wfn.org | ELCA Council Rejects Clergy Standards Proposal, Wants Discussion

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 14, 2000

ELCA COUNCIL REJECTS CLERGY STANDARDS PROPOSAL, WANTS DISCUSSION
00-274-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) agreed with a recommendation from the ELCA
Division for Ministry and rejected a proposal that would allow for
possible exceptions to its statement of standards for ordained
ministers.  In this case, the issue dealt with ordaining gay and
lesbian people who engage in committed homosexual sexual
relationships.
     At the same time, the council reaffirmed the commitment of the
ELCA "to continue thoughtful, deliberate and prayerful conversations"
throughout the church on the issue.
     In a separate action, the council asked for development of a
"workshop model" which would help engage people to discuss the
inclusion of gay and lesbian people "in our common life and mission."
It also asked for synods and clergy to be more deliberate about
discussing the issues.
     The ELCA is organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop.
The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the
legislative authority of the church between its churchwide
assemblies.  The council met here Nov. 10-13.  Assemblies are held
every other year; the next is Aug. 8-14, 2001, in Indianapolis.
     The proposal for exceptions to standards for ordained ministers
originated with St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church, St. Paul,
Minn., and was directed to the ELCA Church Council by the ELCA Saint
Paul Area Synod Council. In April the council asked the Division for
Ministry, in consultation with the ELCA Conference of Bishops, to
prepare a response.
     St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church sought an exception for
Anita Hill, a lay minister who has served the congregation for
several years and completed a master of divinity degree this year, a
requirement for ordination in the ELCA. On behalf of the
congregation, the Saint Paul Area Synod Council petitioned the ELCA
Church Council to amend "Vision and Expectations," a document the
council adopted in 1990.   The document defines the ELCA's standards
for ordained ministers.
     The Saint Paul Area Synod proposed that the Conference of
Bishops be empowered to grant exceptions to the ELCA standards for
ordained ministers.
     The council agreed with the Division for Ministry's
recommendation, by a vote of 23 to 5, that the request be denied.
Three council members abstained.  The division said the Conference of
Bishops has no such authority under the ELCA constitution and such a
policy would "undercut the constitutional authority and
responsibility of the synod candidacy committees."   It also said
provisions for such exceptions would require constitutional changes.
     "The proposed resolution would not be consistent with this
church's understanding that ordained ministers are to have the same
rights, and be held to the same standards, no matter where they are
called," the Division for Ministry response said.
     Sally Young, council member, Waterloo, Iowa, presented the
resolution to the council on behalf of the council's program and
services committee, which she chairs.  She said the council should
look at the issue with "the longest, largest view."  The church has
not yet had adequate conversation on the homosexuality issue, she
said.
     "To engage this issue by exceptions is not the way to go versus
conversation about the whole issue," said the Rev. Joseph M. Wagner,
executive director, ELCA Division for Ministry. "The problem with the 
strategy of seeking exceptions is that it is an indirect solution to a 
problem that needs to be handled directly."
     Ongoing conversation is what seems most reasonable to ELCA
members, he added.
     Among those who voted against the proposal was the Rev. Karen
L. Soli, Sioux Falls, S.D.  Many areas of the church are not talking
about the issue, she said.  Soli said she hoped the church could find
a way to make exceptions to "test" how noncelibate gay and lesbian
pastors may fit in the church.
     Ida Marie Hakkarinen, council member, Greenbelt, Md., reminded
the council the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly declined a similar
proposal.  The assembly's vote said the church did not favor a
"pilot, grace period."
     Council member Lily R. Wu, Forest Hills, N.Y., said she was
torn on the issue.  "It seems on one hand, I want to tell the Saint
Paul Area Synod I hear suffering and cries, but on the other, I want
to hear people who aren't ready to talk about this," she said.
     Despite the rejection of the Saint Paul Area Synod request, the
council adopted a second proposal calling for more conversation in
the church about the inclusion of gay and lesbian people, including
those who want to serve as clergy.  At the suggestion of the Rev. H.
George Anderson, ELCA presiding bishop, the council's resolution
requested each synod to incorporate the workshop or other models in
their assemblies before the 2003 Churchwide Assembly.  It also asked
for synod gatherings of clergy to spend at least one day in similar
conversation before the 2003 assembly.
     The resolution arose from a concern voiced by the Rev. Kirkwood
J. Havel, council member, Midland, Mich.  He said dialogue is not
happening in "mid-Michigan."  "Pastors are scared to death to bring
it up," he said.
     There is a critical need for education of ELCA members on
issues related to homosexuality, since the pastors' fears are driven
by member concerns, said Donald G. Hayes, council member, Winston-
Salem, N.C.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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