A story that came across the e-mail inbox today set my teeth on edge: “Resolution to allow for generous discretion for same-sex blessings…”  Specifically the words that did it were: “generous discretion.” Verbal abuse, in its highest degree. In fact, the Catechism speaks of such behavior when it warns against taking the name of God in vain by appealing to people in God’s name to lie and deceive. Let us be absolutely clear. There is not a single thing “pastoral” about blessing what God has declared to be sin. It is the height of unfaithfulness to do so. Here is the full story from the Epipscopal News Service:

[Episcopal News Service] “Marriage equality is a reality coming soon to a state near you,” Bishop Gene Robinson told an overflow crowd at a July 8 hearing. He was speaking to a proposed resolution that calls for wider-than-usual latitude for bishops to allow blessings of gay and lesbian couples in states in which same-sex marriage or civil unions are legal.

The text of Resolution B012, “Pastoral Generosity in Blessing Civil Marriage,” calls for “generous discretion [to be] extended to clergy in the exercise of their pastoral ministry in order to permit the adaptation of the Pastoral Offices” for marriage. It also provides for the affected dioceses to report annually to the House of Bishops and to the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Church Music for help in developing a service of blessing for same-sex marriage if such a rite should be approved by future meetings of General Convention.

Some 30 speakers — gay, lesbian and straight, bishops and clergy and laypersons, old couples who had been together for decades and young people who couldn’t see what the fuss is about — lined up on July 8 to support the resolution, which was under consideration by the joint committee on Social and Urban Affairs, co-chaired by Bishop Bavi Edna (Nedi) Rivera of Olympia and deputy Diane Pollard of New York. But the chorus of approval was finally brought up short by equally passionate remarks by those who struggle with passages in Scripture that oppose homosexuality.

Read more…

Ecumenical News International
Daily News Service
29 May 2009

Swedish Lutheran church elects bishop in lesbian partnership
ENI-09-0436

Uppsala, Sweden, 29 May (ENI)–The newly-elected Lutheran bishop of Stockholm says that being a lesbian means she wants to stand alongside people who feel powerless.

“I know what it is to be called into question,” Brunne said in an article on the Web site of the Church of Sweden (www.svenskakyrkan.se) after her 26 May election. “I am in the lucky situation that I have power and I can use it for the benefit of those who have no power,” said Brunne, currently dean of the diocese of Stockholm.

Brunne is the first Church of Sweden bishop to live in a registered homosexual partnership, the Uppsala-headquartered church said, and she is believed to be the first openly lesbian bishop in the world.

Fifty-five year old Brunne lives with priest Gunilla Lindén in a partnership that has received a church blessing. They have a three-year-old son.

“Once you have been baptised, no one can say you cannot be part of the Church because you are homo-, bi-, or transsexual,” the Web site of the French periodical Tétu quoted Brunne as saying.

She clinched the post by 413 votes against the 365 votes for Hans Ulfvebrand and she will succeed Bishop Caroline Krook, who is to retire in November.

In 2003, the consecration of a V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay divorced man who lives with a male partner, as an Episcopal (Anglican) bishop in the United States, triggered a deep division and threatened a schism in the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Lutheran churches throughout the world hold different views about matters such as the acceptance of homosexuals in church life, and blessings for same-sex relationships in some Northern countries.

The Church of Sweden, which offers a special blessing for same-sex couples, has faced criticism from some other Lutheran churches, particularly those in African countries.

In 2005, leaders of the Lutheran World Federation removed Kenyan Bishop Walter E. Obare Omwanza as an advisor to its main governing body, the LWF Council, after he consecrated a bishop from a breakaway Lutheran grouping in Sweden, opposed to women priests and same-sex marriage. [355 words]

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This survey explains, well, frankly, everything that we see going on in mainline Protestantism today. Seriously. Give it a read, at least the summary, and let’s talk about it. While the media has made news of the report’s findings on the attitude of mainline Protestant clergy and gay marriage, for me the “smoking gun” findings are really these:

Overall, Mainline Protestant clergy hold a theological outlook that is a mix of modernist and traditional views. On the one hand, more than two‐thirds (67%) of clergy do not believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, both in matters of faith and in historic, geographical, and other secular matters. More than three‐quarters (76%) reject the notion that there is only one correct Christian position on political issues. Moreover, less than 4‐in‐10 (38%) believe that social issues would take care of themselves if enough people were brought to Christ. On the other hand, more than 6‐in‐10 (61%) believe in the existence of the Devil and that the only way to attain salvation is through Jesus Christ. Eight‐in‐ten clergy believe that Jesus will return to earth one day. [Source: Mainline
 Protestant
 Clergy
 Views
 on
 Theology
 and
 Gay
 and
 Lesbian
 Issues:
 Findings
 from
 the
 2008
 Clergy
 Voices 
Survey (Public Religion Research, Washington DC, May 2009), p. 5.]

Here is a web site that has the complete report findings, along with summaries: http://www.publicreligion.org/research/?id=208

I received a copy of this letter, and found it to be very interesting.

An Open Letter to the Voting Members of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly

We are grateful that the church has called you to serve as a voting member for the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. Your role at the assembly will be a difficult one. We are writing this open letter as Lutheran theologians and church leaders concerned about the fidelity and future of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The proposals are in fact no compromise

The teaching of the church will be changed The proposals to be considered by the Churchwide Assembly this summer from the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality are perceived by some as compromises that will permit the ELCA to live faithfully with internal diversity on controversial ethical questions. The proposals are in fact no compromise. They clearly imply that same-sex blessings and the ordination and rostering of homosexual persons in committed relationships are acceptable within the ELCA. The teaching of the church will be changed. We should not make such an important decision without clear biblical and theological support. The Task Force did not provide such support, nor has it been provided in statements from some of our colleagues in ELCA institutions.

Indifference to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church

1. If the assembly adopts the proposed rules of procedure, a simple majority of one Churchwide Assembly will alter the moral teaching on sexuality we have shared with the vast majority of the church past and present. We are concerned that such a procedure shows an indifference to the common mind of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church throughout the ages and across cultures. At the least, a two-thirds majority should be required, if indeed the assembly should be voting on these matters at all.

The church is founded on the whole Word of God, both law and gospel

2. The proposals claim that the ELCA can live with profound differences on sexual questions because our unity is centered exclusively on the gospel and the sacraments. This claim separates law and gospel in a way contrary to both Scripture and the Confessions. The church is founded on the whole Word of God, both law and gospel. The Task Force texts seem to permit variation on all ethical questions, no matter how fundamental. How Christians behave sexually is not a matter of indifference to our life in Christ.

It would damage our ecumenical relationships

3. If the ELCA were to approve the public recognition of same-sex unions or the rostering of persons in such relationships, it would damage our ecumenical relationships with the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and Evangelical churches, all of which affirm the clear teaching of Scripture that homosexual activity departs from God’s design for marriage and sexuality. Furthermore, it would put the ELCA at odds with many of our sister Lutheran churches, especially in Asia and Africa. The United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA) have also recently upheld scriptural teaching on this matter. These bodies have officially recognized that the biblical prohibitions against homosexual activity remain applicable today to consensual sexual relationships between persons of the same sex.

Our unity will be fractured

4. With regard to calling rostered leaders, the statement proposes “structured flexibility,” which we believe will lead inevitably to “local option.” If adopted, this proposal will mean that the relationship among bishops, candidacy committees, and congregations will become confused and conflicted. Practically speaking, there will be two lists of candidates for rostered leadership in the church. The result will be that not all pastors and congregations will be in full fellowship with each other, nor with many of the pastors and congregations of those denominations with whom we are in full communion. Further, laity seeking a congregation to join would need to ask about which option a congregation has chosen in calling its leaders. Our unity in the office of ministry will be fractured.

Conscience can err

5. The social statement calls for opponents in the current controversy to respect each other’s “bound conscience,” referring to Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms. Luther, however, was not merely claiming that he was sincere about the convictions he held; he asserted rather that his conscience was bound to the Word of God. Conscience can err. The Word of God, not conscience, is the final court of appeal in the church. We are deeply sensitive to the need of the church to provide pastoral care for all people. We are aware that there are some in the church who will disagree with this letter. Nevertheless, we feel we are called to support and advocate the biblical teaching on human sexuality. We pledge to you our prayers and we invite you to work with us for the renewal of our church under the Word of God.

Rev. Richard Bansemer, Salem, VA, former Bishop, Virginia Synod
Dr. Robert D. Benne, Director of the Center for Religion and Society, Roanoke College, VA
Rev. John C. Beem, Miltona, MN, former Bishop, East-Central Synod of Wisconsin
Rev. Dr. Paul S. Berge, Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN
Rev. Dr. Dennis D. Bielfeldt, Professor of Religion, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD

Rev. Dr. Carl E. Braaten, Professor Emeritus, Systematic Theology, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Rev. Mark C. Chavez, Landisville, PA, Director of Lutheran CORE
Rev. Dr. James R. Crumley, Jr, Chapin, SC, Former Bishop, Lutheran Church in America
Rev. Jaynan Clark Egland, Nine Mile Falls, WA, President, WordAlone Network
Rev. Dr. C. Jack Eichhorst, President emeritus, Trinity Lutheran College, WA

Dr. Rebecca Frey, New Haven, CT, Lutheran Forum Editorial Staff
Rev. Gregory P. Fryer, Immanuel Lutheran Church, New York, MY
Gracia M. Grindal, Professor of Rhetoric, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN
Mr. David J. Hardy, Esq., Chicago, IL, Former General Counsel of the ELCA
Rev. Dr. Roy A. Harrisville, Jr., Professor Emeritus, New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN

Rev. Dr. Roy A. Harrisville, III, Menomonie, WI
Rev. Dr. Mary Havens, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Prof. of Church History, Columbia, SC
Rev. Carol S. Hendrix, former bishop, Lower Susquehanna Synod, PA
Dr. Hans J. Hillerbrand, Professor of Religion, Duke University, NC
Rev. Dr. Paul R. Hinlicky, Professor of Religion, Roanoke College, VA

Rev. Dr. Stephen J. Hultgren, Assistant Professor of Religion, Fordham University, Bronx, NY
Rev. Dr. Robert W. Jenson, Princeton, NJ
Ben Arlen Johnson, Th.D., Professor emeritus, Lutheran Bible Institute in California
Rev. Dr. Richard O. Johnson, Grass Valley, CA, Editor of Forum Letter
Rev. Corinne R. Johnson, Crystal Falls, MI

Rev. Ralph A. Kempski, Aiken, SC, Bishop Emeritus, Indiana-Kentucky Synod
Rev. Dr. Jack Dean Kingsbury, Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology, Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA
Rev. Gerard H. Knoche, Bishop, Delaware-Maryland Synod
Rev. Dr. Marc Kolden, Professor Emeritus, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN
Rev. Dr. David W. Lotz, Washburn Professor Emeritus of Church History, Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY

Rev. Dr. Lamontte Luker, Professor of Hebrew Scriptures, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC
Rev. Dr. Paul V. Martinson, Professor Emeritus of Missions, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN
Rev. Dr. Mark C. Mattes, Professor of Religion, Grand View College, Des Moines, IA
Rev. George P. Mocko, Bishop Emeritus, Delaware-Maryland Synod
Rev. Dr. James A. Nestingen, Professor Emeritus of Church History, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN

Rev. Richard J. Niebanck III, Delhi, NY
Rev. Dr. Oliver K. Olson, Minneapolis, MN
Rev. Dr. Steven D. Paulson, Professor of Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN
Rev. Dr. David W. Preus, Minneapolis, MN, Former Bishop, American Lutheran Church
Dr. Michael Root, Dean, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC

Rev. Dr. Paul E. Rorem, Professor of Church History, Princeton Theological Seminary, NJ
Rev. Russell E. Saltzman, Ruskin Heights Lutheran Church, Kansas City, MO
Rev. Kenneth H. Sauer, Columbus, OH, Former Chair of Conference of Bishops
Rev. Dr. James A. Scherer, Professor Emeritus, Missions and Church History, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Rev. Dr. Amy Schifrin, Hershey, PA

Rev. Paul A. Schreck, Round Lake Beach, IL, former Executive Assistant to the Secretary, ELCA
Rev. Henry Schulte Jr, Boerne, TX, former Bishop, Southwestern Texas Synod
Rev. Frederick J. Schumacher, Manchester Township, NJ, Executive Director, American Lutheran Publicity Bureau
Rev. Dr. Hans Schwarz, Professor of Systematic Theology and Contemporary Theological Issues, University of Regensburg, Germany
Rev. Dr. Frank Senn, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Evanston, IL

Rev. Dr. Franklin Sherman, Schnecksville, PA
Rev. Dr. Trygve R. Skarsten, Pickerington, OH, President Emeritus of Trinity Lutheran College, Everett, WA
Rev. Paull E. Spring, State College, PA, Former Bishop, Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod
Rev. Dr. John R. Stumme, Chicago, IL, former Director of the Department for Studies in the Church in Society unit of the ELCA
Rev. Dr. Anders Tune, Campus Minister, Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH

Rev. Paul M. Werger, Iowa City, IA, Former Chair of Conference of Bishops
Rev. Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, Associate Research Professor, Institute for Ecumenical Research, Strasbourg, France
Dr. David S. Yeago, Professor of Systematic Theology, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC
Rev. Dr. J. Larry Yoder, Professor and Director, Center for Theology, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Hickory, NC

I'll reproduce the official press release from the ELCA below, but today the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America released its official recommendation for a "social statement on sexuality." In it the task force that prepared it recommends several resolutions that would enact the full inclusion of openly homosexual men and women as pastors and other church workers in the ELCA.

The first resolution calls on the ELCA Churchwide Assembly this summer to "make a decision" on the fundamental question: do we, or don't we, on the question of "monogamous, life-long homosexual relationships" for their pastors and other rostered workers. Now, you might say, "OK, fine, they just reject that, then, no problem."

But here is the problem. The ELCA's Church Council a couple months ago, set in place a rule that would require only a simple majority vote on these issues, with no further churchwide ratification and not even a 2/3 majority vote. In other words, game over. The last ELCA Assembly, by a simple majority, placed a moratorium on any disciplinary measures for openly homosexual persons on their roster.

As one of my good ELCA pastor friends just said on another forum, a week ago he predicted this kind of strategy: call for loving acceptance of all diverse opinions, allow for 'local options' and then simply say that none of this need divide them as a Church. He then added: "I'm grieving that as of today the end-game of the
ELCA as a National Church may have been officially set in motion." I share his grief.

February 19, 2009

ELCA Task Force Releases 'Human Sexuality: Gift And Trust'
09-046-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) — The 15-member Task Force for the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Studies on
Sexuality released Feb. 19 "Human Sexuality:  Gift and
Trust" — a proposed social statement on human sexuality.
     The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly — the chief
legislative body of the church — is expected to consider
the social statement for adoption as an official statement
Aug. 17-23 in Minneapolis.
     The proposed statement addresses a spectrum of concerns
relevant to human sexuality from a Lutheran perspective. It
responds to the question:  "How do we understand human
sexuality within the context of Jesus' invitation to love
God and love our neighbor?"  If adopted by the assembly, the
social statement will assist the ELCA in its moral
deliberation, govern its institutional policies and guide
the church's public advocacy work.
     While the document does not offer once-and-for-all
answers to contemporary questions about sexuality, it "seeks
to tap the deep roots of Scripture and the Lutheran theological
tradition" for Lutherans to discern what is "responsible and
faithful action," according to the proposed statement.
     The document contains sections on key Lutheran principles,
trust and human sexuality, social structures that enhance trust,
sexuality and trust in relationships, sexuality and social
responsibility, and a series of resolutions to incorporate
the statement into the mission and ministry of the ELCA.
     "Sexuality has to do with relationships, and God has made
us relational beings," said the Rev. Rebecca S. Larson,
executive director, ELCA Church in Society.
     "The underlying question of this social statement,
therefore, is what makes right relationship. Our model is
God's unfailingly, trustworthy relationship with people and
creation.  No human relationship can thrive without trust.
The social statement therefore considers all human
relationships and social structures in light of what fosters
trust, commitment and protection for those who are vulnerable,"
she said.
     The call for trust is woven into the proposed statement's
discourse about marriage, same-gender relationships, family
and children, commitment in relationships, adult cohabitation,
society, public ministry and more.
     On the topic of marriage the document states that the
historic Christian tradition and the Lutheran Confessions
recognize marriage as a covenant between a woman and a man.
In recent decades the church has begun to understand "in new
ways" the need of same-gender couples who seek relationships
of "lifelong companionship and commitment as well as public
accountability and legal support for those commitments," said
the statement.
     The proposed statement acknowledges that "consensus does
not exist" among ELCA members on how to "honor" committed
same-sex relationships.  The statement reflects differing
conclusions on the basis of biblical and theological
interpretation.  Some members believe homosexuality is a sin
in their understanding of biblical teaching and natural law,
and some members believe homosexuality "reflects a broken
world in which some relationships do not pattern themselves
after the creation God intended."
     Some Lutherans believe same-gender relationships are to
be "honored and held to high standards and public
accountability" but do not equate these relationships with
marriage, and some believe that same-gender relationships are
to be held to the same "rigorous standards, sexual ethics
and status as heterosexual marriage," said the statement.
     Despite the varying viewpoints, the church encourages
all people to live out their faith with "profound respect for
the conscience-bound belief of the neighbor," said the
proposed statement.
     The document calls on congregations to be safe places for
children and youth, and it calls for education on human
sexuality for children and youth.
     "Degrees of physical intimacy should be carefully matched
to degrees of growing affection and commitment," stated the
document.  For this reason, the document calls the church to
oppose "non-monogamous, promiscuous or casual sexual
relationships."
     The statement addresses the topic of the value of
friendship, adult cohabitation, and Lutheran opposition of
sexual exploitation within and outside the church.  It also
asks that justice for women in church and society continue
to be an important dimension of Lutheran response.
     "When approved, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust will be
the 10th social statement of the ELCA," said Larson. "All
social statements are developed through at least a five-year
process in a broadly participatory way."
     "Human sexuality infuses all of life from the time we
are born until the time we die.  It is also social.  Economics,
business and advertising, social roles, medicine and science
are all relevant to human sexuality and the ways we act in
relationship to others.  How to use this gift in a way that
honors God and serves the neighbor is a critical issue,
particularly in this culture," Larson said.
     A draft of the social statement was given to ELCA members
in March 2008 for study, review and feedback.
     Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust "reflects what the task
force heard from this church in response to the draft social
statement," said Larson.
     "The theological section has been both focused and
expanded.  The role of God in creation and the role of law in
our lives has been made more prominent.  There is more material
on how Lutherans approach social ethics from a perspective of
faith.  The order of the sections has been changed to deal
with the intersection between the individual and social aspects
of human sexuality," she said.  "Also, it is 1 thousand words
shorter."
     Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust completes a directive from
the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to develop a social statement
on human sexuality.
     The task force also released a "Report and Recommendation
on Ministry Policies" to the 2009 Churchwide Assembly regarding
the professional leadership of the church on Feb. 19.  This
document completes a directive from the 2007 assembly to address
and make recommendations on changes to policies that preclude
Lutherans in committed, same-gender relationships from the ELCA's
professional rosters.
     The proposed social statement and the report and
recommendation on ministry policies are two separate documents.
They are open to review by the ELCA Church Council — the
church&#
39;s board of directors — and will be considered by the
2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
- – -
     "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" is available at
http://www.elca.org/faithfuljourney on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog

by Dr. Albert Mohler

Can
a true Christian deny the virgin birth? This question would perplex the
vast majority of Christians throughout the centuries, but modern
denials of biblical truth make the question tragically significant. Of
all biblical doctrines, the doctrine of Christ's virginal conception
has often been the specific target of modern denial and attack.

Attacks upon the virgin birth emerged in the aftermath of the
Enlightenment, with some theologians attempting to harmonize the
anti-supernaturalism of the modern mind with the church's teaching
about Christ. The great quest of liberal theology has been to invent a
Jesus who is stripped of all supernatural power, deity, and authority.

The fountainhead of this quest includes figures such as Albert
Schweitzer and Rudolf Bultmann. Often considered the most influential
New Testament scholar of the twentieth century, Bultmann argued that
the New Testament presents a mythological worldview that modern men and
women simply cannot accept as real. The virgin birth is simply a part
of this mythological structure and Bultmann urged his program of
"demythologization" in order to construct a faith liberated from
miracles and all vestiges of the supernatural. Jesus was reduced to an
enlightened teacher and existentialist model.

Read more…

Read it and weep. Not surprising, but nonetheless distressing. Another of the ELCA’s ecumenical “partners” has embraced actively homosexual persons as clergy. Not it up to local prebyteries to decided if they will approve this change in the denomination’s constitution. [The photo to the left: The Reverend Dr. Jane Spahr, center, a Presbyterian minister, performs
a same-sex marriage for Sherrie Holmes, left, and Sara Taylor, right,
at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael, Calif., Friday, June 20, 2008.]

Ecumenical News International
Daily News Service
30 June 2008

US church votes for change that could permit gay ordination
ENI-08-0511

By Chris Herlinger
New York, 30 June (ENI)–The general assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has approved a proposed change in the denomination’s constitution that would, in effect, permit the ordination of openly gay clergy.

However, a majority of the 2.2-million-member denomination’s local districts, known as presbyteries, must now approve the change, and those against gay ordination are likely to heavily oppose it. Similar efforts to change Presbyterian ordination rules in 1997 and 2001 failed.

Read more…

I receive a lot of news releases from various church press agencies and entities. Most are about as exciting as reading stereo instructions, but every once in a while along comes one that makes me sit up and take notice.

May 11 is Pentecost Sunday but apparently some Christians believe that the celebration of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, often referred to as the birthday of the Holy Christian Church, would be a good day to celebrate Pluralism Sunday, a day on which all world religions are honored for the good they do their adherents. This is a tragedy of indescribable proportions.

Read the following, and weep. Then pray that God the Holy Spirit would stir the hearts of the faithful to reach out in love and compassion for all those are wandering as sheep without a shepherd, either caught up in the error of false and damning beliefs, or who have wandered away from the sheepfold of Christ. Here is the press release, and following it, is the description of the event on the web site of the Center for Progressive Christianity. The Center for Progressive Christianity has 325 web pages of congregations that have indicated they want their affiliation with the CPC to be made public knowledge.

Pluralism Sunday – May 11, 2008 – Worldwide
Christian churches around the world will celebrate Pluralism Sunday on May 11 in worship – in recognition that other religions may be as good for others as their faith is good for them. The worship services will include speakers from other faiths, and music and liturgical elements from other religions, honoring the religious diversity of the world.

Pluralism Sunday is sponsored by The Center for Progressive Christianity, www.tcpc.org. It is a network of over 5000 affiliates and nearly 400 churches nationwide which have adopted a "Welcome Statement" that affirms that other religions can be as good for their followers as Christianity is for Christians. Churches in Australia, New Zealand and Britain are also participating in Pluralism Sunday. "We do not claim that our religion is superior to all others. Instead, we celebrate that we can grow closer to God and grow deeper in compassion, and we can understand our own traditions better, through a deeper awareness of the world’s religions," says Rev. Jim Burklo, the event’s national coordinator.

Here are the plans of a few of the other churches participating in Pluralism Sunday around the U.S.: Epiphany Community Unitarian Universalist Church of Fenton, Michigan, has invited a Zen Buddhist with a Christian background to be the preacher that day "so that we can experience the similarities of our faith paths," according to Anne Lerche, the pastor Mizpah United Church of Christ in Hopkins, MN, will do a pulpit exchange with Bet Shalom Temple (Jewish) on Fri, May 9, and Sunday, May 11.

The Prince of Peace Church in Anniston, Alabama, will conduct a service that will include readings from the Muslim and Buddhist traditions, and hopes to have a guest speaker from a local mosque. Barbara Currie, pastor of the Congregational Church in Deering, NH, will preach about how Jesus is the church’s gate to God, yet there are other equally important and creditable gates to God for other people.

For more information about Pluralism Sunday, see its website: www.pluralismsunday.org, and contact: Rev. Jim Burklo, coordinator, Pluralism Sunday, for The Center for Progressive Christianity: jtburklo@yahoo.com – 415-847-8997 or Fred C. Plumer, President: 253-303-0022

Web site text:

On Pluralism Sunday, May 27, 2007, Pentecost, progressive Christian churches around the US will explore and experience other religious traditions. 

Speakers, music, liturgies, and other elements from various religious traditions will be included in worship services.  This event is sponsored by The Center for Progressive Christianity. 

Participating
congregations will benefit by being included in national and regional
publicity for the event by TCPC, creating a special “evangelism”
opportunity to reach out to people who seek open-minded, open-hearted
churches. To be listed as a participating church, contact Rev. Jim Burklo, Pluralism Sunday’s coordinator, at jtburklo@yahoo.com as soon as possible. Indicate
your church contact person, email address, phone, church web address,
and any plans you have for celebrating Pluralism Sunday in worship on
May 27.   For resources and information to help your church participate, see www.tcpc.blogs.com/pluralism_sunday .

Progressive Christians thank God for the diversity of religions in the world! We don’t claim that our religion is superior to all others.
We grow closer to God, grow deeper in compassion, and understand our
own tradition better by honoring and exploring the world’s religions.

 

Many
if not most people think that in order to be a Christian, it’s
necessary to believe that Christianity is the only valid way to
salvation, and that other religions are inferior at best and evil at
worst. But Pluralism Sunday spreads good news: there
is a way to be Christian without making this prideful claim, which has
been the cause of so much inter-religious division and misunderstanding. Pluralism
Sunday takes a big step beyond mere “tolerance” of other religions, and
affirms that other faiths may be as good for their adherents as our
faith is for us.

Acts chapter 2 in the Bible recounts the powerful legend of Pentecost.  When Jesus’ disciples gathered in Jerusalem, the “curse of Babel”
was reversed, and suddenly people who spoke different languages could
understand each other.  This coming Pentecost, May 27, progressive
churches will celebrate the Holy Spirit of harmony and understanding
that is possible among followers of different spiritual traditions. 

PLURALISM SUNDAY is:

*
time to bring people of other faiths to our churches to preach or help
lead worship and celebrate other religions through songs and liturgies

* time for children and adults to learn more about the rich traditions of other faiths

* time to let the wider community know that our churches embrace religious pluralism.

 

To learn more about PLURALISM SUNDAY nationwide, contact Rev. Jim Burklo, TCPC Pluralism Sunday coordinator, at 415-332-3790 or jtburklo@yahoo.com, and look at  www.tcpc.blogs.com/pluralism_sunday for more background.

 

Latest developments from Finland:

Two separate developments were made public yesterday in Finland, creating a wonderful (sic!) irony that accurately describes the state of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland:

(1) Pastor Jari Rankinen, who has been under investigation by the cathedral chapter of the archdiocese of Turku for a good part of this year, on account of his refusal to share an altar with ordained women, has been suspended, both from his position within his congregation and from the pastoral office for three months for that crime, pending any appeal he may launch. He is the second pastor, following Vesa Pöyhtäri of Oulu diocese last month, to face suspension for non-co-operation with female pastors. Pastor Rankinen’s appeal to his Word-bound conscience was not considered a valid defence.

(2) Pastor Leena Huovinen has been named Pastor of the Year by the Pastors’ Union, the professional body for Lutheran pastors in Finland. Earlier this year, Ms. Huovinen came to nationwide prominence by openly admitting that she has blessed same-sex unions on her own initiative. For her, to act thus is a matter of conscience.

Please pray for pastors Rankinen and Pöyhtäri, their congreagations, and for the whole, sorry Church of Finland.

Tapani Simojoki

Christmas is the time of the year when peace and brotherhood are celebrated. That’s the whole point, right? Well, a Presbyterian Church, (PCUSA), is hosting an event that is in perfect harmony with this view of Christmas. Is this what plays in Peoria? Must be! To which, I say in my heartiest Scrooge-voice, "Bah! Humbug!"

The Norwegian State Church has, as of today, voted to ordain actively homosexual persons as pastors. This signals the yet more complete collapse of the state church as a genuinely Lutheran Church in Norway. May God strengthen those who continue to oppose these evils and remain steadfast in His Word. A friend sent me this note: "Pro-homosexual ordination forces won a final vote by 50-33 in the
Church of Norway’s assembly today (16 November).  The measure removes
the bar to ordination of practicing homosexuals, permitting "local
option" on the question for now. ["Local option" is, of course, the standard revisionist ploy until they consolidate their position.]"

Here is the latest information on the situation in Finland I’ve mentioned here before, the case involving the pastor who refused to conduct a communion service with a woman pastor. The local prosecutor has decided to move ahead with legal charges.

In the spring of this year, a Finnish missionary pastor hit the
headlines for his refusal to serve at the altar with an ordained woman.
He was a visiting preacher at a congregation near Helsinki, having been
invited on the initiative of the local branch of the Lutheran
Evangelical Association of Finland. He and the local LEAF
representatives had been given the impression that there would be a male
pastor assisting at communion. However, a few minutes before the service
began, a local female pastor turned up at the vestry, expecting to
assist. Pastor Norro made clear his position and offered to stand down,
at which point the lady in question decided to leave. The Senior Pastor
stood by and did not interfere in the discussion. Within days, the
matter was reported to the police who decided to investigate whether
this was a case of sexual discrimination against the female pastor
(despite churches being excluded from the Sexual Discrimination Act).
Thus far history.

The case has now taken a new turn. It was reported yesterday that the
local District Attorney/Prosecutor has decided to charge pastor Norro,
the chair of the local LEAF branch and the acting Senior Pastor with
sexual discrimination. He stated, "No exceptions have been stipulated in
the law concerning discrimination. On the other hand, juridically this
may be a tricky case for a magistrates’ court to handle since it
concerns matters of conscience." The nature of the charge is such that
the maximum penalty is a fine.

The case will be heard on 16 November this year.

Source:
http://www.kotimaa.fi/kotimaa/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3100&Itemid=38
[17 Sep 2007]

Sent by:
Tapani Simojoki

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at its Church wide Assembly voted that its bishops should refrain from disciplining  rostered workers who are in a "mutual, chaste and faithful same-sex relationship."

After several votes turning down efforts to change the ELCA’s "Visition and Expectations" document that governs the standards required for rostered workers, in order to permit such relationships, this was a substitute motion to ask at least for there to be an end to any disciplinary efforts against such rostered workers, a "cease fire" or a "time out" as it was put on the floor during the debate.

My sense is that many of the voting members of the Assembly simply had been worn out emotionally by the plaintive speeches made by, and for, homosexuals in relationships and this was perhaps regarded as a gesture of conciliation. Upon further reflection perhaps a number who voted for this will realize that they have, effectively, just given a green light to what in Scripture is very much a large, flashing red light and "danger" sign.

The best speech on this matter, in my opinion, was given by a dairy farmer from Wisconsin who rose and said, simply and powerfully:

I’ve listened to the debates over homosexuality all week. This debate is literally breaking my heart. In this post-modern world
which says everyone defines what is right or wrong for himself/herself,
the idea of discipline for violating boundaries is viewed as injustice.
We can not live our lives without boundaries. I’m a dairy farmer and I
work daily around large animals and large pieces of equipment. We
raised five children who always wanted to be with dad. Because I loved them
I built a fence and they had to stay in the boundaries of the fence, even if
they cried or begged. They could climb out. When they did they were
disciplined. It did not matter how much they wanted to be with me, or I
with them. Our Creator has given us boundaries, if we could live within
those boundaries a need for discipline would not exist.

Read more…

"Just as the confession distinguishes the church from strange religions, so also it distinguishes—this its task—truth from error, pure doctrine from heresy, the church from sect within Christianity. Thus rings the definition of confession in the introduction of the Formula of Concord: “Et quia statim post apostolorum tempora, imo etiam cum adhuc superstites essent, falsi doctores et haeretici exorti sunt, contra quos in primitiva ecclesia symbola sunt composita, id est, breves et categoricae confessiones, quae unanimem catholicae christiani fidei consensum et confessionem orthodoxorum et verae ecclesiae complectebantur.” (“And because directly after the times of the apostles, and even while they were still living, false teachers and heretics arose, and symbols, i.e., brief, succinct confessions, were composed against them in the early Church, which were regarded as the unanimous, universal Christian faith and confession of the orthodox and true Church.”) This setting of the limit of truth and error belongs to the essence of confession. If the improbant [“they (our churches) reject”] and the damnant [“they condemn”] (by which is designated the impossibility of church fellowship), which sound so harsh to modern ears are silenced, the Augustana ceases to be confession.

If this drawing of boundaries is called “loveless” and “unchristian,” then the same reproach is also directed toward the Apostolicum, every sentence of which was formulated against some heresy, and, above all, this reproach is directed toward the Bible itself. Just as the false prophets stand over against the prophets of God (Jer 23:21 ff.; 29:8–9; Ezekiel 13), [and just as] the false apostles stand over against the apostles of Christ (2 Cor 11:13), so the sect and heresy stand over against the church. And just as the struggle between truth and error rings through all of Holy Scripture, so also it runs through the history of the church, and the church would cease to be the church of Christ, messenger of the redeeming truth of the revelation of God to people, if it would cease to fight this battle. Here lies the greatest and most difficult task of the formation of confession. Here is shown whether or not Christianity still knows what the confession of the church means. The manner in which an age approaches this task shows what of courage and strength of faith, and what of humility and love are alive in Christianity. Here is shown whether the church knows of the reality of the Holy Spirit.

If the people of the Christian West, deep into the rank and file of the church, have forgotten this last sense of the confession of the church, then the reason for the downfall must not be overlooked. It happened because this struggle for the truth of the Gospel—the most difficult struggle which the church in the world has had to carry out—was not always fought with pure hearts and unsullied hands. Nowhere has the church failed so seriously as there where it should have struggled for the pure teaching of the Gospel. In the fight against apostasy from the church, the church has itself only too often forsaken Christ. Thus the confessing church has ever and again become the denying church. The history of Simon Peter, who was the first to express the confession of the church and the first to deny the Lord, has been repeated in the history of the church. But something else is also repeated therein: the tears of repentance and the reinstatement into the office, and this is the office of confession, of bearing witness, of martyrdom."

Source:
Hermann Sasse
The Confession of the Church
The Lonely Way, p. 113.