Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Christ is Born, Glorify Him!
Posted on 12/22/2010 4:35:43 PM PST by rhema
I finally have applied to become a member of the clergy roll of the North American Lutheran Church, which means leaving the clergy roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Here is the NALC’s site.) About time, too, inasmuch as the NALC made me a dean back in early September. I am a sort of acting proto-bishop for NALC parishes in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Pretty easy job in the moment; the NALC has but one congregation in the entire four-state region. There are others pending. The one NALC congregation. however, is not the one I serve as pastor.
In my congregation, we are a mixed lot in the moment, as is the case with numerous ELCA parishes. While there is a lot of unhappiness with the ELCA, there is equally a lot of indifference and even some support for what the ELCA did on gay sexuality and gay pastors. I have not pushed my congregation for a vote to leave the ELCA and I have no plans to do so, so I cannot say what direction the parish will eventually take. But my displeasure with the ELCA is well known, and I did make sure the parish council voted permission for me to join the NALC. The vote was six in favor, one opposed, one abstention (my own), and the one absent member indicated she would have voted yes.
There is a wrinkle. ELCA congregations are served by ELCA pastors, period. Which I am not or soon won’t be. Otherwise, an ELCA congregation served by a non-ELCA pastor is subject to expulsion.
But the ELCA has been rather lax about enforcement heretofore.
(Excerpt) Read more at firstthings.com ...
Of course the ELCA bishop isn’t too happy, but then I have never made it part of my career to make him happy. I suspect he will get over it. Since he has not made any reply to my letter, I am guessing he is dealing with my loss very well. Which is good; one should stay cheery around Christmas. Soon, then, I shall receive a letter from the secretary of the ELCA telling me I am no longer a pastor, cannot dress like a pastor, and of a fact I may no longer do any of the usual things a pastor does. My reply, if I bother making one, will be: yes I am; I will if I want to; and yes, I may.
If possible to post the synod’s response, please do so. They are wise to be very delicate on how this is handled, and it should NOT come from the secretary or any administrative personnel.
Time for the Lutheran Ping List?
Well, here’s yet another way for a parish to leave the ELCA by being expelled, which is not only a lot easier than the currently mandated procedure, but may get around the ways that the ELCA intends to make leaving that “church” body even harder.
ELCA pastors and parishes should collect ways for a parish to leave the ELCA in as painless a manner as possible. As long as such moves are done openly and above board, and parish members and councils know what is happening, there is, IMHO, absolutely nothing wrong with setting things up so that the ELCA expels a parish.
Looks like the NALC will have over 100 parishes before too long. It’s growth, at the expense of the ELCA, may be unstoppable.
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Christ is Born, Glorify Him!
The Gamaliel principle is at work here...and also with the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) which in its ten year existence has gained over 500 congregations, about 200 since August of 2009.
We are currently looking for a pastor here in Georgia. Good luck! There are many of us out there.
Making their Bishops unhappy is a time honored tradition among Lutheran clergy.
I received their paper again, last week, called ‘Seeds for the Parish’. I wrote them back asking them to remove my name from their roster and suggested they rename their paper... ‘Seeds for the Perishing’. As far as I am concerned, they are promoting another gospel, which the Bible warned us about.
Indeed.
"Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone."
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