The Lutheran Bible Institute
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Newsletter, 3rd Quarter, September, 2009 |
Suggestions for Worship and Reunion Planning Participation | |
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A recent suggestion from an alumnus (passed on to me by a friend) was that we should have a "worship" service as part of the reunion. In addition, this
alumnus suggested that as it appeared that I was the only person working on the reunion (and not a very "spiritual" person at that), then until more "spiritual"
people got involved in the planning of a "spiritual" reunion, that particular alumnus probably would not attend a "non-spiritual" reunion.
Worship Service While it has been my experience at both of the recent reunions that attendees want to have more time to (re-)connect with classmates (and that is why we offered up the Sunday morning "worship" options in the most recent Newsletter [see the 2nd Quarter, June, 2009 Newsletter here]), I am certainly open to hearing other's opinions on this topic for discussion. And, so, I am opening this topic up for discussion in the Forum (see the "Message Archive" link on the Reunion WWW site). Planning a "spiritual" reunion I really don't know what to say about this issue of "measuring one's spirituality" that the alumnus raised . . . . Perhaps it is a "pietistic (pre-millenialist)" vs. "social gospel (post- or a-millenialist)" issue (of Preterist, Idealist, Futurist, Historicist, Supersessionist, Dispensationalist, or what have you casts [?]). Like I said before, I really don't know what to say. . . . I truly believe that the music, presentations, and "keynote" and "other" speakers (some of them suggested by staff at the ELCA Headquarters in Chicago) (and to "reflect" and look forward):
The Reunion Home Page has not changed that much since I designed and implemented it in the Summer of 2004. So, for over five years there have been home page links either suggesting ways to participate in the planning and / or requesting participation in the planning. The and links come to mind most readily. . . . Perhaps the alumnus did not know of the Reunion WWW site! To remedy this situation, I will present an "Introduction to the Reunion WWW site" breakout session at the reunion (see proposed reunion schedule below). As with the previous issue, I am certainly open to hearing other's suggestions as to how this issue can be further addressed. And so, I am also opening this topic - "God's 'Pipeline' - Measuring 'Spirituality'" - up for discussion in the Forum (see above). |
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Landmark ELCA "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" document hotly debated |
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ELCA NEWS SERVICE August 19, 2009 |
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MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" with a vote
of 676 (66.67 percent) to 338 (33.33 percent) on Aug. 19. The passing of the social statement on human sexuality required a two-thirds vote.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, met Aug. 17-23 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. About 2,000 people participated, including 1,045 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly was "God's work. Our hands." Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust is the denomination's 10th social statement. It addresses a spectrum of topics relevant to human sexuality from a Lutheran perspective. Social statements "guide us as we step forward as a public church because they form the basis for both this church's public policy and my public speech as presiding bishop," the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, told the assembly. An ad hoc committee addressed 13 proposals to amend the social statement from voting members and 42 "memorials" or resolutions from the 65 synods of the ELCA. They ranged from editorial amendments to changing the intent and coherence of the existing text. With a 303 to 667 vote, voting members defeated an amendment to replace a section of the social statement about "lifelong monogamous same-gender relationships" -- a section that identifies the issues within the denomination about homosexuality, describing a range of widely articulated views. The proposed replacement language reflected the position of some in the church that believe the "practice of homosexual erotic behavior as contrary to God's intent." The ad hoc committee recommended that the amendment not be adopted, since the position articulated implies "a consensus that no longer exists." After considering 6 of the 13 amendments, voting members moved to accept the recommendations of the ad hoc committee on all other amendments and moved to consider the adoption of the social statement. Speaking in favor of adoption of the statement, the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod, said she hopes the assembly does not become "so narrowly focused on the issue of homosexual sexual behavior that we missed the point that we're speaking a clear word that needs to be heard by our culture," particularly on topics about co-habitation outside of marriage, sex as a commodity, child pornography and more. She said the church has high expectations for all Lutherans, especially for ELCA professional leaders. Speaking in opposition, voting member Curtis Sorbo, ELCA Eastern North Dakota Synod, said the social statement "should be a teaching tool. I don't think that it is. Instead we have descriptions of different sexual relationships that we are asked to accept by bound conscience," he said. "We are asked to affirm a description of sexuality in today's culture because of a new reality. Our church needs to address this issue based on the authority of the word of God, not a description of public opinion and personal desires." "We took some risks in the writing of this in ways that we thought were appropriate for these times," the Rev. Peter Strommen said in a news conference following the plenary. The statement was structured from a standpoint of "love of the neighbor and trust," he said. Strommen served as chair of the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality, which developed the social statement under the directive of the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. In response to the vote on the statement's adoption Strommen said, "I doubt very much that I've ever been present at an election with that many votes cast coming out exactly two-thirds. Quite stunning," he said. "We're naturally very glad that it passed." "I am very proud of this church," the Rev. Rebecca S. Larson, executive director, ELCA Church in Society, said at the news conference. "It is a time of diminished joy," she said. "We know there is suffering all around on this issue." |
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One alumnus wrote to me in a recent email (with the Subject "Religion - Politics and Sex") "I do not like the direction the ELCA is taking. The AFLC is
more to my traditional upbringing." This person is also heavily involved in Glenn Beck's "912 Movement." Following David Brooks' (New York Times
columnist) and Kathleen Parker's (conservative Washington Post columnist) remarks on a recent Chris Matthews Show (September 20, 2009) on the Faux News
Network concerning
Glenn Beck's and Rush Limbaugh's "race-baiting",
I responded, ". . . I can see that you are moving toward the right on the continuum from Jesus' summing up of the "commandments" in Matthew 22:37 to the
apostle Paul's "reinvention of Sodom" expressed in Romans 1:24 - 27 (indeed, more than one Christian writer has suggested that Paul may have been a repressed
homosexual himself [http://relijournal.com/christianity/was-the-apostle-paul-gay/]) cf. Taddeo de Bartolo's,
"The Last Judgment" [detail of the adulterers and sodomites] and / or his
"Hell" [detail of the lustful] - both in the Collegiate Church, San Gimignano, Italy from around 1394
A. D.).
All of this to ask whether or not you have yet had an opportunity to read the ELCA document 'Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust'?" The link to the ELCA document "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" is highlighted in the third paragraph of the ELCA News Service entry above. And, for further discussion, there is the Forum link on the Reunion WWW site! |
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Once again the Reunion Date |
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| Check out the "blurb" (see also the "tentative" schedule listing) in the June, 2009 Quarterly Newsletter. |
