August 12, 2007

The ELCA's biennial Churchwide Assembly is over, after 6 grueling days.  You can read the "restrain/refrain" motion that was adopted on August 11 here.

SEXUAL MINORITIES IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH:  OVERVIEW OF A CHANGING POLICY

Current as of June 30, 2007 + An update is coming soon!

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has a mixed history of openness to LGBT people, but recent signs have become more hopeful than deplorable. This mixture has included political and procedural maneuvers, along with the ongoing commitment of thousands of individuals to live out Christ’s message of love and reconciliation for all.

In 1999 the ELCA’s churchwide Assembly reaffirmed earlier decisions that "Gay and lesbian people, as individuals created by God, are welcome to participate fully in the life of the congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America." The national body’s Council of Bishops has also published a pastoral letter welcoming gay and lesbian people.

But professional policies, adopted in 1990, still “preclude” practicing homosexuals from the ordained ministry. As a result of that “poison policy,” two congregations in San Francisco were expelled from the ELCA in 1995 for calling and ordaining a Lesbian couple and a gay man to serve them. Other individual pastors have also been expelled from the professional roster of the church.

The ELCA, which has nearly 5 million members in the United States, is not alone in having negative policies in force. Most other major Christian church denominations also have negative policies, and have been upset by internal conflicts over whether sexual minorities are truly welcome. And church groups on the “religious right” including fundamentalists and evangelicals continue to issue a stream of hateful and rejective rhetoric against all sexual minorities.

What makes the Lutheran professional policy most inappropriate is that the church does not have any doctrine, statement or policy which condemns homosexuality, or the love expressed between two persons of the same gender. [1] And while not officially encouraged, the ELCA does not have a negative policy forbidding the blessing of same-sex couples in commitment ceremonies or wedding services. [2]

But in response to the Gospel’s call to go to all the world with the news of God’s love in Jesus Christ, the faithful LGBT people within the Lutheran church have taken the initiative for more than 15 years. Organizations such as Lutherans Concerned, Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries, the Lutheran Network for Inclusive Vision, Wingspan and Good Soil have undertaken coordinated efforts to minister in the LGBT community with compassion, love and energy. We have done this not only in principled resistance to the negative professional policy but more importantly to follow Christ by serving our LGBT neighbors.

In 1984, Lutherans Concerned/North America launched the Reconciling in Christ program, to find local Lutheran congregations where lesbian and gay people would feel safe and welcome. Throughout these years, persistent organizing and pastoral work on the part of LC/NA has identified more than 350 local Lutheran congregations which have adopted an “Affirmation of Welcome”—a public statement addressed to LGBT people proclaiming their unconditional welcome. At the same time, a number of other congregations have called (hired) and ordained lesbian or gay pastors to serve them.

Initiatives leading up to the ELCA’s 2005 churchwide Assembly have helped to change the mind of the church. But when delegates gathered in Orlando that summer, they were faced with proposals to change the constitution and bylaws of the church to permit partnered homosexual clergy. The “tipping point” was almost reached — about a half dozen votes short of a 50% vote — although a two-thirds majority would have been required. If nothing else, the Orlando convention indicated that the members of the Lutheran body were evenly divided on the issues, and that an enormous change of mind had already place.

By 2007, the movement to end these prejudicial policies gained an unexpected ally. Last fall, a highly qualified and loved pastor in Atlanta, Georgia, the Rev. Bradley Schmeling was charged by his regional bishop, after he announced that he had met his life partner and entered a permanent same-gender relationship. The week-long ecclesiastical hearing (similar to a trial) of Pastor Schmeling began January 19 under secretive conditions imposed by the ELCA’s legal counsel. Testimony was received from all quarters; deliberations took days.

When the hearing panel rendered its decision, it found that Pastor Schmeling was highly qualified, and that he should not be disciplined or removed from the ordained ministry except for the 1990 policy “precluding” him from serving. It went on to say that the policy itself was at least “bad policy” and possibly in violation of the constitution and bylaws of the denomination. [3] Consequently, the hearing panel recommended that if the churchwide Assembly (meeting in August 2007 in Chicago) were to decide to eliminate the negative policy, there are specific legislative steps that should be taken.

The Lutheran LGBT umbrella organization Good Soil immediately took the lead in acting on the hearing panel’s recommendations. It drafted and sent out proposed “memorials” to the regional synods for action. Memorials are resolutions which, if adopted at the regional level, are sent on to the national Assembly to request specific action. Good Soil’s proposals cited and incorporated the exact language from the Schmeling hearing panel.

So far, ten of the 65 regional synods have adopted these memorials, calling on the ELCA churchwide Assembly to eliminate its negative policy. The most recent one is the June 1 action of the Southwest California Synod, meeting in Thousand Oaks, California.

Change is important to more than just the few hundred lesbian or gay clergy affected by “poison policies.” If the whole church is sincere in its faith that God loves all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, and that LGBT people are welcome in the ELCA and its congregations, these open views are still viewed with suspicion by the LGBT community. Confused and alienated by right-wing Christian groups who try to speak for all Christians, tens of thousands of LGBT people have abandoned spirituality or avoided the Gospel of Jesus as hypocritical, hateful and hurtful. We’ve seen the bumper sticker which reads: “Jesus save me . . . from your followers.”

LGBT Lutherans are determined to follow Jesus by leading others to a life of love, liberty, hopefulness, reconciliation and joy. We know that Jesus did not condemn or reject anybody. We are determined to be a spiritual force in the middle ground — as a bridge over the “troubled waters” of the sexual landscape. And we know that simply coming out, telling our stories, serving others, and ministering to sexual minorities with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender pastors and clergy is the most powerful witness we can make to the world and to the church of Jesus.

NOTES

[1] The smaller Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is far more negative, and has standing statements condemning and rejecting all homosexual behavior as sinful.

[2] In 1993, the ELCA’s Conference of Bishops stated: “We, as the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, recognize that there is basis neither in Scripture nor tradition for the establishment of an official ceremony by this church for the blessing of a homosexual relationship. We, therefore, do not approve such a ceremony as an official action of this church’s ministry. Nevertheless, we express trust in and will continue dialogue with those pastors and congregations who are in ministry with gay and lesbian persons, and affirm their desire to explore the best ways to provide pastoral care for all to whom they minister.”

[3] Stated negatively, the panel voted to remove Pastor Schmeling on August 15, 2007 if the churchwide Assembly does not change the policy. You can read the full report here: http://www.llgm.org/feature1.html.