Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Happy Anniversary /sarc
Be rooted in Christ!
Posted on 08/22/2010 7:05:14 PM PDT by SmithL
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted a year ago to allow gays and lesbians in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships" to serve as clergy and rostered leaders.
Some celebrated the decision by the nation's largest Lutheran denomination.
Some chose to leave.
The ELCA's La Crosse Area Synod lost two rural Viroqua congregations. A Holmen pastor resigned to start another church.
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Tomah is caught between, its fold fractured.
"It carries a lot of the dynamics of a divorce," La Crosse Area Synod Bishop Jim Arends said. "They've been family for a long time. It's painful, and it's sad, and it cannot be belittled in any way, shape or form."
Critics say the ELCA's decision compromised the Holy Scripture's authority and abandoned time-honored teachings on marriage and sexuality.
"The Bible, in the canon that has held for many, many centuries, is the final authority for us," said the Rev. David Dahl, associate pastor of Gloria Dei.
Those caught in the fallout speak of disappointment and pain, of family and friends divided, of "un-Christian behavior" on both sides.
Others call it progress.
"We're jumping up and down with joy," said the Rev. Mark Jolivette of La Crosse's Our Savior's Lutheran Church, which even before the statement had welcomed gays and lesbians.
Arends, while acknowledging the consequences, said he thinks the ELCA will emerge "stronger, clearer and better."
Gay clergy policy
The ELCA since its inception in 1988 has allowed gay clergy as long as they remained celibate. The La Crosse Area Synod has no openly gay or lesbian pastors, Arends said.
While the 2009 statement opens the door to partnered homosexual clergy, congregations remain free to choose if they want a gay or lesbian pastor - ELCA bishops do not have authority to assign.
"We are talking a matter of interpretation of Scripture," Arends said. "We are not talking a matter of salvation.
"I don't take lightly Scripture ever, and I would not be a preacher of the Gospel if I didn't believe that Scripture was written to inform us and to lead us, but most of all to introduce us to a living Christ. The gay and lesbian pastors I know are people who have met Christ and want to serve Christ."
Yet some opponents simply cannot remain within the church body.
"Our council felt we are affiliated with an organization that no longer shares our core values," Dahl said.
Turmoil nationwide over the issue has led Lutheran CORE, a coalition of people and reform movements, to assemble Tuesday through Thursday in Ohio on creating a new North American Lutheran Church.
A move toward acceptance
Three of the newest members at Our Savior's are two life partners, together for 19 years, and their toddler daughter. The women, who did not want to be identified, were looking to join a church and heard about Our Savior's.
"It really is all about love and acceptance. For a while, I wasn't sure about that," one woman said. "Based on my experiences in my own life, it (opposition) has more to do with phobia than anything the Bible says," she said, calling the ELCA action a progressive step that eventually will be a non-issue.
Six years ago, Our Savior's became a Reconciling in Christ congregation that welcomes people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. "God makes no exceptions," a statement in the church bulletin reads, "nor do we."
Deciding to leave
A congregation must vote twice, by a two-thirds majority and at least 90 days apart, to leave the ELCA. The bishop meets with the congregation between votes.
When the initial vote easily passes - as it did with the two-point parish of South West Prairie Lutheran and North West Prairie Lutheran in rural Viroqua - the bishop's job is to help the congregation leave on good terms, Arends said.
It was more complicated at Gloria Dei, which had 750 voting members and 1,300 who attend. While the December 2009 vote showed almost 70 percent favored leaving, the second vote in April failed despite having 57 percent support.
Yet some Gloria Dei members and senior pastor the Rev. Bill Rice became affiliated with the newer Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ.
Associate pastor Dahl remains on the ELCA roster. But the splinter Gloria Dei congregation has clung to its building, if not to the ELCA.
"The constitutional process is being thrown out the window," said the Rev. Susan Sheffer-Meyer, interim pastor at Peace Lutheran, an ELCA-authorized worshipping community formed in the wake of the schism. It began meeting Sunday evenings July 4 at Tomah's First Congregational United Church of Christ, with an average attendance of about 60 to 70.
"Families are split. That's a tragedy," Sheffer-Meyer said. "My job as pastor is to work in and among that great hurt - the sense that our church has been stolen from us and we are powerless to do anything about it."
A 10-person committee equally represented by Gloria Dei and Peace Lutheran is exploring establishing separate congregations and dividing assets.
The about 150 members at each South West Prairie Church and North West Prairie Lutheran in rural Viroqua also thought "the ELCA had moved too far away from the word of the Bible," council president Carolyn Austin said.
Their pastor, the Rev. Grant Van Lishout, accepted a call to an Iowa ELCA parish before the final vote to leave July 18.
Pastor resigns
The 700-member Christ the King Lutheran Church in Holmen never voted on whether to leave the ELCA. The Rev. Tim Duesenberg instead resigned in May after serving as pastor since 1989.
"We knew from the very beginning that we were a very divided congregation," he said, adding financial giving dropped.
"The difficulty I have had with the ELCA is principally one of respecting the authority of Scripture and recognizing its plain-sense, time-honored understanding, especially in regard but not limited to chastity," Duesenberg said.
So Gift of Grace Lutheran Church was born, with Duesenberg as pastor. About 24 families meet Sunday mornings at Luxury Bath of La Crosse in Holmen.
An interim pastor will serve Christ the King while the congregation refocuses its mission, Arends said.
Discord in Arcadia
Duesenberg also leads services every other Saturday at Riverland Energy for about 20 people who had attended Christ Lutheran Church in Arcadia.
Group member David Oelkers said they were frustrated by the ELCA's lack of information about the sexuality statement. "We think a lot of our (parishioners) don't understand it."
But the Rev. Peter Jonas said past years have seen two forums, three evening sessions and "significant discussion" on the topic at the parish's annual meeting. The congregation rejected starting the process to leave by a two-thirds vote, he said.
"Christ Lutheran has attempted to model a way of being the church that acts from the conviction that people who disagree can be in community together," Jonas said.
But the issue is not settled for Oelkers, a Christ Lutheran member since 1988. "The ELCA is interpreting Scripture to suit their needs, and the result is lot of individual congregations are fractured," he said.
The splinter group still is deciding whether it wants further talks, a new congregation or to disband.
"I have two daughters who were married in that church," Oelkers said. "Leaving it is not something my wife and I take lightly."
WHAT: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was formed Jan. 1, 1988, the result of a merger between the Lutheran Church in America, the American Lutheran Church and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.
WHO: Nationally, the ELCA is made up of 65 synods with roughly 10,400 congregations and 4.6 million people. The
La Crosse Area Synod has 77 congregations in 10 counties in western Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota, comprising about 43,600 members.
LEAVING: As of the end of July, 504 congregations had taken first votes to leave the ELCA; 348 passed, setting themselves up for second votes. Of that number, 212 have taken second votes, with 199 meeting the requirements to leave the ELCA.
Of the biblical passages that have been interpreted as referencing homosexual behavior, these seven most often are mentioned:
Local pastors also cited God's design for creation as outlined in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 and Jesus' words about marriage and divorce in the gospels of Matthew and Mark in their opposition to the ELCA's statement on human sexuality.
MORE ONLINE
For more on different interpretations of Scripture in regard to homosexuality: www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bibl.htm
For more information about Lutheran CORE, its members and beliefs: www.lutherancore.org (search human sexuality)
To read or download the social teaching statement "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust," adopted by the Churchwide Assembly Aug. 19, 2009, in Minneapolis:
fyi
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Happy Anniversary /sarc
Be rooted in Christ!
Those who have left the ELCA have done so because they don’t believe Scripture is something that can be “voted” on.
"Christ Lutheran has attempted to model a way of being the church that acts from the conviction that people who disagree can be in community together," Jonas said.
I guess that would hinge on what they disagree about, right?
This fraud has much he will answer for.
Bestiality practicing clergy in the ELCA: Progress or blasphemy?
Pedophile clergy in the ELCA: Progress or blasphemy?
Mass Murdering clergy in the ELCA: Progress or blasphemy?
Satanic clergy in the ELCA: Progress or blasphemy?
Pagan clergy in the ELCA: Progress or blasphemy?
If I attended a church that took this turn, I’d vote with my feet.
And that is the point - the same exact point that the ECUSA (Episcopals) have been going through...
What it boils down too - any “church” that denies the Bible is apostate. Its one thing to have an intelligent debate over the canonicity of certain books - but to selectively slice and dice ALL of the Bible into a PC and “queer is OK” lie is NOT ok.
Revelation 2:18-29 (Church at Thyatira) seems to pretty much reflect the ELCA (and the ECUSA) - and all the other denominations that have chosen the PC over scripture course for their customized system of beliefs.
The last part of that sentence says it all. I have been following Bishop Hanson's statements & sermons & activities, but more importantly his associations with other pastors. Ask yourself...who does he closely associate with in the higher ranks of the different religions?
One of his closest associates is none other than Jim Wallis, Obama’s new spiritual adviser. Wallis, with Hanson's blessing, has infiltrated all the youth activities the ELCA youth attend nationwide as well as the curriculum they teach the youth.
It really smacks to have to leave everything behind and start over.
There are several ELCA congregations in the area, all still contemplating what to do. Most are following a plan to move slowly, “give it a year” before taking a vote. Allowing time for the people in the pews to absorb the impact of the ELCA’s action.
It is possible that some of these congregations could come out of this owning the church that they built, but the ELCA is making it real hard for that to happen, despite what they say. They demand a 2/3 majority vote twice from the congregations, and so many fall just short of the 2/3.
Several of us from a number of congregations said, “Enough, it’s time to take action.” We started a new congregation in March, which has been growing in numbers each week. (the grapevine effect)
There is peace and joy at worship services. There is a scurry to make room and welcome the new people who arrive each Sunday. There is excitement as we plan for our future.
No one talks much about what we have had to leave behind. We are too busy going forward. I suppose we all grieve privately at times. It’s like death, a horrendous loss, but by the grace of God, you go on.
There are gays that I know and like, but I can’t change the Gospel. I love the sinner, but I don’t celebrate the sin.
Pagan clergy in the ELCA: Progress or blasphemy?That one is already being celebrated at San Francisco's HerChurch.
Yes we have!
“Gay clergy in the ELCA: Progress or blasphemy?”
Is this a quiz?
I’m going to guess: blasphemy.
What do I win?
I smell the intervention of a homo-radical group in play here.
I’m in Chicago. In Nov. 2007, a lesbian was ordained, in an ELCA church, in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune had a long article about the event. The last paragraph said, “Although the ELCA ordains gays, two other Lutheran groups, the Missouri Synod and Wisconsin Synod, don’t ordain gays because they follow scripture.”
“Gay clergy in the ELCA: Progress or blasphemy?”
Blasphemy- at the very least. Apostasy might be a better term.
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