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Evangelical Lutherans are making a move.It’s been said culture is defined by morality, and morality is informed by religion.But sometimes, it works in the reverse.Have hell-and-brimfire preachers gone the way of the dodo bird and thus society’s less legalistic, or is it the other way around?Whether the chicken or the egg, on Saturday, history was hatched.The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) installed its first transgender bishop.As relayed by The Associated Press, Rev. Megan Rohrer will now lead one of ELCA’s 65 church councils (known as “synods”), putting the minister in charge of nearly 200 Nevada and Northern California congregations.Megan...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America installed its first openly transgender bishop in a service held in San Francisco's Grace Cathedral on Saturday.The Rev. Megan Rohrer will lead one of the church's 65 synods, overseeing nearly 200 congregations in Northern California and northern Nevada.“My call is ... to be up to the same messy, loving things I was up to before,” Rohrer told worshippers. “But mostly, if you'll let me, and I think you will, my hope is to love you and beyond that, to love what you love.”

(RNS) — The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber was installed this weekend as the first pastor of public witness for the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. Bolz-Weber, who has often attracted controversy, is perhaps best known for her New York Times bestselling books, including “Shameless: A Sexual Reformation” and “Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint,” the prayer- and profanity-filled memoir of her journey from alcoholic stand-up comic to Lutheran pastor. She was called to the role of pastor of public witness by the Rocky Mountain Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, whose bishop, Jim...

The Rev. Dawn Bennett, an ordained pastor who graduated from the Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Bennett, 54, serves a majority-LGBTQ congregation at The Table, a "faith collective" in Nashville, Tennessee. She said she prefers "faith collective" to "church," because "church," to some people, is synonymous with exclusionBennett was ordained last year, making history as Nashville's first queer female Evangelical Lutheran pastor. At her ordination, she wore high-top rainbow Converses. There was a gospel choir, along with nuns dressed in drag.

In 251 A.D., a young woman resisted the sexual advances of Quintian, a Roman proconsul. Her resistance cost her a sentence in a local brothel and, eventually, her life. Before she died, she was subjected to tortures that included having her breasts torn off by pinchers. To the end, she refused to give in to the sexual predator who sought to force her to repudiate her Christian faith. St. Agatha's endurance despite the tortures inflicted on her, including being deprived of one of the chief markers of her femininity, earned her a spot among the numerous Catholic saints who refused...

Protestantism — like the rest of the world — continues to evolve.Compared to fairly recently, the country looks vastly different.Less than four decades ago, President Ronald Reagan declared 1983 the “Year of the Bible.”It was no great shock: In the early ’80s — as reported by the Pew Research Center — 89% of Americans identified as Christian.Adherents to other religions totaled 4% while only 7% subscribed to no religion at all.Since then, faith has seen a radical decline.As observed by Gallup, 2019 marked the first year American church membership dropped below 50%.U.S. church membership was 73% when Gallup first measured...

Rev Megan Rohrer was elected bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Sierra Pacific synod on Saturday, becoming the first transgender person to serve as bishop in the denomination or in any of the major Christian faiths in the US.

The Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) has elected its first transgender person to serve as bishop in the denomination. On Saturday, Rev. Megan Rohrer, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in San Francisco and community chaplain coordinator for the San Francisco Police Department, was officially selected as bishop. According to Religion News Service, Rohrer is the first openly transgender person to serve as bishop in the ELCA or any other major Christian denominations in the U.S. Rohrer was also the first transgender person to be ordained in the ELCA in 2006 and the first to...

ELCA pastor: "I have friends who are in wonderfully healthy poly relationships". The Christian Church has taught for 2000 years that sexual intercourse is for one man and one woman within the bond of holy matrimony. The Church has never endorsed polyamory (having multiple sexual partners at the same time). But Pastor Clint Schneckloth, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has recently posted this: "...I have friends who are in wonderfully healthy poly relationships. Mutuality, consent, health, these are critical. I don't know what I would do about a throuple seeking a church blessing or marriage. It...

CHICAGO — The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), joined leaders from the National Council of Churches (NCC) in an open letter to Vice President Mike Pence, members of Congress and the Cabinet, calling for the removal of President Donald Trump from office. The letter states: "Our faith instructs us to take seriously positions of leadership, not to lead others astray and to be careful about what we say and do. "For the good of the nation, so that we might end the current horror and prepare the way for binding up...

January 6, 2021 Epiphany of Our Lord Dear Siblings in Christ, Grace and peace from God, our Father, and our Lord Jesus, the Christ. On this day, celebrating the feast of Epiphany, we remember the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus. In Matthew’s Gospel, we hear how “they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary...

December 10, 2020 Second Week of Advent For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. - Galatians 5:13-15 Dear Lower Susquehanna Synod Rostered Ministers: Over the past few weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to worsen. Yesterday 3,011 people died from...

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” – Luke 6:31 Dear Siblings in Christ, On Monday, November 16, 2020, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine spoke about the increasing coronavirus case numbers, citing that “62 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties have a percent positivity rate of 5%. The state’s overall rate is 9.6%.” Our own counties are seeing high escalations in daily positive cases, five to ten-fold increases. This data confirms that we are now in the worst of the pandemic to date. For us as the church gathering for worship and meetings, digital congregating remains...

Musician David Haas has been accused of sexual misconduct by several women spanning many years. Although Haas is not a member of an ELCA congregation, Evangelical Lutheran Worship includes four hymns by him: “Blest Are They” (ELW 728), “Now We Remain” (ELW 500), “We Are Called” (ELW 720), and “You Are Mine” (ELW 581). Several institutions have requested congregations to no longer sing works by Haas pending an investigation. Those who plan worship in the ELCA are strongly encouraged to discontinue use of these hymns and other compositions in worship. Both the ELCA and 1517 Media / Augsburg Fortress have...

October 8, 2020 Season after Pentecost “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” – Luke 6:31 Dear Siblings in Christ, Thank you for your creative and dedicated leadership as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hammer our nation and upend how we minister to God’s people. I am grateful that congregations are taking the threat of the virus seriously and doing all they can to minimize the chances of infection among their leaders and membership. Thank you! Our work is especially difficult because the pandemic’s course has proven unpredictable. Responding to what’s happening on the ground, public...

The comment was made during an article published in opposition to Israel's plan to extend sovereignty over parts of the West Bank. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ECLA) has spoken out against Israel's plan to annex parts of the West Bank in a series of articles published on their website, one of which additionally accuses Israel of having had a part in the murder of George Floyd. The comment was made in an article that mentioned a letter that the ECLA, along with 26 other churches, sent to the US congress in opposition to the annexation plan. The letter...

June 11, 2020 Barnabas, Apostle Dear Siblings in Christ, Care for God’s people, bear their burdens, and do not betray their confidence. So, discipline yourselves in life and teaching that you preserve the truth, giving no occasion for false security or illusory hope. Witness faithfully in word and deed to all people. Give and receive comfort as you serve within the church. And be of good courage, for God has called you, and your labor in the Lord is not in vain. I’m reminded of the words above from the service of ordination as the COVID-19 crisis continues … and...

May 21, 2020 Ascension of Our Lord Dear Siblings in Christ, Grace and peace to you! As I have since the COVID-19 health emergency began, I share the gratitude of our whole synod for the creativity and diligence that you have shown in serving God’s people. Thank you! Our office has been working to keep you updated during this crisis. Today I bring no new information, however I want to clarify some of my previous recommendations and provide insight in light of numerous questions that have arisen. When will things be better or back to normal? Authorities tell us that...

The Rev. Anna Reeves considers herself fortunate that her church, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Silver Spring Twp., sits on sprawling property. “It’s just a wonderful place for outdoor activity,” she said. On Sunday, Reeves is going to take advantage of that ample outdoor space and use it to gather with her congregation in worship while adhering to strict social distancing protocol to protect her faith community from the coronavirus. “I don’t think it’s safe yet to go into the sanctuary. It’s really not,” she said. “Our plan is to abide clearly by the state’s guidelines of having no...

An increasing number of individuals who identify as “gender non-binary” have emerged among the clerical ranks in mainline Protestant denominations. Following the ordination of transgender clergy in the United States, non-binary clergy appear to be the next wave of sex and gender revisionism. While clergy already ministering within Christian communities have come out to their churches as non-binary, a number of non-binary identifying individuals have made headlines as the first to be ordained openly within their denomination. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, non-binary is relating to or being a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that is...