wfn.org | ELCA Board Commits To Discussions on 'Sexual Minority' Issues

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

September 21, 2000

ELCA BOARD COMMITS TO DISCUSSIONS ON 'SEXUAL MINORITY' ISSUES
00-222-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- An Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) board committed itself to discussions regarding "sexual
minority" people and the ordained ministry, and it said it will
gather information on how sexual minority people are included in the
ministries and institutions the board represents.
     The board for the ELCA's Division for Higher Education and
Schools (DHES) met here Sept. 15-17.  The board and division staff
relate to ELCA colleges and universities, campus ministries and
schools.  The board's resolution on "sexual minorities" -- an
expression the board did not define -- was adopted following a 45-
minute discussion Sept. 17.  The resolution was offered by the
board's campus ministry committee.
     The board's resolution said it will give future agenda time to
"serious discussion of issues of 'rostering' sexual minority persons 
in ministry."  The ELCA maintains an official roster of its ordained 
ministers.  The board said it will engage in ongoing communication 
on the issue with the ELCA Division for Ministry and an existing 
homosexuality task force, which consists of representatives of 
several ELCA churchwide units.
     The board also said it is committed to "gathering information
about ways in which the practices of the ministries and institutions
related to DHES include sexual minorities."
     The resolution was a response to two related documents
addressed to the board and other ELCA leaders.  The documents are "A
Pledge to Act in Support of Our Sexual Minority Colleagues, June
2000," signed by 29 pastors and one associate in ministry, most of
whom serve ELCA campus ministries, and "Statement of Grace and
Support from Lutheran Campus Ministry Staff, June 2000," signed by 19
ELCA campus pastors and one retired ELCA campus pastor.  The
documents were distributed to the DHES board, and in its resolution
the board "acknowledged" their receipt.
     The pledge criticized the church's response to University
Lutheran Chapel, Berkeley, Calif., following the chapel's decision to
call the Rev. Jeff R. Johnson as its pastor.  The Rev. Robert W.
Mattheis, bishop of the ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod, formally censured
the congregation for calling Johnson because Johnson is not on the
ELCA's official clergy roster.  In addition, a board that administers
Lutheran campus ministry funds has withheld funds for University
Lutheran's campus ministry because the congregation called a person
not on the ELCA clergy roster.
     The pledge commits the campus pastors who signed it "to working
to change ELCA policies so that our church will welcome sexual
minorities currently serving as leaders in our church."  It also
urged the ELCA to "ordain faithful, gifted lesbian and gay candidates
who are living in committed relationships or who hope to live in such
relationships," and to place them on the church's clergy roster.
     The other document was an open letter addressed to the ELCA and
expanded on the commitments in the pledge.
     The Rev. Jayne M. Thompson, campus pastor at Kansas State
University, Manhattan, Kan., signed both documents and is a member of
the DHES board.  She participated in the board's discussion on the
resolution.
     "The board needs to listen to where differing perspectives on
this issue are coming from," said the Rev. John G. Andreasen, Fargo,
N.D., board chair, in an interview after the board voted to adopt the
resolution. "This is part of our being sensitive to different issues.
We are formalizing the listening process without determining the
outcomes," he said.
     The board also spent considerable time in plenary and small
groups talking about strategic planning for the division.  The
discussions included possible revisions of the division's mission
statement, available resources and the environment in which the
division operates.     In remarks to the board, Dr. Leonard G. Schulze, DHES executive
director, said the church needs to articulate its philosophy of
education.  He expressed hopes that the church may consider writing a
social statement on education.  There is no such statement, he said.
     "The church says it cares about education, but it hasn't ever
articulated to itself what that means," Schulze said to the board.
     "In the absence of such a statement, many people both inside
and outside the ELCA remain confused or misinformed about our
commitment to education as an expression of the liberating power of
the gospel," he said in an interview after the meeting.
     Schulze was elected to the position of executive director
earlier this year. The meeting gave the board a chance to "get beyond
the introduction stage and build a relationship with him," Andreasen
said.
     "We felt an openness in Leonard to be connected with different
voices on the board," he added.
     In other action, the board:
     + adopted a resolution urging that continuing education funds
for each campus pastor be raised to a minimum of $1,000 per year.
Currently, it is recommended that campus pastors receive a maximum of
$550 per year for continuing education.
     + changed the definition of ELCA-affiliated schools to include
church bodies with whom the ELCA has a full-communion relationship.
Such schools may now be sponsored by more than one ELCA congregation
or by an association of at least one ELCA congregation and
congregations of other Lutheran church bodies "and/or those church
bodies with whom we (ELCA) are currently in full communion."  The
ELCA has full communion agreements with The Episcopal Church,
Moravian Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in
America,  and United Church of Christ.
     + asked the division to work to continue financial support of
annual conferences that explore what it means to be a Lutheran
college or university.
     + heard a brief presentation on the Lutheran Student Movement
national gathering Dec. 28-Jan. 1, in New Orleans.  The theme will be
"2001: A Faith Odyssey."
     + agreed to hold its 2001 spring meeting at Carthage College,
an ELCA institution in Kenosha, Wis., provided costs are similar to
holding the meeting in Chicago.

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