Lutheran CORE Director Says ELCA is Not Honoring Bound Conscience

Where Does “Mutual Respect” Stand?

The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted a statement on human sexuality which acknowledged four different opinions the ELCA held “with conviction and integrity,” ranging from “same-gender sexual behavior is sinful” to “same-gender couples should… seek the highest legal accountability available for their relationships.” It called on members “as we live with disagreement… to accompany one another in study, prayer, discernment, pastoral care, and mutual respect.” So how is this going? Three recent announcements cast into question just how seriously the ELCA is officially holding to the balance among these four convictions.

First, Bishop Mark Hanson was announced as the keynote speaker for “Reconciling Works 2012,” the gathering of Lutherans Concerned/ North America, to be held in Washington, D.C., in July.  The website of Lutherans Concerned notes, “This is the first time a presiding bishop of any denomination has delivered the keynote address at our assembly.” Lutherans Concerned is the leading group advocating within the ELCA for full acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender relationships.

We asked Bp. Hanson whether his presence there upsets the balance among these four opinions. He responded:  “As presiding bishop I am called to provide servant leadership for this whole church. I believe that it’s an important time in the life of the ELCA to reach out broadly to members of this church by taking opportunities to proclaim the gospel and share stories of how we are engaged together in God’s mission.

“My address will focus on the state of the ELCA and will not advocate for further divisions. It is my hope that my commitment to being available to diverse groups to speak about the gospel that unites us will not be used by anyone to further divide us.”

Another person being put forward in several official ELCA events is perhaps less worried about dividing people. Pr. Nadia Bolz-Weber has cultivated a public image which can charitably be called “edgy” in her attempts to reach out to young adults.Her website and email address are “sarcasticlutheran,” and her mission congregation “House for All Sinners and Saints” proudly abbreviates itself as HFASS. The mission describes itself on its website as “a group of folks figuring out how to be a liturgical, Christo-centric, social justice oriented, queer inclusive, incarnational, contemplative, irreverent, ancient–future church with a progressive but deeply rooted theological imagination.” She published online a “liturgical naming rite for a transgendered church member” and has boasted on the Internet about her use of profanity.  Pr. Bolz-Weber has been designated as the opening night speaker for the ELCA National Youth Gathering in July in New Orleans, where she will travel shortly after serving as Bible study leader for the same Lutherans Concerned conference at which

Bp. Hanson will be keynoter. She will also be the keynote speaker at a worship conference in San Antonio in June sponsored by the Southwest Texas Synod.

(Side note: A smaller but much more doctrinally-reliable youth event, “Impact,” sponsored by

Youth Encounter, will be held July 5-8 in Nashville, Tennessee. Pastors, youth leaders, and parents might want to consider this event, advertised below, instead.)

Finally, we note an action by the Minneapolis Area Synod at its assembly this year, in which it overwhelmingly adopted a resolution to “oppose the Minnesota state constitutional amendment on marriage proposed for the 2012 general ballot that would prevent one group of committed couples and their families from pursuing ordinary legislative or legal means to gain the support and protections afforded to all other(s).”

In other words, the synod is clearly advocating marriage or its equivalent for same-sex couples.

One must ask, “Why did the synod take this action?” (We understand there will be a similar resolution presented to at least one other Minnesota synod).  Their resolution will be unlikely to change one vote regarding the amendment, but such a declaration further marginalizes the large number of ELCA members who hold to one of the other three opinions that the sexuality statement says are held “with conviction and integrity.”

Lutheran CORE calls on the ELCA leadership on every level to be aware of how these actions seem to move the denomination in a direction quite different from the conclusions of the 2009 social statement. Especially as so many congregations and members have felt conscience-bound to withdraw from the ELCA, it behooves ELCA’s leadership to work very hard to build bridges with the traditional members who remain, instead of burning those bridges by inflammatory actions.  Pr. Shipman, director of Lutheran CORE, can be reached at sshipman@lutherancore.org.