Posted on 06/28/2019 3:37:27 PM PDT by lightman
(RNS) — For the first time in its 134-year history, the Evangelical Covenant Church has voted to remove a congregation from its roster over its position on LGBTQ inclusion.
The vote to expel the First Covenant Church, a prominent and historic Minneapolis congregation, for being “out of harmony on human sexuality,” took place at the denomination’s annual meeting in Omaha on Friday (June 27).
The Minneapolis church has never performed a gay marriage, though a lesbian couple had an off-site wedding performed by its music director in 2014, which produced a series of conversations about its future over the past few years.
Then last year, the denomination suspended its pastor, the Rev. Dan Collison, after First Covenant said it would treat LGBTQ members as equals, allow married gay clergy and would be open to hosting same-sex marriages.
Both Collison and the church decided to defy the suspension, and he refused to accept the “care and discipline” of the denomination’s board of ministry. Instead the church kept his as pastor.
For the denomination, this was a step too far.
Three-quarters of the more than 1,000 delegates to the meeting voted to remove the church from the denomination, which includes 875 U.S. churches with about 300,000 members. A vote on whether to expel its pastor was pending; a retired pastor was expelled yesterday.
“I’m deeply saddened this ecclesial body doesn’t make room for openly LGBT individuals, other than to say you’re welcome but we won’t treat you equally,” said Collison. “Ultimately, it becomes a question of what is love about and what is inclusion about. It breaks my heart.”
Though far smaller than the United Methodist Church, which this year doubled-down on its ban on LGBTQ ordination and marriage, the ECC vote signals just how divisive the issue of sexuality remains in some Protestant circles. While many denominations, including the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church USA and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have opened their ranks to LGBTQ clergy and marriage, many others have not.
First Covenant Church Minneapolis, a 145-year-old congregation whose church building occupies nearly an entire city block, is known for its outreach to the community. Its ministries include a shelter for homeless people and a childcare center. The church is now building a $42 million affordable housing project.
Collison, who has been pastor for 10 years, said the church has about six members who identify as LGBTQ and another dozen who attend but haven’t formally joined. Most of its members might be considered LGBTQ allies.
The ECC’s position on human sexuality states that heterosexual marriage, faithfulness within marriage and abstinence outside of marriage constitute the Christian standard.
“There is now a movement seeking to subvert the historic trust we have placed in the discernment of the Annual Meeting by refusing to live in harmony with our communally discerned position,” ECC President John Wenrich wrote Friday in a letter to denomination members.
“If these groups are successful in such efforts, we will continue to devote time, energy, and resources to conversations we have held now for more than 20 years, diverting our focus away from topics such as immigration, mass incarceration, justice and evangelism—matters that have never needed the presence of the faithful more than they do now.”
In addition to Collison, the denomination voted on Thursday (June 27) to suspend the credentials of the Rev. Steve Armfield, a retired pastor who officiated at the wedding of his son to another man, and later officiated at a lesbian wedding. Armfield is now serving as an interim pastor in another denomination.
Founded in 1885 by Swedish immigrants, the denomination defines itself as “evangelical, but not exclusive; biblical, but not doctrinaire; traditional, but not rigid.”
But on the issue of gay rights, the denomination drew a line. “They’re building a wall around it that they’re trying to make impenetrable,” Collison said.
The Minneapolis church has begun a new association to support churches experiencing denominational hostility and assist them in becoming more inclusive. It calls the group the Covenant Collective.
That’s just it, we all have our roles. It might be 2019, but God doesn’t change.
As a mom, I feel called to create Jell-O as needed. (It’s also good with shredded cabbage, carrots and pineapple in it) ...
By the grace of God I am not called to be a pastor!
The Frankfurt School infiltrated seminaries long ago. Clergy are often among the most heretical - but many seek to hide it from those in the sanctuary pews, like politicians who seek to hide their treachery from those in the voting booths.
I guess the picture tells us just what type of person is running the show there.
Are you saying you would keep going to a church that was run by so?.domites
And no I did not run away and hide, I do my best to inform people that Christ is not in religious institutions he is in the hearts of believers.
875 congregations in the United States and Canada with ministries on five continents of the world.
Founded in 1885 by Swedish immigrants, the church is now one of the most rapidly growing and multi-ethnic denominations in North America.[4] Historically Lutheran in theology and background, it is now a broadly evangelical movement.
A pietistic religious awakening had swept through Sweden around the middle of the 19th century. Before leaving their homeland some Swedes met in people’s homes, as they felt the state church was becoming overly powerful. There they conducted private services including hymn singing accompanied by guitars and read scripture from their Bibles, but they’d often hear an ominous authoritative knock at the door from a church official...The state church discouraged the gathering of these believers. It was people from this movement who emigrated to America and formed the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America.
The church is divided into eleven (11) regional conferences[7] – Canada Conference,[8] Central Conference,[9] East Coast Conference (org. 1890),[10] Great Lakes Conference,[11] Midsouth Conference,[12] Midwest Conference,[13] Pacific Northwest Conference,[14] Northwest Conference,[15] Pacific Southwest Conference,[16] Southeast Conference[17] - and its newest conference, the Alaska Conference.[18] The Covenant presence in Alaska dating from 1887 as a foreign mission outpost, but gradually transitioned its status to a home mission, and then finally full conference standing in 2015
Membership is concentrated primarily in three regions of the United States: the Midwest, along the West Coast, and in the Great Plains region.[19] California has the largest number of members, but the highest rates of membership are in Minnesota, Alaska, Kansas, Nebraska, and Washington.[19] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelical_Covenant_Church
Radical Pietism emphasized the need for a "religion of the heart" instead of the head, and was characterized by ethical purity, inward devotion, charity, asceticism, and mysticism. Leadership was empathetic to adherents instead of being strident loyalists to sacramentalism. The Pietistic movement was birthed in Germany through spiritual pioneers who wanted a deeper emotional experience rather than a preset adherence to form (no matter how genuine). They stressed a personal experience of salvation and a continuous openness to new spiritual illumination. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Pietism
But that still does not validate making some "equal to the Apostles" in the light of their credentials, (1Co. 9:1; 2 Co. 6:4-10; 12:12) and who did not pray to created beings in Heaven, among other distinctives of Catholicism (mostly in Romanism) that are not manifest in the only wholly inspired substantive authoritative record of what the NT church believed (including how they understood the OT and gospels), which is Scripture, especially Acts thru Revelation.
Situational exceptions do not constitute what is ordained to be the norm: ARE WOMEN PASTORS BIBLICAL?
Oh, I disagreed with them and told them why. Female pastors are 100% not Biblical, and I would not attend such a church.
It appears that they are being attacked and expelled for holding to Scripture, not for supporting LGBTQ
If evangelicals are not overall far more conservative than any other major religious group, then who do you recomend?
Deborah is found in the OT,not NT.
Is that algebra?
Yes, I know. If you'd been following the thread you'd understand my post.
But apparently not.
It's akin to how Roman Catholics reach back to the OT to justify Mary being the "Queen of Heaven".
Neither are sound exegesis.
Say what??
I have been checking up on the threads.
You apparently aren't good at following the thread.
Do I really need to spell this out for you?
Is it so unusual that after one small denomination throws out a gay-supporting church, to turn our eyes to the world's largest gay religion and ask if it will do the same??
Being anti gay is not bigotry.
It is biblical.
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