Rev. Jen Rude Received to ELCA Roster – Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries

Service participants gather at Jen Rude's Reception — (L-R): Tony Garcia, Rev. Daniel Ruen, Rev. Jen Rude, Rev. Deb Derylak, Tim Schannep

On Sunday, March 18, the Rev. Jen Rude was received onto the ELCA Clergy Roster in a service held at Grace Lutheran Church in Evanston, IL. Rev. Rude was ordained extraordinarily on November 17, 2007 at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Chicago. She has received a call from the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as pastor at the Night Ministry. Bp. Wayne Miller presided at the service.

Like the 18 other people who were extraordinarily ordained, Jen was barred from serving in the ELCA for many years because of her sexual orientation. Thanks to supporters of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries and the members and leadership of Resurrection Lutheran, Jen was able to follow her call to ministry and continue on the path that led to her current ministry with homeless LGBTQ youth on the streets of Chicago. Read more about the historic ELM roster here.

The Sunday afternoon service included a rousing sermon from the Rev. Dan Ruen, Pastor at Grace. You can listen to it here. Lutheran blogger Obie Holmen attended the service and you can read his reflections on the service here.

Many parts of the service were organized by Micah 6:8, a group at Grace that makes clear the congregation’s welcome to all people, especially the LGBTQ community. This included a beautiful reception hosted by members Tony Garcia and Tim Schannep.