Atom“Maintaining the Unity of the Spirit in the Aftermath of ‘the Vote’”
“Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3
It probably goes without saying that the happenings of the Churchwide Assembly in August have dominated our conversations here at First Lutheran in the past weeks. So there are a few things I would share with you regarding my experience there and what happens. You may need more than one cup of coffee to get through this…
First, let me try to give you a context from which to consider what is going on. If your impressions of the Churchwide Assembly are based solely on the media’s coverage it would be very easy to think that the only topic of conversation was human sexuality, homosexuality in particular. That’s just not so. Here are some of the outcomes that made up the majority of the Assembly’s agenda.
The Assembly voted (958-51) to establish what is called “Full Communion” with the United Methodist Church based on our common confession of faith in Christ, and common understanding of the sacraments. This action moves us to greater Christian unity for which Jesus prayed in John 17, and means that our congregations will be able to share clergy leadership, especially in smaller congregations may not be able to have full-time pastoral leadership. A shared pastor (either Lutheran or Methodist) will now be able to serve both congregations. No other church body has done the groundwork for establishing this kind of ecumenical linkage with so many other church bodies as has the ELCA.
HIV/AIDS Strategy: The Assembly approved a three-year, $10 million fundraising campaign to help fight the battle against the HIV and AIDS pandemic. In 2007 our assembly committed itself to a strategy of partnering with our companions around the world to join them in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Lutheran Malaria Initiative: the Assembly voted to extend our partnership with the United Nations Foundation, Lutheran World Relief and the Missouri-Synod Lutheran Church to combat Malaria globally. (Malaria is the largest cause of death among children worldwide).
And the Assembly approved the formation of a team of people who will craft a social statement and action plan to combat global injustices against girls and women.
I offer these to you because I think they are all issues worth celebrating. We didn’t hear much about these issues because they were not as “newsworthy.” We do not all agree on certain decisions made at the Assembly I think it’s important to note that there is much going on in the ELCA with which we can agree and celebrate.
Speaking now to those issues on which we may not agree, let me say a few things about the votes regarding human sexuality. The social statement entitled “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust” passed by a 2/3rds majority vote (676-338). The statement seeks to make a strong case for trust and responsibility, care of children, and opposition to abuse, exploitation, and promiscuity. It opposes cohabitation before marriage and understands marriage as between a man and woman. The part of the statement receiving most attention and the most negative response was of the section on homosexuality. It described a continuum of views (four) held across the church – from “sin” to “orientation,” based on differing interpretations of God’s Word - and concluded that ELCA Lutherans are not agreed on this matter.
This led to four related resolutions that comprised ministry policy decisions growing out of this statement. They, as other ministry policies in the past, required a majority to pass:
1) The first committed us to a posture of bearing one another’s burdens, love of neighbor, and respecting the bound conscience of all. It passed (771-230 – 77%)
2) Next the assembly voted (619-402) to approve the ELCA to allow “congregations that choose to do so to recognize, support, and hold publicly accountable lifelong, monogamous, same gender relationships.”
3) In the most pivotal and difficult decision, the assembly voted (559-451)slightly more than 55%’ that the ELCA commit itself to finding a way” for persons in these relationships “to serve as rostered leaders of this church.” (Pastors and commissioned leaders)
4) The fourth was a long resolution outlining the process of moving into a policy of “structured flexibility” that would allow for implementing these decisions in a way that respects the varying convictions held around the church. A significant section was added to this resolution making clear a commitment that the policy revisions will provide for those who do not believe ministers in same-gender relationships should be rostered. This resolution passed (667-307) a 68 percent majority.
I think it critical for us to understand that these recommendations will not make any immediate changes in the ELCA. They call for a process to be established that would allow congregations who want to call gay and lesbian clergy to do so, while continuing to allow other congregations to not do so.
So what does that mean for First? From a purely pragmatic standpoint it means nothing has changed here at First. Even when the denomination develops a plan, no congregation would be asked to do anything against conscience.
On a deeper level, however, much has changed. We’ve been forced to grapple with a difficult issue and in so doing we’ve discovered that we, like our denomination, are divided on this. We’re being challenged to decide exactly what it means to live in unity and not uniformity. And, because as St. Paul reminds us, when one of us suffers all of us suffer, we’re feeling one another’s pain.
At the Assembly and as I have visited believers here at home, I have found people representing the different perspectives on this issue uniformly passionate about following Jesus and living out what God is saying to us through the Bible. They choose different scriptures in making their arguments and sometimes interpret them differently according to how they understand the Bible speaking in its time and our time. And both sides struggle to understand how the other can come to their conclusions. The seminary word for this is “biblical hermeneutics”, and refers to the lenses that we use to read and interpret what God is saying through the Bible. There is probably more that should be said about our ways of reading scripture as Lutheran Christians, but should be done in study together. The point for me is that both positions hold the Bible in highest regard. Finally, how will we move forward? I wish I could say I have a clear word on this, but I do not. I hurt, and struggle and wrestle with what our options may be. So instead I simply share a few thoughts.
First, pray. Pray for one another. Pray for our unity. Pray for the protection of this body and of the larger Body of Christ. Pray alone and pray together. Commit to pray.
Second, let’s keep the main thing the main thing. We can’t control the distractions that come our way, but we can choose to stay focused on the larger mission of the Church to make disciples, proclaim the Gospel, act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.
Third, remember that God is the one in charge and not us. Since its very beginnings the Church has wrestled through issues every bit as contentious as this, from circumcision and eating meat sacrificed to idols to slavery and ordaining women into ministry. Ultimately God has always won the day. Do you know the story of Gamaliel in Acts 5? Addressing a group of riled up Pharisees who wanted to extinguish the Apostles’ ministry Gamaliel wisely said, “I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them – in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”
Finally, I’m aware that some members at First are seriously considering leaving our church because of our affiliation with the ELCA. While I encourage all Christians to follow their conscience and the leading of the Holy Spirit, I’d remind you that in terms of our mission here nothing has changed. We are still committed to worshiping God, “opening doors to new life in Christ, studying Scripture, nurturing children in the faith, and making disciples who impact the world for Christ. By leaving First, this body loses your gifts and passions, your perspective, and your voice in the conversation. It is a loss we would hate to suffer.
Friends, I have faith in our church and our future, because of the faith we hold in the One who loves us, forgives us, guides us, and refuses to let go of us even in the storms of life.
Grace to you and peace in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Wade
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