Author: Amalia Vagts

This was just released by the ELCA press office.

This past Monday, seven members of the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries roster met with members of the ELCA Churchwide staff. The meeting began with the seven roster members telling parts of their story to Bishop Mark Hanson. Each person took about 7-10 minutes to talk about their joy in ministry, the discrimination they have faced as a gay or lesbian pastor, and their hope for the Church. Bishop Hanson listened deeply to the stories and offered his affirmation of the gifts for ministry displayed by the group.

We then spent several more hours talking about how ELM pastors may be welcomed to the Roster of the ELCA. As we often say, ELM is about making ministry happen. Our work in that area continues, as we affirm and support the many gifted members of our roster. We believe that in baptism God calls all people to a vocation, and that the call to ordained ministry comes to people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity as equal members of the human family. We will continue to offer ourselves as a resource to the ELCA as they develop new policies and procedures in light of the decisions made by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.

The conversation on Monday was not a decision-making one. We will continue to keep you informed of developments as they happen.

Those attending the meeting included (from left to right in photo) Rev. Anita Hill; Rev. Ross Merkel; Rev. Cindy Coleman; Rev. Erik Christensen; Julie Boleyn; Rev. Jen Nagel; and Rev. Jeff Johnson. Also attending were ELM Executive Director Amalia Vagts; Lutherans Concerned/North America Executive Director Emily Eastwood; and Goodsoil Legislative Team Chair Rev. Chris Berry.

Many of you contacted us to share your prayers for the outcome of this and future meetings. We also gathered in a circle of prayer at the Lutheran Center just before going upstairs. We named in prayer many who have led this movement for years, many of your names, and names of future gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender leaders in this Church. Thank you for your continued support of our ministry.

Just two weeks after the Swedish Lutheran Church announced its decision to perform same-sex marriages, the denomination elected the Lutheran church’s first openly lesbian bishop. Bishop Eva Brunne was ordained as the bishop of the Stockholm diocese this past Sunday. Bishop Brunne and her partner have one child.

The Swedish Lutheran Church has a history of expansive welcome to gay and lesbian people. In 1990, then Bishop emeritus of the Stockholm diocese Krister Stendahl wrote a letter of support to the members of St. Francis Lutheran Church and First United Lutheran Church as they celebrated the ordinations of openly gay candidates Ruth Frost, Jeff Johnson and Phyllis Zillhart. These ordinations sparked the beginning of the movement leading to the formation of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.

Stendahl wrote, “Since I can’t be with you at your ordination which, it seems, must take place extra ordinem, I want to send you a greeting affirming my conviction that the steps that your congregations and you are taking stand well before God.”

Next week, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will hold its biennial Churchwide Assembly. Among many other items, the Assembly will discuss the proposed Social Statement on Sexuality and accompanying Ministry Recommendations. Our partner organization, Lutherans Concerned/North America has been organizing for months with several other groups as the coalition Goodsoil. Learn more about their work–or volunteer–at goodsoil.org. While we strongly support the work of Goodsoil, ELM is not actively involved in the coalition. It is our calling to live out the fully inclusive future we all imagine for the church.

ELM Executive Director Amalia Vagts will be at the Assembly all week to attend sessions, meet with supporters, and bear witness to this part of the ELCA’s journey. Many members of the ELM Roster will also be there to participate in Goodsoil worship activities and as Goodsoil volunteers. ELM Roster member Rev. Megan Rohrer will be on street retreat throughout the Assembly, living on the streets and blogging about her experience. You can follow along at mystreetreatreat.blogspot.com.

We invite all Twin Cities area friends to attend the Goodsoil worship service on Wednesday, Aug 19 at Central Lutheran Church.

ELM will be sending updates via Twitter about Assembly actions and ELM-related news throughout Churchwide! Follow us @ELM2649. You can search all ELM/Churchwide related tweets by searching “#ELM #CWA09”. If you have never used Twitter, here’s a reason to check it out–if you are a person who sends and receives text messages on your phone, within minutes you can be set up on Twitter and receive our updates via text message.

“See” you there!

On Sunday, July 19, supporters of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries gathered at the LGBT Center on Halsted in Chicago to celebrate the opening of the ELM Headquarters in Chicago, learn more about ELM’s work and raise funds for the organization. Five area congregations (Ebenezer Lutheran, Grace Evanston Lutheran, Holy Trinity, Resurrection and St. Luke Lutheran of Logan Square) and individual supporters gathered for appetizers, beverages and conversation. Dazzling Bouquet committee members (pictured) included chair Timothy Schannep, Tony Garcia, Rev. Jen Rude, Dale Hoiberg, David Foster, Amalia Vagts, Luigi Aguilar, Drew Knobloch, Dick Tribble, Rachael Johnson, and Rev. Erik Christensen.

Earlier this month, Pastor Erik Christensen (ELM Co-Chair) was elected by members of the Central Conference of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod to serve as their dean. Pastor Erik serves as lead pastor of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of Logan Square.

According to the synod’s constitution, deans serve to assist the conference with goalsetting, build and maintain collegial relationships between and among clergy in the conference, and act as a channel for communication between the synod and the local parish.

Pastor Erik shares that the sturggles of many parishes in the Central Conference mirror the struggles he faces at St. Luke’s.

“Many of these congregations face declining membership, rapidly changing communities and the need to proclaim the good news of God’s inclusive, justice-creating love in fresh ways to their neighbors,” writes Christensen.

Pastor Erik is the first ELM-rostered clergy person called to serve in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, and has been serving St. Luke’s since October, 2006.

In May, we wrote that Pastor Jay Wiesner had been elected by members of the Central Philadelphia conference. At the request of his bishop, Pastor Jay has stepped down from that position, due to his status as an ELM-rostered pastor.

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries was blessed by the involvement and commitment of Arnold Tiemeyer.

Arnold passed away Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2009 from cancer. Arnold served most recently as chair of the East Coast Candidacy Panel and was a devoted supporter of the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people called to ordained ministry in the Lutheran church.

We celebrate Arnold’s life and all he did to make the Church a truly welcoming place. We express our sadness and prayers to his partner, Betsy, and their family.

A full obituary can be found here.

-Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries Covenant Circle-

As you recover from Ascension Day activities and look forward to a long Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to point you towards a study released this week: Mainline Protestant Clergy Views on Theology and Gay and Lesbian Issues: Findings from the 2008 Clergy Voices Survey

You can read the study by clicking here.

Or if that doesn’t work, copy and paste this URL into your browser:
http://tinyurl.com/os4ss8

Happy reading!

This four-minute video slide show contains many photos of members of the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries roster, as well as a brief introduction to our mission and work. To watch the video, make sure your sound is turned up and click on the “play” arrow at the lower left-hand corner of the screen.