Sexuality

All documents pertaining to the ELCA Sexuality Statement & Recommendations.

Critique of the Social Statement & Recommendations — by Carl E. Braaten — March 03, 2009

My critique of the first “Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality” prepared by the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality, written and disseminated in April, 2008, offered this conclusion: “This ‘Draft’ fails to take seriously distinctive Lutheran principles of theology and ethics regarding human sexuality. Either the Task Force is woefully ignorant of the Lutheran confessional tradition regarding theological ethics, or it willfully ignores it to reach some pre-conceived conclusions for ideological reasons...”

Commentary on ELCA Sexuality Statement & Recommendations — by Sarah Wilson — March 02, 2009

Dear LF readers and web trawlers, please return to our site soon! We will have a selection of comments on the current ELCA Sexuality Social Statement as well as Recommendations as soon as possible.

When There Are No Biblical or Theological Grounds to Change, Don’t — by Robert Benne — March 04, 2009

The Statement and Recommendations of the Sexuality Task Force have been released, and they are as disappointing as I expected them to be, though the statement itself is much improved in some ways. It moves closer to the Lutheran way of doing Christian ethics as well as to the church’s rich understanding of the centrality of marriage. Yet the key problems remain: the statement avoids making normative judgments about homosexual conduct by neglecting the testimony of the Bible and the Christian moral tradition on that issue...

Task Force Proposes Second-Class Ordination for Gay Candidates — by Sarah Wilson — March 05, 2009

The ELCA Task Force on sexuality has proved to be an even greater ecclesiological disaster than moral disaster, which is no small achievement. Not only does the new teaching document on sexuality not actually teach anything, but the accompanying recommendations on the ordination of sexually active homosexuals actually voids the church and its ministry of all meaning. What appears to be a compromise is either a massive insult to homosexuals or a dirty trick on those opposing their ordination...

Hoisted on the Trust Petard — by Sarah Wilson — March 09, 2009

Trust is the driving theme of the new ELCA Sexuality Statement. It is not a bad way to approach the issue, but in the context of the ELCA (and mainline American Christianity generally), there could hardly have been a more ironic choice...

The Law, the Neighbor, and the Self — by Sarah Wilson — March 13, 2009

In general, I agree with the neighbor-centered-ness of the new ELCA Sexuality Statement, and of ethics generally, away from pious self-centeredness. The introspective conscience of Lutherans can indeed be deadly. But the baby seems to have gone out with the bathwater. There seems to be almost no recognition that a society is in fact made up of individuals living together—and thus that individual, personal, private behavior has social consequences. The statement deliberately puts its attention on social structures, but to the point of depriving individuals (created in the image of God, called to a holy life, an honor no “society” as such has!) of all agency in their situations...

Spiritual Gifts and Hard Choices — by Sarah Wilson — March 15, 2009

Part of the argument for ordaining sexually active homosexuals, the ELCA Task Force Recommendations tell us, is to make use of the genuine gifts of the Spirit given to these persons. Once again, as one good point is made, the correlating point is lost...

How This is Not like the Ordination of Women — by Sarah Wilson — March 19, 2009

A background issue to the ELCA Task Force Recommendations, not mentioned in the document itself but still in the minds and mouths of many, is how this whole situation does or does not compare to the ordination of women. People on opposite extremes tend to link the two...

I Think I Want a Divorce — by Paul R. Hinlicky — March 12, 2009

Not from my wife of 35 years, but from my denomination. The grounds of my desire are biblical: infidelity. The covenant we had made was binding: to govern our life together by the Word of God as attested in Holy Scripture as understood by the Lutheran Confessions for mission and ministry in America and throughout the world. It’s partly my fault, I admit. I have long wondered whether my denomination has had some other love at heart, but I looked the other way, busy with my own concerns, not wanting trouble. True, in the controversy at hand, I intervened to argue for a theologically faithful way, which would offer recognition to Christians who have special crosses to bear in the arena of sex, marriage, and the family, yet sustaining the normative teaching of the Word of God. But I have evidently failed to persuade. Now my denomination has come up with a different plan for a new future. Inevitably it changes our relationship; indeed it puts our covenant itself to a vote in August. Now I have to wonder out loud whether it’s all over between us...

Human Sexuality and Report on Ministry: A Response — by Mark Graham, Gerald McDermott, and Elijah Mwitanti — March 14, 2009

“Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust,” the newly proposed social statement on human sexuality, along with the Task Force’s “Report and Recommendations on Ministry Policies,” present for consideration in the ELCA a wide-ranging document on sexuality and suggest changes to the denomination’s current practices. In partial response, the pastors of this congregation offer the following teaching on specific points from the documents and recommendations. Since we submit to the authority of Scripture in all matters of life and faith, we are deeply troubled by the document and the threat it poses to the unity we hold in the Word of God. We ask therefore that everyone join us in prayer for the church and in careful study of the issues raised...

The Flaws in the Celibacy Argument — by Sarah Wilson — March 22, 2009

Our sexuality documents can’t quite make up their minds about celibacy. On the one hand, “The desire for sexual love, therefore, does not by itself constitute a moral justification for sexual behavior” (Statement 369-370), so celibacy must be the norm until a proper justification other than desire itself comes along. On the other hand, “[T]he ELCA currently allows people who are homosexual in their self-understanding to serve as rostered leaders in the church if they remain celibate. However, Luther himself considered celibacy to be a special gift of the Spirit granted to few people” (Recommendations 796-798), apparently implying that the reformer himself would never condone our blanket requirement of celibacy for homosexuals who likely don’t have this gift of celibacy. One does hear generally Luther’s objection to priestly vows of celibacy to be a possible basis for allowing sexually active gay clergy...

The "Church Problem" of the Sexuality Statement — by Paul Sauer — March 16, 2009

In a history of American Lutheranism class, which I have taught in both ELCA and LCMS deacon training programs, one of the standard texts I use is John Tietjen’s Which Way to Lutheran Unity published by the Missouri-Synod’s Concordia Publishing house in 1966. It is illustrative to read through his closing chapter “Prospects for Future Lutheran Union.” There is much optimism, perhaps rightfully so. Missouri had joined the Lutheran Council-USA and Tietjen, himself a Missouri-Synod Lutheran was serving as its executive secretary. The American Lutheran Church (ALC) and The Missouri-Synod were well on their way to a fellowship agreement realized in 1969. It was a high-point heretofore unseen in American Lutheran unity. With the release of the ELCA Sexuality Study, it is difficult to read the optimistic words of Tietjen now 40-plus years later, as the unity of our respective Lutheran jurisdictions appear to be on the brink of a heretofore new low point in American Lutheran history. What happened to get us to this point?...

The Elephant in the Room: Divorce — by Sarah Wilson — March 27, 2009

The other night I forced myself to sit down and re-read the Recommendation on Ministry Policies. It had been a couple of weeks, and I thought it time to look at the thing with fresh eyes. This time through I was stunned at the red thread running through the whole document, unmentioned and unacknowledged by the text itself, and largely missed even by our various critiques of it so far. The deep issue is not homosexuality. The deep issue is divorce...

Repentance is Part of the Gospel — by Sarah Wilson — March 29, 2009

The Recommendation on Ministry Policies tells us: “Our perspectives on social realities, in particular human sexuality, are not the basis of our unity or disunity. Our Lutheran unity is centered on the promises of God, our common baptism, and our fellowship in the sacrament of Holy Communion, expressed in our love for the Lutheran church, theology, and tradition” (424-428). On what, I admit, is a distrustful reading, I take the subtext to be that we can disagree about matters of sexual morality because we share common beliefs about grace, baptism, and communion; a statement which plays off the right Lutheran belief that it is not morality that justifies us before God, but Christ alone. As usual with these statements, so close and yet so far!...

The Dissenters Speak — by Scott Suskovic, Corinne Johnson, and Carol S. Hendrix — March 28, 2009

We begin with a word of thanks and gratitude for the opportunity to serve on the ELCA Task Force for Human Sexuality. Even though the three of us often disagreed with the other 27 members and advisors of the task force on traditional biblical interpretation and theological principles, we were treated as the minority voice with great kindness, dignity and respect. Because we firmly believe the current polices of the ELCA, when enforced, are consistent with the biblical witness, Christian moral tradition, and the view of the vast majority of Christians in the world, we refused to sign off on both the social statement and the recommendations and are submitting our dissent...

The Enthusiasm Clause — by Sarah Wilson — April 02, 2009

One of the more fascinating aspects of the two recent sexuality documents is their struggle to be Lutheran. In many and various ways, they succeed. There was a genuine attempt to live in and out of our theological heritage and give it expression in a world very much changed from the one where our confessional documents were formulated. The problem seems to be that our Lutheran heritage demands things that are no longer popular or desirable. Then the documents can’t help but part ways with Lutheranism. A plum of an example is what I deem the “Enthusiasm Clause”...

Hiatus for Holy Week — by Sarah Wilson — April 05, 2009

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I fully appreciated the great liturgical irony of Palm Sunday processions. We gather together with our leafy fronds (usually too embarrassed to do anything but grip them under the hymnal) and distribute them to far more enthusiastic children, and then with great pomp and ceremony circle around the church or the block, singing hymns of triumph and joy, enacting a hospitable welcome to our Lord just as the cityfolk of Jerusalem did. Of course, less than a week later, the cityfolk of Jerusalem spit upon this same Lord, derided and taunted him, doubted his claim to be the Son of God, and abandoned him to a miserable death. And so do we, in our own present-day, culturally appropriate ways. Palm Sunday is the liturgical exposure of our vast pharisaical hypocrisy; and as we are consummate hypocrites, we rarely even notice what we’re doing...

It's Not About Homosexuality--Not Really — by Paul R. Hinlicky — April 14, 2009

It is not only, or perhaps even primarily, about homosexuality. My whimsical lament “I Think I Want a Divorce” got quite an echo in “this church”; apparently, the bone-deep disenchantment articulated in the piece has been building up among theologically serious Christians in the ELCA for many reasons for a long time. Slowly we are waking up to reality. The truth is that Luther is being overshadowed by Zwingli, so to say; plainly put, homosexuality is being used as a wedge issue by the religious Left. This wedge works for several reasons...

The Imposition of Obedience in Dissenting Position #2 — by Sarah Wilson — April 20, 2009

Unlike previous sexuality statements produced by the ELCA, this one made a point of not telling you who adhered to which position—to the official recommendation or to either of the dissenting positions. Apparently it was considered in very poor taste for the three pastors behind Dissenting Position #1 to declare themselves publicly, as Bp. Peter Strommen indicated in an ELCA News Release. Apparently it was in even worse taste to “make formal public statements or initiate what may be perceived as their own news release.” It’s acceptable to depart from the consensus of the church across time and space—but initiate your own press release! My heavens!...

Delight, Design and Destiny: Toward a Doxological Ethics of Sexuality — by Amy C. Schifrin — April 28, 2009



The cosmetic separation of ethics from doxology is a frequent problem when Christians take human response and action as the starting point in determining how they are to live. The proposed ELCA Social Statement on “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust” is not unusual in this approach, but such a move determines the misguided course of the nature of the “Report and Recommendations on Ministry Policies” that will follow. The Social Statement asks what can be considered a sort of third-use-of-the-law type of question, “How do we understand human sexuality within the context of Jesus’ invitation to love God and love our neighbor?” The how of this question applies to what sort of actions we, as Christians, will take once we understand what Jesus “invites” us to do. The framing of the question is a thin veneer for its theological underpinnings, for within its introductory statement command is turned to invitation, and obedience into pretense...

Against the 130 "Teaching Theologians" — by Paul R. Hinlicky — April 29, 2009

A statement signed by, so far, more than 130 ELCA “teaching theologians” (as the ELCA Press Release has seen fit to dub them) has come out in support of all four recommendations by the ELCA Task Force on Sexuality. I will show how misleading and self-contradictory their statement is. But I have to begin here on a personal note. I belonged to the students who first attended Seminex. I was consequently ordained in the miniscule AELC, which body went on, however, to play a disproportionately important role in subsequent American Lutheran history...

Time for a Free Conference — by Sarah Wilson — May 01, 2009

The free conference is a venerable old American Lutheran tradition, the medium of discussion and mutual support in times of controversy. It's time to renew the tradition...

Dear Bishops — by Sarah Wilson — May 16, 2009

The role and office of the bishop is a subtle though ever-present part of the current debate regarding the Sexuality Statement and Recommendation--further proof that what is at stake for the ELCA this summer is not just moral teaching but ecclesiology. It began when, at the last assembly, our bishops were asked to "exercise restraint" in their dealings with sexually active homosexual clergy...

An Open Letter to the Voting Members of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly — by Teachers, Pastors, and Bishops of the ELCA — May 20, 2009

We are grateful that the church has called you to serve as a voting member for the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. Your role at the assembly will be a difficult one. We are writing this open letter as Lutheran theologians and church leaders concerned about the fidelity and future of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The proposals to be considered by the Churchwide Assembly this summer from the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality are perceived by some as compromises that will permit the ELCA to live faithfully with internal diversity on controversial ethical questions. The proposals are in fact no compromise...

Open Letter to the Churchwide Assembly — by Sarah Wilson —

 

A Bishop's Proposal — by Bp. James Mauney — June 07, 2009

Bishop James Mauney issued this public letter last week to members of the Virginia Synod, ELCA, and also sent it on to the ELCA Conference of Bishops. The letter represents a theologically serious attempt to uphold and make use of the Lutheran doctrinal standards to engage what many feel to be a burning question of pastoral care for homosexual persons in the church. It offers an alternative to both to ignoring the question altogether and to accepting the divisive proposal to deal with it offered by the task force...

Lutheran Seminarians Do Not Support Task Force Recommendations — by Sarah Wilson — June 10, 2009

In response to the ELCA News Service's coverage of a statement signed by a group of Lutheran seminarians in favor of the Task Force Recommendations, a second group of Lutheran seminarians has drafted a letter of protest, indicating that in fact not all Lutheran seminarians are of one mind, as the News Service title might have led one to believe...

Open Letter from the Silesian Lutheran Church — by Stanislav Pietak — June 17, 2009

"During communism we secretly dreamed that one day we might be able to work together with Lutheran churches from the U.S.A., Scandinavia, and other Western countries. We suffered the attacks of atheistic ideologies and repressive forces of totalitarian leaders, and we prayed for freedom. That is why we view freedom as a precious gift from God which brings a great opportunity for faithful service to our Savior. We are troubled whenever we hear that the freedom is misused to put down God’s ordinances..."

Two Theologies of Reconciliation — by Paul R. Hinlicky — June 20, 2009

In listening to the debate at my Synod assembly in Virginia, an old insight returned to me with fresh clarity. Listening to the debate on a memorial to become a “Reconciling in Christ” Synod, I realized that the dispute before us is not an otherwise manageable disagreement about the interpretation of a few Bible passages within the framework of a common faith and confession. What the debate about accepting homosexuality reveals is that, in fact, we in the ELCA are conflicted about what the gospel is and what it means for us today...

Looking for Some Honest Debate — by Stephan Turnbull — June 19, 2009

The “Background Essay on Biblical Texts for Journey Together Faithfully, Part Two: The Church and Homosexuality” by Arland Hultgren and Walter Taylor evokes both gratitude and disappointment. Gratitude is due to these two accomplished New Testament scholars who have labored hard in a controversial field to provide our church body with a balanced review of a wide range of scholarship pertaining to those Biblical texts that deal specifically with homosexuality. Even more, we owe them gratitude for modeling a charitable and respectful tone that we would all do well to imitate. Let us not underestimate how important that is. The essay is also disappointing, however, mostly in relation to what it does not do...

Critique of the New LSTC Faculty Statement, Part One — by Paul R. Hinlicky — June 25, 2009

As I mentioned in my previous blog post on the two contending teachings about reconciliation vying for the heart and mind of Christians in the ELCA, some faculty at the Lutheran School of Theology have responded to criticisms of the Task Force draft Social Statement and Recommendations with a new statement. I asserted that this is a truly sad attempt at alleging fidelity to the Scriptures as understood in the Lutheran Confessions. Sad, because if what they write is sincere, these teachers need a crash course in Remedial Lutheran Theology...

Critique of the New LSTC Faculty Statement, Part Two — by Paul R. Hinlicky — June 28, 2009

What is the gospel and what does it means for us, according to the LSTC Faculty statement? We learn in this concise formulation from the beginning of their statement that the redemptive act that constitutes the good news is that Christ crossed religious and societal boundaries, including the excluded. In this Christ is said to have modeled radical love, providing an example of grace which frees God’s people in turn to do likewise...

Critique of the New LSTC Faculty Statement, Part Three — by Paul R. Hinlicky — July 01, 2009

The errors in historical and theological judgment committed in the LSTC Faculty Statement's brief account of history could take an entire book to refute. As a fellow scholar, I can only offer here brief refutations of an all too convenient account of the facts rendered by this simplistic progressivist narrative sufficient to show how insubstantial it really is. The deeper problem, however, is that the LSTC statement regards overcoming certain ideological abuses of Scripture as the fundamental theological task, when it never tells us why and on what grounds the gospel traduces itself first and foremost as canonical Scripture. How can anyone discern abuse apart from a prior account of right use? The result of this superficial procedure is that abstract ideas like grace or liberation functionally replace authoritative texts as the material of theology; pre-eminently, the notion of grace as sheer acceptance or radical welcome replaces the historical, biblical Christ whom we meet in the Bible...

Critique of the New LSTC Faculty Statement, Part Four — by Paul R. Hinlicky — July 04, 2009

Not to be outdone in their theological confusion of Lutheranism with liberal Protestantism, the LSTC faculty statement now introduces a philosophical howler, which claims to target “some of the circulated responses to the ELCA statements;” but this is not true. The LSTC faculty here argues against the text of Genesis 1:26, “male and female created He them,” and its interpretation in Augsburg Confession XXIII and the Apology (e.g., Kolb & Wengert, 62:5). “Genesis [1:28] teaches that human beings were created to be fruitful and that one sex should desire the other sex in the proper way… This love of one sex for the other is truly a divine ordinance” (Kolb & Wengert, 249:70). Their argument is not with us, first of all, but with the Bible...

Critique of the New LSTC Faculty Statement, Part Five — by Paul R. Hinlicky — July 08, 2009

In this final paragraph of their statement, LSTC faculty members claims that the “refreshing spirit” or “Christ’s spirit”-–one wonders why the word, Spirit, is not capitalized as befits the proper name of the third person of the Trinity—is manifest in the LSTC seminary community by the blessed presence of “lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender students and pastors.” This testimony of a new work of the Spirit is then made the basis for the imperative to ordain as pastors also these who claim to “confess the gospel and the lordship of Christ Jesus.” If this is supposed to be a concluding argument, it is either enthusiasm or subterfuge...

A House Divided Will Not Stand — by Sarah Wilson — July 12, 2009

Reports from the various synod assemblies make for fascinating reading (many thanks to Word Alone for providing the results online). To highlight some tidbits: After the Western Iowa synod called for a super majority vote at CWA, it resolved that “the Western Iowa Synod affirms marriage as a lifelong covenant of faithfulness between a man and a woman” but then defeated a memorial asking the CWA assembly to do the same. Southwestern Texas defeated—but not by much (144 to 215)—a resolution “requesting the formation of a commission to study and develop plans for the formation of a new Lutheran church from within the ELCA," while the West Virginia–West Maryland Synod tabled a resolution that the ELCA be dissolved...

The Contentless Step #1 of the Recommendation — by Sarah Wilson — July 15, 2009

Despite my recent plea that we not vote on the issues at all—since any vote more or less guarantees severe breaches in our church, not to mention with other churches—it will probably happen anyway. So back to the matter at hand. I have a simple question to ask: What exactly are we voting for in Recommendation Step One?...

Congregationalism, Authoritarianism, or a Toxic Mix of the Two? — by Sarah Wilson — July 18, 2009

I have heard protests from supporters of the recommendations that they are not, in fact, congregationalist. The basis for this protest is that homosexual candidates will still have to go through the whole system, just like anybody else. This is missing the point, to say the least. Generally speaking, what Lutherans have perjoratively described as congregationalism is each individual congregation going its own way, the heck with anybody else calling themselves “Christian” or “Lutheran” or “ELCA,” arrogating local preference over the faith received from the apostles and held in common across time and space...

An Open Letter to The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop — by Paul R. Hinlicky — July 21, 2009

On July 1, 2009, you released a pastoral letter on the unity which we have in Christ Jesus even in the midst of severe and growing polarization in the ELCA. You noted that “we remain a church body that is not of one mind about these decisions [on the draft Social Statement and Recommendations for Ministry], and that these continuing differences have raised concerns among some about whether we are headed toward a church-dividing decision.” Towards the conclusion of your letter you summon “this church,” the ELCA, to maintain this unity: “Some may question why I am writing and wonder if this letter is advocating for a particular position on the questions before the churchwide assembly. It is not. Rather, it is an honest expression of my conviction that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s mission for the life of the world, and the members of this church deserve this witness from us: In Christ we are members of one body serving God’s mission for the life of the world.” You thus called us to faith in this unity of the ELCA...

Homosexuality and Church Tradition — by Donald Juel — July 25, 2009

This article by Donald Juel, a New Testament scholar and professor, was published first in Word & World back in 1990, but is worth a review as our church approaches its next assembly. Many thanks to Word & World for granting us permission to post it here...

Homosexuality and Church Tradition — by Sarah Wilson —

The PDF.

A Warning from Bishop N. T. Wright — by Sarah Wilson — July 19, 2009

Tom Wright--known to fans of his scholarly works as N.T.--published this article in response to last week's vote by The Episcopal Church to lift the moratorium on homosexually partnered bishops requested by the wider Anglican communion...

The Severity of the Scriptural Warnings — by Sarah Wilson — July 29, 2009

When I was studying the Bible in seminary, I was taught a very important lesson: when you come across a passage you don’t like or want to gloss over, that’s exactly the time to start paying attention. Your own personal canon-within-a-canon will all too easily drown out the other voices of Scripture otherwise. Here are some passages I have run across lately that I would personally like to gloss over—and I expect there is a fair number of other people in our church who would like to gloss over them too...

Open Letter from Hispanic Pastors of the ELCA — by Hispanic Pastors of the ELCA — July 31, 2009

It is with deep regret that we have seen that the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly will be considering a proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality which would significantly change the historical teaching and practice of the Church on sexuality. Also being considered is a proposal which would change our current ministry standards to allow non-celibate homosexual pastors, associates in ministry, diaconal ministers, and deaconesses to serve as rostered leaders in the ELCA. Since many Pastors and members of Hispanic Congregations are extremely concerned with the vote taking place in Minneapolis in August, we are writing to let you know of our opposition to both the proposed Social Statement and to making any changes to the current rostering standards of the ELCA for the following reasons...

Responses in the Anglican Communion — by Sarah Wilson — August 04, 2009

As is well known by now, the ELCA's full communion partner The Episcopal Church decided at its General Convention to continue to permit the ordination of homosexual non-celibate bishops and to approve the development of a blessing ceremony for homosexual couples. To this the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, issued a response; following the Archbishop's response, N. T. Wright wrote a commentary on it...

Assembly Coverage — by Sarah Wilson — August 17, 2009

The ELCA churchwide assembly takes place from the 17th to the 23rd of August. Our colleague at Forum Letter, Richard O. Johnson, is attending and his live reporting is available through the ALPB site. Please click over there for up-to-the-minute information. Our own coverage and commentary here will resume in September.

Open Letter from Carl Braaten to Herbert Chilstrom — by Carl E. Braaten — August 03, 2009

Your Open Letter response (dated July 21, 2009) to the Lutheran CORE Open Letter on the ELCA Social Statement and Ministry Recommendations was forwarded to me. You invite a response to it, stating that you are “open to seeing things from a perspective that may not have occurred to me.” I feel I must accept your invitation, because it is I who was asked by LutheranCORE to assemble a small group of the ELCA’s brightest and best theologians to write a critique of the documents that will be debated and voted on at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August, 2009, in Minneapolis. Moreover, all of your criticisms of the CORE Letter are at the same time objections to doctrinal positions I have taught as a Lutheran theologian for over half a century. Your perspective and my perspective are so far apart that I am not sure it will be possible to reach any degree of mutual understanding. An outside critic reading what you wrote and what I am writing in this Open Letter might have a hard time believing that we belong to same church and affirm the same teachings of the Christian faith...

Letter from Bp. Nicholas Tai, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong — by Bp. Nicholas Tai — August 07, 2009

We are informed about the four recommendations presented by the task force on human sexuality. These recommendations will be discussed and may be accepted by the assembly in August. This matter is also of great importance for us in Asia. Of special concern is the question of homosexual union blessings and the acceptance of ordained clergy in homosexual relationships. A decision to accept these two practices would be a source of profound embarassment for the Lutheran Church in Asia...

Disentangling Two Arguments — by Sarah Wilson — August 10, 2009

Over the course of the past several months, between semi-official statements from “teaching theologians” and informal ones from commentators on this blog and others, I have come to see that there are two different arguments being made generally in favor of recognizing/blessing gay relationships. But they are two drastically different arguments, and it seems to me that there has been little recognition of this fact on any of the sides in this debate...

Thoughtful Words from a Bishop — by Sarah Wilson — August 13, 2009

Bp. Larry Wohlrabe of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod has recently posted some comments worthy of reading on the sexuality study up for vote in a week on his blog...

Time to Exercise Your Bound Conscience — by Sarah Wilson — September 02, 2009

So, here we stand. A tiny portion of the ELCA's membership, somewhat more than 500 people, have decided at a single event to overturn the historic teaching of the church, without any real attempt to back it up scripturally or theologically or even persuade most members of the church. Alas. But they have thrown us a bone--we are allowed to exercise our bound consciences. So let's get to work. Here are three continuing resolutions proposed by various persons in the ELCA and sent to us at LF--we are going to let them remain nameless, lest their bound consciences come under attack by other bound consciences--for congregations to consider adopting as part of their constitutions...

Post-Mortem: Separation, Not Divorce — by Paul R. Hinlicky — September 05, 2009

The shipwreck in Minneapolis has now taken place. The ELCA was organized twenty years ago with this outcome in mind, as we warned at that time at the Call to Faithfulness conferences. It took longer than the religious Left expected, indeed ten years of hard battering on the gates (with the collusion of the church bureaucracy) before exhausted and out-spent defenders collapsed. There are still some in the agonized middle of this dispute who cling to the thought that “structured flexibility” and “bound conscience” represent a workable “live and let live” solution. A valid sentiment, but, unhappily, wishful thinking...

The Loyal Opposition — by Dan Biles — September 09, 2009

The issue in the ELCA, post-churchwide assembly is: What are we going to do now? How will we live together in this very fractured church, in spite of our disagreements? Some advocate leaving the ELCA and forming a new Lutheran church altogether. I do not think it is viable alternative. It strikes me as sectarianism, even if it goes by the name Lutheran. Those who cut off from a relationship always bring the wounds from the previous relationship into any new church they create, usually in unhealthy ways. So, if we stay, how shall we live? Borrowing from our English and American political history, I suggest that we become the loyal opposition...

Reflections from an Ecumenist, a Charismatic, and a Philosopher — by Sarah Wilson — September 14, 2009

Michael Root, recently retired dean of Southern Seminary and long-time ecumenist, has started a blog on the state of the ELCA after the Churchwide Assembly that is well worth the reading. Larry Christenson, retired ELCA pastor and contributor to the current issue of Lutheran Forum, recently shared his thoughts on the aftermath of the CWA...

One Church’s Response — by Sarah Wilson — September 19, 2009

The council of a congregation in the Lower Susquehanna Synod has made these resolutions pending approval at the annual congregational meeting...

A Still More Excellent Way — by Erma Seaton Wolf — September 25, 2009

We needed a more excellent way. All of us, there in the Convention Center in downtown Minneapolis, were locked into this most unchurchly of debates that would be settled in this most unchurchly of manners. The democratic process of majority rule is good for many things, but determining the path for a church body to thread through a highly contentious theological issue is not one of them. And this church failed. It failed all of us, all those who rejoiced at the outcome of all the votes, all those who sat with their faces like flint at the bitterness of the end of this road. And we failed the Church, all of us together, in that carefully quota-determined equally-chosen membership of those not-delegates not-representative-but-still-speaking-for-all-of-us highest legislative body in “this church,” for we did not, could not find the more excellent way that Paul spoke of in his struggle with his divided church in Corinth...

Sermon for Holy Cross Day 2009 — by Daniel E. Hoffman — September 29, 2009

It may seem ironic or perhaps irenic, that on a day when we gather to consider the future of this church and our place within its ministry and mission, we find ourselves at the foot of the cross, in the place of suffering and in the place of death. While we would rather be anywhere else, spending our time and effort on other more productive aspects of our church life, this, brothers and sisters, is where Christ has led us. To put it bluntly, if we dare to dream or claim that we are “a Resurrection people, who pray first and walk together,” we must admit to ourselves and proclaim to the world, along with Christ, that there is no resurrection without death...

The ELCA’s Recent Decisions in Light of Scientific Research — by Mark Ellingsen — October 09, 2009

With the ELCA Assembly’s approval of the Sexuality Statement and the associated resolutions, it is high time that all sides go to the meat of the matter, to try to understand precisely what homosexuality is. Recent neurobiological breakthroughs on this subject and the consequences of findings of the Human Genome Project for the ELCA’s decisions simply did not receive the attention they deserved, just as the media in general has not promoted this data in our broader public discussions. Why not? Let’s see...

The View from the "Other Side" — by John Stendahl — October 17, 2009

An ELCA pastor sent this to us as an example of the kind of hermeneutical and exegetical reasoning behind support for the marriage and ordination of homosexual persons. We present it here in the interest of promoting a fair and open dialogue, allowing people to speak for themselves. We especially ask commenters here to take the arguments presented at their strongest and best, since it remains our conviction that only through honest debate, not polemic and pot-shots, that we have any hope of resolving this divisive issue...

Broken Keys — by Ian Wolfe — October 21, 2009

The church has given to her ordained ministers through the gift of the Holy Spirit the power and authority to exercise the apostolic ministry to bind and loose sin. Traditionally Luther’s Small Catechism included a section on the Office of the Keys, although not written by Luther himself. I note with regret that current editions of the Small Catechism from Augsburg Fortress have omitted any discussion about the Office of the Keys. The third question on the Office of the Keys included in most every edition of the Small Catechism is: “What do you believe according to these words [John 20:22-23]? I believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself”...

Response to a Bishop's Communication on the CWA — by Steve Carlson — October 24, 2009

I am currently an ELCA pastor of two rural congregations in western Wisconsin near the city of Menomonie in the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin. Near the time of the end of the churchwide assembly, our synodical bishop, Duane Pederson, sent out a communication to all in our synod, summarizing his observations. To my ears it sounded like a “party line” communication that had little respect for the bound consciences of those opposed to the controversial decisions at churchwide. I thought there should be a synod-wide response to this letter, but when I met the bishop on September 24, 2009 at a conference pastors meeting, he said there would not be one (through the Synod website, or presumably through their email system with us pastors, either). I expected that, but given all the local optioning that has been allowed in recent years, I thought I would give it a try. So I have sought another avenue to bring this to greater light—not only his letter but also my response to it, which both my congregations and the bishop himself have seen...

Bodies and the Body — by Amy C. Schifrin — November 02, 2009

When I visit my white-haired saints in the nursing home and ask them how they are, not one of them has ever said, “Well, Pastor, I’m in this existential morass.” They talk about their aching shoulders and their failing eyesight; they show me their scars, which are more than I’d ever wanted to see; and at the last, when they really trust me, they include me among those who know the particularities of their digestive malfunctions. It’s the body they talk about: what can be seen, felt, and touched. They talk about that which can experience pain. They talk about that which can be resurrected...

An Analogy between Heterosexual Remarriage and Homosexual Marriage? — by Lauren R. Ley — November 07, 2009

In past months I have come to support the view that the blessing of homosexual relationships, even if described as just and loving, undermines the divine institution of marriage. Proponents of same-sex marriages ruefully point out that serial marriages don’t inspire respect for Christian marriage either. Yet the church still supports remarriage after divorce. Many people need remarriage to keep from an even worse fate, fornication, promiscuity, sexual addictions, crippling loneliness, etc. If this is true of heterosexuals, might it not be true also for homosexuals?...

Marriage Analogies: A Response to a Response — by Paul R. Hinlicky — November 17, 2009

I am grateful to Pastor Ley for his exemplary challenge to the possibility I have lifted up since 2005 of the “recognition, not blessing” of same-sex unions in the context of Christian community. He is not the only one to have objected, but he has made the best case against it. We need his kind of carefully reasoned and theologically acute questioning, in which participants intend Christian orthodoxy and charitably assume the same of others in the face of apparent disagreement. As pastoral theologians addressing controverted matters, we should aspire to submitting our possible solutions to vexing problems to the mind and judgment of the church under the Word and keep ours egos out of it. In replying to his challenge accordingly, I want to acknowledge that I don’t have a vested interest in my own pet idea of “recognition, not blessing”; it is indeed possible that I can be persuaded that it “untenable,” perhaps even “silly,” as one not-so-exemplary interlocutor put it. Before I deal with that, however, it is worth a moment to reflect on the history of my idea...

A Substitute Motion from the Dustbin — by Sarah Wilson — November 25, 2009

Some of us regular commentators on the Sexuality Statement and Recommendation earlier this year put together this substitute motion for the churchwide assembly, our proposal to replace what was originally offered. As far as I know, nothing ever happened with it, and it's pretty unlikely it would've gone anywhere anyway. But the arguments are still sound, so we offer it here as a matter of interest and edification...

Marriage Analogies: A Further Response — by Robert Benne — November 23, 2009

I am hesitant to join in this debate with my colleague, Paul Hinlicky, because I had hoped that he would not take the opportunity upon receiving a trenchant critique by Pastor Ley to respond by reiterating his argument for “recognizing but not blessing” gay and lesbian unions. Hinlicky’s argument had caused quite an uproar earlier among orthodox dissenters in the ELCA because it seemed to be another sort of argument for reaching the same conclusion, the public recognition of gay and lesbian unions. Reiterating that argument has the possibility of igniting sharp differences between him and the vast majority of CORE members whose company he had recently joined, and therefore would jeopardize his role in the unfolding of CORE. So I am hesitant to add momentum to a conversation that can be damaging to his role in CORE and to the CORE project itself. Re-starting this debate does a service to neither him nor the movement. And it upsets me because I want one of the most productive and creative Lutheran theologians in America “on our side”...

Marriage Analogies: Hinlicky Responds to Benne — by Paul R. Hinlicky — December 01, 2009

Unlike those who deliver pronouncements and then blame others merely for not agreeing with their superior insights, Pastor Ley and now Prof. Bob Benne are exemplary interlocutors. They assume an opponent’s good faith, engage substantively with their arguments, give reasons for apparent dissent and then press opponents to make their own ideas clearer in the face of objections. Good critics do not impose an alien standard from a posture of superiority but rather ask disputants in terms of their own best concerns to explain their meaning in view of possible objections. The benefit of this kind of rational and charitable deliberation is that, if certain ideas come consequently to be seen to contain repugnant implications, one can draw back. Or, in turn, if objections fail to sustain logical or evidential force, the objections of good critics nevertheless move the common deliberation of the matter forward by exposing or eliminating unworthy resistance to what may prove to be a faithful, albeit innovative, development of Christian teaching. I can think of several famous cases for the latter from the history of doctrine: the homoousios of the Nicene Creed and Luther’s insertion of the exclusive particle, alone, in his translation of Romans 3:28...

Why There Must Be New Beginnings — by Robert Benne — January 16, 2010

I wrote the following tract independently of editor Sarah Hinlicky Wilson’s lengthy editorial entitled “Why Stay?” in the Winter 2009 issue of Lutheran Forum. While my ensuing piece does not deal directly with all the points she raises, it is an effort to give reasons for participating in CORE’s new beginnings. Participating in CORE’s new association and/or church will mean “departing” from the ELCA, though that “departing” will mean different things for different people and congregations. While respect is due those who decide to stay fully in the ELCA to persevere and resist, there are many compelling reasons to “depart” and to shift loyalties and support to CORE’s independent association for renewal and/or a new Lutheran church. In addition to the points I have elaborated in the main body of the essay, I would like to list three objective facts that are pushing CORE to establish both an association for all Lutherans who want to envision and model Lutheranism at its best as well as a new church for those congregations who decide they must leave...

In Statu Embarassmentionis — by Paul R. Hinlicky — March 12, 2010

Six months have now passed since the event which will go down in history as the shoals struck in the slow, miserable shipwreck of the ELCA. It will be a slow, painful drowning, not a dramatic plunge like the fishing trawler at the end of the movie “The Perfect Storm.” It is a confused and confusing situation, a compound of panic and denial. Today we find ourselves not so much in statu confessionis at an apostate and persecuting church, but rather, so to speak, in statu embarassmentionis in a disintegrating one which has made us all de facto congregationalists...

Episcopal Ironies — by Sarah Wilson — April 08, 2010

As you may have already read in our sister publication Forum Letter, Higgins Rd. has released its liturgical guidelines for the reception into ministry of persons who were “ordained” in some sense through the Extraordinary Candidacy Project, barred until last August from ministry in the ELCA because of their not living in accordance with Visions & Expectations. The liturgy is identical to the ordination of any other candidate, save for changing the phrase “Will you serve God’s people?” to “Will you continue to serve God’s people?” (though one hopes that all candidates for ordination are continuing in service, not starting it for the first time), and allowing communities to decide for themselves whether or not they want to call it ordination. Call it what you like; that’s what it is. A rose by any other name…

Same-Sex Relationships in the Life of the Church — by Sarah Wilson —