News and Notes

8/10/2012

I heard a rumor and I am wondering if anyone can verify it as true. There has been talk that the Secretary of the ELCA, David Swartling, spoke at a synod assembly this year and said that ELCA policy does NOT preclude pastors from conducting same-sex "marriages" in states where such is legal (not blessings, but actual purported marriages). The statement was possibly made in response to a question on the floor of the assembly and it may have been at the Southwestern Washington Synod but I'm not sure on that.
If anyone can write and respond to this I would appreciate it. Documentation would be ideal.

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Here is an interesting article about what is happening in the Episcopal church. They seem to be one step ahead of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - Why is the Episcopal Church near collapse?

8 Comments

Mark

8/10/2012 08:05:29 am

I don't have documentation, but I can report that the pastor of my ELCA congregation in New York State has already performed a same-sex marriage.

Mike Rostad

8/10/2012 01:02:03 pm

Why is that congregation still your congregation? It's time to move out!

Mark

10/27/2012 09:32:09 pm

I agree. I resigned from that ELCA congregation earlier this month.

Mark

8/10/2012 08:26:08 am

Check out this list of churches and officiants who are willing to perform same-sex marriages in New York State:

http://www.glaad.org/ny4m/placesofworship

There are plenty of ELCA congregations on that list. To my chagrin, my congregation is one of them.

Gary J Egge

8/10/2012 10:44:54 pm

I am a member of the Triumphant Cross Lutheran Church[ELCA] in Salem, NH, for many years. Over the past few years I felt inside someting was different and not correct; such as interpretation of scripture, bailing on Israel, gay marriage and the socialist term I immensely dislike-"social justice". Thank goodness I recently discovered "Exposing The ELCA" and realized it wasn't just me.

I've been openly speaking out and to say the least have not been well received by the Pastor...even encouraged to seek a different church.

My attitude is not to give up on my church. Although a momentous undertaking my hope and gream is to oust the ELCA and get the church back to its roots. The North American Lutheran Church appears like a viable option, but I need to explore in more detail. It appears they have not spread east of Ohio.

Thank you.
God Bless America

Gary J Egge

Didaskalos

8/13/2012 01:08:33 am

Gary, I'd recommend your reading "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" by Pastors David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen. [ http://www.amazon.com/The-Subtle-Power-Spiritual-Abuse/dp/1556611609 ] I read it years ago after my spouse and I had been pretty thoroughly beaten up by church leadership in an ELCA church.

As I remember, the authors seemed to indicate that when the spiritual intransigence, apostasy and sickness is in the head (pastor, denominational leadership), it may be time to get out while the getting is good. If you have sound pastoral and denominational leadership but the congregation, the body, is apathetic, there's still hope for transformation if the leaders are responsible shepherds. Can't say that I see any Biblically faithful leadership in the current ELCA leaders. Individual pastors may still be true to the Word and to their calling, though. If they are and they're making their positions known, they're probably very unpopular with the denominational hierarchy.

When my spouse and I left the ELCA (it's been in spiritual and numerical decline for decades), we decided that there was no justification for spending our time and offering dollars propping up a church whose leadership is leading congregants astray. They're asking for bread, and the current ELCA is offering only stones.

Rob Ludwig

8/13/2012 03:16:22 am

Hello Gary,

I am a member of St. Peter an ELCA congregation in Norwalk, Ohio and have experienced the same reception. We have an interim Pastor and I was serving on the Transition Team to chart the future of our congregation. Our Senior Pastor retired and our Associate Pastor moved on as an interim Pastor in a nearby congregation. I believed that this was an opportune time for my congregation to actively study the actions of the ELCA and the denominational alternatives.

A year ago I started researching the actions of the ELCA because of an Action Alert posted on the ELCA website Advocacy section. The Alert was a call to contact your Congress Representative and to them to Vote No on the Ryan Budget Plan. It is not important to me what your political beliefs are concerning the Ryan Budget Plan and it is obvious that Christian can have honest differences when it comes to politics. I sent an email to Presiding Bishop Hanson about this and he forwaded my email to the head of ELCA Advocacy in Washington DC. The ELCA has an office in DC that lobbies for leftest / social justice ideals.

I challenged the congregation without success and for spiritual reasons I have decided to move on. Our interim ELCA Pastor suggested that I find a new congregation. I pray that you are able to find the strength and spiritual guidance to lead your congregation to a new denominational home.

Your Brother In Christ,
Rob Ludwig

Ryan Schwarz

8/13/2012 02:21:35 pm

Gary, It is good to hear of your faithfulness in what sounds like a difficult or at least challenging situation. Thanks for your interest in the NALC mentioned in your post. You are correct that New England is pretty much white space for us at present, but we do have congregations in (upstate) New York, one in New Jersey, and many in Pennsylvania and Maryland, so we are definitely present in the Northeast Corridor. We're available to answer any questions you might have and help if we can -- you can contact us via email or phone; info is on the NALC website.

Over the past few years I've developed a fair bit of experience working with congregations considering leaving the ELCA. Out of the 700 to 800 congregations which have voted to leave the ELCA, probably only 50 or so, certainly no more than 100, have done so over the active opposition of their pastor. Many laypeople are simply unaware of the big issues in the ELCA or the direction of ELCA leadership, they are inclined to think the best of their pastor (not a bad thing most of the time), and they are inclined to believe that "their church" (pastor, synod, bishop, Chicago) is trying to do the right thing.

Even in congregations in which a majority of folks would disagree with the direction of the ELCA on the issues, often only a small minority are inclined to speak up and challenge their pastor, if that is what is necessary. There is a deep reservoir of respect for and trust of pastors (again, not a bad thing most of the time). And because of this, the gameplan of many ELCA supportive pastors seems to be to try to slough off the few vocal "troublemakers," telling them that they might be better off finding another congregation more in tune with their views, because "this congregation is supportive of the direction of the ELCA."

I share the above not to suggest that you ought to move on now, but rather to lead to this thought: If you want to try to inform, educate and persuade your congregation, you need to be prepared with patience for a long and challenging task. Long as in years, potentially. Persuading the uninformed to conclude that their church body is headed in the wrong direction takes time, extreme patience and a deft touch (nobody is persuaded by a harangue). Most of the educating and persuading needs to be done one-on-one, and without pressure. If you are up for that, know that it can be done and we have seen it done. And I would be happy to offer further advice and suggestions directly.

Ryan Schwarz
NALC Treasurer, Member of the Executive Council

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