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I am a sinful human being that continually falls short of the glory of our Savior. Without my Lord and Savior, I can accomplish nothing. John 15:5-8, Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in...

Compared to the last several ELCA churchwide assemblies, the Orlando 2011 assembly was in some respects uneventful. There were very few con- troversial and heated discussions. The assembly overwhelmingly approved all recommendations from the churchwide organization, including all of the amendments to the constitution that make it more difficult for congregations to disaffiliate with the ELCA. The lack of controversy may account for far fewer visitors or con- gregational observers this year. There appeared to be at most about two dozen people seated in the congregational observers section, propably at least less than half the number at the last several...

With very little controversy, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly met August 15-19 in Orlando. The assembly overwhelmingly approved all rec- ommendations from the churchwide organization, including all of the amendments to the constitution that would make it more difficult for con- gregations to disaffiliate from the ELCA. Also approved were the anti- bullying legislation proposed by Lutherans Concerned/North America, the proposed genetics social statement, and the LIFT (Living into the Future Together) ELCA reorganization plan. Memorials from South Carolina, South Dakota, and Western Iowa re- questing the ELCA rescind the 2009 sexuality decisions were not brought to the floor for discussion....

What does the Bible actually say about "gay marriage"? That question is the title of a a recent op-ed piece in the Huffington Post written by Lee Jefferson, a visiting assistant professor of religion at Centre College. According to Jefferson the answer is: "Nothing," or at least "Nothing negative." Jefferson used the recent passage of "gay marriage" by the New York legislature as a springboard from which to denigrate appeals to the Bible against homosexual practice. I will use Jefferson's article as a springboard from which to answer the question that he and many others have raised. It is of...

Obama in unprecedented meeting with ELCA presiding bishop, faith leaders 11-102-MG CHICAGO (ELCA) - Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), along with other faith leaders, asked President Barack Obama to protect funding for programs that benefit people living with hunger and poverty in the ongoing budget debate and in any deal concerning the debt crisis. Hanson was part of a gathering of national Christian leaders who attended a meeting with Obama and senior White House staff on July 20. The select but diverse group represented evangelical, mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churches and...

In a "Letter to the Church" released Monday, July 18, LCMS President Dr. Matthew C. Harrison announced that, beginning in 2012, the Synod will no longer co-sponsor its training conferences for military chaplains with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The decision, which Harrison said was not made lightly, was based on input from the Synod's Ministry to the Armed Forces committee and from active- and reserve-duty LCMS chaplains. It ends a cooperative ministry that began in 1941 between the LCMS and two other Lutheran church bodies at that time -- The American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church...

NEW YORK • One of the largest social service networks in the United States, working in areas ranging from adoption to disaster relief, faces a shake-up because of Lutheran divisions over the Bible and homosexuality. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a theologically conservative denomination headquartered in Kirkwood, Mo., said Wednesday that direct work with its larger and more liberal counterpart, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has become "difficult if not impossible," because of doctrinal conflicts, including the 2009 decision by liberal Lutherans to lift barriers for ordaining gays and lesbians. Neither denomination would discuss the potential financial impact Wednesday. Many...

We have added the following to list of congregations that have voted to leave the ELCA: 1. Hope Lutheran Church, Fosston, MN vote July 10 to leave the ELCA, 130-37. Their first vote passed last Fall but the second vote failed this past May. We are uncertain at this time if this vote is being counted as second vote or the first vote in a new process to withdraw. We will report when this matter is clarified. THEY ARE STARTING OVER. THIS WAS THEIR SECOND EFFORT AT A FIRST VOTE! 2. Peace Lutheran Church, Linton, ND has left the ELCA....

After same-sex marriage becomes legal here on July 24, gay priests with partners in the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island will head to the altar. They have to. Their bishop set a nine-month deadline for them to marry or stop living together. Next door, meanwhile, the Episcopal bishop of New York says he also expects gay clergy in committed relationships to wed "in due course." Still, this longtime supporter of gay rights says churches in his diocese are off limits for gay weddings until he receives clearer liturgical guidance from the national denomination. As more states legalize same-sex marriage, religious...

For the record, a tale of firsts: Ordinations underscore change Story by Daniel J. Lehmann Next month marks the second anniversary of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly's decision to open the roster of this church to gays and lesbians in committed relationships. The Lutheran addresses that action this month by featuring the ordination of two gay men ("R. Guy & Keith Fry ... ") and updating as best we can the numbers of such men and women admitted to the church roster. The magazine has touched on this decision nearly every month since the vote, including a running report on the...

Since the 2009 ELCA churchwide assembly 449 congregations have left the ELCA as of May 5, reports the ELCA Secretary. A few hundred more are in the process of taking votes to leave. In doing so the denomination‘s orthodoxy has been questioned. At the center of the questioning is the critique that there are two different and irreconcilable theologies at work in the ELCA—one that upholds the authority of Scripture over all matters of faith and life and one that does not. Yet today some ELCA bishops and leaders are arguing that there are no divergent theologies and that ELCA‘s...

Over 500 churches have left the ELCA over the last two years. With this in mind, Exposing the ELCA invited some congregations who have left the denomination to share their story, their experience, their journey. Here is the first, of what we hope to be many, stories posted: St. Paul Lutheran Church’s “Journey into the Light.” Read here. St. Paul Lutheran Church is in Oregon, IllinoisContact me if you are interested in telling us your congregation’s story.

<p>That's my take on the Minnesota Legislature's decision to put on the 2012 ballot a constitutional amendment that bans gay marriage.</p> <p>Yes, I know. Technically, one side will win. Barring the need for a recount, on Nov. 7, 2012, either Minnesota will have beaten the odds and rejected this ban, or our state will join dozens of others in telling two gay, consenting adults that they are not entitled to the same legal status as two straight, consenting adults.</p>

Thought that folks might be interested in the marriage resolution that was defeated by the NW Lower MI synod (in a near 2:1 vote): RESOLUTION CONCERNING MARRIAGE Whereas, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) constitution clearly provides in Chapter 2, that the ELCA in all its expressions accepts “the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life” and the Unaltered Augsburg Confession and the other confessional writings in the Book of Concord, as valid interpretations of the faith of the Church;...

ELCA NEWS SERVICE May 27, 2011 9/11 anniversary time for awareness, healing, says ELCA presiding bishop 11-076-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States approaches, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), invited members to reach out to ecumenical partners, as well as Muslim and Jewish partners, in planning commemorations. Hanson wrote in a May 24 letter that he prays members focus on "peace, justice and interfaith encounter." The presiding bishop's invitation was also accompanied by a series of resources for congregations...

MENOMONIE - Each Sunday, the cafeteria at River Heights School is transformed into New Life Lutheran Church. Folding chairs are set up and lunch tables are pulled down to provide seating for the congregation and space for coffee, cookies and other goodies for post-service fellowship. Another table is set up in front of the folding chairs to serve as an altar, complete with a wooden cross made by parishioner and woodworker Art Alf, a banner with the church name is hung on the wall, and a piano is wheeled in to accompany songs during Sunday services. The church - a...

In spite of numerous scriptural support from the Old and New Testaments for Christians to not to seek vengeance or revenge, as this is a matter for God and God alone, members of the ELCA’s Southeastern Minnesota (SEMN) Synod apparently believe that God needs some assistance. On May 7th, the SEMN Synod’s assembly, entertained and voted on a resolution benignly titled “Resolution 2011-01:
ELCA Health and Benefits Program”. This resolution of revenge sought to recommend to the ELCA Church Council to seriously consider and adopt a policy of “removing from the Health and Benefits Program of the ELCA, clergy who have...

Yet another denomination has voted to ordain openly homosexual candidates to its ministry. Yesterday, the Presbyterian Church (USA) presbytery of the Twin Cities in Minnesota voted to approve a change to the church’s constitution that will allow the denomination’s 173 presbyteries to ordain persons without regard to sexual orientation. The Twin Cities presbytery cast the deciding vote in what is now a 33-year effort to remove all restrictions on homosexuals serving in the church’s ordained ministry. It became the 87th presbytery to affirm the action of the church’s 219th assembly last summer authorizing the constitutional change. The action not only...

I intended to give the poor Protestants a break, but now I read that the Lutherans are imploding or exploding, depending on your point of view. It seems that the two largest Lutheran “churches” in America have broken up, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). The first split occurred in the 1960’s and 1970’s after a long battle between resurgent conservatives and liberals, the latter including especially the faculty of Concordia Seminary. The liberal losers in the LCMS moved on to help shape the ELCA in the late 1980’s, but they crafted a...

April 12, 2011 Bishop David Zellmer South Dakota Synod ELCA Augustana College Sioux Falls, SD 57197 Bishop Dave: Thank you for the action of the South Dakota Synod Council in releasing Immanuel Lutheran Church of Whitewood from its affiliation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Immanuel’s affiliation with the North American Lutheran Church better reflects the Biblical and theological commitments of the congregation. I believe that both God and the congregation have called me to serve Immanuel as its pastor and to continue to do so. I believe that God has called me to serve within the North American...