Free Republic

Berwyn, IL — After years of declining membership, two Lutheran churches in Berwyn recently were forced to merge. While the new church faces many issues as it struggles to adapt to modern society, no one seems to have any qualms about the new pastor, the Rev. Julie Boleyn, who was ordained Jan. 14. Calm, charismatic and serene in the strength of her faith, Boleyn also is the first lesbian to be ordained in the Greater Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. For several years, both the United Berwyn Lutheran Church and the First Lutheran Church of...

Dr. David J. Lull, Professor of New Testament at Wartburg Theological Seminary gave a series of lectures in January 2010 titled, "Preaching Lent and Easter." It is amazing what ELCA pastors are being taught by our seminaries. For all of my life I thought Jesus died for my sins. Thankfully Dr. Lull set me and the 2000 years of Christian teachers and believers straight. Here is what Dr. Lull teaches. "Jesus did not have to die as a condition of God’s forgiveness of sins. Mark knew that Jesus knew that God had always forgiven the sins of “many/all,” and that...

Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recently rejected claims that they abandoned the authority of Scripture when the denomination opened ordination to partnered gays. It is not true "as some are claiming, that the ELCA has abandoned or ignored the authority of Scripture. Rather, we seek to be faithful to the evangelical purpose that God intends with the Scriptures," said ELCA executive for discernment of contextual and theological issues the Rev. Marcus R. Kunz, according to the denomination's news service. ELCA leaders met with clergy from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod – the second largest Lutheran church body after...

Bishops in the nation's largest Lutheran denomination have approved preliminary steps to welcome a group of openly gay and lesbian ministers as official clergy with new liturgical rites. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Conference of Bishops approved a draft proposal on Monday (March 8) for the new rites, which include prayers and the laying on of hands by the local bishop, according to the denomination's news service. The proposal only applies to 17 pastors who had followed normal ELCA procedures for education and ordination, but remained barred from the denomination's official clergy roster because of their sexuality. The clergy...

The tensions in the Middle East date back centuries, are complicated and at times have turned violent. In December, a group of nine bishops, including the Rev. B. Penrose Hoover, bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, traveled to Israel and the West Bank for 10 days to gain a better understanding of the conflict and to spend time with Lutherans there. It was the second trip the ELCA planned. The first trip, dubbed the "Bishops' Academy I," took place last January as fighting between the Palestinians and Israelis raged in the Gaza strip....

CLEAR LAKE — The Northeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is disputing Zion Lutheran Church’s vote in December to leave the denomination. In a news release on Friday Rev. Steven L. Ullestad, bishop of the Northeastern Iowa Synod ELCA, declared that the two-thirds vote needed was not achieved. The December vote at Zion came in reaction to a resolution adopted by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August that would allow gay pastors in a committed relationship to serve congregations. Prior to that, gay pastors had to commit to being celibate in order to serve. According to...

ELCA synods will not have the option of upholding traditional Christian teaching on marriage and homosexuality in their standards for pastors and other rostered leaders according to a draft of candidacy rules released Oct. 10 by the ELCA churchwide organization. No synod or bishop may make decisions on ministry standards that differ from the new policies of the ELCA churchwide organization as defined by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, the policy draft explains. The ELCA now allows pastors and other rostered leaders to be in committed same-sex relationships. “By the governing documents, all candidacy and call decisions are made on an...

(In August the churchwide assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America adopted proposals to make it possible for Lutherans in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, clergy, deaconesses and diaconal ministers.) In the wake of the ELCA assembly vote to allow gay and lesbian people to serve in the clergy or other leadership positions, the denomination's Presiding Bishop, the Rev. Mark Hanson, has told his bishops and laity to expect some congregations to leave. Whether ELCA congregations will defect in large numbers to more conservative Lutheran denominations remains to be seen. However,...

There are plenty of questions being asked in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America following a decision in August to allow pastors to be involved in committed, same-gender relationships. In response to the decision, there will be a series of meetings at churches in the ELCA's southeastern Minnesota synod during the coming weeks, including a three-week series starting Sunday at Zumbro Lutheran Church in Rochester. Bishop Harold Usgaard recently recorded a videotaped message to prompt discussion about the fundamental questions raised by this issue. The questions include: Who is welcome in ELCA congregations and who is not? Usgaard also wrote...