Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Posted on 09/15/2009 4:08:37 PM PDT by lightman
Service of Reconciliation Marks ELCA Decisions on Same-Gender Relationships
09-199-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A Saturday afternoon "Service of Reconciliation" drew about 150 people to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Charlotte, N.C. The special Sept. 12 worship brought together those who welcomed and those who were troubled by recent decisions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Voting members at the August 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis approved a series of proposals to change the denomination's ministry policies, including a policy to allow Lutherans in lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, clergy, deaconesses and diaconal ministers.
The Rev. Nancy Kraft, pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, called the service "glorious." Those in attendance were Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Mormon, Jewish and Buddhist, she said. "There were some people who were thrilled with what the ELCA has done and other people who aren't so sure about this," she said. "They came, so I thought that was wonderful."
"This is a historic time for our church," Kraft said, and the "radical inclusion" that the ELCA adopted includes those previously excluded and those who disagree.
"It was reconciliation in a lot of different ways, not just where we are right now as a church with people who stand on both sides of an issue but also for people who have in the past felt shut out," she said. "People are hurting in a number of different ways right now."
L.D. Shockley, a bottling company employee and member of Advent Lutheran Church, Charlotte, said upbeat hymns and the sermon of the Rev. Richard C. Little, retired pastor of Advent Lutheran Church, set the tone for reconciliation.
"There's been a lot of information in the news recently about this (decision) causing a fracture, but the way it was presented Saturday was that this was an opportunity for the church -- the whole church -- to come together," Shockley said.
After the service, several worshipers gathered in the church's social hall for coffee and dessert. Shockley said he was impressed by a man from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"He felt comfortable enough to stand up and say, 'My views are different, and yet we can worship together here today,'" Shockley said. "I thought that was very affirming."
Kraft said several members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church are gay or lesbian, and the congregation began planning the Service of Reconciliation in July. "We knew that whichever way the voting went, those who had a lot invested in the outcome on either side were going to have some strong reactions," she said.
"It was an important time for us to gather around the Lord's Table together, to focus on all that unites us rather than what divides us."
Kraft attended the assembly as an observer. She said the importance of reconciliation was evident there, when debate on the ministry policies was interrupted every 20 minutes for prayer.
"Sometimes you were in a small group, praying with people, and you had no idea where they were, how they stood on this, but it didn't matter. We're praying about this," Kraft said.
--- Information about Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is at http://www.htlccharlotte.org/HTLC/Home.html on the Web.
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
+Cyprian taught "he who doesn't have the Church as his mother can't have God as his Father" and that "there is only one God, one Christ one Church, one faith, one Christian people firmly united by the cement of harmony; and that which by nature is one cannot be separated"
But please, NOTE THE BOUNDARIES! Christ is the only gate to the sheepfold--the plea for unity is for those who are IN CHRIST.
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Reconciling with sin isn’t something to be proud of. It’s something to repent of.
Liberals are all alike. They simply redefine sin rather than renounce it. It’s less effortful.
North Carolina used to be—not so long ago—a conservative state with wonderful Southern values and great food and hospitality. in 2008 however, it voted for the muslim communist obama for President, which would have been absolutely impossible even four years ago. ( I’m sure that many in the state and elsewhere who voted for obama regret their vote, however.) And it has an influx of Yankees, with all their Yankee cultural garage such as the gaysbian movement and radical feminism. North Carolina still has wonderful barbecue, however.
Among Lutherans, North Carolina had Bishop Michael McDaniel, a great orthodox Lutheran Bishop who was close to the Orthodox as well.
Now they have that abomination of a so-called reconciliation service, in which a “gay-friendly” probably Yankee-dominated parish has to bring in non-Christians and cultists to give them the false feeling of agreement and “reconciliation”. They no doubt have no understanding of what reconciliation means in II Corinthians or elsewhere in the Bible and in Christian tradition.
I’m sure that there will be quite a few ELCA Lutherans (even including some Yankees) who shout “horrors!” to what’s going on in the ELCA, and will chose to join the new traditionalist Lutheran re-alignment. There are also some fine Orthodox parishes in North Carolina, which I am sure will welcome inquirers and catechumens.
He is leaving the ELCA, but is very conditioned against the LCMS or Catholics.
“Those in attendance were Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Mormon, Jewish and Buddhist, she said.”
Orthodox canon law prohibits worship with heretics. Latin canon law did once upon a time.
Otherwise, what sort of nonsense “service” was this?
Yeah, I kind of wonder what God thinks of these “interfaith” services. He had a pretty strong reaction to the one on Mt. Carmel, as recorded in I Kings 18.
Yeah, I kind of wonder what God thinks of these “interfaith” services. He had a pretty strong reaction to the one on Mt. Carmel, as recorded in I Kings 18.
+Michael was the first Bishop to become a subscriber to the Rule of the Society of the Holy Trinity. I was blest have heard him present as the Teaching Theologian for a Chapter Retreat.
May his memory be eternal!
.... all their Yankee cultural garage such as the gaysbian movement and radical feminism.....
I of course meant “Yankee cultural GARBAGE”. But a “Yankee cultural garage”, filled with gaysbianism, feminazism, etc. is an interesting metaphor!!
Good for you!
Shame on us.
I’m a Yankee in Georgia. Trust me these are not Yankee values!
These are liberal values. Granted, I am much happier in Ga. than I was in Pa.
Tonight I am attempting to view the sordid state of the ELCA through the lens of +Cyprian, who is best remembered for teaching that there is no salvation outside of the Church and for readmitting to the Church those who had foresaken her during persecution.
But if the Church itself forsakes her “first love” and goes whoring after the spirit of the age, are not the faithful those who refuse to bow to the false spirits—even if they must remove themselves from the institution called “Church” for a time—possibly for a very long time?
Which then brings us back to the question posed by Peter in the Gospel a few Sundays back, “Lord, to whom shall we go?”
“Actually sent an ELCA friend to an OCA parish in Nebraska the other day.”
!!!!!!!! :)
“He is leaving the ELCA, but is very conditioned against the LCMS or Catholics.”
The Catholic part I understand, but I know too little about LCMS to appreciate what it is about it that would cause your friend to avoid it. Is it theology?
“But if the Church itself forsakes her “first love” and goes whoring after the spirit of the age, are not the faithful those who refuse to bow to the false spirits—even if they must remove themselves from the institution called “Church” for a time—possibly for a very long time?”
The Church hasn’t forsaken her first love. A group of heretics and heresiarchs have gone off a-whoring. That’s what heretics and heresiarchs do, my friend and one way or the other, the Zeitgeist is almost always the idol they worship. Its what comes of embracing the world.
“Lord, to whom shall we go?”
Pray for discernment and you will know the answer, if you don’t already.
And he views the LCMS as to “conservative” in theology.
And if you spend much time in the ELCA, you get to hear over and over again how mean, legalistic, etc. etc. the LCMS is.....
Yet here I am.
“And he views the LCMS as to “conservative” in theology.”
LOL!!!! He’ll get a real kick out of the “liberal” theology of Orthodoxy! :)
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