Posted on 08/10/2019 6:47:31 AM PDT by lightman
With the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly underway in Milwaukee this week, we’ve stepped up our coverage of Lutheran news. Last month, I wrote about Bishop-elect Paul Egensteiner of the ELCA’s Metropolitan New York Synod declaring that Hell is empty. My colleague Chelsen Vicari offered a preview of various progressive memorials (the ELCA equivalent of resolutions or overtures) at the Churchwide Assembly.
Meanwhile, another bishop-elect in the ELCA has invited controversy with her endorsement of polyamory. YouTube channel Barcroft TV recently interviewed two women and a man who are in a relationship with one another as a “throuple”.
The Baltimore threesome describe their meeting and eventual departure from a Pentecostal church, where husband Luis and wife Katie performed as musicians. After bringing Raquel into their relationship, they report that they were asked to leave.
Enter the Rev. Leila Ortiz, who recounts their meeting and learning of their relationship:
“There’s still many people who would be scandalized and would even be scandalized by my acceptance of them. And that’s okay, that’s okay. I’m very grounded in my faith,” Ortiz assures viewers. “How do you judge and how do you point fingers and condemn people that don’t know any other way of being? People have been in polygamous relationships for decades, they have just been private about it. So now we are in a place where it is public. This isn’t just a fad. This is a reality that has always been.”
Ortiz was elected June 15 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the ECLA Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod (the Barcroft TV segment first streamed August 1). She has served on the staff of the Metro DC Synod for three years.
“It is a kingdom that is not as interested in being right as it is in being in relationship,” Ortiz preached at the ECLA’s 2016 Churchwide Assembly.
A self-described “Luthercostal”, Ortiz refers to the Holy Spirit as “she” and describes a call “to preach and teach in communities that wrestle with their complicity in the unjust systems.” Ortiz is a doctoral candidate at United Lutheran Theological Seminary of Pennsylvania (the consolidation of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) with an interest in “Protestant Latinx Liberation Theologies”.
Once again, a well-deserved tip-of-the-hat to Lutheran blogger Dan Skogen, who originally flagged the story:
“This is an ELCA bishop proclaiming support for polygamous relationships. Polygamy is against God’s will as He clearly outlined in Scripture (see here). The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has become so opposed to the Truth of God’s Word that threesomes are fine.”
The Lutheran Confessions identify marriage and the family as foundational structures that support human community. In the 2009 document Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, the ELCA notes that the historic Christian tradition and the Lutheran Confessions have recognized marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman with “promises of fidelity and public accountability.” The document makes reference to “two people” and effectively opens the door to same-sex couples (stating that “consensus does not exist concerning how to regard same-gender committed relationships”) but makes no reference to polygamous or polyamorous unions.
Ortiz is set to be installed as bishop on October 12 at a ceremony held at National Presbyterian Church in Washington.
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Be rooted in Christ!
another Satanic “church!”
I used to be Lutheran.
So did the ELCA. You probably lasted longer.
I used to be in that church. So strange. In the Pacific my USCG ship ran across a derelict vessel adrift. The policy is, or was, to set it aliggt and let it burn to the waterline and sink.
It was after dusk when we lit the fire. In the dark the boat burned and we made turns for Austalia, getting smaller against the moonless night.
All we didn’t know about the boat and crew burned with it, and that feeling stayed with me.
I have that same feeling reading this story, the church burning and shrinking and shrieking against the darkness, thick as tar.
This is the Gospel Lesson for today in the Orthodox Church.
Matthew 12:30-37
The Lord said, "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
"Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
it is doubly-tragic (and dishonest) when a church turns Satanic and still calls itself a church
false advertising... can mislead innocent people seeking faith
I imagine soon all the progressive churches will promote “marriage” between three or more people and anyone who does not celebrate it will be thrown out.
With that little bit of rationalization you can accept any behavior. Any. Polygamy, homosexuality, beastality, pedophilia, human sacrifice... I mean hey, if that's the only way they know how to be...guess that's alright by the ELCA??? SMDH... I have served on multiple ELCA Church councils, helped start a Church, but I left and I will never set foot in one again.
ELCA is now a pagan entity.
“There’s still many people who would be scandalized and would even be scandalized by my acceptance of them. And that’s okay, that’s okay. I’m very grounded in my faith,”
And what faith is that???
No wonder the ELCA voted itself a “sanctuary” denomination.
And thus one more reason I don’t regret abandoning the ELCA.
The ELCA left me in 2009.
I left the ELCA in 2010/11.
I really wish they would get rid of the “Lutheran” part of their name. Dropping “church” would also be appropriate as well.
I think all getting involved at this point know what they are getting into. What these churches do down the road is offer ministry and sanctuary for society's outcasts (Battered wives etc). They then work to show them love through homosexuality and other progressive perversions.
THe ELCA left you the day it was formed.
I understand. But I still think these Satanic churches should stop pretending they’re really trying to pray to the Creator. It’s still very false advertising and I really do believe it misleads many innocent people into demonic association. After all, many of these anti- biblical churches used to be more or less honest and okay —-and a seeker may go to them simply because their parents or grandparents did. Not realizing the big change
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