We have great news for Thrivent members who participate in the Thrivent Choice Dollars program: you can now designate funds to Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries! We are now officially in the catalog. Your support is greatly needed and will be put to use to support ministry by LGBTQ Lutheran rostered leaders & seminarians.
If you still have 2012 funds to designate you have until Friday, March 28 to do so by phone (1-800-847-4836) and Sunday, March 31 online (www.thrivent.com). Your 2012 dollars expire at the end of this month if you don’t designate them.
Click here to download a PDF & follow 6 easy steps to designate your support for ELM.
If you have any questions, you can contact your Thrivent representative or Amalia Vagts, ELM’s Executive Director at 563-382-6277.
We received official notification today that Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is now eligible for Thrivent Choice® dollars! This is GREAT news!
So, what does my dad have to do with it?
Not only has my dad been a longtime advocate for LGBTQ justice and change in the Lutheran church, but about a year ago he took up the cause of getting Thrivent to accept ELM as an eligible organization.
We had applied to Thrivent several years ago and were rejected. We appealed, and we were rejected again. But Dad persisted, and when he found out they were changing some of their requirements, he and fellow ELM supporter Michael Nelson nudged us to apply again. Dad submitted the nomination materials to his regional Thrivent chapter.
AND THIS TIME we were approved! This is great news for all Thrivent members who support ELM. If you have not used your 2012 Thrivent Choice Dollars for 2012, please consider contributing them to ELM. It will be about 5 more days until we are officially listed in the catalog, and you cannot designate ELM until then. We’ll send out a notice as soon as you can make your contribution. And of course, once March 31 passes, you’ll have 2013 Choice Dollars to designate.
Our next post on this will include all the links and information you need to make your contribution. Stay tuned!
Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries celebrates the life and mourns the loss of the Rev. Paul Brenner, who passed away on February 24, 2013. We remember Paul as a joyful member of Historic ELM Roster and Proclaim. We think on his warm hugs and megawatt smile; and we remember all who grieve his death.
The following is re-posted from the Sierra Pacific Synod of the ELCA:
In Memoriam: The Reverend Paul Brenner
November 2, 1939 – February 22, 2013
The Rev. Paul Brenner was born November 2, 1939 and died February 22, 2013. He was 74 years old.
Pastor Brenner received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Church Music from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, and his Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN. He was ordained on June 12, 1966, in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and later approved for Word and Sacrament ministry by the Extraordinary Candidacy Project.
He was approved for transfer to the ordained ministry roster of the ELCA in May, 2010. He served as Interim Pastor at St. Francis Lutheran Church, San Francisco, CA from 2005 to 2006 and was called by the Sierra Pacific Synod Council to Interim Ministry in June, 2011.
His first parish call in the LCMS was to Grace Lutheran Church, Jacksonville, Florida, where he served as pastor from 1966 to 1976. He went on to serve as Interim Pastor of Guardian Lutheran Church, Mandarin, FL, from 1976-1978.
Feeling called to specialized hospice ministry, Pastor Brenner left the parish, and eventually the roster of the LCMS, to go on to serve as CEO of Hospice Northeast, Jacksonville, FL; CEO, Hospice of Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach, FL; CEO, Montgomery Hospice Society, Rockville, MD, CEO of Jacob Perlow Hospice, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City, NY; and Program Consultant, Children’s Hospice International, Alexandria, VA. During those years he continued in Word and Sacrament ministry in the Episcopal Church.
In his hospice work, he developed the first hospice inpatient facility in Florida and a residential facility for persons without caregivers in Maryland, the first program of care for Alzheimer’s patients, the innovative national Program of All Inclusive Care for Children and Families, the first hospice program for the deaf, the first hospice program to be licensed as a CPE training site, and led in the development of the first Department of Palliative Medicine, integrating hospice care and palliative care. He was active nationally and internationally and was published.
Pastor Brenner is survived by two adult sons, Paul Martin Brenner and Matthew Jason Brenner.
He died peacefully at his home under hospice care.
A Memorial Service will be held at:
11:00am
Monday, March 4, 2013
St. Mark Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell Street
San Francisco, California
LGBTQ rostered leaders and seminarians gather every year for community and learning.
There are many resources available to LGBTQ Lutheran seminarians through Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. Check them out – for you or someone you know.
INTERNSHIP GRANTS: Congregations hosting a Proclaim intern in 2013-2014 can apply for up to $5,000 in funding from ELM. We have limited funds available. The application deadline is February 28, 2013. The process is very simple. Access the application by clicking here.
WORKIN SCHOLAR: Each year, ELM names at least one Workin Scholar. This is a seminarian who embodies the legacy of Joel Workin, one of the first openly gay Lutheran seminarians. The application is due in May. We will be posting details and an application form soon. You can learn more here.
PROCLAIM RETREAT: The annual Proclaim retreat is a vital gathering for all LGBTQ rostered leaders, but especially for seminarians. About 30 attended last year. Scholarships are available to cover registration for the retreat. ELM supporters can help by donating to the scholarship fund. Access the scholarship application here.
PROCLAIM: Proclaim is a program of ELM. It is a professional community for Lutheran rostered leaders and candidates for ministry. It is a very beneficial community for those who are in seminary. Proclaim provides crucial support and networking at this time of ministry exploration and discernment. Learn more about Proclaim and how to join here.
ACCOMPANIMENT: This is another program of ELM. A national network of resource leaders provide a wide range of accompaniment to LGBTQ people in Lutheran candidacy. We provide this support to those in Proclaim and those still in the process of coming out. Learn more about Accompaniment here.
Please use and share these resources. If you want to support this work, please consider making a secure and tax-free contribution to ELM. LGBTQ candidates need our support and we need yours to give it. Contact ELM Executive Director Amalia Vagts at director(at)elm.org if you have questions about using or supporting this part of ELM’s mission.
Margaret says they want to do this again – and this year they are providing a very generous match.
This means that your new and renewed donations will be matched dollar for dollar between now and Dec. 31. Click here to give now.
At least 20 seminarians will be seeking an internship site next fall, and there are 10 great pastors awaiting call right now. Your contribution of $50 or $100 – or whatever you can send now – is a sign of hope and assurance to these ministers and the church.
Your gift of $50 or more would really help these leaders. A $50 gift means $100 towards ministry by LGBTQ leaders. $250 would mean $500.
How to Give
There are three ways to donate this year and qualify for the match.
-Call me at 563-382-6277 to make a donation using your credit card or directly from your checking account. I’ll be in the office until 5:00 p.m. CT on Friday, Dec. 28 and Monday, Dec 31.
-Mail a check to ELM, 2649 N. Francisco Ave., Chicago, IL 60647. It must be post-marked by Dec. 31.
Margaret told me she and Bennett are glad to make this gift because they care so much about LGBTQ leaders and the ministries that support them. I hope we can count you among our supporters this year.
Watercolor sketch of ELM-Proclaim banner by Kristen Gilje.
” I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. – Isaiah 43:19
It was on Reformation Day just five years ago that Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries came into being, the result of a merger between Lutheran Lesbian & Gay Ministries and the Extraordinary Candidacy Project (read more about the history here).
2007 was a very uncertain time in the Lutheran church for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people called to ministry. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s policy at that time demanded a life of celibacy for LGBTQ people called to rostered leadership in the church. Many LGBTQ rostered leaders had left or been forced to leave, and many future leaders were abandoning or delaying plans to begin seminary.
Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries was making a new way in the wilderness and new rivers in the desert for those supporting the ministry of LGBTQ people. Our work continued the reforming tradition that began with the prophetic acts of extraordinary ordination on January 22, 1990. Over the years, a total of 18 people were extraordinarily ordained, dozens remained in rostered ministry, and countless people stayed connected to the Lutheran church because of this ministry.
Since the ELCA changed their ministry policies in 2009, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries has focused its energy on being a resource for LGBTQ rostered leaders and seminarians, ministry sites, and church institutions as we all live into this changing church.
The work of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is as relevant and vital as ever. The increased numbers of LGBTQ people who began seminary after 2009 are moving into the stages of internship, assignment, and call. Seasoned LGBTQ rostered leaders who once imagined they would only find one or possibly two calls in their lifetime, now can imagine following their call to ministry in a variety of settings throughout the church. Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is poised as a resource not only for these leaders, but for the ministry sites calling them and the church institutions–candidacy committees, call committees, synodical offices and Churchwide leaders that engage and interact with them.
Since 2009, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries has launched Proclaim, a professional community of Lutheran rostered leaders and seminarians who publicly identify as LGBTQ. This group has grown to 116 strong in just over a year. We have also launched a Candidacy Accompaniment program, which has connections with all ELCA seminarians and a growing number of partner theological and divinity schools, and is working with nearly 40 future leaders in the Lutheran church. We have continued and redesigned our Ministry Grants program to ensure we are putting our treasure where our heart is by directly funding ministries and congregations led by LGBTQ rostered leaders.
This week, Proclaim reached an important milestone: 100 members! Proclaim is a community for Lutheran pastors, rostered leaders & seminarians who publicly identify as LGBTQ. Proclaim is a program of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. You can learn more about Proclaim, see the full list of those in Proclaim, and get information about joining here: www.elm.org/proclaim.
Proclaim is a living witness of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries’ core belief that ministry by people who publicly and joyfully identify as LGBTQ is one way to change the church and society to become a place more fully inclusive of all people. We believe God’s Great Welcome Table is open to all, and that all kinds of people, including those of all sexual orientations and gender identities, are called to receive and share God’s gifts.
This community is proclaiming the good news for all people each day, in congregations, on the street, at hospital bedsides, in the classroom, on the bus, and in all sorts of places to all kinds of people.
Proclaim includes people from the Historic ELM Roster, ELCA pastors and rostered lay leaders, ELCA candidates awaiting call, seminary and divinity school students, and retired pastors. Proclaim is open to all rostered leaders from all Lutheran denominations.
(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.
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.
As I sat down for Christmas dinner with my partner, his three kids, their mom and their stepdad, I asked everyone to take a moment to share some words of gratitude for the year.
“But this isn’t Thanksgiving!” objected our 14-year-old.
“You’re right,” agreed his stepdad, smiling. “But Amalia didn’t say, ‘Give thanks.’ She said, ‘Gratitude,’ and that’s what this day is for.”
During this continuing season of Christmas and into the New Year celebration, many of us take time to slow down and reflect. For me, this kind of reflection leads to a sense of abundance, grace, and gratitude. And ever the optimist, I’m always ready to leave the difficulties of one year behind and start looking forward to the yet unknown joys of the year to come.
Part of the reason for this heightened sense of gratitude and abundance is that this is also the time of year when many people choose to write checks in support of ministries and nonprofits they care about. While last week was filled with some relaxing time with friends and family, this week is busy for many of us as we process your contributions and send a note to you sharing our thanks. In fact, I’m taking a short break from those notes to write this post. I’m overwhelmed by the generosity and commitment of the supporters of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, and by their gratitude for this ministry.
“Thanks for your continued ministry!” one person wrote with their contribution.
“Thanks for the great work you do.” wrote another.
One member of Proclaim sent us an updated email address and included this note, “ELM really is an amazing organization that makes a huge difference in the lives of people, congregations and the world.”
Your contributions mean so much to us. We couldn’t do the work you care about without them. ELM is funded almost entirely by contributions from individuals, congregations and ministries. Your contributions also mean more–they mean that you care about this mission. They mean that you also believe that by supporting LGBTQ rostered leaders and seminarians we can continue to change the church, to make it more fully inclusive to all people.
And so, today, on this second to last day of 2011, I give thanks for you, and for all that you do.
And in the coming year, I look forward to finding new and expanding ways for this community to work together for this common vision of an inclusive and welcoming church and society.
Long-time Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries friends Margaret Moreland and Bennett Falk have a special gift for ELM this Christmas. They’ve agreed to donate an extra $5,000 to match all new, increased and renewed gifts to ELM before the end of the year!
Please, while this post is open, click on this link and make your first-time, renewed, or increased gift to ELM.
Margaret and Bennett know it will take more resources to do our ministry next year. That’s why they’re giving more generously than ever before, and asking you to do the same.
If you’ve been inspired by ELM’s ministry, but haven’t given, there’s no better time than right now. If you donate $50, ELM will have $100 for ministry. If you donate $100, we’ll have $200 for ministry!
The financial support of individuals like you have helped ELM launch two new programs this year. One is Proclaim, the new professional community for Lutheran rostered leaders and seminarians who publicly identify as LGBTQ. There are 80 members of Proclaim, and we continue to grow. The second is our Candidacy Accompaniment program. Thanks to your support, ELM is currently working with NINETEEN leaders who are seeking rostered leadership in the Lutheran church. In addition, ELM supporters will invest $62,000 in congregations and ministries led by LGBTQ leaders in 2012.
This ministry is growing! We want you to be part of it.
Again, please, while this post is open, click on this link and make your first-time, renewed, or increased gift to ELM.
We need your support. THANK YOU, Margaret and Bennett for this marvelous gift!
