churchly word about human sexuality.

Read it all.

Meeting this week in Minneapolis for its biennial convention, the nation’s seventh-largest denomination is considering a policy that would allow its 10,000 congregations to hire as pastor any properly ordained person “in a lifelong, committed, monogamous, same-gender relationship.”

The 4.8 million-member denomination already permits gay clergy but requires they remain celibate.

Earlier this year, the Presbyterian Church USA voted narrowly to continue its ban on openly gay clergy, as did the United Methodist Church last year.

Last month, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church USA formally expanded its ordination policy to permit lesbian and gay bishops. The denomination has been ordaining homosexual priests and deacons since the 1990s.

Read it all.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, one of the largest Christian denominations in the country, will decide this week whether to allow gay people in relationships to serve as clergy.

Currently, sexually active gay people are not permitted to serve in the clergy, but celibate gay people are. By Friday, church delegates meeting in Minneapolis are expected to vote on a proposal that would permit congregations to let gay men and lesbians in committed, monogamous relationships serve as clergy.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church is the latest major denomination to wrestle with the question of gay clergy. The issue has divided the Episcopal Church, which last month voted to make gay people eligible for any ordained ministry, further threatening to split the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which it is a branch. And earlier this year, the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted against accepting openly gay pastors, although the margin narrowed compared with a 2001 vote.

Read it all.

The denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is considering lifting a ban on noncelibate gay and lesbian pastors, permitting the ordination of people in committed same-sex relationships.

At issue is how the Bible should inform policy, how the denomination can best serve its mission, and how a vote to ordain gay men and lesbians would affect the church’s relationships with the broader Christian community. Fears of a schism have been fueled by recent turmoil in the Episcopal Church, which voted in July to permit the ordination of openly gay bishops. The issue has cost the Episcopal Church about 100,000 members, who have left to join a new, more conservative entity called the Anglican Church in North America.

Although an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America task force proposed a “structured flexibility” clause that ultimately would leave gay ordination up to each congregation, a sense of division looms. Some delegates here are cloaked in shawls distributed by a Lutheran organization endorsing gay ordination, while others are wearing buttons from an opposing Lutheran organization.

Read it all.

Pastor Joel Benson of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod cited the Archbishop of Canterbury’s reflections on General Convention. He paraphrased the archbishop’s reflections as establishing a category of “second-class Christians” for those churches that bless same-sex couples or ordain openly gay clergy.

David Olsen of the St. Paul Area Synod said the ELCA is in unity with the Lutheran World Federation, but “that unity is about to be dissolved” if the assembly approves the new ordination standards.

If the Holy Spirit is prompting the assembly to change its standards for ordaining clergy, asked Roy Gibbs of the Northwestern Ohio Synod, why is the Holy Spirit not inspiring Methodist, Eastern Orthodox, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic leaders to do likewise?

“Does the Spirit speak differently to different churches?” he asked.

Read it all.

“The church has supported families of all kinds and has acknowledged without judgment the variety of views within the ELCA regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inclusion,” said Emily Eastwood, executive director of Lutherans Concerned/North America, an advocacy group for gays and lesbians in the church.

But the Rev. Paull Spring, chair of Lutheran CORE, a coalition of conservative ELCA Lutherans, said, “We mourn the decision by the Churchwide Assembly to reject the clear teaching of the Bible that God’s intention for marriage is the relationship of one man and one woman.” Paull Spring of State College, Pa., a former bishop in the ELCA, added “It is tragic that such a large number of ELCA members were willing to overturn the clear teaching of the Bible as it has been believed and confessed by Christians for nearly 2,000 years.”

Read it all.

“But I… must register some concerns about this document.

“First, I look for a social statement as a theological document to have THEOLOGY clearly evident as the Windows “operating system” throughout the whole document, helping us and the members of the wider society who may be listening in to think more thoughtfully and deeply with the Word of God leading the way. It strikes me that there are sections of this document, particuarly toward the end of it, where I felt as though the train had left the station, but the theological cargo didn’t get loaded.

“Second, I look for a social statement as a teaching statement to use the best tools from our Lutheran treasure-chest, and if new modes of reflection are proposed, to build good bridges to them FROM time-honored Lutheran ways of doing ethical reflection. At several points I wish this document did a better job at that. To cite just one example, our rich Lutheran understanding of ‘orders of creation’ deserves something more noble than the kind of ‘burial’ that it gets here in footnote #11.

“Third, it seems to me that this statement tends to move us away from saying that there is throughout the scriptural and confessional witness a FORM to sexual relationships that we are confident has the blessing and command of God. It seems to me that there is proposed in this document no FORM of sexual expression that grounds us, serves as our North Star reference point….but instead we are directed to certain qualities of all kinds of sexual relationships (of whatever form)–that they be loving, committed, faithful, etc (all good things, by the way!)

“That subtle move away from the ‘formfulness’ of human sexuality is perhaps most troubling to me because I believe it will diminish our capacity to address faithfully other, future issues regarding human sexuality that will surely arise in the years to come. I suspect that many ELCA Lutherans who are not present with us in this assembly hall would agree with me in this concern. Thank you.”

Read it all.

Speaking in favor of adoption of the statement, the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod, said she hopes the assembly does not become “so narrowly focused on the issue of homosexual sexual behavior that we missed the point that we’re speaking a clear word that needs to be heard by our culture,” particularly on topics about co-habitation outside of marriage, sex as a commodity, child pornography and more. She said the church has high expectations for all Lutherans, especially for ELCA professional leaders.

Speaking in opposition, voting member Curtis Sorbo, ELCA Eastern North Dakota Synod, said the social statement “should be a teaching tool. I don’t think that it is. Instead we have descriptions of different sexual relationships that we are asked to accept by bound conscience,” he said. “We are asked to affirm a description of sexuality in today’s culture because of a new reality. Our church needs to address this issue based on the authority of the word of God, not a description of public opinion and personal desires.”

Read the whole article.

One vote. That was the margin Wednesday by which the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America churchwide assembly approved a social statement that, among other things, acknowledges the validity of same-sex relationships that are “chaste, monogamous and lifelong.”

The margin was so close that Bishop Mark Hanson, the ELCA leader who presided over the vote, hesitated before announcing the outcome. Rules required the social statement to pass by a two-thirds vote; the final result was 66.67 percent.

“I thought it was going to be close, but I doubted very much that it would come out at exactly two-thirds,” said the Rev. Peter Strommen, chairman of the task force that drew up the social statement and pastor of Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church in Prior Lake.

Read it all.

(ELCA News)

Y.T. Chiu described himself as a “former homophobe” who, encouraged by his pastor to look at the ELCA documents, changed his mind about the issue. “Change is good; being a rebel is not bad,” said Chiu, Northeastern Ohio Synod.

The Rev. Craig Werting of the South Dakota Synod urged voting members of the assembly not to be swayed by the “many stories on both side of this issue that present emotional appeals.”

Anyone who listens cannot help but be moved,” he said, “but emotions themselves do not make an argument. Instead of following the emotion of the day, sometimes we must put feelings aside and do what scripture tells us to do.”

Read it all.

The assembly met for non-legislative discussion beginning at 10:30 a.m. Voting members lined up at several microphones and quickly began calling for the document’s approval or defeat.

Robert Benne of the Virginia Synod said he opposes the document not because of its possible consequences but because its perspective is intrinsically wrong. “The word of God should not be put up for a vote,” he said.

Y. Chiu, a physician from the Northeastern Ohio Area Synod, called himself a “reformed homophobic.” He said he changed his beliefs after considering an earlier church teaching in 1993. “Change is good,” he said. “Being a rebel is not bad.”

Pastor Phillip Nielsen of the Nebraska Synod, a conservative, said the document oversimplifies the sexuality debate by neglecting the perspectives of bisexual and transgender persons. It does not present the nuanced arguments of either primary side, he said, but merely presents summaries of opinions.

Read it all.

“We’ve arrived at a very dangerous place, because what we’re considering doing is stepping away from holy Scripture”‚.”‚.”‚.”‚ and when we do that, we’re lost,” said the Rev. Mark Knappe, pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran church in Menomonee Falls and one of 19 people dispatched from the Greater Milwaukee Synod to vote on the national resolutions this week.

His voice is in the minority in a synod that leans toward full inclusion of gay and lesbian members and passed its own resolution in May recommending the national ELCA adopt the measure allowing congregations to recognize monogamous same-sex unions and accept clergy who have entered into them.

“There’s room in our church for diversity of opinions and even diversity of interpretations of Scripture,” said Greater Milwaukee Bishop Paul Stumme-Diers, also a voting member at the assembly.

“I think we realize that gay and lesbian persons do not have a choice in terms of their sexual orientation, and I would like to see them be given equal rights in society and within the church.”

Read it all.

Listen to it all.

If you have not yet, make sure to take a look.

Advocates of change in the Lutheran denomination argue that their church has a responsibility to accept all its members equally. They point out that the new policy would be voluntary.

“We fully believe the church will be a better place and a better student for its mission if it is fully inclusive,” said Phil Soucy, a spokesman for Goodsoil, a coalition of gay rights groups in the church. “Christ did not discriminate.”

But those who favor traditional Lutheran positions on marriage believe the proposed policy reflects cultural norms rather than the word of God. They say a liberalized approach would drive away conservative Lutherans and undermine relations with other Christian denominations.

“A church ought to be focused on Jesus Christ and not voting on whether the Bible applies in terms of how humans are to live in a sexual relationship,” said the Rev. Mark Chavez, director of Lutheran Coalition for Reform.

Read it all.

Here is the website blurb:

Evangelical Lutherans are gathering in Minneapolis to consider whether to permit gay and lesbian ministers to lead churches if they are in a committed relationship. Midmorning discusses the tension this issue has created regarding inclusion and unity among other mainline Protestant churches.

You may tune in if you are so inclined. The other guests are–Susan Russell and Kevin Eckstrom . Please note that the program is 10 a.m. eastern Time, 9 a.m. central–KSH.

America’s largest Lutheran denomination has reached its crossroads on homosexuality and allowing openly gay clergy, with crucial votes slated at its biennial assembly this week in Minneapolis that participants say are too close to call.

“We recognize we’re in for some long conversation this week,” said Virginia Synod Bishop James F. Mauney, who oversees 42,000 members in 163 churches across the state. “I am hopeful that our worship will guide our conversation and we will be guided by the Holy Spirit.”

The gathering of 65 synods representing the 4.6-million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America mirrors a denomination split over homosexuality.

Only celibate gay clergy can serve in ELCA churches. A small majority – 54 percent – of ELCA clergy support gay ordination, according to a Clergy Voices survey conducted in May and posted recently on the denomination’s Web site.

Read it all.

The Rev. Dr. Herman R. Yoos, bishop of the South Carolina Synod, wrote in an open letter that he has been “wrestling with scripture, tradition and our Lutheran theology” for years, and has concluded that marriage is “a gift (from God) of a lifelong faithful relationship of husband and wife.” But even traditional marriage can be riddled with sinfulness.

“Because of this brokenness (caused by original sin), nothing is as God intended,” Yoos wrote. “Therefore, I believe that one’s sexual orientation is not primarily a conscious choice, but rather is a deeply ingrained part of one’s identity. It seems to me that gays and lesbians no more choose their sexual orientation than heterosexuals do.”

Since gays and lesbians are victims of discrimination and injustice, the church has an obligation to lend its support, he wrote.

“For me, this takes nothing away from God’s gift of marriage as God’s first intention for creation, but it does allow for the recognition of a deep bond of intimate trust that can be found among same-gendered couples who want to live in faithful committed relationships.”

Read it all.

AFA Journal: Considering that the mainlines have been on a path away from orthodoxy for more than 40 years, do you ever feel that IRD is a voice crying in the wilderness, that no one is listening?

Mark Tooley: No! God clearly has preserved a strong voice of orthodoxy and renewal within all the mainline denominations. We should be careful not to conflate the views of church elites with the views of all church members. They are part of the Body of Christ. None of us has the liberty to write off any part of the Body of Christ, no matter how troubled.

In a more temporal sense, the mainliners still bring a powerful history and legacy to American Christianity from which modern evangelicals can and should learn. As we see from distressing current evangelical trends, doctrine, church structure and appreciation for church history are vital for strong churches.

Read it all.

With the Episcopalians headed toward a likely split over the appointing of gay bishops, ELCA leaders are well aware of the risks. Bishop Mark Hanson, the Twin Cities native who leads the ELCA, said that no matter how the vote comes out, he’s intent on keeping the losers from rebellion.

“It is my commitment and my conviction that we will not succumb to this polarizing question that often divides communities,” he said.

Despite the divisiveness of the issue, the assembly promises to uphold the ELCA’s reputation for nonconfrontational confrontation.

Read it all.

Voting members of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly are scheduled to consider two documents related to human sexuality. One is a proposed social statement on human sexuality, “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.” Social statements are theological and teaching documents that form the basis for policy in the ELCA.

The other document is a “Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies.” The recommendation asks the assembly to consider a process to change ministry policies to make it possible for Lutherans, who are in “publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships,” to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and ordained ministers.

Both documents were mandated by previous churchwide assemblies.

The assembly is the highest legislative authority of the ELCA. The theme of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly is “God’s Work. Our Hands.”

Read it all.

“Most of our people are, frankly, tired of the struggle, but we don’t want to give up,” says the Rev. Paull Spring, who heads Lutheran Coalition for Reform, a group that opposes the ordination of clergy in openly gay relationships.

“There’s nothing personal attached to this at all,” he adds. “But it is a biblical concern. What does Holy Scripture teach about marriage, what does it teach about family, what does it teach about sexuality? It’s very clear: There is no support within Holy Scripture for this kind of relationship.”

Those wanting gay ministers disagree: They say Jesus was all about including everyone in his work and mission.

Now that disagreement is being put to the test. And it looks as if the liberals have a good chance of winning.

Read or listen to it all.