wfn.org | ELCA Synod Bishop Declines to File Charges in California Case

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 10, 2000

ELCA SYNOD BISHOP DECLINES TO FILE CHARGES IN CALIFORNIA CASE
00-271-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Disciplinary charges will not be filed against
a Berkeley, Calif., congregation for its decision to call a person to
serve as its pastor who is not on the official clergy roster of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).  The decision was
announced in a Sept. 29 letter from the Rev. Robert W. Mattheis,
bishop of the ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod, Oakland, Calif., to
congregations and pastors of the synod.
     The ELCA is organized into 65 synods, which includes 5.15-
million members across the United States and Caribbean.
     The issue involves University Lutheran Chapel (ULC) and the
Rev. Jeff R. Johnson.  Mattheis formally censured the congregation
earlier this year after it called Johnson to serve as pastor.
Johnson is not on the ELCA clergy roster and is not eligible for call
to an ELCA congregation.  In addition, a board that administers
Lutheran campus ministry funds had withheld funds for University
Lutheran Chapel's campus ministry because the congregation called a
person not on the official clergy roster.
     Johnson's ordination in 1990 was not recognized by the ELCA
because he did not agree to live according to the "Vision and
Expectations of the Ordained Ministry," the ELCA document that
defines its clergy standards.
     In his September letter, Mattheis said despite his decision not
to file formal charges, his letter of censure "remains in place."  Mattheis 
also said he would no longer recommend campus ministry funding be 
withheld from ULC.   The board met Nov. 3 and released its hold on the 
funds, Mattheis said.
     "I will utilize the resources of ULC as we think through
missional issues relating to the pastoral ministry of gay and lesbian
persons who cannot subscribe to the Vision and Expectations document
of the ELCA," Mattheis said.
     Mattheis said he was persuaded by an action of the Sierra
Pacific Synod assembly this past summer.  The assembly urged Mattheis
to do all he could to "avoid expulsion" of ULC.  If he chose to file
charges against the congregation, the possibility of expulsion from
the ELCA existed, he said.
     However, there are provisions in the synod's constitution for
others to file such charges, he said.
     "Many of you will be pleased with this decision," Mattheis said
in his letter. "Others will be gravely disappointed.  Long ago, as
the parent of young children, I came to the conclusion that whenever
I was faced with indecision regarding how I would respond to a
child's behavior, I would always err on the side of grace."
     "If I could not decide whether punishment or hugs were the best
path, I would always choose hugs," he added.  "I know that sometimes
both are required.  I'm referring to those times when you are trying
to find your way, and you can make a compelling argument both ways.
Hugs win."

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html