Posted on 06/01/2009 1:52:19 PM PDT by lightman
Lutheran Leaders Respond to Slaying in Wichita Church
09-126-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), issued a statement in response to the May 31 murder of Dr. George Tiller at Reformation Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Wichita, Kan.
Tiller was serving as an usher for Sunday morning worship when he was shot and killed. A suspect was arrested later in connection with the killing.
"Dr. George Tiller and his wife, Jeanne, were gathering with the people of Reformation Lutheran Church to worship and to celebrate Pentecost -- the coming of the Holy Spirit to God's people," Hanson said. "In the wake of his death we pray that the Holy Spirit will comfort his family and all who mourn."
"We pray for the courage to be peacemakers, rejecting violence as a means of resolving differences. We trust God's promise that neither death nor life nor anything in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord," Hanson said.
The Rev. Lowell R. Michelson and the Rev. Kristin M. Neitzel are pastors of Reformation Lutheran Church. The congregation is part of the ELCA Central States Synod, led by Bishop Gerald L. Mansholt.
Michelson and Neitzel posted a public statement on the congregation's Web site, noting that Tiller had been a longtime member of the congregation.
"In the wake of this tragic event, our deepest concern is for the family of George Tiller. We ask the community to join us in prayer for them as they face the difficult days ahead. Our hearts ache with them. We also ask that the family's privacy be respected," the pastors said.
They added that counselors were helping members of the congregation. "We pray for healing and peace to be restored. We offer our thanks for the many prayers of support from across the country," Michelson and Neitzel wrote.
In a letter to the ELCA Central States Synod, Mansholt wrote: "In this time of tragedy and sorrow we give thanks to God who comforts us in times of need and loss. In the midst of things we are unable to understand or comprehend, we continue to trust in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection to life eternal. In that promise of God there is healing and hope for the whole world."
-- -- -- Bishop Hanson's full statement is at http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Office-of-the-Presiding-Bishop/Messages-and-Statements/090601.aspx on the ELCA Web site
ELCA is proabortion.
My former church is doing well now that it no longer has a revisionist pastor.
I do understand that there are many ELCA members who are appalled at what’s going on in your denomination. Having learned that Tiller was a member of a church, it came as no surprise that it was an ELCA congregation. There are churches in a few other denominations that would also welcome a murderer like Tiller.
Years ago I worked with a fellow who was Missouri Synod, I knew that ELCA was liberal, but the Pastor and Pastorette Thank you for all your insights.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
who shared some of features of different Lutheran denominations.
will receive special treatment for embracing and providing succor
to those who torture and murder of innocent children. NAsbU James 3:1 Let not many of you become teachers,
my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
NAsbU 2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people,
just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will
secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master
who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
“I will set my face against that man and I will cut him off from his people; for by giving his children to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. If the people of the community close their eyes when that man gives one of his children to Molech and they fail to put him to death, I will set my face against that man and his family and will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech. “ Leviticus 20:3-5
In the 1850’s Wichita’s state was called “bleeding Kansas”.
As I read your post the Battle Hymn of the Republic is playing in my head.
Would you have allowed George Tiller to be an usher at your Lutheran church?
Of what sin should he have repented of?
Apparently he was fully accepted in the Lutheran Church as a member in good standing and as an Usher. He may have even baptized some of the babies he "prematurely delivered."
Obviously if he had some kind of ongoing sin in his life that required repentance, the Lutheran Church would not have elevated him to such a high position within their church.
Obviously he was as good a Christian as anyone else in his congregation. Maybe better.
There are even pro-choice groups within the Catholic Church. Catholics voted 55% for Obama so dont pretend the Catholic Church is a pure church--it is not.
I might point out that the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod excommunicated Tiller so not all Lutheran churches accept abortion.
Good for the LCMS again.
It was strange. I grew up in a small German town with the ALC and there was a LCMS church in a neighboring town but there was always a prejudice against the LCMS. I never knew what it was but it was there. I believe it is still there and that is why those at the ELCA church will not leave and go to the neighboring LCMS.
The members of the ELCA congregation do not know the blessings that are waiting for them.
I have a current LCMS friend who can explain the whole thing and I need to sit down with her again and let her explain it to me.
You should use a sarcasm tag. Someone might think you’re serious.
You betcha. I used to be WELS, I know there is no way that evil man could have ever been a member. The difference is repenting, and not. Tiller was an unrepentant murderer. His murder was dispicable as all murders are and I mourn for his family.
Absolutely, you are totally correct but I wasn’t referring to anything like that. When we were young these things were not issues at all. There was no substantive reason for the prejudice—it was just there and I’m sure the LCMS church people felt the same way about the ALC people but they didn’t know why.
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