Click here for a printable version in Adobe Acrobat format.
from the University Lutheran Chapel Council
On April 1, 2000 the Tri-Synod Campus Ministry Board voted to continue to withhold funding from University Lutheran Chapel in Berkeley (ULC). The funds were withheld because ULC called the Rev. Jeff Johnson, a gay man who has been denied a place on the ELCA clergy roster because he has refused to pledge celibacy, a pledge the ELCA requires only of gay and lesbian clergy.
The Tri-Synod Board, which administers campus ministry funds for the three Synods of the ELCA in California, convened its semi-annual meeting on Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1 at the University of Southern California. On the agenda for this meeting was a re-consideration of an action taken in November 1999, to withhold the annual subsidy (approximately $24,000) to support ULC's campus ministry at UC-Berkeley.
ULC president Dr. Kathy Gee and ULC Pastor Jeff Johnson attended the meeting to brief the Board and other campus ministry staff on the current state of the Chapel's ministry. Since calling Pastor Johnson in September 1999, the Berkeley congregation has experienced a renewal of both its energy and its sense of mission.The Chapel's presentation was one of seven made by campus ministries in the state.
Following the presentations, there was an open discussion of the November, 1999 decision regarding the Chapel's funding and a January consultation with The Rev. Patricia Lull (the ELCA's National Director of Campus Ministries), members of the Board, representatives of the ELCA churches in Berkeley, and a representative of the Episcopal Campus Ministry at Berkeley. At the January meeting Pastor Lull indicated that she could not condone the release of ELCA funds to ULC and that she would not look favorably on any action by the Tri-Synod Board to restore the Chapel's subsidy.
At the March meeting, the campus pastors present appealed to the Board to hold its entire meeting in open session and to make the decision openly as well. The Board refused, citing precedent that issues related to funding decisions have always been made in executive session.
In the discussion that followed, the Board was urged to rescind its November decision to withhold funds, and to resume funding the Chapel's ministry. It was stated that the Board had the authority and the responsibility to fund the Chapel and to stand up against the policy of the church because the Chapel's program of ministry is worth funding on its merits alone, and the ELCA policy of discrimination is immoral and must be resisted, especially by people who hold positions of responsibility on Boards and Commissions in this church. There is no requirement in the ELCA to uphold an institutional policy deemed immoral.
It was pointed out that Bishop Robert Mattheis of the Sierra-Pacific Synod had not yet decided how the congregation might be disciplined. If the Bishop were to expel the Chapel, then the Board could discontinue its relationship with the Chapel's campus ministry.
However, if the Bishop were to recommend a less severe form of discipline, such as censure or suspension, the Board might be able to exercise some kind of discretion.
In investigating the matter of discipline, listening posts convened by the Bishop throughout the Synod had inspired relatively few voices in support of the ELCA's policy of discrimination compared to the many who spoke in support of the Chapel.
After this discussion, the Board met in Executive Session to make its decision regarding the Chapel's funding. An hour later, the Board came out of executive session and announced that two resolutions had been passed.
In one resolution, the Board chose to continue to withhold funding until its Fall 2000 meeting, pending a decision on discipline by Bishop Mattheis.
In its second action, the Board resolved to petition the Division of Higher Education asking for an end to the ELCA's policy of discrimination against gay and lesbian clergy. The text of the resolution reads:
The events of this meeting make strikingly clear that the Tri-Synod board has denied funding for the Chapel on purely political grounds unrelated to the quality of the congregation's campus ministry. In its actions, the Board has turned a deaf ear, a blind eye, and a cold heart to the role of the Gospel in the ministry of the church.
These sad events are a call to all Christians of good conscience to witness to the redemptive power of God's love, to declare emphatically the liberating Word of God, and to call the church to account for its stewardship of the Proclamation entrusted to it.
What can YOU do to help ULC Berkeley?
Rev. Patricia Lull, Director of Campus Ministries
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
8765 West Higgins Road
Chicago, Illinois 60631
Bishop Robert Mattheis, Sierra Pacific Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
401 Roland Way, Suite 215
Oakland, CA 94621
Rev. Adrienne Heskin, Deployed Director
Lutheran Campus Ministry
1400 Webster St., Suite 301
Alameda, CA 94501-3851
Dr. David Unsaved, Chairperson
Tri-Synod Campus Ministry Board
ELCA Lutheran Campus Ministries
6330 Cresthaven Dr.
La Mesa, CA 91942
by Mark Showalter
I wish I could have ignored the article shown below. It appeared (without attribution) in a recent issue of F.O.C.L. Point, the quarterly newsletter for the Fellowship of Confessional Lutherans.
As a writer and editor for ADVENT, I appreciate the fact that we can all occasionally let our rhetorical flourishes go over the top. I can only hope that the explanation for this ill-conceived sophistry is so simple.
Nevertheless, FOCL must be called to task for this piece. It exploits a heinous rape and murder, which occurred last September in Arkansas. I grieve for the victim's family and I condemn the brutal acts in the strongest possible terms. However, there is no justification for inflating this story into evidence for the "pervasive danger to health" of the "homosexual life-style."
I already knew that some people say such things; type a few choice keywords into a search engine on the Web and you'll find statements that are far worse. However, I expected better than this from my brothers and sisters in Christian faith and Lutheran tradition.
I have reprinted the article in its entirety because I believe that the most effective way to indict FOCL, in this case, is simply to let a broader community read FOCL's own words.
Providing a point-by-point refutation probably gives this article more credit than it deserves. Nevertheless, because it calls for a wider airing of the facts, I offer a few that FOCL overlooked.
First, some extremely depressing statistics. We live in a country where a rape or sexual assault occurs every two minutes[1] and a rape-related murder nearly every day[2]. If all these crimes, or even just the most heinous, were to become national news, a read through the morning newspaper would be far more depressing than it is already. Thus, there is no support for the contention that the liberal news media somehow "suppressed" the story in Arkansas. The simple, sad fact is that we live in a world where a sex crime 1000 miles away is rarely newsworthy, because many similarly brutal crimes are happening closer to home.
Second, 98% of all male-on-male rapes are committed by heterosexual men[3]. Rape is about power, not desire. Assuming that the percentage of male-on-female rapes committed by heterosexuals is the same or higher, it is apparent that, statistically speaking, a gay man is less likely to commit rape than a straight man. So, by FOCL's own logic, the statistics on sexual violence in America could more easily support the position that it's the "heterosexual life- style" that is a danger to health.
But finally, I must address the broader and more serious issue raised by the article, which has to do with FOCL's misapplication of logic, not facts. This is not the first time we have seen a flawed syllogism that begins, "some criminals are members of group X" and ends with "therefore group X represents a pervasive danger." It's just one of the first steps toward demonizing one group or another, and human history has shown far too many examples of where that can lead.
It is time for FOCL to cool down the inflammatory rhetoric. They can do better.
[1] National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1997.
[2] Sex Offenses and Offenders. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1997.
[3] Journal of the American Medical Association, December 2, 1998.
From the Perspectives column of F.O.C.L. Point, Volume 10, Number 2, Autumn 1999.
ALL THE NEWS THAT'S NOT FIT TO PRINT: We of FOCL want to see our Lutheran Church remain faithful to its teachings on the full authority of Holy Scriptures to define our life. How then have a number of our fellow members bought in to the idea that the homosexual life style is a permissible alternative to the Bible's mandates on the subject? A recent study by ACCURACY IN MEDIA suggests why these fellow clergy and laity have been so easily persuaded. They don't know the facts.
We know about the death of the college student homosexual, Matthew Shepard, a year ago. Who doesn't? It regularly plays still in the media. The Washington Post, for example, has run more than 80 stories about it, and our politicians have all had their say. And TV Commentators quickly assigned the cause to the "religious right."
But did you read last September 26th about the murder of the 13 year old, Jesse Dirkhising, in Rogers, Ark, by the two homosexual adults, David Carpenter and his lover, Joshua Brown? They brutally assaulted the lad sexually until he expired. No, probably not. You never got the chance.
This news was suppressed and not reported outside Arkansas, where it was front page news for three days. Not until President Clinton was challenged in his news conference to comment on the murder, a whole month later, did the news get out. Only then did the Associated Press put it on the wires. Even so, the Washington Post buried the story with a single 59-word inside piece. in a limited edition. Meanwhile, the homosexual activists have recently sent a booklet to every public school in the country instructing how to teach that homosexual acts are normal.
If our clergy and laity could more readily access the facts about this life-style, such as its pervasive danger to health, they might have second thoughts about the eagerness of the recent ELCA Church Council to once again fund a study on the desirability of granting ordination to homosexual practitioners. Facts could speak for themselves---if we all had the facts.
by Stanley Fire
I'm picking up my plume again for two reasons that I would like to explain to you.
First, it has come to my attention that there are several people in the Lutheran churches of Northern California that I have not yet offended. Life is short. I want to feel completed before I die.
However, the second and most important reason I am dedicating myself to a new column is because I have repented of everything I ever said before. I have decided that I was wrong on every point I ever made and now wish to put things right.
The third reason I'm writing now (I know I said there were only two, but I changed my mind) is that no one will listen to my opinionated pomposities when I'm speaking, but for some reason they are more patient when I write. How else could I inflict my most trivial opinions on an unsuspecting public?
Now let's get one thing clear. I was told that there were many people who wanted to tell me what was wrong with my previous columns. Most of them didn't do it. I received a few letters. Most of them were positive. I want anyone who disagrees with me to feel free to write a response and I will beg the editor on my knees to print the response, edited only for length and good taste. You are welcome to ask that your name be withheld from publication and that request will be honored. However, you must sign the request with your real name.
So, I'm ready. Let me have it good! Oh, and I would also like to be clear about whom I will or will not offend in the future. I have always limited the targets of my critical remarks to those people who have put themselves in a position of public view. For example, anyone who agrees to be a candidate for bishop is fair game. On the other hand, pastors who are happy to express their opinions in private and do not align themselves with any particular political faction have nothing to fear from me. In short, if you put yourself on public display, you have to be prepared for the critique.
That's fair, isn't it?
Speaking of public display, we have a bishop's election coming up. Am I totally out of touch, or is this all a done deal? The Right Reverend Mattheis has done such a truly remarkable job in the office that we would be hard pressed to find another to equal him. If he were not from California he might be considered as the next Presiding Bishop of the ELCA. But, the California stigma will keep him from moving on to the national level.
Okay, I'm calling Mattheis for bishop, Gore for President, a net loss of two seats in the Senate for the Republicans and a net loss of 515 seats in the House, meaning the Democrats may become the majority in the House although the Republicans will maintain a slim majority in the Senate. Two years ago I predicted that our next Vice President would be Diane Feinstein. Three months ago I changed my mind and predicted that our next Vice President would be Bill Bradley. Well, you can forget about that. Since Bradley failed to win a single primary, that put him out of the VP bid.
I have also learned that it is possible for Diane Feinstein to run for Vice President while also running for re-election to her Senate seat. If she won the election for Vice President, that would allow Governor Davis to appoint her replacement in the Senate. How about Senator Nancy Pelosi? So, I'm back with my Diane Feinstein prediction for VP, although there have been strong rumors about ex-Governor Bob Graham of Florida, ex- Governor James Hunt of North Carolina, and Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. If Gore thinks he has a shot at winning Florida, he may choose Graham. If not, he just may choose Feinstein.
And what of the Republican candidate? George Bush will tap Governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania to be his running mate. You heard it here first.
So, was Robert Mattheis wise to put off the final decisions about the current controversies at University Chapel in Berkeley? Was he correct to construct a time line that would probably put the hard questions off until after the election for bishop? Of course he was, especially since a strong majority vote would give him a mandate to deal with University Chapel in the way he thinks best.
I'm putting my money on Jeff Johnson remaining as pastor and the bishop's office treating the congregation as though it has a pastoral vacancy that will not be filled right away. It has been a winning formula for St. Paul's in Oakland and has come to be known nationally as the "California solution."And, it's a fair compromise.
The tragedy in this scenario is that Johnson still is denied official recognition for his talents which are many. He is a profoundly talented pastor. You can say that he has a bad habit of attracting more controversy than he really needs to. (You could say the same thing about me.) But, that doesn't detract from his many other gifts which are genuine and numerous.
Now, it wouldn't be right for this new column to be launched without at least one lampoon of the LCMS. Many ex-Missourians have told me for years that the LCMS has simply ceased to be a Lutheran organization. I kept arguing for tolerance. I was wrong. They were right.
A definitive argument for me came from Harold Bloom's fascinating book, The American Religion. He argues effectively for what the essential elements of the de facto American religion is. It calls itself Christianity, but it is actually a rejection of both traditional Protestantism and Catholicism. It is exemplified equally well by Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses and the Southern Baptist Convention (and about 45% of the Presbyterian Church USA). Bloom doesn't say so, but it is also perfectly exemplified by the LCMS. It's not fundamentalism, although fundamentalism is a part of it. It is something that is much more complex than that, a religion that embraces fundamentalism as well as other more moderate forms. Bloom calls it American Gnosticism.
When Alvin Barry was elected President of the LCMS, this was the final declaration that the LCMS was no longer a Lutheran denomination but has degenerated into the latest manifestation, almost a caricature, of the American religion. Alvin Barry is the reincarnation of Brigham Young. They only look different on the surface. They only sound different when you listen to them. Both of them did what they had to do, and unto the same ends. (Check out Bloom's book. It's more than a little interesting.)
Furthermore, no denomination that has a committee for theological purity can truly call itself Lutheran. I thought we were against the Inquisition. Weren't we?
So, if I have not been able to offend you yet with this column, there is still hope. My next column will be titled, "Whatever Became of the AELC?" I'll also give my definitive overview of the accord with the Episcopalians. I'm sure you can hardly wait.
May 19-21
June 10
Featuring the Rev. Carter Heyward
Feminist, Theologian, Humanitarian
First Congregational Church of San Jose
Hamilton Avenue at Leigh
7:30 pm Pre-concert
8:00 pm Worship service
Sponsored by the Gay Ministries of the Council of Churches of Santa Clara County. For more information call (408) 297-2660.
The Rev. Carter Heyward is a nationally known feminist and theologian. She is one of the first seven women ordained as priest in the Episcopal Church, U.S.A. Locally, she preached at the ordination of Jeff Johnson, Ruth Frost and Phyllis Zillhart in 1990.
June 25
July 13-16
http://www.lcna.org/ass2000.html
Consecrate the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all its inhabitants, it shall be a jubilee... and each of you shall return to your family. Leviticus 25:10
Note: If you will be attending Jubilee 2000, please consider serving as one of the 12 voting delegates for LC/SF. Call Chuck Lewis at (415) 956-2069 for more information.
July 16
August 3-6
Speakers will include Mel White, Jimmy Creech, Carter Heyward, and former Presiding Bishop of the ELCA Herbert Chilstrom.
On the campus of Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL (near Chicago).
August (date to be announced)
The LC/SF Executive Board is:
Address correspondence to: