wfn.org | Childs to Lead ELCA Studies on Sexuality

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 14, 2002

CHILDS TO LEAD ELCA STUDIES ON SEXUALITY
02-010-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. James M. Childs Jr. will direct a four-
year study on homosexuality for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA).  The study is meant to help the church answer questions
about the ordination of homosexual clergy and the blessing of same-
gender relationships.  The study will also feed into the preparation of
a social statement on human sexuality.
     Childs, 62, is the Joseph A. Sittler Professor of Theology and
Ethics and director of academic development, Trinity Lutheran Seminary,
Columbus, Ohio.  On Feb. 1 he will become director of the ELCA studies
on sexuality and work out of the church's Chicago offices, while on
leave from the Trinity faculty.
     In August the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly asked the Division for
Ministry and Division for Church in Society to lead a comprehensive
four-year study of homosexuality and report back to the 2003 and 2005
Churchwide Assemblies.  The assembly also asked the Division for Church
in Society to prepare a social statement on human sexuality.
     The two divisions developed a six-point "protocol" to coordinate
the assembly mandates.  The protocol outlines how leadership in the
projects will be shared, the selection of a study director, how the
director is to be supervised, the selection of a task force, how and
when study reports will be issued and how study documents will be
authorized for distribution.
     "The sexuality studies that the church has mandated are of
critical importance," said Childs.  "There is a great deal at stake for
our witness to the gospel, our understanding of authority, our capacity
for moral deliberation, and our care for one another in maintaining 'the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,'" he said, citing a biblical
letter from St. Paul to the early Christian church.
     "I want to assure the church that these study processes will be
attentive to God's Word, open, fair, rigorous, and as representative and
participatory as possible," said Childs.  "I pray we shall all be one in
constant prayer and one in trusting our Lord's promise of the Counselor,
who will provide us with the guidance and strength we need to be
faithful in seeking to discern the will of God," he said.
     "I'm very excited about the fact that James Childs will be the
director of the study," said the Rev. Joseph M. Wagner, executive
director, ELCA Division for Ministry.  "He brings a very strong
knowledge of the church," Wagner said.
     Childs is "a respected theologian.  He is open-minded.  He has
been a seminary dean for 20 years, so he knows how to work with people.
I think he has just the right blend of qualities for the director of the
study, said Wagner.
       Wagner called Childs "a friendly, competent person, who makes
others feel at ease when he is around them.  At the same time he's very
efficient.  He's very bright, and he is fully aware of the complexities
of this study."
     Childs is past chair of the board of the ELCA Division for Church
and Society.  He is a member of the American Academy of Religion; he is
a member of the Society of Christian Ethics and serves on its board of
directors.
     The Rev. L. James Wylie, interim executive director, ELCA Division
for Church in Society, said Childs "is well-known to this segment of our
church, and he has the full confidence of all those people who know him
and know his work well."
     Childs, a pastor of the ELCA, earned degrees from the former
Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Ind.; Concordia Seminary, St.
Louis; Union Theological Seminary, New York; and the Lutheran School of
Theology at Chicago.  Ordained in 1966, he served as pastor of
Resurrection Luther Church, Richmond, Va., a congregation of the
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS).
     In 1968, Childs joined the faculty of Concordia Senior College.
In 1976 he became a visiting professor of theology at Valparaiso
University, Valparaiso, Ind., and in 1978 he joined the faculty at
Trinity Lutheran Seminary.  He served 20 of his 23 years at Trinity as
academic dean and 1989-1990 as interim president.
     Childs wrote the chapter "Ethics and the Promise of God: Moral
Authority and the Church's Witness" in "The Promise of Lutheran Ethics,"
which the ELCA Division for Church in Society commissioned in 1998.
     In 2000, Childs authored "What it Means to be Lutheran in Social
Ministry" for Lutheran Services in America (LSA).  The 32-page booklet
was designed to help board and staff members of Lutheran social ministry
organizations define their agencies' Lutheran identity.  LSA is the
largest human-service network in the United States and Caribbean -- an
alliance of the ELCA, LCMS and their 280 social ministry organizations.
     Childs is author of more than 20 journal articles and has
contributed chapters to seven different books.  He wrote seven books,
including "Faith, Formation and Decision: Ethics in the Community of
Promise," 1992; "Ethics in Business: Faith at Work," 1995; Greed:
Economics and Ethics in Conflict," 2000; and "Preaching
Justice: The Ethical Vocation of Word and Sacrament Ministry," 2000.

For information contact:
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