Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Christ is in our midst!
Posted on 02/14/2011 11:16:02 AM PST by lightman
Doctrinal discord divides Lutherans
Mary Garrigan Journal staff Rapid City Journal | Posted: Sunday, February 13, 2011 7:00 am
Unlike the creation story in the Book of Genesis from which it takes its name, Genesis Lutheran Church had a more secular beginning. It was birthed by a small group of people who left Piedmont Valley Lutheran Church over their growing disaffection with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s policies on homosexuality.
Genesis is the first Rapid City-based church to be affiliated with the newest Lutheran denomination, the North American Lutheran Church.
It began meeting in members’ homes on Dec. 5 and is among the more than 100 congregations that now comprise the small, but fast-growing NALC nationwide. NALC formed in August of 2010 in response to the ELCA’s decision to allow churches to hire pastors in same-sex relationships.
“There’s a lot of division in ELCA churches in Rapid City, and there was in our church, too,” Jerry Behnke said.
A public information meeting about Genesis Lutheran held on a cold, snowy day in January at West Middle School drew fewer than 20 people, but Behnke, of Piedmont, and Steve Darling of Black Hawk expect Genesis to attract Lutherans who agree with them.
Genesis members expect to begin holding regular Sunday services at 2760 Haines Ave., north of Lowes in Rapid City. The new congregation doesn’t have a permanent home yet, but it does have its own pastor. The Rev. Evelyn Johnson, a retired ELCA minister from Hill City who is no longer comfortable in the ELCA, has agreed to serve as Genesis’ interim, part-time pastor.
“It’s all up to God, as far as what we do with our growth,” Behnke said. “There’s a niche that hasn’t been filled. There’s a need to fill that void in Rapid City.”
When the ELCA voted to open the door to blessing same-sex unions and employing openly gay clergy, it proved to be the tipping point for Johnson and about a dozen former members of the Piedmont church who left to form Genesis Lutheran.
Since that controversial 2009 ELCA vote at a churchwide assembly in Minneapolis, 19 churches in South Dakota have completed the official process required to leave the South Dakota Synod of the ELCA: two majority votes taken at least 90 days apart, with a consultation with Bishop David Zellmer in between. Since October, seven ELCA churches, all in eastern South Dakota, have passed first votes to leave the synod, including a large Aberdeen church. Hope Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls will take its first vote to leave the ELCA today.
The latest Black Hills-area church voting to leave the synod was Christ the King Lutheran Church in Newcastle, Wyo. The church’s second ballot on Dec. 19 was a unanimous 63-0 vote for departure, said the Rev. John Hopper, pastor of Christ the King. Eight South Dakota churches, including Genesis Lutheran, have since affiliated with the NALC, and the Newcastle church is in the process of doing so. Eight other ELCA churches have failed a first vote to leave the ELCA.
Hopper, who recently celebrated the 37th anniversary of his ordination as a Lutheran minister, said Christ the King’s transition from the ELCA to the NALC will be uneventful for the average person sitting in the pews. “Our ministry really doesn’t change. Our congregation continues here as usual,” he said. Hopper was in Columbus, Ohio, in 1987, when the ELCA was formed in a merger between two earlier Lutheran denominations. He was in Columbus again last August, where he voted for the creation of the NALC.
But to date, none of the seven Rapid City ELCA churches have taken votes on whether or not to leave the ELCA, a fact that surprises Hopper, Behnke and other Lutherans.
“I am surprised by it,” Behnke said. “We’ve talked to a number of pastors, and they’re telling us there’s a huge need here in Rapid City.”
Although some Rapid City ELCA churches have polled their memberships on the new ELCA policies, none have taken official votes on leaving.
That doesn’t surprise the Rev. Wilbur Holz, president of the ELCA’s Bear Butte Conference pastors group. Holz thinks most Lutherans prefer to stay in the
ELCA despite some dissatisfaction with its social statement on human sexuality and its recommendations on gay clergy. He doesn’t expect any departure votes to be forthcoming from Rapid City .
“I’m really not surprised,” said Holz, who pastors Trinity Lutheran Church. At Trinity, a church poll found that “we didn’t like what the ELCA had done, but we didn’t want to leave the ELCA.”
That may reflect Trinity’s willingness to live with a national policy that it disapproves of, as well as its personal history with church schism, Holz said.
Under the new ELCA policies, individual congregations have the right to call, or refuse to call, a gay pastor. More conservative congregations will decide not to, Holz said. Trinity has approved a congregational statement that it will not call someone to be a pastor who is in a same-sex relationship, or who could be, he said. “But we’re willing to stay in the ELCA. In part, it’s that we can live with it.”
The Rev. David Baer, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Whitewood, wishes that at least one Rapid City church would have taken a departure vote, giving local Lutherans an alternative church home without having to start a congregation from the ground up.
“It would be nice if one of the Rapid City churches would take a stand so that those who cannot in good conscience remain in the
ELCA could find a home in an existing congregation, but I don’t think that is likely right now,” said Baer. His congregation recently voted to leave the ELCA and affiliate with NALC. Baer holds leadership positions with Lutheran Coalition for Renewal, or CORE, and is a provisional dean for the NALC in South Dakota. Lutheran CORE is an umbrella group that formed in opposition to the sexuality statement and its leadership launched the new NALC denomination.
It was Baer who connected Johnson with her new congregation, after she decided the Minneapolis vote made it impossible for her to continue in the ELCA. Being a female pastor, Johnson didn’t feel welcome in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, which doesn’t ordain women. But she won’t attend an ELCA church, either, as a result of its sexuality statement. She called Baer to ask “Where can I go to church? I’m not driving 60 miles to go to your church.”
Johnson believes God is as disappointed with the ELCA as she is, and showed it by sending a selective tornado to the 2009 assembly. The tornado blew down a cross at a nearby ELCA Lutheran church as the assembly began its deliberations. Johnson recalled someone commenting at the time that “it was like God was saying you could have your little social club, but don’t put my name on it.”
“I’m looking forward to speaking the truth in love and being part of a church that wants to be faithful to the Lord and his word,” Johnson said. “It’s an exciting time to be alive.”
At Piedmont Valley Lutheran, the congregation voted in April of 2010 to express its dissatisfaction with the ELCA through a continuing resolution. At the same time, it also voted not to support Lutheran CORE, the Rev. Carol Mapa said.
Piedmont Valley agreed it would “take caution in calling a pastor,” Mapa said, but its congregational vote not to join CORE was seen by many in the church as a decision to remain in the ELCA. “The majority wanted to express dissatisfaction but remain in the ELCA,” she said.
That led to at least 28 people, including Behnke and Darling, deciding to leave the congregation in 2010, according to church records.
“Not everyone is happy,” Mapa said. “Sadly, some people just leave and they don’t tell you why.”
That’s a significant membership loss in a church that has between 180 and 200 members and an average Sunday attendance of less than 100, Mapa said, but it won’t affect the viability of the church. “As a colleague of mine said, “The coffee is on and it’s free, just as God’s grace is,” Mapa said. “We’re not shutting our doors.” Piedmont Valley Lutheran received 15 new members in 2010.
The church has a wide spectrum of opinions on gay ordination and same sex relationships, but its membership chose to “live together in our agreements and disagreements,” Mapa said. “We still have a diverse congregation here. We live in a diverse world and our congregation reflects that.”
Church departures are hard on everyone involved, Behnke and Mapa agree.
“It’s almost like going through a divorce,” Behnke said. He and his wife have been members of the church for 25 years. “We don’t wish any harm on anybody. We’re not looking to take anybody away from another church. We’re just meeting a need that God has presented to us,” he said.
Making the choice to leave has been a blessing, too. “It is hard, but it’s exciting, too. We’re very excited,” he said.
There aren’t, however, hard feelings on either side at Piedmont Valley.
“The people who left are faithful people. The people who have stayed in the ELCA are faithful,” said Mapa. “When people leave, you are changed as a church. That’s a painful process, and you heal it by worshipping, fellowship and prayer.”
But Mapa believes that “living together in Christ … in all our agreements and disagreements” may be the hardest thing of all. “As people of God, we’re called to hard places. Nobody said picking up our cross would be easy.”
Homosexuality issues have dominated the ELCA in recent years, and they played a significant role in the formation of Genesis Lutheran, but Behnke and Darling reject the criticism that the NALC is a denomination founded on one theological issue.
“I don’t believe that that’s true,” Darling said. “Going forward, that’s not the issue.”
Darling says the same-sex marriage issue was “a good excuse” for him to leave a denomination that had grown increasingly frustrating to him over the past 20 years. He is unhappy that voting power in the ELCA favors the national and synod church governing bodies over individual congregations.
“The congregations have really a limited voice in the ELCA,” he said, noting that local delegates to the churchwide assembly are not bound by congregational or synodical preferences.
The ELCA’s changes to its ordination policies, as well as its reconfigured statement on human sexuality, simply could not happen under the NALC’s approach to church governance, Darling said.
Darling and Behnke prefer the structure of the new NALC, which requires that any national church positions or teaching statements be ratified by a two-thirds majority of all NALC congregations before becoming church law.
“That’s what appeals to me about the NALC. It’s really congregation-run,” Behnke said. “The synod serves the congregation, not the other way around.”
Hopper said there’s no way to tell how many more churches in the South Dakota synod will follow Christ the King’s lead, but that it is clear to him that the NALC will continue to grow.
“Our church had a long conversation about the sexuality statement and we said from the beginning that we can’t support this. Our decision to leave was a very long, very well thought out process, started by lay people who started asking questions,” Hopper said. “The biblical interpretation of marriage has been the issue for us the whole time. It wasn’t the gay and lesbian (ordination) issue. It’s always been — what has happened to the biblical understanding of marriage?”
The NALC calls itself a “traditionally grounded” denomination that affirms “the authority of the Scriptures as the authoritative source and norm, “according to which all doctrines should and must be judged” (Formula of Concord). Its teaching statement on marriage is that it is an institution limited to one man and one woman.
The ELCA approved a lengthy sexuality statement in 2009 that includes a section on lifelong, monogamous same-sex relationships and acknowledges that there is a wide variety of legitimate theological beliefs that Lutherans hold on the issue, and opens the door for individual congregations to condone or bless them as they wish.
Its document, “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust,” says, in part, “We understand that, in this discernment about ethics and church practice, faithful people can and will come to different conclusions about the meaning of Scripture and about what constitutes responsible action. We further believe that this church, on the basis of ‘the bound conscience,’” will include these different understandings and practices within its life as it seeks to live out its mission and ministry in the world.
As an officially retired pastor with an ELCA pension, Hopper had Bishop Zellmer’s permission to retain his ELCA credentials while serving as pastor of an NALC church. Instead, he opted to move his clerical identification to the NALC. “I felt I had to make the change for theological reasons,” he said.
Nineteen South Dakota congregations voted to leave the ELCA in 2010.
* Lands Lutheran, Hudson, March 7 * Trinity Lutheran, Platte, March 15 * Trinity Lutheran, Hudson, March 28 * East Lake Andes Lutheran, Armour, March 28 * First American Lutheran, Tripp, May 9 * Bethlehem Lutheran, Pierpont, May 12 * American Lutheran, Castlewood, May 16 * Hope Lutheran, Delmont, July 11 * Ladner Evangelical Lutheran, Ladner, July 14 * Little Missouri Lutheran, Capitol, Mont., July 25 * First Lutheran, Philip, Aug. 29 * Trinity Lutheran, Midland, Aug. 29 * Our Savior Lutheran, Long Valley, Aug. 29 * Deep Creek Lutheran, Midland, Sept. 5 * Shepherd of the Hills, Lead, Sept. 26 * Immanuel Lutheran, Whitewood, Oct. 10 * St. Peter Lutheran, Armour, Oct. 10 * Christ the King Lutheran, Newcastle, Wyo., Dec. 19 * Trinity Lutheran, Lake N
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Christ is in our midst!
So, do Lutherans still adhere to Martin Luther’s battlecry — SOLA SCRIPTURA, or do they now adhere to a new sola — SOLA ADFECTUS?
They have been told that they may not appear in clerical garb at ELCA functions, serve as pulpit supply in ELCA congregation, or even participate in Weddings or Funerals held in ELCA congregations.
The ELCA powers that be fear the tiny lifboat.
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!" Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.
I don’t know the answer to that question. What did Martin Luther say about homosexuality? I searched, using google, and I couldn’t find the answer.
“That doesn’t surprise the Rev. Wilbur Holz, president of the ELCA’s Bear Butte Conference pastors group...”
Unfortunate nomenclature considering the subject matter.
In his Lectures on Genesis while discussing the destruction of Sodom he called the lusts of the Soddomites "a monstrous depravity".
He then added that this is pretty much unknown in Germany but it might soon be spread there by the (Moslem) Turks!
Then I predict that this offshoot will go the way of apostasy as well, as long as they ignore the biblically mandated qualifications to be a pastor.
Churches continue to leave the sinking ship, and many individuals in churches whose votes "failed" will likewise continue to leave.
Congregations voting to leave the ELCA 2/13/11:
* Indicates first vote ** Indicates second vote
1. Franklin Lutheran Church, (Soldiers Grove) Viroqua, WI,* passed first vote 43-13.
2. St. John Lutheran Church, Starbuck, MN* passed first vote 24-1.
3. Trinity Lutheran Church, Smithport, PA failed to pass first vote 23-19.
4. Hope Lutheran Church, Sioux Falls, SD failed to pass first vote 168-88.
5. St. Timothy Lutheran Church, San Jose, CA** passed second vote 88.5%. Joined NALC.
6. St. Peter Lutheran Church, Mesa, AZ** passed second vote 120-16. Voted last December to join LCMC and NALC.
7. Salem Lutheran Church, Salisbury, NC* passed first vote 229-40.
8. Faith in Christ Lutheran Church, Springfield, OH** passed second vote 48-6. Voted to join NALC.
9. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Manfield, OH** passed second vote 94-31. Voted to join NALC.
what’s the difference between the LCMC and the NALC?? And is the CORE an umbrella over both?
Thanks for the update lightman. Here in Peachtree City Georgia we are regularly worshiping 130 confirmed members. We have an interim pastor and are looking for a full time. G_d is good!
Butte with a long “U”! lol
I wish some of the ELCA churches in southern New Hampshire would break away as well. The local one is under control of a cabal of extreme liberals and they won’t budge.
At least its dissenting members can pack up and flee Babylon. If enough Bible-believing emigrants leave, they could start their own LCMC or NALC church.
That depends on the Synod the church is affiliated with. My church is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) and we still believe in SOLA SCRIPTURA.
A South Dakota reader responds to the article:
“The largest church in Minnesota- gone.
Largest church in Sierra Pacifica synod-gone
1 of top 10 churches in ELCA in AZ-gone
Director of African National Church Outreach in ELCA (Buba) gone and now doing that for NALC.
Ethiopian Lutheran Church has told ELCA they have 1 year to change. The average Lutheran is an 18yr old black female from Africa. There are more Lutherans in Tanzania and Ethiopia than in all of North America!
Back home:
SD Synod just eliminated another position today due to declining giving.
1 church in Sioux Falls alone cut their giving by $300,000 plus.
Hope Lutheran in Sioux Falls had 65.6% vote, 4 votes short of 2/3 needed. so movement is being made in bigger towns.
56% of people at Brandon Lutheran checked box to not send $ on to Chicago.
a 2/3 vote twice is a significant hurdle. Harder to do in a big church, but nationwide 75% success rate on first votes, 90%+ on 2nd votes.
and if these are mostly intolerant small towns doing this, then why is the ELCA making it harder for churches to leave, if those churches trying to leave are no big deal
3 of the churches on the “failed” list had votes to leave of at least 56%.”
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