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Date Posted: 18:28:03 04/17/05 Sun
Author: moderator
Subject: What do you think of this latest ELCA development?

ELCA Council Drafts, Forwards Three Resolutions on Homosexuality

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) developed and forwarded three resolutions to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly this summer. The resolutions address whether or not the church will bless same-sex relationships and whether or not the ELCA will allow people in such relationships to serve the church as professional lay and ordained ministers.

The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council is composed of 37 members, including the four officers of the ELCA -- presiding bishop, vice president, secretary and treasurer. The council met here April 9-11. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 8-14, in Orlando, Fla.

The third of three resolutions that the council put on the assembly agenda would "create a process for the sake of outreach, ministry and the commitment to continuing dialogue, which may permit exceptions to the expectations regarding sexual conduct for gay or lesbian candidates and rostered leaders in life-long, committed and faithful same-sex relationships who otherwise are determined to be in compliance" with the conduct the church expects of its ministers.

"Rostered" leaders of the ELCA are lay and ordained ministers of the church. Lay ministers are associates in ministry, deaconesses and diaconal ministers.

The process for granting an exception to the church's current policy -- expecting gay and lesbian ministers to abstain from sexual relations -- begins with the "reasonable assumption or confirmation" that an ELCA congregation would invite the person to serve in a ministry setting, according to a description of the proposed process that accompanies the council's recommendations.

The ELCA's 10,657 congregations are organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop. If the synod bishop supports the congregation's invitation and the synod's governing council agrees, that synod council would ask the ELCA Conference of Bishops to permit the assignment of a gay or lesbian minister to the inviting congregation. The conference is made up of all 65 synod bishops, the ELCA presiding bishop and ELCA secretary.

The minister is expected to provide "evidence of intent to live in a life-long, committed and faithful same-sex relationship."

The Church Council drafted specific bylaws that the Churchwide Assembly will consider, defining the process for exceptions. The bylaws clarify that, once an exception is granted, the minister cannot be disciplined for non-compliance with expectations by a future bishop or council.

The council's recommendations serve as a starting point for the deliberation and decisions of the Churchwide Assembly in August. The assembly will have resolutions from synods and from its own voting members, and the report and recommendations of a task force for the ELCA Studies of Sexuality.

On Jan. 13 the task force released a report on its first three years of work. The report included three recommendations for the assembly to consider in August:

+ concentrate on finding ways to live together faithfully in the midst of disagreements + continue to respect the pastoral guidance of a 1993 statement of the ELCA Conference of Bishops opposing the blessing of homosexual relationships but remaining open to pastors wanting to provide pastoral care for gay and lesbian Lutherans + continue under current standards that expect unmarried ministers to abstain from sexual relations -- defining marriage as being between a man and a woman -- but, respecting the consciences of those who find these standards in conflict with the mission of the church, the ELCA may choose to refrain from disciplining gay and lesbian ministers in committed relationships and from disciplining those who call or approve partnered gay or lesbian people for ministry

"It's difficult for the council to see that we would have a policy and not enforce it," said Carlos Pena, council chair and ELCA vice president, Galveston, Texas. "At the same time, the council realized that it is a reality and, for the sake of outreach and ministry, we need to create some opportunity for candidates who are living in a committed relationship to be ordained and to provide ministry in specific locations."

In keeping with the first task force recommendation, the Church Council drafted an assembly resolution "that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- its members, congregations, synods, churchwide organization, and agencies and institutions -- be urged to concentrate on finding ways to live together faithfully in the midst of disagreements, recognizing the God-given mission and communion that we share as members of the body of Christ."

The council drafted a second assembly resolution "that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America continue to respect the guidance of the 1993 statement of the Conference of Bishops" and "that this church welcome gay and lesbian persons into its life … and trust pastors and congregations to discern ways to provide faithful pastoral care to same-sex couples."

The third assembly resolution included bylaw language the assembly would need to approve to implement the exception process. It also directed that the church periodically review and evaluate the process.

Adopting or amending bylaws of the ELCA requires approval by two-thirds of the voting members of a churchwide assembly. The first two assembly resolutions would need a simple majority or approval by more than half of the voting members.

Before the council discussed an initial draft of the resolutions, it granted voice to visitors representing two groups within the ELCA -- Good Soil, wanting the church to "remove all policy obstacles for the ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people called into ministry," and Solid Rock Lutherans, upholding the ELCA's current standards on sexual conduct and ordination.

Jeff R. Johnson, University Lutheran Chapel, Berkeley, Calif., and Jeannine Janson, San Francisco, co-chairs of Good Soil, presented a petition with more than 1,200 signatures. "We ask the Church Council to put forward resolutions that will remove all policy obstacles for the ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people called into ministry. We ask the Church Council to put forward resolutions that do not restrict the right of ELCA pastors to bless committed same-sex relationships," the petition said.

The Rev. Roy A. Harrisville III, teaching pastor, Calvary Lutheran Church, Golden Valley, Minn., and executive director, Solid Rock Lutherans, told the council that the ELCA ordains gay and lesbian pastors now but does not condone homosexual behavior. He said granting exceptions would change traditional definitions of what it means to be Christian and create two classes of clergy. "I doubt very much that we will be able to live with two classes of clergy for very long," he said.

The council's program and services committee presented initial drafts of the resolutions to the council. The council decided by voice vote without dissent to forward the first resolution to the Churchwide Assembly.

Council members considered replacing the second resolution with one that called for "a liturgical means by which some pastors could conduct a service that provides evidence of a life-long committed same-gender relationship." That motion failed 7 to 26.

The council considered wording from the council of the ELCA Greater Milwaukee Synod to "recognize and affirm" those who bless same-gender relationships and those who do not, respecting one another "as we examine our understanding and practices." That motion failed 11 to 22.

The council accepted an amendment that moved the last half of the second resolution -- "that this church welcome gay and lesbian persons into its life … and trust pastors and congregations to discern ways to provide faithful pastoral care to same-sex couples" -- from the draft resolution's informational section.

With that amendment, the council decided by voice vote without dissent to forward the second resolution to the Churchwide Assembly.

The council debated a substitute resolution for the third resolution calling for revision of ELCA documents that outline the church's expectations regarding the sexual conduct of its ministers and its guidelines for discipline, deleting references to homosexuality. The motion failed 10 to 24, with 1 abstention.

Council members considered an amendment to the third resolution, removing the Conference of Bishops from the exception process.

The Rev. Jennifer J. Thomas, council member, Milwaukee, said she feared that the process "would politicize the Conference of Bishops instead of building up the body of Christ."

"I find myself welcoming the collective oversight of the Conference of Bishops" in the exception process, said the Rev. Michael G. Merkel, council member, New Haven, Conn.

The motion failed 8 to 24.

The council debated another substitute resolution for the third resolution that would have suspended policy that calls for disciplining ministers in same-gender relationships until the ELCA adopts a social statement on human sexuality. The motion failed 5 to 27. Earlier in the meeting, the council approved a new timeline for such a statement to be developed by 2009 instead of 2007.

Council members approved some editing of the third resolution and voted 32 to 2 to forward the third resolution to the Churchwide Assembly.

-- -- --

The complete document, "Recommendations from the ELCA Church Council to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly on Sexuality Studies," is available at http://www.elca.org/faithfuljourney/pdf/050411churchcouncil.pdf on the ELCA Web site.

EDITORS: Jeff R. Johnson serves as pastor of an ELCA congregation but is not on the roster of ELCA clergy.

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news

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Replies:

[> Re: What do you think of this latest ELCA development? -- Josh Osbun, 07:25:07 04/18/05 Mon [1]

>The process for granting an exception to the church's
>current policy -- expecting gay and lesbian ministers
>to abstain from sexual relations -- begins with the
>"reasonable assumption or confirmation" that an ELCA
>congregation would invite the person to serve in a
>ministry setting, according to a description of the
>proposed process that accompanies the council's
>recommendations.
>
>The minister is expected to provide "evidence of
>intent to live in a life-long, committed and faithful
>same-sex relationship."
>
>"It's difficult for the council to see that we would
>have a policy and not enforce it," said Carlos Pena,
>council chair and ELCA vice president, Galveston,
>Texas. "At the same time, the council realized that it
>is a reality and, for the sake of outreach and
>ministry, we need to create some opportunity for
>candidates who are living in a committed relationship
>to be ordained and to provide ministry in specific
>locations."

yikes. Yikes. YIKES!!!

We already know that the ELCA disregards Scripture in that they ordain women to be pastors, so it really isn't surprising that they would take a step like this. There are so many things that are allowable in the church if you just ignore the parts of Scripture that you don't want to apply.

I think the big point to notice is that there is no Scriptural backing for making a decision like this. It is a decision made purely for societal reasons. The Word of God is not their foundation.

Isn't there a hymn or verse in a hymn about the Word being a "sure foundation"? I can't seem to place it at the moment.


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