wfn.org | Lutheran Gay/Lesbian Pastor Celebration at Denver Church

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 22, 1999

LUTHERAN GAY/LESBIAN PASTOR CELEBRATION AT DENVER CHURCH
99-CWA-60-LJG

        DENVER (ELCA) ¯ After a procession through downtown Denver, 13 self-proclaimed gay and lesbian pastors and pastoral candidates were honored and unofficially rostered to Lutheran ministry at a ceremony at St. Paul Lutheran Church.
         More than 150 people, including voting members and volunteers from the ELCA 1999 Churchwide Assembly, attended the Aug. 21 noon celebration sponsored by The Alliance.  The Alliance comprises the Extraordinary Candidacy Project (ECP), Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries (LLGM), Lutherans Concerned/North America, the Lutheran Network for Inclusive Vision, and Wingspan Ministry.  A "roster" indicates a list of people who have met specified criteria for ministry.
        "The gifts of these candidates have been affirmed by the ECP, by the communities in which they serve, including several ELCA congregations, and by many of their colleagues and bishops," read Mari Irvin, San Francisco, co-chair of LLGM, during the service.
        Those rostered by the Extraordinary Candidacy Project were: the Rev. Jonathon Abernethy, the Rev. James Bischoff*, the Rev. Deborah M. Click*, the Rev. David Deppe, Greg Egertson, the Rev. Ruth Frost, the Rev. Michael Hiller*, the Rev. Jeff Johnson, the Rev. Ned O'Donnell, the Rev. Steven Sabin, Dr. Lisa Stenmark, the Rev. Cindy Witt*, and the Rev. Phyllis Zillhart.   An asterisk indicates the person is listed in the 1999 ELCA yearbook as an ELCA pastor.
        The 75-member procession and others were welcomed at the door to St. Paul by the congregation's pastor, the Rev. Stephen H. Swanson.
        "You have been away too long," Swanson said.  "Jesus said: 'Feed my sheep.' Let's get on with the task."  Then the people gathered on the church steps climbed steep steps to the church's sanctuary as robed celebrants shook water from branches over them.
        Sabin, Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Ames, Iowa, is a former ELCA pastor who has been removed from the official ELCA roster of pastors, preached.
        "Rostering is a new word in the life of the church,"  Sabin said.  "We are not commissioning, we are not ordaining, we are not installing.  But we are a listing of people who have a call to ministry.  In extraordinary times you need extraordinary measures."
        Sabin talked about spending time healing the sick and casting out demons, not in study and discussion.
        "If I spend too much time on studies and discussion, or shaking a fist at those I'm pleased to be angry with, then I'll miss those other people and let down the Lord who reconfirmed my call," Sabin said.
        "Don't let anybody else die," is a mother's plea that lives in Sabin's memory, he said. The woman urged him to continue to let gay and lesbian people know "There is in the world a place where they fit in God's family."  Her son committed suicide, leaving a letter revealing that he was gay, and that he felt he didn't fit anywhere.
        An offering was taken for professional support of those honored at the celebration.

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