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Draft Social Study Released
The Task Force for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Studies on Sexuality released the "Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality"March 13. Responses to the draft social statement are due to the task force Nov. 1, 2008.
LC/NA Responds, Urges Participation
A statement from Emily Eastwood, Executive Director,
Lutherans Concerned / North America:
It is in the best interests of achieving full inclusion that everyone participates in this process fully, reflecting what you think about the statement.
Frankly, the draft is not what we had hoped for, but it does make incremental, if glacial, progress beyond the social statements of the predecessor bodies to the ELCA. The old ALC statement put "homosexuals" in the same category with murderers. The LCA statement on "Sex, Marriage and Family" said that homosexuals were sinners only as were all others. In contrast, the first draft of this ELCA statement admits candidly that the church does not have consensus on how to treat same-gender couples and families. This is most certainly true. The truth the document fails to mention, however, is that our church no longer has consensus on the definition of marriage. Still in only two sentences does the document actually define marriage as between a man and a woman. Rather, in the rest of the document the qualities and requirements for committed relationships for heterosexual and same-gender couples are virtually identical. As such, the draft seems an uneasy and inconsistent compromise between the opposing views on same-gender relationships delineated by the document itself.
This draft is another marker on the road to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly 2009 (CWA09) where the church will take up the final draft, implementing resolutions and whatever recommendations come from the Task Force and ELCA Church Council on rostering. From now through CWA09 the frame for our involvement in the social statement process will be one of graceful engagement from within. The results of the process of hearings, responses, and edits will rely heavily on our willingness and ability to take the time and sum up the courage to engage that process at every level. The hearings at Synod Assemblies and at other times in your synod will provide critical opportunities for LGBT Lutherans, our families, allies and advocates to speak and be heard. If we do not speak, we leave the discussion to those who would talk about us rather than with us.
Now is the time to help Peter and Cornelius meet as often as possible. When we tell our stories of family, of faith in God, of love and commitment for one another and our church, and when we listen deeply to the stories of those who oppose full inclusion, we do our part. For the rest we rely upon the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit to move the church and its members to acceptance and celebration of the full inclusion of LGBT people and their families.
For those of us with the patience and perseverance to continue, we have entered the next stage. Some of us are road weary. This year marks the 30th anniversary of my outing in seminary. Many of you have been on this particular road longer than that. Still, I see hope and movement in this draft. I firmly believe, as I have for the last 20 years that what we do and say will make a difference.
As Paul says, (Romans 8:14-17) "for all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry "Abba!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ..."And (Romans 8:38-39), "for I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus."
Goodsoil News
LC/NA Responds,
Calls for Recognition of LGBT Families: Lutherans Concerned/North America (LC/NA) has both considerable agreement and substantial disagreement with the draft Social Statement on Sexuality, released for comment within the church by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on March 13, 2008.
LC/NA affirms the Christian values lifted up in this draft statement: serving the neighbor, trust and commitment, family, right relationship, and public accountability, all combined in a sexual and communal ethic that seeks to build the common good and the reign of God. LC/NA agrees that the church should work to preserve the resources needed for the survival and flourishing of family life by celebrating relationships and fostering the communal structure in which these relationships are lived out.
Emily Eastwood, Executive Director, Lutherans Concerned/North America, said, “This draft merely tolerates rather than celebrates the presence of same-gender families in the church. It is inconsistent and insufficient: it confesses with regret that its historical teachings concerning homosexuality sometimes have been used to tear apart families with gay or lesbian members. It calls for an end to discrimination, an end to violence against and persecution of sexual minorities. Yet the church continues to discriminate against same-gender couples and families by relegating them to second-class status. It is hypocritical for this church to hold society to a higher standard than itself.
“The draft purports as fact the traditional definition of marriage. But, there is no consensus within the ELCA that marriage is only between a man and a woman. In fact, some synods within the ELCA have repeatedly defeated resolutions asserting that definition of marriage. There is broad agreement on the values that are the ground and source of relational and family life. If we are going to promote those values in same-gender relationships, we should also honor those relationships.
“The document does not provide for the rites and structures of celebration, the making of promises and the call on God for blessing of same-gender relationships. If the church wishes to hold persons in same-gender relationships to the same ethical standards as heterosexual married couples, then the church must offer the same standards of support and benefit to same-gender couples. Marriage is not easy. Without the rites and protections of marriage, the frequent dissolution of relationships becomes the rule rather than the exception. The church undercuts its own values by withholding recognition of same-gender relationships and precluding the rostered service of otherwise qualified candidates in those relationships. Our church should not discriminate.”
Read the complete LC/NA Statement
A Place Within My Walls: A special book of devotions and stories for the Churchwide Assembly to introduce to the ELCA LGBT pastors serving, awaiting call, or removed from the roster. (PDF format)
Ministry Rooted in Gospel: A booklet featuring some of the ministries that have called and are served by LGBT pastors. (PDF format)
In a Time of Trial: St. John's Lutheran Church, Atlanta produced In a Time of Trial, a DVD about the ELCA's prosecution of Pr. Bradley Schmeling and the effect of that prosecution on the congregation. Copies of the hour-long DVD were distributed to voting members for this year's Churchwide Assembly. Now three excerpts have been published on YouTube.com:
Sermon, Pr. Gladys Moore preaching at St. John on January 21, 2007 during the trial (3 min.),
A conversation with James Mayer: a member of St. John's Lutheran whose ideas about gay clergy changed (3 min.)
Cloud of Witnesses, conversations with various people who testified on Pr. Schmeling's behalf (7 min.).
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