Personally and Pastorally Conflicted: Confident in Christ

2010 MAY PASTOR’S ARTICLE

I know that my articles are sometimes verbose and not read by everyone. I would ask that you please get through this one if you can because I believe that what I am sharing this month is particularly important for our ministry together. Actually, I have been stewing and working on it for almost a month now to the point that I am almost paralyzed by it as I obsess over every word and phrase. In order for Shannon to get The Traveler out by the first and for me to get going with other important pastoral duties, I have decided to simply publish what I have at the moment, incomplete as I feel that it may be. In fact, what follows is just a fraction of what I wanted to share with you, but hopefully I have included the most important parts of what needs to be said.

Kathy and I recently heard the news that a classmate, friend and pastoral colleague, Mary, had resigned as pastor of Shepherd of the Valley in Galt, California, which is near Sacramento. She had served this congregation as pastor for twelve years. A recent newspaper article about her departure reported that she was extremely popular in the congregation and in the community; similarly, Mary had no desire to leave Shepherd of the Valley. So, why did she resign?

In August 2009, the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to alter celibacy requirements for homosexual clergy, allowing a congregation, only if a congregation wished to do so, to call ministers who were in life-long, monogamous, homosexual relationships. Congregations could also choose if they wished to recognize and endorse homosexual unions as part of their ministry.

As a result, Shepherd of the Valley recently completed the process of seceding from the ELCA; Mary who does not see disagreements around these issues to be the basis for schism, remained with the ELCA, which made her ineligible to remain as pastor.

Mary’s departure is but one example of the schism that has gripped our denomination. Within our Northern Illinois Synod, a least a dozen congregations are conflicted or pondering secession.

My attempt has to remain as neutral as possible, although I will freely admit that I may have failed in these attempts sometimes. My hope has been for study, debate and discernment, which has happened; I think this is one of the reasons why Trinity has endured very little dissension since August.

The departure of my friend, Mary, however, has brought me to the conclusion that perhaps the time for neutrality has ended. I fear I have clung to neutrality for too long for two reasons: First, I’m afraid of offending some dear friends for whom homosexuality is not merely a topic of discussion but an everyday reality of life; and, second, I am conflicted because my personal desires do not match my conscience and my sense of pastoral duty. As parishioners whom I serve, however, I think it is time for you to know exactly where I stand both personally and pastorally.

Personally, I want to be able to whole heartedly and without reservation endorse homosexual unions and to make them recognized as part of the wider ministry of the church on par with, although separate than, marriage. I want to, and I will, rejoice with my friends when they find someone who loves them and who wishes to share their lives with them. I desire to be and will strive to continue to be supportive of those I know in homosexual unions, most of which have lasted longer than many marriages.

Pastorally, however, I cannot endorse or preside over homosexual unions because I simply cannot in good conscience find Scriptural support for them directly or indirectly. While I may desire it to be otherwise, my desire does not excuse me from being captive to the Word of God. Therefore, I will not, either as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Durand or as a pastor of the wider denomination preside over homosexual unions and must counsel that condoning homosexual acts is not supported by Scripture.

I know many of my colleagues disagree and some friends may be disappointed or even angry; actually, it makes me angry and disappointed; however, anger and disappointment aside, I simply cannot do otherwise and still feel that I am being true to what I know to be right.

With this being said, I, in no way, endorse any of the propaganda that much of the anti-homosexual “reform” and “renewal” groups have been selling. These groups tend to blame the current schism on those who promote the “homosexual agenda”, which they believe includes almost every Churchwide leader of the ECLA. While I, too, have my issues with the ELCA leadership, I completely reject this superstition of some type of homosexual plot.

The roots of this schism are long, deep and are not caused by the “homosexual agenda”; rather, the homosexual agenda is a natural consequence of a greater sin which is that Christians for decades if not centuries have subjugated homosexuals to a steady diet of Law that never leads to the Gospel. The decisions by the Churchwide Assembly were not a rejection of the Law, but rather the poisonous fruit of Law previously misapplied. Lutherans understand the Word to come to us as both Law and Gospel, but only in that the Law leads to Gospel. The Law condemns us, all of us, so that we can come to know our need for and total reliance upon God’s grace.

I argue that while the Law has been very much revealed to people who are homosexual, grace has also been very much hidden for no other reason than many see, either intentionally or subconsciously, homosexual sins as worse sins than others and that those committing them are not worthy of God’s grace. No wonder so many homosexuals have left the church or have simply been lead to the conclusion that sexual orientation is not subject to judgment by the Law because they know, like all Lutherans should, Law that leads us only to the cross and never to the Gospel is not a true Law at all, but human legalism that enslaves the conscience for no other reason than the continuation of a subjective cultural morality.

Also, embracing sedition under the blanket claim that the ELCA has rejected Scriptural and Confessional authority is completely misleading and hypocritical. The ELCA may have a Scriptural interpretation that is in error, but this is completely different that rejecting Scripture. This controversial decision, as flawed as it may be, does not deny the divinity of Christ, the Trinity, the Ecumenical Creeds, the Lutheran Confessions, the efficacy of the Sacraments, the authority of Holy Scripture or this congregations adherence to its interpretation of Holy Scripture in regards to homosexuality. Therefore, the decisions of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly are not sufficient to justify sedition and secession from the ELCA.

It also needs to be said because it is so often overlooked that violence against someone, either physically or by speech, because of that person’s sexual orientation is unacceptable. For this reason, the increasing use of phrases such as “that’s so gay”, “faggot” and other derogatory terms, which I have overheard in church settings, especially among our youth, is as unacceptable as any racial slur; they can attest that such incidents do not go by without admonishment.

While I hope that this article has helped clarify my personal convictions on this issue, I truly hope it does not lead to quell discussion, study and continuing discernment. I simply thought that the time had come in light of our upcoming Annual Congregation Meeting for me to make my positions known for the sake of honesty, clarity and truth.

May our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen us in truth, correct us in error and unite us in forgiveness when we struggle to distinguish between the two.

Your Friend in Christ,

Pastor Lee.