wfn.org | ELCA Outreach Board Seeks Hospitality for Gay and Lesbian People

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 20, 2001

ELCA OUTREACH BOARD SEEKS HOSPITALITY FOR GAY AND LESBIAN PEOPLE
01-061-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) Division for Outreach (DO) is asking the church for a message
about homosexuality.  The DO board approved that request when it met
here Feb. 23-25, and it began a process to seek recognition for
Lutherans Concerned/North America as an independent Lutheran
organization.
     "Out of the division's commitment to hospitality for gay and
lesbian persons," the board asked the ELCA Church Council to develop
a message to the church, building on a 1996 letter from the
Conference of Bishops: "A Word of Welcome to Gays and Lesbians."
     "We are affirming the bishops' letter," said Dorothy
Baumgartner, DO board chair.  Baumgartner is chief administrative
officer of Trinity Lutheran College, Issaquah, Wash.
     "We repudiate all words and acts of hatred toward gay and
lesbian persons in our congregations and in our communities, and
extend a caring welcome for gay and lesbian persons and their
families," said the bishops' letter.  "We ask all our members to join
us in repentance for hurtful actions toward others, and in forgiving
when we have been the objects of anger or hate."
     "The board is encouraging the church to develop a message that
communicates that to the wider church," said Baumgartner.  "We would
hope that the message of that letter would go farther."
     Lutherans Concerned/North America (LC/NA) encourages gay men,
lesbians and bisexual people who feel alienated from Christian
churches to returned to worship in caring communities.  It also
encourages Lutheran congregations in North America to be those caring
communities.  It is funded entirely by donations.
     LC/NA assisted the division in researching "Congregational
Hospitality to Gay and Lesbian People," a report DO made available in
1999 that included case studies from 16 congregations of the ELCA.
The report listed "visible signs that this congregation is a 'safe
place'" for gay and lesbian visitors.
     LC/NA "helped us with the conversation about hospitality with
gay and lesbian people," said Baumgartner.  Recognition as an
independent Lutheran organization "invites them to continue in a more
significant way in that conversation," she added.
     According to the ELCA Constitution, Bylaws and Continuing
Resolutions, "This church, through the secretary of this church and
action of the Church Council, shall establish the general policies to
govern official relationships with independent Lutheran organizations
that seek to relate with this church while maintaining their
independence and autonomy."
     One example of a recognized independent Lutheran organization
is Global Health Ministries, Minneapolis.  Global Health Ministries
is a volunteer network supporting overseas Lutheran health care
projects with funding, gathering and shipping medical supplies and
equipment, and offering advice on issues of missionary health.  It
assists medical missions by recruiting and supporting health care
workers.
     The steering committee of the ELCA Commission for Women met
here March 9-11 and passed resolutions supporting both actions of the
DO board -- requesting a message from the church about homosexuality
and "independent Lutheran organization" recognition for Lutherans
Concerned/North America.
-- -- --
     The March 22, 1996, open letter from ELCA bishops, "A Word of
Welcome to Gays and Lesbians," is available at
http://www.elca.org/sr/pastoralgl.html on the Web.
     Lutherans Concerned/North America maintains a site at
http://www.lcna.org/ on the Web.

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