ECHOES OF THE 2009 CHURCHWIDE ASSEMBLY

FIRST THINGS reports in the June 4th website that Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America has elected the first openly gay bishop in the denomination's history. Pastor R. Guy Erwin will serve that Synod in that high post for the next six years. This, of course, follows the tumultuous decision by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly of ELCA to allow the ordination of noncelibate gay men and women.

The ever prolific Martin Marty (dean of American church historians at the University of Chicago) notes that: “It[is a] historic and a turning point, as was the ordination of women…This is just one of many indications that the culture has shifted.”

Perhaps so.

Through the recent years before the Assembly, aside from calls from certain Lutheran principals for the national leadership to unilaterally declare that openly, noncelibate gays eligible for ordination, there has also been a widely spread notion that in time the ELCA Lutherans in the pews would eventually "come around". Additionally, it was predicted that in ten years ELCA Lutherans will look back in disbelief and wonder what all the fuss was about.

So does the elevation of Pastor Erwin bear out these predictions? Well, not exactly. The Southwest California Synod had long been one of the driving forces for the change in church policy toward homosexuals; so in their way Southwest was acting according to form. If some synod from "fly over" country had done (or will do) the same thing, we might have a better sense of the views of average ELCA Lutherans. (On the other hand, having been in several Synod conventions, the elections of representatives to the National Assembly have a serious flaw. When candidates are put forward, we learn almost nothing about their views aside from what great guys and gals they are. In the past, synod offices universally discouraged attempts to canvas potential candidates. So just how representative these folks were/are remains an open question.) Without actual polling of ELCA Lutherans, we just don't know.

"Pro-gay" individuals and organizations had stated that once gays who engage in homosexual sexual congress were allowed into the ministry that thousands would be teaming to enter the Church doors. The theory was that great numbers of folks were restraining themselves from joining in the fellowship as long as the denomination was seen as "unwelcoming". Whether these folk actually believed their own predictions in this regard is impossible to say. I'm inclined to take them at their word. Nevertheless, to say the least, that rush into the ELCA fold didn't happen. Apparently, these open-minded but refraining folk are still holding themselves back.

Instead, since the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, the ELCA has lost a half a million members. Mathew Block in First Things offers some details:

Following the 2009 vote, the ELCA lost nearly half a million members in 2010 and 2011. Granted, some of that is simply the steady decline which many mainline denominations (including the ELCA) have been going through for years. But that can’t account for most of it. In 2009, the ELCA lost 90,850 members (14,781 more than the year previous). Keep in mind that Churchwide Assembly happened late in 2009. By 2010, the membership losses were more dramatic, with the ELCA losing 270,349 people that year (5.9% of the entire church at that time). In 2011, they lost another 212,903 (4.98% of the entire church at that time). Statistics on 2012 are not yet reported online.

This doesn't even take account of the dislocations in relationships of the ELCA with other Lutheran bodies in the world. The most serious has been the Ethiopian Evangelical [Lutheran] Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) totally breaking fellowship with ELCA. Ecumenical relations with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches also have suffered a few steps back.

The 2009 decision by the ELCA was followed by disaffection of thousands of its members and the establishment of The North American Lutheran Church the following year. Currently, the NALC claims 130,000 members in more than 345 congregations. The slightly older Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ has acted as another haven from many departed ELCA members. In 2008, the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ had 217 congregations. They now list 716 congregations on their roster. And, unthinkable for many, The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod has been another major destination for those disaffected from the ELCA.

What the ELCA has going for it is the natural human propensity for inertia. Indeed, loses of dissenting congregations from the fellowship were not as great as some ELCA officials feared. What is not as clear is how many ELCA Lutherans voted with their feet and simply left for more congenial established Churches--perhaps...say…the afore mentioned Missouri Synod or even other Christian denominations. (Crossing the Tiber to Rome does not seem to be all that popular in spite of a few highly publicized conversions by a few former Lutheran theologians.)

Has the ELCA been chastened by the fallout from becoming a "welcoming" Church. To some degree, it has been a kick in the teeth. As the ELCA approaches the twenty-fifth anniversary of its founding, the aftermath of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly has acted as a lingering wet blanket over any sense of accomplishment and celebration. Not only have the consequences extracted costs in revenues and membership; they also have depleted much the gemütlichkeit, social capital and, goodwill the Church sorely needs to move forward. Even many of those who chose to remain within the denomination feel a deep sense of alienation with the ELCA. Nevertheless, for the sake of their vision of justice, most of the original proponents of the reforms would do the same if they had to do it all over again.

Unfortunately, what has happened is that the locus of the conflict has been "dumped" on individual parishes. Each congregation will have to sort out which policy they will follow themselves. As of this time, no congregation has any obligation to hire a "practicing" gay Pastor. Neither do they have to bless same sex couples let alone marry them. But these matters are potentially ticking time-bombs in the futures of these congregations. Undoubtedly, the more progressive Pastors will endeavor to move these issues forward among their flocks--and if not the Pastors then individual members of the congregation. But it is one thing to be accepting of the ELCA's new policy in the abstract--quite another to act on it oneself. Without a doubt, many in favor of allowing individual parishes to call non-celibate gay Pastors (partnered or otherwise) will decline having one lead their own congregations. Even still, conflicts will abound when blessings of same-sex couples and/or performing weddings for these are brought forward for changes in parish policies.

How are most congregations dealing with these issues thus far? In short, neither side simply are not bringing the subject up--feeling that courting a disastrous "civil war" is not worth it--certain that once the battle is engaged it will not end until one side or the other prevails. This is currently how my own congregation is handling the subject--not that some have not pressed these issues around the peripheries. How long this state of affairs will be maintained is anyone's guess. My guess is that it will be quiescent until the time comes to call a new Pastor.

Since the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, ELCA leadership and those satisfied with the new changes in official church policy have tried a number of approaches in appealing to those itching to put their foot out the door--everything from calling for unity, downplaying the reforms, and shaming the disaffected with charges of a lack of Christ-like love. Perhaps the most disingenuous argument has been that dissenting Lutherans shouldn't care that much about it-- insincere in that, for being an issue that is not worth "caring about", it did not stop the ELCA leadership and their allies from pressing forward. One can't take an axe to the log and then blame the wood that fell on one side of the blade for dividing the log.

Be that as it may, protestations that disagreement over "gay clergy" shouldn't be "church dividing" haven't been all that persuasive.

The more irenic of the pro-reform ELCA Lutherans have petitioned the "confessing" faction to come together in love for the fellowship and for both sides to bind to each other in respect and trust. Perhaps that is just the rub. "Confessing" Lutherans no longer trust either the ELCA leadership or the pro-reform parties. Aside from a host of practical implications the new policy regarding the roistering of gay Pastors in committed relationships, there is an overriding concern: how shall Scripture now by read and used in the ELCA. More to the point, if the ELCA can see its way to do this, what more will they do in future?