This has been the most difficult thing I have done in my life. I am still attending my ELCA Church until we vote in March, but i feel fairly sure that we will not get the 2/3 majority required by our constitution. I will have to leave the Church I grew up in. Please stick to your guns. We do not even have a Senior pastor right now. The situation is not good. We a a rudderless ship. Our associate pastor does not agree with the vote, but does not want to alienate any members by stating her views. She is a caregiver,not a leader. We desperately need a leader.Sorry to vent to you but I just felt out of place at Church today, and it hurt. thanks for reading.
We reject the false teaching that would define the holy Ministry as a "helping profession," and so turn bishops and pastors into psychological counselors or social activists. We reject the false teaching that would fragment the one divinely instituted Ministry into so-called specialized ministries, as if the circumstances of ministry determine its content and practice. We reject the false teaching that ordained ministers are not subject to an exemplary standard in their conduct and relationships, or that they may excuse immoral behavior by an appeal to privacy or gospel freedom.
The Word of God is silenced among us and driven out of the Church whenever the holy Ministry becomes a loosely defined service to people rather than the specific divine call to serve the Word of God, and whenever bishops and pastors are not encouraged to adorn the holy Ministry with holy lives.