July 18, 2008

Ontario, Canada

"The Holy Spirit is at Work!" 

Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Newmarket, Ontario, ordained and hired Lionel Ketola, an openly gay, legally married man, knowing they could be disciplined for doing it, including the possibility of removal from their denomination. 

In May, when Ketola was ordained, the congregation knew that the rules of the Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) did not allow gay clergy who were openly public about their orientation--but they were compelled by the gifts and talents of Ketola and decided to be faithful to their calling and his calling, despite the possibility of punishments. 

So when Bishop Michael Pryse of the Eastern Synod of the ELCIC publicly censured the congregation at the synod's July 9-13 assembly in London, Ontario, it was not a surprise. But what was surprising was that the synod assembly, which meets every two years, also passed resolutions that encourage the bishop and synod council to exercise restraint in disciplining pastors and congregations who in good conscience call pastors like Lionel Ketola, and those who in good conscience bless or marry same-gender couples.

So, while the Bishop disciplined the congregation and publicly censured and admonished all other clergy who participated in the extraordinary ordination, the voting body asked the officials to consider further actions with great care and restraint. 

Despite being known as a supporter of full participation by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the church, Bishop Pryse also announced that, because of his role and required procedures, he was obliged to convene an Investigative Committee to advise the synod council at its November 2008 meeting if further discipline was called for in this violation of church policy that only allows LGBT persons to be ordained clergy if they are silent about their orientation. He noted that the synod council could, upon the committee's recommendation, suspend or exclude Holy Cross from the ELCIC. And, in light of the rules, the Bishop announced that "neither the ELCIC nor any of our Full Communion partners will recognize the validity of this irregular rite and Mr. Ketola is not recognized as being a rostered minister of this church."

Adding to the mixed messages, the Treasurer's report followed on the heels of the Bishop's Report, wherein Holy Cross, a small congregation of 280 members, was thanked for their gift of $27,000 which helped bridge a gap in the synod budget. While this commendation was being made, a picture of Holy Cross with Pastor Lionel Ketola in clerical garb was displayed on the screens to the assembly.

The next step will be the appointment of the Investigative Committee to make recommendations to the synod council about whether further discipline is called for in this situation. 

Emily Eastwood, Executive Director, Lutherans Concerned/North America, said, "The bishop and the synod council now know that it is the desire of the highest legislative body of the synod that those acting in good conscience in the name of full inclusion should not incur dire punishments. Clearly, the Holy Spirit is at work. One has only to look at the wonderful ministries of Holy Cross and their willing and dedicated commitment to the work of the synod and the church to understand why we must continue to work together as the Body of Christ.

"The actions of Holy Cross have illuminated an injustice and drawn a response from the institution. We can only hope that the Holy Spirit will work in all of this such that full inclusion becomes ordinary rather extraordinary."

[An expanded version of this message, containing the extracted full text of the portion of the Bishop's Report regarding Lionel Ketola and Holy Cross and the resolutions passed by the assembly of direct interest to full inclusion, can be found on LC/NA's website, www.lcna.org.]

Phil Soucy, Director Communications, LC/NA   communications@lcna.org 

April 2008

LGBT Ministerium Gathers During "Hearts on Fire" 

Lutherans Concerned/North America will launch a Ministerium for LGBT clergy, ministers, seminarians, and would-be ministers from all rosters of the Lutheran communion. LGBT ministers, both lay and ordained, rostered and non-rostered, out, partially out, closeted, active, retired, resigned, or removed from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM), Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) and independent Lutheran churches are invited to attend the inaugural event before "Hearts on Fire" this coming July. 

The idea for the LGBT Ministerium came from conversations among ELCA, ELCIC, ELM, rostered, un-rostered, removed, retired, and resigned ministers who participated in the devotional booklet, “A Place Within My Walls,” and attended the ELCA Churchwide Assembly (CWA07) last summer. Out of the historic introduction of 82 LGBT ministers to the ELCA came a wonderful and respectful dialogue between colleagues. Participants encouraged additional gatherings to continue the conversation.

Since the Churchwide Assembly in August 2007, a number of ELCA pastors have been outed or have chosen to come out. In addition many LGBT seminarians and seminary interns are moving through candidacy processes in the ELCA, ELM, and ELCIC. As we find our way through this chapter of the movement for full participation, it is critical that we provide places and times for mutual support and mentoring. 

The ministerium gathering will be held as a pre-event to Hearts on Fire, on July 2–3 at San Francisco State, and is being planned by Pastors Anita Hill (ELM) and Brad Froslee (ELCA). The retreat-style gathering will include worship, large and small group conversations, and affinity group sessions. Probable topics of conversation include: building a network of support; finding a place: to worship, to serve, to be; preaching the liberating word; called to serve: for seminarians and those considering ministry; coming out to congregations; gender identity and expression in ministry; out, proud and serving – what’s next.

Sanctuary and confidentiality will be integral to this ministerium.

If you are LGBT and rostered, un-rostered, serving, removed, retired or resigned, this ongoing ministerium is for you. If you know of someone who would benefit from this ministerium, tell them of it. The launch is in San Francisco at Hearts on Fire, but the momentum of that event will carry the ministerium forward… Be a part of it; help others to become parts of it… We serve Christ proudly and humbly, called by grace to serve the people of God…

See the coming Spring issue of Concord for articles regarding the significance of ministerium in lives of two LGBT pastors, one out, the other not.

Sign up for Hearts on Fire now at www.lcna.org/assembly !!!

For further information, contact: Tim Fisher, Administrative Assistant, Lutherans Concerned/North America:  admin@lcna.org  651-665-0861

 
March 18, 2008

New Forum, “Lutherans Freed In Christ,” Announced

We are pleased to announce "Lutherans Freed in Christ" (LFIC), a safe and secure online forum for all LGBT Lutherans, including those from the Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, who for personal reasons cannot or choose not to be out.

All LGBT Lutherans will find support and have the space to minister to and interact with one another in this forum. There is a permanent link under the Resources button on the left side of the LCNA website, http://lcna.org/, or go directly to the forum at http://forums.lcna.org/lfic.

Developed by members of LC/NA, it shares the understanding of sanctuary held by Lutherans Concerned:

"The ministry of Lutherans Concerned, its meetings and its mailing list are protected by our understanding of sanctuary. No participants need fear exposure or abuse in subscribing, joining or attending Lutherans Concerned events. All information which individuals may reveal about themselves is to be honored by others with total confidentiality. Mutual trust and respect, in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, is offered to all who may elsewhere experience alienation, distrust or rejection. For the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we welcome all people to this Sanctuary."

LFIC is designed as a "sanctuary site" that allows participants to interact with each other freely and safely. It takes its inspiration from Galatians 5:1: "For freedom Christ has set us free" and is designed so that "people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, race, ethnic origin, class or Lutheran denominational affiliation might have an opportunity to interact with supportive pastors and friends." There are public forums or discussion groups, as well as private ones restricted to registered members.

To protect the participants from unsupportive and possibly disruptive individuals, and to foster mutual trust, interested parties will be required to register, be vetted, then approved, before they are allowed see the content of the various forums and threads or to post. The use of fictional screen names is also strongly suggested.

Lutherans Concerned/North America is a pan-Lutheran organization that strives to serve all Lutheran denominations. Many of our early activities were focused on sanctuary. As the movement grew, LC/NA was able to move to a more advocacy stance, at least in dealing with the ELCA. But our members from more conservative denominations felt left behind, because their congregations are where ELCA was 34 years ago, and they are still very much in need of sanctuary.

We hope this forum will begin to meet the needs of the many who live and work in fear of exposure and its possible consequences within their own churches and congregations. Once you have been approved, have a look around and make your opinions and suggestions for improvements or additions in the discussion forum called "Suggestion Box." We hope that while in this forum you will truly be able to feel freed in Christ.

For further information, contact: Jerry Vagts, Grassroots Organizing Coordinator, grassroots@lcna.org  + LC/NA PO Box 4707, Saint Paul, MN 55104-0707  +  651-665-0861  +   651-665-0863 (fax)

March 14, 2008

Norway Moves To Legalize Gay Marriage
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff  

(Oslo) The Norwegian government on Friday introduced legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry and have joint custody over children. The country already allows gay and lesbian couples to enter into civil partnerships, but LGBT rights groups have long complained the law does not go far enough and has created two classes of citizenship - one for heterosexuals the other for gays.

The new legislation amends the definition of civil marriage to make it gender neutral. It also says that when a lesbian who is married to another women becomes pregnant through in vitro the partner will have all the rights of parenthood "from the moment of conception". The legislation additionally states that in cases of adoption, both partners, gay or lesbian, would have complete joint parenting rights.

Family Issues minister Anniken Huitfeldt in introducing the bill called it "an historic step towards equality." She also had a message for some members of Parliament who claimed the bill would weaken tradition marriage.

"The new law won't weaken marriage as an institution," Huitfeldt told Parliament. "Rather, it will strengthen it. Marriage won't be worth less because more can take part in it."

Some members of the coalition government have said they will vote against the measure. Parliament's second-largest bloc, the Party of Progress, and the smaller Christian Democratic Party both immediately said they would oppose the bill.

About 85 percent of Norway's 4.7 million people are registered as members of the state Lutheran Church of Norway, although far fewer are active.  The church is split on the issue of gay marriage, and was likely to allow each congregation to decide whether to conduct homosexual weddings, as it did last year in allowing parishes to decide whether to accept clergymen living in gay partnerships. 
©365Gay.com 2008

March 12, 2008

ELCA Releases Draft of Social Statement on Sexuality

As if in celebration of the launch of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) on October 31, congregations in Minnesota and Illinois have extended letters of call to two Lesbian candidates, and will ordain them into the Lutheran ministry.

Jennette Lynn Rude was called October 28 to serve as Associate Pastor by Resurrection Lutheran Church in Chicago, where she has been serving in a lay capacity as Community Minister. She was ordained on Saturday, November 17 in a 2:00 p.m. service, with installation the following morning. Rude will continue to serve with Pastor Brian Hiortdahl.

Resurrection is a Reconciling in Christ congregation which participates in the LC/NA program, and one of 35 member congregations of the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches.

Rude’s call and ordination will test the commitment of the Metro Chicago Synod Bishop Wayne Miller to keep his commitment to including sexual minorities in the church, and to follow in the footsteps his predecessor, Bp. Paul Landahl, who at the end of August.

Miller, who was elected June 9 for a six-year term, was quoted widely at the time as saying that LGBT persons should not be excluded from the Lutheran ordained ministry, and that the exclusionary policies of the ELCA should be changed. Bishop Landahl, who was completing his term of office in August, spoke eloquently in support of LGBT pastors during the ELCA’s Churchwide Assembly held at Navy Pier in Chicago August 6–11.

Although the Churchwide Assembly declined to liberalize policy regarding ordination and professional standards, it did pass a resolution by a vote of 538 to 431 to ask its bishops and synods to "refrain from or demonstrate restraint in disciplining" people and congregations that call otherwise-qualified candidates in mutual, chaste and faithful committed same-gender relationships, and it called for restraint in disciplining rostered leaders in committed same-gender relationships. The resolution was put forward by Bishop Landahl during the heated floor debate.

Jen Nagel has also received the affirmative vote on November 11, 2007 to call her to Salem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, where she has served as an interim Pastoral Minister for 4½ years.

"This call is part our claiming the bold and crazy winds of the Spirit," said Nagel of the congregation.

"I feel blessed to work with and for a diverse congregation that is willing to be transformational, to grapple with hard questions and take bold actions," Nagel said following the congregation’s vote to call her as their pastor. "While I have been serving as the Pastoral Minister of our congregation for four and a half years, I look forward to the accountability and affirmation of the larger church that comes with ordination. The ELCA’s current policies have placed me and so many others in a ‘gray area’ of doing pastoral ministry without the recognition of and responsibility to the wider church."

"After a long period of diligent and prayerful study, Salem has joyfully made the decision to call Jen as our pastor," explains Jan Olson, a member of Salem for over 30 years and part of the Call Committee. "Jen has the gifts for ministry that our congregation needs at this time!"

With roots in the Lutheran Church in America (LCA), Salem is a 117 year old congregation involved in a long process of transformation. Faced with a large and unsustainable city church building, on October 29th, 2006, Salem held its final worship service in their facility at 28th and Lydnale on the edge of the Uptown area of Minneapolis. Salem now shares the nearby facility of their ecumenical partner congregation, Lyndale United Church of Christ. Together Salem and Lyndale are planning for a sustainable and green-friendly ministry center on a portion of Salem’s former property, with new development of retail and housing on the other portion. The congregation understands this extraordinary call and ordination as part of its on-going and Holy Spirit led transformation.

Jen Nagel and her partner, the Rev. Jane McBride, have been together for nine years. Nagel completed a Master of Divinity degree from the University of Chicago-Divinity School in 1998 and Lutheran studies at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in 1999. In 2000, Nagel was approved for ministry by the Extraordinary Candidacy Project (a predecessor organization to Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries) after her ELCA candidacy committee in the Southwestern Minnesota Synod approved her for ordination "pending a change in church policy." Seven years later, the policy of the ELCA has not yet changed. Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is committed to helping Nagel and all the members of their roster do ministry now, as long as the church continues to say "not yet."

Leaders of the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries are delighted with this latest congregational action to call an ELM candidate. "We affirm Jen’s call and we follow the tradition and leadership of Martin Luther who 490 years ago encouraged the church to create extraordinary ways to ordain pastors who were unwilling to take a vow of celibacy," said Rev. Erik Christensen, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries Co-chair.

Nagel’s "extraordinary" ordination service will be held Saturday, January 19, the 13th such ordination in the seventeen years since the first ordination of openly gay pastors Jeff Johnson, Ruth Frost and Phyllis Zillhart in San Francisco, CA. Details of Nagel’s ordination will be posted at www.discoversalem.com.

The ordinations are deemed "extraordinary" because they will take place outside of the ordinary manner for ordination to ministry in the Lutheran church, in which a bishop must attest that the candidate is approved by the ELCA.

November 13, 2007