Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Alleluia! Christ Ascends with shouts of joy!
Posted on 05/13/2010 7:11:12 PM PDT by rhema
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota, at least from afar, is often described as cold, Scandinavian and Lutheran. Whether or not that description is true, the face of one of those descriptors is currently undergoing some major revisions. That’s the face of Lutheranism—particularly the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Last August, the denomination voted 559 to 451 (in a simple majority vote) to open the ministry of the ELCA “to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in committed relationships.”
The decision marked years—even decades—of controversy and debate among the denomination’s four-plus million members. Much of the debate revolved around the aftermath of when or if this particular resolution passed: Would congregations vote to leave the denomination, would some congregations vote to withhold money from their local synod, would another denomination be formed to appeal specifically to those congregations who opposed the decision to allow gay clergy.
Now nine months after the vote, some of these questions can now be addressed.
Congregations leaving the denomination
ELCA Secretary David D. Swartling, in a press release dated April 16, said more than 220 congregations “have taken successful first votes to leave the ELCA before possibly taking a second and final vote to leave.” The ELCA currently has more than 10,000 congregations.
The Rev. Dave Glesne, senior pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fridley, said he is currently aware of about a dozen churches in the Twin Cities metro area that have already departed the ELCA or have scheduled either their first or second votes to consider that option.
In fact, Glesne’s Redeemer Lutheran Church recently took its second congregational vote to terminate its affiliation with the ELCA effective June 1. The vote passed 285-9.
With churches leaving the denomination—even if it were only a few—the financial impact could potentially be severe.
Walter Sundberg, professor of church history at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, believes “the financial fallout is devastating. One of my colleagues who is very well informed on the demographics and economy of the ELCA predicts that by June of this year, the denomination will know the financial fallout,” Sundberg said. “The fallout from the recession of 2008 was bad: about a 12 percent loss in contributions to support operations. He thinks this could add another 40 percent in reduction.”
For Thomas V. Parrish, executive pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, the decision by the ELCA is having what he called a “slow burn” effect. “By ‘slow burn,’” he said, “I mean that more and more clergy who would normally have remained quiet are seeking counsel, direction and hope that the church will return to its biblical roots. While the extreme liberals in the church rejoice and the extreme conservatives recoil, it is the vast majority in the middle who are beginning to ask and respond to the right questions.”
A decision like this can often have polarizing effects not only on those who determine to leave the denomination but also on those who choose to stay.
The Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, commented on the hope he sees for the church’s future in a press statement, saying: “We define ourselves first on the basis of our relatedness in Christ rather than on what sets us apart and whom we are against. It’s too easy in a polarized and contentious culture to create identity on the basis of what and whom one opposes rather than on the basis of whom we welcome and to whom we belong.”
Impact on Luther Seminary
For Luther Seminary, in St. Paul, and its 800-plus students, so far there hasn’t been much fallout financially, according to Richard Bliese, president and associate professor of Missions. “Our financial position this year is stronger than last year,” Bliese said. “Total giving in total dollars is up as well as number of donors. Having said this, we do have donors who wrestle with these issues and who take opposition to the ELCA position. Most of these donors make a distinction between Luther Seminary and the ELCA, although not all.”
Sundberg said the Luther Seminary is blessed by very loyal donors. “There is no doubt, however, that financial support by our supporting synods is down and is likely to remain so for some time,” he said.
Yet, as of right now, no significant financial or student admission repercussions related to Luther Seminary have been reported.
“It’s too early to make definitive predictions about the fall, but we like our position so far,” Bliese said. “I don’t think the church wide assembly vote has significantly affected student applications one way or another. Other factors come into play vis-a-vis enrollment.”
Impact on denomination
Being an American denomination is full of ups and downs. Some years the number of adherents to a denomination may be up, while other years witness a decline. For the ELCA, however, since its founding in 1988, the measure of health that is membership has been in steady decline.
Glesne, citing statistics from the “ELCA Yearbook,” said: “Between 1988, when the ELCA membership stood at 5,250,000 and 2000, the ELCA lost 125,000 members. Between 2000 and 2008, the ELCA lost 492,000 members—a nearly fourfold increase in decline in one third less the time.” Glesne added, “When the numbers are tabulated for 2009 and 2010, the loss could well be three quarters of a million [for the century thus far].”
Sundberg agrees, saying, “Mark Hanson has presided over the largest loss of any Lutheran denomination in American church history. There is no prospect that the numbers will turn around; none whatsoever.”
However, Bliese sees the current situation as “an opportunity to focus more clearly on mission. Moments like these present any church with the opportunity for discerning God’s will for the future. To focus on a narrower, clearer mission at this time might prove to be a blessing for the ELCA in the long run.”
Future of ELCA
Some have argued that small, rural and conservative congregations make up the backbone of the ELCA. And, those arguments suggest, the denomination will look significantly different five or 10 years in the future because of decisions like the one last August.
Parrish believes the denomination will look different in several ways. First, “Small and rural conservative congregations who do not leave the ELCA will stop giving financially and consider the leadership of the ECLA to be irrelevant,” he said.
Second, Parrish believes, those congregations will not accept clergy candidates and even seek those outside the ELCA network. Finally, Parrish said, “National gatherings of the ELCA will see fewer delegates as the biblically conservative churches see the national convention as a political advertisement rather than a church dialogue.”
Some see possible positive outcomes from the debate that has roiled the denomination. Bliese believes one of the positive outcomes from last year’s vote is that more ELCA congregations are wrestling with Scripture.
“They are asking serious questions about human sexuality and going to Scripture as a community to find answers,” he said. “I can’t remember a time since the Civil Rights era when Lutherans were taking the Bible so seriously—as communities of faith, not just individuals. This is a big gain from the church wide assembly; that is, Christians are returning with passion to Scripture to figure out what they really believe.”
Others disagree.
“The future for the ELCA is bleak,” Sundberg said.
The next several years will determine significantly the future of the ELCA, and whether or not decisions like the one last August will drastically remake one of the nation’s largest denominations.
Sundberg agrees, saying, “Mark Hanson has presided over the largest loss of any Lutheran denomination in American church history. There is no prospect that the numbers will turn around; none whatsoever.”
Second, Parrish believes, those congregations will not accept clergy candidates and even seek those outside the ELCA network. Finally, Parrish said, “National gatherings of the ELCA will see fewer delegates as the biblically conservative churches see the national convention as a political advertisement rather than a church dialogue.”
CHRIST NEVER CONDONED SIN.
The ELCA is a rotting corpse.
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Alleluia! Christ Ascends with shouts of joy!
The fact is, Mark Hanson is turning ELCA into a fascistic autocratic organization, where his pitbull "Secretary" Swartling rudely trashes loyal Christians as if they were dirt.
They of course have their millions in retirement safely locked away, so the future of ELCA is a parlor game to them.
with appologies to Monty Python:
“it’s a man’s life in the new ECLA!!!!”
I am Catholic and cannot respond intelligently about Elca. However if this were the Catholic Church accepting Homosexual relationships among clergy , I would find somewhere else to attend services ,and my financial support thereof.
I know Catholics have had problems with pedophiles, but I truly believe they are trying to resolve it.
The good thing is this will help separate the wheat from the chaff.
Remember Christ said He came not to unite but to divide. This division is a good thing, those with the biblical ‘stones’ to stand up for God’s Word and not be yoked with this leadership that is unionistic and syncretistic.
Much good will come out of this situation even though we wish all would realize the error and turn away from it instead of embracing and promoting it.
Since it has cost the RCC many, many millions of dollars, and strained the credibility of all priests (good and bad), what other choice was there? They couldn’t just keep shuffling them around for decades and hide it. It got to the point that people ‘taking one for the church, let’s take care of it quietly and internally’ just wasn’t working anymore.
There is an Exodus now, but just wait until CORE’s new North American Lutheran Church is up and running.
Hanson has really made a name for himself...the individual who single-handedly brought down the largest Lutheran Synod in America.
His Mother and Father would be so proud!
Oscar Hanson(Mark’s father) started the church I attend in Oslo some 50 years ago. The fellowship hall is named after him. He worked liked a dog too. Now, ironically when it is all said and done a 1,000 churches will propbably leave the ELCA.
I really do wonder what Mark’s father would have thought about all this nonsense. Is it a case of the apple not falling far from the tree or is it the prodigal son who never came home?
This is one of them and it is sad. I was raised in the American Lutheran Church. I stayed in the ELCA after the merger until September of 2005, when I realized that it was no longer home. I moved to the LCMS and have been comfortable there since.
If the local ELCA church would move to another synod, I would be happy to rejoin as the LCMS church is quite a ways away.
All you need to know about ELCA - or almost any “largest” organization of Christian denominations (except SBC) - is that it is defined by liberalism.
Of course, sometimes I wonder about my own LCMS church. But not to the extent of ELCAs.
My dad graduated from Trinity Seminary, in Columbus, Ohio, and he told me that seminary is the best one for gays to attend, to meet other gays. He wishes that didn’t happen. About two years ago, he joined a Missouri Synod church.
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