Words of love and faith, as well as promises of commitment and unity were central in the Lutheran Alliance for Full Participation’s messages to members of the ELCA’s Task Force for Studies on Sexuality.

Representatives from each of the Alliance’s five components (Lutherans Concerned/North America (LC/NA), Lutheran Lesbian & Gay Ministries (LLGM), Extraordinary Candidacy Project (ECP), The Network, and Wingspan) were invited to speak at the task force’s meeting in Chicago, February 7-9. Consultations with relevant constituencies is something the task force sees as a key element in formulating its response to the mandate of the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to study the topics of ordination of people who are gay and lesbian and living in committed relationships, and blessings of same-gender relation-ships.

In his opening remarks on behalf of the Alliance, Dirk Selland (LC/NA) told the task force of the fear and anxiety experienced by members of the GLBT community as they have been “relegated to second class status,” and how this conditional acceptance has contributed to youth suicide. He said changing the church’s policies is key to preserving “our dignity as human beings,” and he expressed hope that “the church, which we dearly love and respect, will become an even better Church than it already is.”

Noting the length of time the church has been studying GLBT people, Jeannine Janson (LC/NA) quoted petitions for acceptance from Lutherans Concerned documents published in the 1980s. In all the intervening time, she said, “we have patiently laid before you the stories of our lives, our faith, and our witness, believing that the pain and suffering we and our families have endured would be sufficient to move you to action.  While we have always been confident of God’s love and acceptance, all too infrequently have we felt or seen that love and acceptance enfleshed in our Church.” She pointed out that “deception and silence about who we are—which the church encourages—does terrible things to the soul.”

George Watson (Network) stressed the importance of finding ways to move the whole church beyond thinking of people who are GLBT as “issues and objects,” and “experience first hand that we live lives of faith.” Greg Egertson (LLGM) said that the process of the task force’s study is as crucial as the outcome. He reminded the task force that GLBT people are not just subjects of its study, not just sexual acts and behaviors, but human beings and people of faith.”

ECP president Dr. Margaret Moreland provided an overview of the twelve congregations now served by “pastors not in compliance with the ELCA’s policy.” Pr. Paul Tideman (Wing-span) affirmed the importance of these pastors when he spoke of his church, St. Paul-Reformation in Minneapolis. This congregation “would not be alive and well today were it not for the gift of having gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people as active, blessed, and ordained persons among us.” Other successful ministries were recognized as Pr. Donna Simon (LLGM) talked about her call to Abiding Peace in Kansas City and Pr. Sharon Stalkfleet (ECP) described her Lutheran Ministry to Nursing Homes, supported by seven ELCA congregations in Northern California. Pr. Katherine Hellier (Network) challenged the church to open itself to the breath and voice of the Holy Spirit as it makes decisions about the lives and ministries of GLBT pastors and their congregations.

In closing remarks to the task force, Pr. Anita Hill (Wingspan) pledged, "Justice will come. GLBT persons of faith are not going away. While some threaten to leave the ELCA, we promise to stay. God will not let us go."

After the meeting Dirk Selland said, “I saw the Spirit working during our session with the task force, and I truly believe our voices have been heard.  They still have questions to be answered . . . they have been challenged and are beginning to really grapple with the issues before them . . . all a good indication that we made adifference—[and that is] all that can be asked of us.”

Lutherans Concerned and other members of the Alliance offered their full support to the task force in the process of its study. During its April 25-27, 2003 meeting the task force will meet in Chicago with diverse groups of theologians and a panel of social and behavioral scientists. These meetings are open to the public. If you want to attend, please contact the office of Dr. James Childs, director of the study: faithfuljourney@elca.org or (800) 638-3522 Xt. 2815.

That song is one of my earliest memories. I learned it either in Sunday school or from my mother, or perhaps both. It’s simple message has stayed with me.

I have sometimes recalled that song at the bedside of someone dying of AIDS. Most of those who have called for a pastor from our church were raised in the same tradition I was. Typically they have been away from the church for years, made to feel unwelcome because they are homosexual, but in their hearts the flame of faith is alive. It can be brought back by recalling that simple song.

Is it, perhaps, too simple? Is it really for me? The Bible has all those condemnations of same-sex intimacies. The same people who taught me that song reacted with disgust at anything that was “gay.” It’s like the beginning of Laura Z. Hobson’s book, Consenting Adults: “Dear Mom: You know those people you warned me about? Well, I’m one of them . . . .”

The negative messages are overwhelming. They are devastating to self-esteem. They make us want desperately to be someone else. We tend to internalize hatred for homosexuals. Jesus loves me? The Bible tells me so? Yeah, right! What about Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13: “If a man lies with a man as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.” It’s pretty devastating to read that God wants you dead.

On the other hand, thank God, I knew enough of the Bible to know that it says a lot more than that. For example:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

So there is law and judgment in the Bible, but there is also love and grace. How do we make sense of that?

“A lawyer asked him a question, to test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’” (Matthew 22:35-40; cf. Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28)

The crowd must have smiled at the lawyer’s discomfort. Jesus caught him in his own sophistry. He should have known the answer. Every pious Jew, then and now, repeats daily the great Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy. 6:4-5) The lawyer would also have known Leviticus 19:18b: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Law cannot save us. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus makes clear that no one has obeyed the Law, and no one can obey the Law. Outward obedience is not enough. It is not enough that we do not murder, or steal, or commit adultery. We are to love our neighbor. And if we lust in our hearts, we have committed adultery already. What does God who demands perfection want with an imperfect people? Listen to St. Paul:

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world made accountable to God. No human being will be justified in his sight by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:19-26)

When our discussions about sexuality get to this point, someone usually responds to this by labeling it antinomianism, which is a fancy word for lawlessness. That’s another way of saying, “anything goes . . . if it feels good, do it,” or “All you need is love,” in the clichés of the 1960s. The clear implication of the label is that we still have to obey the law. Otherwise there is chaos.

Lutheran theologians have been clear about the distinction between Law and Gospel. Both are in the Bible. Law is everything that talks about what we do. Gospel is where it talks about what God has done. Everything that says we must do something is Law. Christmas and Easter are Gospel, focusing on what God has done.

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
(1 John 1:8-9)

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7)

“God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (1 John 4:16b-21)

There are sexual sins we all condemn: rape, coercion, brutality, abuse, molestation, harassment, and the like. All of them are the same sins for both heterosexuals and homosexuals. Each of them is an expression of the lack of love for the other, the selfish assertion of one’s own will at the expense of another.

The love ethic is not less demanding, but more so. Love requires more than just a romantic attraction. Love is more than a transitory feeling. Lust and romantic love may be part of it, but it is much more. Love cares about the whole person, the context of his or her life, the relationships he or she may have with family, church, and community.

God sets us free. “For freedom Christ has set us free.” (Galatians 5:1) That whole chapter is about freedom and slavery. It’s clear that God does not want us to do things that harm one another, but those things that build us up. “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. . . . By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal. 5:19-23)

On January 19, 2003 board members of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter (LC/SFBA) had an opportunity to meet with Jeannine Janson and Dirk Selland, co-chairs of Lutherans Concerned/North America, as well as Emily Eastwood, RIC Executive Director. Our discussions focused largely on plans to develop RIC Core Teams whose function would be to foster the expansion of the RIC program into a network of RIC congregations working together regionally and nationally with united strategies. Key to the process is identifying and training team leaders and members, and nurturing existing RIC congregations who could mentor prospective RIC congregations. We also learned more about the RIC Discuss List, available on the Internet through LC/NA’s website. This is an email-based forum for LC members, RIC congregations, the LC/NA RIC executive, and others who want to discuss issues related to the RIC program. It will provide a place for extended conversations on RIC topics and to post announcements or promote of events. You may join by sending an email to ric-discuss-request@lcna.org with the word “subscribe” in the body of the letter (omit the quotes). Full details about subscribing and terms of use are posted on the LC/NA website at www.lcna.org. 

 

DISCUSSION WITH DR. JAMES CHILDS
Dr. James Childs, director of the ELCA Sexuality Task Force, was available for extended discussion on January 18 at the “Holy Conversations” event in Oakland. Members of LC/SFBA were present to learn more details of the study and ask questions of Dr. Childs. We found him to be refreshingly open-minded and very sensitive to the words of those who met with him. He emphasized the importance of participation at all levels during this study period, reminding us of our “obligation to voice our views if, in fact, we hold to those views.” Placing the role of the task force into perspective, he said, “This needs to be a grassroots enterprise . . . this is our study . . . the task force studies along with us.”

The board of directors of the ELCA’s Division for Outreach passed a resolution on September 28 that established a formal relationship between Lutherans Concerned/North America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). This action was made possible under new guidelines for established in April 2002 by the Church Council of the ELCA.

The statement reads:

“We have passed a major milestone in our history,” remarked Bob Gibeling, Program Executive. “Five years of work and planning have paid off. I am very grateful to Executive Director Richard Magnus and the entire board of the Division for Outreach for their leadership and courage in taking this important step for outreach and ministry together. I am also grateful for the support from the board of directors of Lutherans Concerned during the process of seeking this formal relationship. I look forward to even closer cooperation in inclusive ministry between Lutherans Concerned and the Division for Outreach in the future.”

The formal relationship will mean some greater visibility for Lutherans Concerned, while maintaining its independence. It should help in getting information tables for local chapters at Synod assemblies and other church related events. It will also qualify Lutherans Concerned/North America to apply for financial programs from outside foundations that require an acknowledged relationship with a national church. ‚

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April 25-27, 2003 at Lutheran Center, Chicago, IL.
Task force for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality will meet with theologians and behavorial scientists. This is an open meeting; observers are welcome. Contact www.elca.org/faithfuljourney.

May 15-17, 2003 Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly “For the Healing of the World”
The Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly will be at the Airport Hyatt in Burlingame, CA. Keynote speaker will be Christine Grumm, first vice-president of the ELCA. Bible study leader will be Bishop Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl of the South Dakota Synod. For more details, contact the Synod office at www.spselca.org.