Posted on 05/05/2009 11:08:28 AM PDT by SmithL
Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota is a congregation of the more conservative Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. It is not unusual these days to find families leaving the ELCA to join the church. However, a new member’s class at Bethlehem Lutheran is an unusual place to find young men from the ELCA’s Luther Seminary in Saint Paul. Pastor of the Church, Robert Krueger, says that he sees more ELCA students coming to his traditional and liturgical congregation. “They all have expressed a disappointment in the direction the ELCA is going, and its general disregard for the Bible as the Word of God.”
One of those seminary students, Barcon from Madagascar says, “The ELCA’s acceptance of practicing gay pastors and gay marriage would not happen in my region of the world. Even if the homosexual lifestyle is fully accepted by society, how can the Christian Church go against what is taught in the Bible? Even the un-churched know that this is not the teaching of God or of real Christianity.”
This doesn’t surprise Rev. Bill Sullivan, national service coordinator for Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, a young denomination established primarily for Churches leaving the ELCA. “For some time now we have gotten a few calls a day from congregations planning to leave the ELCA, who want to research their options.” These are mostly congregations that are planning to leave regardless of the outcome of the sexuality vote and he hears often from seminarians planning to leave the ELCA too.
Another edit of the “Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality” was prepared by the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality and was released in February, 2009. As anticipated, it recommends the full acceptance of practicing gay pastors and gay marriage in a call to “the love of God and neighbor.”
In disagreement, ELCA Theologian Dr. Carl Braaten wrote, “The summary of the law is love to God and neighbor. This summary, however, does not nullify the force of the individual laws and commandments of God. They are binding on the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ. “ Braaten expresses concern that foreign missionaries would be at risk for persecution, particularly in Muslim lands, if the ELCA goes forward with the recommendation to fully embrace homosexuality. He also says that such a move would put the ELCA in impaired fellowship with most of the world’s Christians. He chides such a unilateral move as arrogant, disregarding Christians in the rest of the world.
Outside of the official “dialogue” in the ELCA, there is a silent conversation happening nation-wide. It may very well be a conversation that is underestimated in influence because it is not well publicized.
In 2005 and again in March of 2009, the ELCA has had to re-structure in light of financial constraints, eliminating nearly 100 high level positions. These were actions taken in both time of economic expansion and recession. In 2009, 5.6 million dollars was trimmed from the mission budget, a radio ministry was eliminated, and significant cutbacks in hunger appeal funding were introduced. Most of the ELCA’s seminaries have also made significant cuts, as well as the ELCA publishing house Augsburg Fortress. The ELCA continues its “contingency budget planning” in preparation for the upcoming sexuality vote.
Since 2001, the ELCA reports a loss of 400,078 members. In 2007, on any given Sunday, only 28.9% of ELCA’s 4,709,956 members attend services. This is a steady annual drop in Church attendance, and leads many to theorize that the trends suggest the loss is far higher than the ELCA is able to quantify.
John Brooks, ELCA communications director says that all of these things have nothing to do with the protracted debate in the ELCA on homosexuality. He points to the economic recession that engulfs all of America right now. He also maintains that the loss of membership recorded for the last 7 years is due to congregations “clearing their rolls of inactive members” and is relatively equivalent to membership losses experienced across the mainline churches.
Brooks echoes the sentiments represented in a recent Public Religion Research survey of Mainline Pastors, including ELCA pastors. 46% of those surveyed do not believe that the mainline churches are declining because they are becoming theologically liberal. In fact, 47% thinks that the decline has been caused by a loss of courage among the churches to take prophetic stands for justice.
Mark Hanson, presiding Bishop of the ELCA, has consistently and strongly urged his clergy to take prophetic stands on social justice issues. At the same time, he has asked his members not to let the ELCA’s position on homosexuality to detract from all the good work the denomination does. “The issue of homosexuality in this Church is not all that we are,” he says.
But to many in his flock it seems the conflict has consumed the church, has depleted valuable resources, tarnished the ELCA name, and has overtaken the Christian priority of bringing people to Christ. For them, the ELCA has indeed become too liberal. Many of the polite and gracious people of the ELCA, primarily of quiet and reserved Scandinavian background, are more apt to vote with their feet and pocketbooks than to engage a fight with denominational polity.
An 82 year-old great grandmother from California, who was a Lutheran long before the inception of the ELCA, says that people aren’t leaving just because of the recommended position on homosexuality. She wrote, “The ELCA has become a social justice advocacy group, where political activism trumps good theology and scholarship, and liberalism and social justice have replaced the Gospel.” Like the young seminary students seeking Lutheran churches with traditional values and theology, she intends to remain a Lutheran if her congregation leaves the ELCA.
Pastors and Theologians who have advocated reforming the ELCA rather than leaving it, are beginning to concede that the conflict is not about sexuality. It is really about broad irreconcilable differences in how traditionalists and progressives understand the authority and interpretation of the Bible. They maintain that the authority of Scripture is a core value that cannot be negotiated and that abandoning teachings accepted for thousands of years destroys the foundation for fellowship articulated in the ELCA constitution. For many of them, the mergers that formed the 20 year old ELCA have proven to be a mistake.
Judging from these “silent conversations,” it appears that the ELCA may have underestimated the true cost to pursuing this particular social justice agenda. 7 years is a long time to fight in a Church about homosexuality, no matter what side you are on. The damage already done may be irreversible. Few congregations can survive such a church fight, and even if they do, their success in the long-run is often in doubt.
The ELCA is quick to dismiss such a dismal prognosis, but right now things are not looking good for them as they clamor to plug the dikes in what is shaping up to be a tsunami of members leaving the denomination.
Ah, er, do you want to re-think that title?
From a Roman Catholic: how’s the Missouri Synod faring these days?
Depends on what you are examining.
Our membership like most, is decreased, not at a rate of ELCA’s or more liberal churches. We tend to lose youth when they go off to secular colleges. Many don’t come back after college. At least not right away.
On theology, pretty strong. The one problem we have isn’t about homosexuality but about keeping membership. We are currently approaching it IMO the wrong way. THe Ablaze initiative is more interested in numbers and statistics and is more a purpose-driven approach, rather than the traditional approaches that do not place so much emphasis or concern about numbers and trying to quantify things.
No denomination is immune from unionism and syncretism. We tend to do pretty well in this regard, but it would be foolish to think without constant vigilance we are immune from these things happening to us.
fyi
I was an ELCA Lutheran at one point (grew up Southern Baptist and am now a confirmed Catholic). Part of the reason I left and eventually became Catholic was because the ELCA was becoming progressively more liberal. Not the direction I wanted my spiritual life to go. Additionally, when I went to my Lutheran minister with a marital problem (my wife had just told me she was going to leave me) he suggested I needed a back rub ... That minister eventually became a Bishop in the ELCA (and still is). His wife and mother of his two children left him for a woman. His daughter (a friend of mine and a youth leader at HER church) is a closet lesbian. She even said there was conjecture as to his “orientation” and that that was part of what lead to her parent’s break-up. Given that history and the fact that this man is a leader in the ELCA, is it any wonder the ELCA is moving in a more “homosexual-friendly” direction?
This data is a bit dated. But here is a very nice web site with denominational data. Association of Religion Data Archives. http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/reports/US_2000.asp Evangelical Lutheran Church in America theology: Mainline Protestant congregations 2000: 10,739 adherents 2000: 5,113,418 adherence rate per 1000: 18.2 congregation change 1990-2000: -173 adherent change 1990-2000: -113,380 percent change 1990-2000: -2.2% Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod theology: Evangelical Protestant congregations 2000: 6,077 adherents 2000: 2,521,062 adherence rate per 1000: 9.0 congregation change 1990-2000: +57 adherent change 1990-2000: -82,663 percent change 1990-2000: -3.2% This data for the Missouri Synod is a bit surprising. See the full chart for a comparison of evangelical denominations to mainline denominations.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Be sure also to read:
Delight, Design and Destiny: Toward a Doxological Ethics of Sexuality
Statement by Three Dissenting Members of the ELCA Task Force on Human Sexuality
It’s Not About Homosexuality--Not Really
“Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust”: A Critique by Carl E. Braaten
When There Are No Biblical or Theological Grounds to Change, Don’t
WordAlone Network responds to ELCA human sexuality proposals
Lutheran CORE leaders urge rejection of ELCA task force recommendations
Well, the fact ELCA signed so many fellowship agreements with other very liberal denom’s (PCUSA, UMC, etc) to share pastors and such, helped propel the liberal elements within ELCA forward faster than they probably otherwise would have been able to.
It’s true but it’s old data. Since 2000, ELCA has gone hell-bent left and they have lost about a half million in membership. LCMS losses put us around 2.4 million.
One thing that also accounts for LCMS losses during this time (and I don’t know if ELCA has done the same) but in the past, people who stopped attending were still kept on the roles. We basically started to drop people after sixth months (of course trying to contact them to make sure they were okay being dropped, because of any number of reasons, or that they wanted to remain). So more accurate record-keeping of who’s really an active member is a small part of our loss numbers the last 10 years too.
I was confirmed in the ELCA church, attended a PCUSA (PC says it all ) church for a number of years and now hubby and I attend a Bible based non dom church.....we could not be happier...
Too many churches have abandoned Biblical truths and teachings so therefore they and their members have abandoned God.....
Yeah... The Presbyterian Church, USA, the Episcopalians, the United Methodists, the ELCA, and the United Church of Christ all seem to be competing to see who can become the most secular progressive.
I renounced my membership in the UMC this year after the UMC explicitly rejected the Christian mission to save souls, instead writing that the mission of the UMC is to transform the world. I.e., the UMC openly declares itself a political activisit organization, while rejecting Christ’s insistence that Christians make disciples for the salvation of souls. The General Conference explicitly rejected “salvation of souls” language.
ELCA should take the word Lutheran from their title as they are nothing like the true Church doctrine and Liturgy
LCMC and Wisc Synod are the true down the line Conservative and Traditional faith.
- snip -
The ELCA is quick to dismiss such a dismal prognosis, ...
Since May 1999 (during a congregational council meeting) I have been up close and very personal with the shenanigans in the elca. I (and the church of which I am a part ) have moved elsewhere.
I can assure any reader that the attitude expressed in italics above represent the ostrich with its head, not so much in the sand as, where the sun don't shine. The conversations I continue to have express the exact opposite.
I was a member of ELCA churches, 1989-2008. In April 2008, I joined LCMS church. That month, my dad, a retired ELCA pastor, told me that the ELCA committee on sexuality recommended that the ELCA never ordain gays and never hold gay weddings. I decided to join another ELCA church, and I was surprised, in Feb. 2009, when I heard that many ELCA leaders hope to pass a resolution, this year, to allow gay pastors and gay weddings. I hope that I can persuade many of the leaders to obey the Bible. I’ll contact many synod leaders and ask them to agree with the CORE proposal.
ELCA is now a lost cause. There’s too much momentum behind it, and the fellowship agreements with other denominations will propel this thing into being.
I know an ELCA member who said that she’s very pro-gay. She said that churches should change, to conform with society. I said that society should change, to obey the Bible. She was speechless.
Good for you for speaking out.
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Sure would be nice to hear something, anything, hopeful for our church. Got anything?
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