2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly

[Lydia Nelson]

Has anyone else been following the Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis? My husband and I have been watching the live streaming on the internet. The Sexuality Statement passed, as did the policy recommendations to allow those in same-gender, faithful, and life-long relationships to be rostered in the ELCA - basically, this allows them to not be force to chose between a call (and thus a life of celibacy) and a committed relationship.

This was a hard decision on all fronts. What do others think of what happened? What do you think will happen to the ELCA now? What has already begun to happen in the church because of this?

[Mackenzie Grondahl]

I don't know what will happen. We watched all week too, and somehow I don't think very much will change. I think we are more congregationalist than we give ourselves credit for.

[Robert]

After months of watching the results of this decision, I still think it was the right one. The ELCA has finally publicly accepted all God's children, regardless of their sexual preferences, to be members of the clergy. This has begun to cause a tear between the more liberal ELCA members and the more conservative ones. Unfortunately, instead of also accepting all God's children as they are, many churches have forced the ELCA into a corner by shutting off funding to the national church. This diminishing funding has caused budget cuts, program cuts, and job cuts. I think that whatever parts of the ELCA survive this difficult time will be very strong, but a lot will be lost in this struggle as well. I pray that we, as members of the ELCA, can open our hearts to accept people into the clergy regardless of their sexual preferences and that we can also stick together to be a strong community of believers instead of allowing this debate to pull us apart.

I know the headquarters in Chicago have been forced to make a lot of cuts. What other effects are people seeing?

[Sean Alan Heinritz]

I think it is a great thing for the ELCA church. We are always saying we are the church of the times. Ever changing, ever accepting, justification by faith through grace right? I know plenty of faithful homosexuals. Are they less worthy to sit next to me in church because of what they do?

I think the ELCA will make a smooth transition into the next century while other churches struggle on and possibly fail. I really try to look look at this as a positive move. One of inclusiveness, of doing something different than those around us, of doing the right thing in a time when it may not be the fashionable thing. Call it what you want but it boils down to hate when you discriminate against anyone and the church can ill afford that now. In some minds allowing homosexuals to serve may have been too far a step but it is a step worth making if we wish to show others we are doing the job that Christ asked us to do.

The church has begun to split. Schisms are forming. Will they survive? Will they be trouble for the ELCA in the future? I don't know that answer. All I know is that any church that leaves the ELCA for this reason is a foolhardy church. You don't have to have a gay pastor if you don't want one but you shouldn't deny the churches who are not offended by it the right to have theirs.

[Christian Baalsen]

I think that the decision regarding sexuality was a foolish one by the church authorities and contrary to the Word of God. All Scriptures and traditions on the subject forbid all homosexual acts, much less with the clergy. I cannot say that it was completely unexpected, judging by the modernist path that the Church has been taking, but they just crossed a huge line.

This decision was not only an attack on the Scriptures, our Confessions, the Councils, the Saints, and all other previous sources of authority but a threat to Christian unity. As we seek to heal the age-old wounds of the church, this decision has created a chasm between the ELCA and 99% of the world's Christians. This is not a smart decision in the interest of Christian unity, as was shown by all of the churches, Lutheran or otherwise, which implored the ELCA not to make the decision in favor of gay clergy and instead hold fast to the Word of God. Now, many church bodies are asserting (or even more sure of their previous assertions) that the ELCA is not an orthodox church. This is not really helping the process of healing Christ's body on Earth.

The Church desperately needs to look beyond societal norms and what is considered "fair" in a (politically correct) society. Ordination is not a "right" possessed by all people, it is a privilege, and we should stop looking at the Church from a civil rights perspective. The Word of God is destined to offend some people, and we shouldn't care. We are bound to follow it.

Furthermore, I think it is terrible that the ELCA has corrupted age-old Lutheran teachings to attempt to pass this proposal. They have changed the meaning of "bound conscience" to mean that if anyone sincerely holds an opinion, that opinion is accepted by the church. "Bound conscience" is supposed to mean that our consciences are bound to the Scriptures, not to themselves. This redefinition is turning the focus of the Church away from God's will and unto the will of the individual. We are turning into Hinduism where, as long as you follow your own path (whatever that path may be), you are on the right path and no one can tell you that you are wrong. This is clearly removing the focus from God, which is contrary to the very foundation of Christianity.

I would just like to finish by saying that "my conscience has been taken captive by the Word of God" and that I will be attempting to reform the ELCA back to its Lutheran roots or will find another body which teaches the doctrine of the True Church. May God have mercy on all those who voted in favor of this terrible decision.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam