MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on Homosexual Marriage
Lutheran CORE leaders respond to ELCA action adopting social statement overturning biblical teaching on marriage and sexuality by one-vote margin
April 19, 2009
Leaders of Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Reform) expressed profound sorrow over the decision Wednesday, Aug. 19, by the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to adopt a social statement on sexuality which overturns biblical teaching on marriage and homosexual behavior. The social statement was approved by a one-vote margin.
"We mourn the decision by the Churchwide Assembly to reject the clear teaching of the Bible that God's intention for marriage is the relationship of one man and one woman," said the Rev. Paull Spring of State College, Pa., chair of Lutheran CORE. "It is tragic that such a large number of ELCA members were willing to overturn the clear teaching of the Bible as it has been believed and confessed by Christians for nearly 2,000 years."
"We are disappointed that this social statement has caused such a deep division in the church," added Spring, the retired bishop of the Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod. "For this social statement to pass by only one vote shows how deeply divided the ELCA is and will continue to be."
"It is appropriate that we call this a 'social' statement for we have just swapped society's statements and trends for God's Word and teaching," said Jaynan Clark of Spokane, Wash., president of the WordAlone Network, a member reform movement of Lutheran CORE.
"Even more distressing than the passage of the social statement is the fact that the assembly majority would not even listen to debate on many of the proposed amendments to the social statement that would have affirmed biblical teaching and the historic teaching of the Christian Church," said Ryan Schwarz of Washington, D.C., a member of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee.
"This is a sad day for Lutherans in the United States. I am disappointed that so many voting members were willing to overturn the Bible's teaching," said the Rev. Erma Wolf of Brandon, S.D., vice chair of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee. "The ELCA is a very divided church. This decision divides us even more. It is going to be very hard for faithful Lutherans to support the ELCA when the ELCA is willing to reject the clear teaching of Scripture."
Lutheran CORE leaders will be working to defeat further proposals which would allow ELCA pastors to be in committed same-sex relationships and would permit the blessing of same-sex unions by the church. The Churchwide Assembly will begin consideration of these proposals on Thursday. A vote is scheduled for Friday.
"We are grateful for the many faithful Lutherans who have stood with us in confessing the teaching of Scripture on marriage and on homosexual behavior. We call on all those in the ELCA who want to continue to uphold the authority of Scripture in the church to work together even more closely in the days and years ahead," said Spring. "It is tragic that ELCA leaders thought it possible to bring this proposal to a vote. The church should not be voting on whether or not to follow the teaching of the Bible."
Lutheran CORE is hosting a convocation Sept. 25-26 in suburban Indianapolis for ELCA Lutherans who continue to affirm the authority of Scripture to gather together to discuss the implications of the decisions of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly and what the future might hold for them and their congregations.
---Lutheran CORE is a coalition of pastors, lay people, congregations and reforming groups that seeks to preserve the authority of the Bible in the ELCA. Lutheran CORE seeks to be a voice for the solid, faithful core that is the majority of ELCA members, pastors, and congregations. More information is available at www.lutherancore.org.
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| Poster | Thread |
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| russedav | Posted: 2009/8/20 13:17 Updated: 2009/8/20 13:21 |
Home away from home   Joined: 2004/6/8 From: Ft. Wayne, IN Posts: 317 |
 Re: MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on ..."said the Rev. Erma Wolf of Brandon, S.D., vice chair of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee. "The ELCA is a very divided church. This decision divides us even more. It is going to be very hard for faithful Lutherans to support the ELCA when the ELCA is willing to reject the clear teaching of Scripture.""
Oh really? While I thank God for feminist Erma's opposition to further rebellion against God and His Word through sodomy, continuing the inevitable irreversable (humanly) lawlessness of the feminist-sodomy trajectory, nonetheless her sinful willfullness in embracing the Isaiah 3:12 curse of feminism God has placed on feminists and in violating Paul's 1 Tim 2 prohibitions on her bogus worldly pseudo-ordination proves her unfit to be heard by serious Christians with CORE being no more faithful to Scripture than TEC or ELCA, since God doesn't grade on the curve, demanding complete and total obedience and humble repentance clearly lacking here. God grant us the repentant fear of the Lord that is but the beginning or main part of wisdom, Job 28:28; Ps 111:10. |
| Cennydd | Posted: 2009/8/20 13:20 Updated: 2009/8/20 13:20 |
Home away from home  Joined: 2005/10/30 From: Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin Posts: 7352 |
Re: MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on ... I think the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is about to gain a whole lot of new members.
Cennydd |
| marinemama | Posted: 2009/8/20 14:00 Updated: 2009/8/20 14:00 |
Just can't stay away  Joined: 2007/9/25 From: Albany, NY Diocese Posts: 133 |
Re: MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on ... I agree, Cennyd. I was a Lutheran in the sixties and seventies. My church was part of the LCA, one of the synods which later combined to form the ELCA. In 1970, at the LCA convention, they issued a statement that abortion was a matter for a woman and her pastor to decide. My own pastor at the time was very distressed by this. He told me that he had attempted to speak out at the convention, but was pretty much shouted down. So this latest from the LCA isn't a big surprise to me. The Missouri Synod has always been firm in the faith and true to Scripture. I don't imagine that will change any time soon.
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| olarmy02 | Posted: 2009/8/20 14:26 Updated: 2009/8/20 14:26 |
Not too shy to talk  Joined: 2009/6/18 From: San Antonio, TX Posts: 24 |
Re: MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on ... Cennydd,
I think the Missouri Synod will pick up some. Just depends on the congregation. I think the biggest congregation gainer will be the LCMC, they are conservative except on one issue, WO. The LCMC leaves that choice to the congregations. So there will be a situation like the ACNA where some Bishops will allow it and others will stick with scripture. As for me I am transferring to a Missouri Synod congregation. Hopefully the Missouri Synod and ACNA can talk together like Metropolitan Jonah and OCA has reached out to ACNA. Peace, Red the Anglophile-Lutheran |
| AMIABill | Posted: 2009/8/20 17:19 Updated: 2009/8/20 17:19 |
Quite a regular  Joined: 2007/10/9 From: Posts: 67 |
Re: MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on ... Red,
It was good to get your perspective from inside the Lutheren tradition. However, while most of us on this site are familiar with the Missouri Synod, few of us have ever heard of the LCMC. I'm not even sure of what the last two initials stand for. Can you tell us ignorant Anglicans a little something about the LCMC, when it was started, how large it is, etc.? Thanks, AMIABill |
| cjconner | Posted: 2009/8/21 1:09 Updated: 2009/8/21 1:09 |
Quite a regular  Joined: 2007/5/14 From: Saint Paul Minnesota Posts: 53 |
Re: MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on ... LCMC is Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, a "lifeboat" for Lutherans leaving the ELCA, somewhere for them to go. They are a small group- you can see some of the congregations at www.lcmc.net but it is important to note that some of the largest congregations of the ELCA have left to join the LCMC. Also, the LCMC does ordain women, does not have bishops, is congregational, has only two national staff, and all the mission is directed by the local congregation. There are common ministry standards, etc. , however, the decision to call a pastor, male or female, is left to the congregation, but LCMC was founded specifically to allow for the ordination of women by ELCA reform leaders, as an option to the ELCA and the LCMS.
I know I commented on this before, and was summarily dismissed and lambasted, but the Lutheran reform movement was started at the kitchen tables of two women some 15 years ago. Out of that effort by two female clergy came the establishment of Word Alone, and under the leadership of a woman, Lutheran Core. One of the reasons Lutherans are not Episcopalians is because we believe that the office of the ministry rests in Christ, and that every baptized believer is a sign of the unity of the Church and its apostolic succession- bishops not necessary. The distinction confessional Lutherans make between the ordination of women and the ordination of practicing homosexuals is that women wonderfully made by God, and are free in the Gospel to proclaim his word. Along with the Catholic Church confessional Lutherans agree that homosexual proclivity is not an evil, but homosexual practice is. Hence both Catholics and Lutherans ordain celibate gay clergy, but not practicing gay clergy. I know these women you name call- and let me tell you, the Lutheran "reform" movement would have gotten no-where without them. While they saw this mess coming 15 years ago, the men were all sitting on their hands, worrying about their pensions, until just recently. Had these women not been involved in organizing the opposition to this, clergy or not, the measure would have passed by a far greater margin than 2/3 of the voting assembly. Now the men come late to take the credit, but this reform movement was not knit together by their hands- I just want everybody to know this. But you Episcopalians have your own problems, with that Medussa as your Bishop, so I understand the animus and the tracing of history back to WO- but for ecumenical understanding and peace. The fact of the matter is, if she were man, it would... oh nevermind, you have Vicky Gene Robinson too. You should know that a great many of us Lutherans, though not our catholic group, blame you all for what happened to us... whereas WO was the train to Vicky Gene in TEC, the HE was the road to this gay orgy for us in the Lutheran Church. We weren't going down this road until we tried to act like Episcopalians. So, ecumenically speaking, we have similar problems, but different causes- and good ecumenism insists that we honor that. |
| cjconner | Posted: 2009/8/21 2:49 Updated: 2009/8/21 2:49 |
Quite a regular Joined: 2007/5/14 From: Saint Paul Minnesota Posts: 53 |
Re: MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on ... Sorry, I did forget to mention, that this sexuality vote occurred Wednesday, August 19th, 2009, about 5 p.m. in the afternoon, precisely 10 years to the date that the ELCA took on the Historic Episcopacy in its ecumenical agreement "Called to Common Mission" with the Episcopal Church USA.
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| olarmy02 | Posted: 2009/8/21 3:42 Updated: 2009/8/21 3:43 |
Not too shy to talk Joined: 2009/6/18 From: San Antonio, TX Posts: 24 |
Re: MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on ... Howdy all,
Connor that is a fair explanation of the LCMC. However i don't blame the Episcopal church for our ELCA woes, it just shows how impotent the ELCA has been since its inception. I support the ACNA and any faithful remnant of decaying mainline denominations who hold fast to Christ Crucified, dead, buried and raised on the 3rd day. The elca and tec should merge with the ucc and make a Uniting Church in America, their marketing slogan could be "UCA we're having a Gay old time" Peace, Red |
| olarmy02 | Posted: 2009/8/21 21:10 Updated: 2009/8/21 21:10 |
Not too shy to talk Joined: 2009/6/18 From: San Antonio, TX Posts: 24 |
Re: MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on ... They did it. I just sent notification to Luther Seminary that I will be withdrawing effective immediately. Missouri Synod or LCMC? Would the ACNA mind a bit of Lutheran flavor? What a week, knee surgery Wednesday and now this...
Peace of Christ, Red |
| jane4re | Posted: 2009/8/22 3:03 Updated: 2009/8/22 3:03 |
Not too shy to talk Joined: 2005/12/10 From: Posts: 25 |
Re: MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on ... When we were looking to leave TEC, I looked to the Lutheran Church. My upbrings was in a mixed household (Episcopalian, Lutheran with a little Christian Science thrown in). My great uncle was a bishop in the Augustan Lutheran synod and my parents both graduated from Augustana College in Rock Island so Lutheranism was a good place to look. My last Diocesean Convention I attended had a resolution about something to do with ELCA and TEC unity. That was all I needed to hear. We went Missouri Synod and I have not regretted it for a moment. Granted, we checked out a few different congregations before we chose one and realize there are some differences within the synod. Our decision was strongly supported when I attended the LCMS District (Diocese) Convention. It was a much more humble gathering lead by the president (bishop)who right off stateed what the synods key beliefs are. That would be interesting to hear TEC actually state their beliefs..
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| otispage2 | Posted: 2009/8/22 4:10 Updated: 2009/8/22 4:10 |
Home away from home Joined: 2007/3/14 From: Posts: 640 |
Re: MINNEAPOLIS: ELCA Leaders follow Episcopal Church on ... Im sick to my stomach, said the Rev. Rich Mahan from Charleston, W.Va., who opposes the policy on gay ordination and suspects it will pass. If it does, Mr. Mahan said many of his parishioners are prepared to leave the church, and he might do the same. I do not believe that our church can condone what God has condemned, he said. The other side has not proven it by Scripture.
There are no verses in Scripture that condone same-sex sexual relationships. It is a fact that Scripture condemns same-sex sexual behavior as being acts of grave depravity. Homosexual conduct is clearly reviled in Scripture. (Rom. 1:26,27, Lev. 18:22, 20:13, 1 Cor. 6:9, 1 Tim. 1:10, Gen. 19: 1-9, Judg. 19:22, 1 Kin. 14:24 and Jude 7) |
