Category: Blog

 

by Christephor Gilbert
ELM Communications and Development Coordinator

In February, the ELM Board of Directors voted to welcome the Rev. Matthew L. James as their newest member. Matt moved to Chicago in September of last year (with his husband, Deacon John E. Weit) to accept a call as the Director of Admissions at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). Prior to this call, he served for three years as Associate Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Worcester, MA, and as Protestant Campus Chaplain at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Matt received his Master of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological School at Philadelphia, and also holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism/public relations and communications from the University of Northern Colorado and a master of arts in media studies from The Pennsylvania State University. Matt is a member of Proclaim and a former Joel R. Workin Scholar.

I had the privilege of sitting down to talk with Matt about his various experiences, and was especially intrigued about his backstory as one of the first Proclaim members.

Matt’s journey to the ELM Board is in and through his experience as an LGBTQ+ candidate for Word and Sacrament prior to 2009, during the time of the Extraordinary Candidacy Project (ECP). The year was 2005, and through the movement of the Spirit and the guidance of his pastor at Luther Place in Washington, D.C., Matt began the candidacy process through ECP. Throughout the journey, including the three-year wait for his first call, Matt was bolstered by the pastoral and spiritual support he received through the cloud of witnesses that make up Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.

He was excited to intentionally reengage with Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries upon his move to Chicago and the new call at LSTC. It was then that he was contacted by Proclaim member and former ELM board member, the Rev. Rose Beeson, about serving on the board. Clearly, the Spirit at work, once again!

Matt is excited about the capacity ELM has to raise up LGBTQ+ leaders to serve – the hope, strength, and energy they bring to the church of tomorrow – but now! He affirms that there is much to celebrate post-2009, but still much work to be done to continue moving toward God’s preferential future.

When Matt isn’t finding the leaders of tomorrow at LSTC, or continuing to foster LGBTQ+ leadership through ELM, you might find him digging into scripture for inspiration, dreaming about finally taking those piano lessons, or adding yet another DVD or doll to his ever-growing Muppets collection (with Fozzie the Bear being his favorite).

Current members of the ELM Board of Directors are: Rev. Dr. J. Elise Brown (New York, NY); Rev. Brad Froslee (Minneapolis, MN); Charlie Horn (Pitman, NJ); Rev. Mike Wilker (Washington, DC); Dr. Margaret Moreland (Berkeley, CA); Rev. Emily Ewing (Peterson, MN); Nicole Johnson (Minneapolis, MN); Rev. Dr. Barbara Lundblad (Minneapolis, MN); Rev. Jeff Johnson (Berkeley, CA); Emily Ann Garcia (Vancouver, British Columbia); Rev. Matthew James (Chicago, IL).

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Christephor Gilbert currently serves as the Communications and Development Coordinator for ELM, and is finishing up his second year in the MDiv Program at LSTC.  When he is not working or schooling, he remembers fondly when he sang both “I’ts Not Easy Being Green” and “The Rainbow Connection” in fifth-grade choir.

by Laura Ferree
Master of Divinity student, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, and member of Proclaim.

Proclaim, a program of ELM, is a community of 250 publicly-identified LGBTQ+ Lutheran rostered minister, candidates, and seminarians.

On January 3rd, 2017 I arrived at the Columbus, OH airport excited to board a plane and make my way to the Holy Land. I was embarking on this trip with my school, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, as my January term course. I did not know what to expect as we were boarding our flight to Tel Aviv. Part of me was nervous and the other part was so excited to walk on the same land where Jesus walked.

After flying all night our plane finally landed in Tel Aviv and the trip became real. From the moment we stepped foot on holy ground our trip was off to the races and not slowing down! We traveled from Tel Aviv to Galilee to Caesarea to Zippori to Caesarea Philippi to Capernaum to Jericho to Bethlehem to Battir to Jerusalem and the list could go on. We had a jam-packed schedule! We were always being shuffled from one place to the next while our tour guide, Khalil, shouted, “Yella people!” meaning hurry up or let’s go in Arabic.

I remember one point in the trip when “Yella people!” was being shouted but I couldn’t hurry up! As I was getting on our bus after a stop by the Sea of Galilee I looked out the window and saw Proclaim members. I shouted, “Those are my people!” and ran off the bus, ignoring Khalil saying “Yella Laura!” We had just a short time to reconnect before I was pulled back onto the bus so that we could continue our journey but I remember feeling filled with joy as I saw “my people” in a land that is so far away from home.

This is not the last place that I saw “my people”. There were three ELCA seminaries in the Holy Land at the same time and we all happened to be staying in Jerusalem during the same time. A seminary meet up was arranged and I could not contain my excitement during the day that our meet up would happen knowing that I would get to see Proclaim folks for the first time in almost a year. This community is so interconnected that we even find each other while we are in a foreign land.

That night of community in the Holy Land reminded me to kindle my flame and allowed me to remember how meaningful the Proclaim community is to me. As I continued to bump into Proclaim friends throughout the trip it always brought me joy to remember that I am a part of such a tight knit community of folks who free me to proclaim God’s good word to all.

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Laura Ferree lives in Columbus, OH and is a second-year Master of Divinity student at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. Once she survives this spring semester, Laura will start as the intern at Luther Memorial Church in Seattle, WA.

 

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is seeking a candidate to serve in the Executive Director position. Interested candidates should email their cover letter and resume to the Executive Director Search Committee, search@elm.org. Applications will be accepted until May 1, 2017, position will be filled mid-June.

About the position:

Grounded in the belief that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer-identifying (LGBTQ+) people have extraordinary gifts for ministry, the Executive Director provides leadership in partnership with the Board of Director and staff. The Executive Director casts a strategic vision, leads fund development, and guides operational and program implementation. The Executive Director serves as the only full-time development position on staff.

Full job description and guiding qualifications: Executive Director Job Description: ELM-EDJobDescription

 

by Asher O’Callaghan
ELM Program Director

Registration and scholarship applications for the 2017 Proclaim Gathering will open this Saturday, April 1st.  You can register here.

The Proclaim Gathering brings together publicly-identified LGBTQ+ rostered ministers and candidates from across the church. ELM friends make it possible for seminarians and rostered leaders experiencing financial hardship to attend by providing funds for scholarships – you gave close to $10,000 in scholarships last year, and you can help again this year! Give now.

We’ve moved the Proclaim Gathering to a new time – in the summer – and this year we’ll be in the heart of Chicago. Our 2017 Gathering will be at the Cenacle Retreat Center from July 16th-19th.

The theme this year is Healing the Violence. Local speakers from the Chicago area will help Proclaimers name the violence, explore pathways of healing, and then send them back out into ministry with some practical tools. And, we’ll have plenty of inspiring worship, relationship building with colleagues, and space for leaders to be their full and fabulous queer selves. By the end of it, we send these leaders out renewed and ready to provide ministry to people who deeply need it.

We keep registration affordable so money is not a barrier to attending. Your gift of $100 – or more if you can do that today– will help us provide scholarships to all who need them. You can provide a full scholarship with a gift of $395. We’ll send you a card from the Gathering to express our thanks!

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Asher O’Callaghan can’t wait for July 16th, when the 2017 Proclaim Gathering begins! The Gathering has been one of the highlights of his year since 2012. Asher’s favorite hobbies include surfing, discovering craft beers, and writing short bios in the third person.

by Amalia Vagts
ELM Executive Director

 

The ELM Board of Directors gathered March 9-12,2017 at Pendle Hill, a Quaker retreat center just outside Philadelphia, PA. We spent the bulk of our time engaged in work that board member Mike Wilker referred to as, “discerning where God has led us in the past and where God is calling us in the future.”

The time was rich, collaborative, challenging, and clarifying. One piece of our work was creating what our facilitators Lisa Negstad and Michael Bischoff referred to as “Simple Practices.” Almost immediately, we changed the heading to “Explicit Practices.” We like to turn words on end. And the new name seemed more “us,” which was the purpose of this exercise.

Of the seven or so practices that made it into the final working list, the one we all agreed on immediately was this: “We laugh together.”

It struck me, as it has many times in my work with the LGBTQ+ faith community, that laughter and joy are so often at the center of our work. Our work is often not easy. At times, it is completely discouraging. The journey has been long. Sometimes the future is unknown. And yet – time and time again, we find ourselves breaking into laughter, into song (and oh yes, even into dance thanks to the Fitness Marshall).

And it seems fitting that if someone happened upon a document that said “Explicit Practices of LGBTQ+ Lutherans,” they’d open it to read “We laugh together.”

Our time together spanned four days. We were thankful and encouraged by an afternoon in conversation with Lenny Duncan and Rev. Lura Groen, co-conspirators from #decolonizelutheranism. Lisa Negstad and Michael Bischoff guided us during a day-and-a-half session about the future direction of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. In addition to the Explicit Practices, we worked with our belief statement to make sure it better reflects our current work. We were nourished by the wonderful surroundings and people of Pendle Hill and each other. We were led by God. We spent a significant amount of time discerning where God is calling us – a direction Mike described as, “beautiful, compassionate, and fierce.” This important work continues and we’ll invite you into conversation with us as it unfolds.

We look forward to more work – and laughter – with you.

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Amalia Vagts, executive director of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, has been known to laugh in the face of adversity, and, on occasion, at totally inopportune moments. She does not plan to cease this behavior anytime soon.

 

 

The Board of Directors of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries announces that Executive Director Amalia Vagts will conclude her role in July 2017 and begin the process of becoming a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The Rev. Dr. Elise Brown, board co-chair, notes:

When Amalia announced her decision to attend seminary to the board last October, it received the news with joy and gratitude. Amalia’s leadership and collaborative spirit have strengthened programming, created connections inside and outside of the Lutheran church, and built a strong financial foundation for ELM as she proclaimed the ways the church is blessed by LGBTQ+ clergy and seminarians. Her leadership and work have been a great gift. While difficult to say goodbye to such a talented executive director, supporting Amalia in her deeper sense of call and vocation is thrilling for the board.

Vagts’ last day of work will be July 31, 2017. The Rev. Brad Froslee, board co-chair, says a search process will begin at the end of March with the plan to have a new executive director in place in July.

In sharing her news with the board, Amalia writes:

I have been transformed by the experiences I have had these past ten and a half years. You invited me into your living rooms, sanctuaries, offices and hearts and shared your sorrows, joys, and stories with me. Thank you. Our work together has changed my life. The people who make up Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries as friends, board members, and the Proclaim community are truly faithful and fabulous. I feel a sense of deep fulfillment and clear that my calling is now leading me elsewhere. I will leave feeling confident that Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is healthy, adaptable, and ready to receive your next executive director. It is impossible to imagine my life without the people who make ELM what it is and I’m thankful that I don’t have to! With joy, I will continue to wholeheartedly support ELM as a donor and friend and connect in new ways as a future Proclaim member. And for now, I’m getting back to work for the next five months!

Vagts’ tenure at ELM has been a time of great growth and change for the organization. She has overseen the expansion of ELM’s three programs, strengthened connections with donors and supporters, and has worked closely with congregations, synods, and bishops across the country. Brown shares, “The passion and faith Amalia brings to this work is unsurpassed. She is thoughtful, forthright and quick to add both deeper insights and moments of levity. That unique combination of gifts has served ELM very well over these 10 years. She has been an extraordinary leader during an extraordinary time.”

During her more than ten years with ELM, Vagts has been instrumental in the changes in ELM and the church. She was hired as the development director of Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries in October 2006. Shortly after that Vagts co-facilitated the merger of LLGM with the Extraordinary Candidacy Project. In 2008, ELM hired Vagts at its first executive director.

Through Vagts’ leadership and skill, ELM doubled the number of extraordinary ordinations and calls to publicly identified LGBTQ+ ministers before the ELCA’s policy change in 2009. That year there were 46 members of the Extraordinary Roster–a community of resistance and hope that provided prophetic witness and pastoral leadership in communities often ignored and oppressed by the church and society. Today, the Proclaim community has 245 members, and continues to grow.

As board co-chairs, Brown and Froslee are working with the full board to appoint a Search Committee and will lay out the next steps for succession in the coming week. Additionally, the board will host gatherings across the country to allow those who have worked closely with Amalia to celebrate and honor her work.

ELM gives thanks for a gifted leader who has given her heart and soul to the work of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries to proclaim a place of welcome, grace, justice, and leadership in the Lutheran church and far beyond. Through her, God has unleashed the proclamation of the gospel.

Froslee says, “ELM vibrantly responds to God’s love and call to justice. It’s a gracious, strong, and creative ministry. We’re looking forward to the future and the new leader.”

by Asher O’Callaghan
ELM Program Director

If you’ve been following the LGBTQ+ movement during the past few decades, you’ve probably noticed several changes in the language we use. A few decades ago, many would use gay and lesbian to refer to our community. Then bisexual was included creating the acronym LGB. And not too long after that, transsexual was added to the mix, thus LGBT. Now, the word transsexual is usually replaced with transgender, and the letter Q has also been added for queer. Which brings us to LGBTQ—the acronym ELM has often used.

Most of these changes in language have taken place over the course of years and there’s been a lot of deliberation about what language fits and what doesn’t. So with that in mind, we’d like to invite your feedback on the most recent addition we’ve made.

In recent months, some of you may have noticed that we’ve begun using a + at the end of LGBTQ in many of ELM’s publications. The + is meant to symbolize the many queer identities that might not be fully represented by the words lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. Identities like intersex, two-spirit, or asexual, just to name a few. It reminds us to greet the new identities we encounter with open minds. It reminds us of how our language itself is evolving, and how we too are evolving with it.

The point to changing our language isn’t to make people feel uncomfortable and confused. The point is to recognize that language stands for something. The words we use are meaningful. Language is power. Words can actually create possibilities that didn’t exist before.

Take me for example. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked, “How old were you when you knew you were transgender?” Older than you might guess. Because I didn’t become familiar with the word transgender until I was in my 20s. Until then, I simply had never heard a word that described my experience of my gender. When we have no words to express our experiences, we are kept alone and silent.

The internet was the first place I found the word transgender. When I read about the experiences of other trans people, it felt like being named. With one word, experiences I had never been able to express before were affirmed. With one word, my experiences no longer kept me isolated but joined me together with others. In a very real sense, the word transgender made me possible.

These letters stand for something. They stand for people—for POSSIBILITY. Without words to name who we are in the world, we’re left silent and alone with our experiences. We want to celebrate the on-going naming and claiming of new identities in our community. We want to acknowledge that the process of naming and claiming these experiences is part of our DNA as a community.

Does the + help us do that? Ideally, it helps affirm the on-going evolution of queer identities in our communities. However, it may minimize identities like intersex, asexual, or two-spirit by lumping them all into a symbol. We invite your feedback.

For a few high-quality, user-friendly lists of what each of these words (and many others!) means check out these resources:

Lutheran Introduction To Our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Neighbors

LGBTQ+ Definitions

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Asher O’Callaghan is grateful for all the ways that visibility gives birth to possibility. He didn’t know he could be a queer Lutheran pastor until he met a queer Lutheran pastor. He’s grateful for all the folks whose public witness as LGBTQ+ faith leaders creates space for queer faith.

 

 

 

(photo credit Paul Nixdorf) 

Guest blog by Chris Wogaman

On March 11, 2007, I was assigned to the Metropolitan New York Synod for first call. After 5 years of classes, part- and full-time ministry experience, CPE, and ELCA candidacy, I was ready to begin my life as an ordained minister of Word and sacrament.

However, a powerful ELCA official told me that I would have to “go under the radar” in order to receive a first call. If I insisted on being out as a gay man, she said, I would not receive a first call. Nevertheless, I persisted. “The bishop told you to go under the radar if you want to receive a call. But you insisted on leading with your sexual orientation. We can’t find you a call if you persist in leading with your sexual orientation.”

“Leading” with one’s sexual orientation meant, in 2007, that even the slightest mention of your sexual orientation immediately took over your entire vocational path with an anxiety and resistance that met its partial resolution in the 2009 Churchwide vote to allow open and partnered LGBTQ pastors and seminarians.

The years went on. One year without a call. Nevertheless, I persisted. Two years without a call. “Maybe it’s not God’s will for you to be a minister,” I was told. “Maybe the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you to find another path.” Nevertheless, I persisted.

After nearly five years, I finally had my first interview with a call committee. They turned me down, not because of sexual orientation. It was a heartbreak, but we were not a good match. Nevertheless, I persisted.

Nearly 30 call processes later, and after having become “perhaps the most approved candidate for ordination in the ELCA” (as was stated on my behavioral interview for Mission Developer/Redeveloper—finally the ELCA took note!), I came to one of the hardest interviews, on Wednesday, November 9, 2016. I was devastated by the results of the elections; I couldn’t wrap my head around even having this interview. I was close to receiving a call vote at a congregation that would not have been a good match, but I had the interview anyway. Nevertheless, I persisted.

That interview went well. The people on the call committee were also reeling from the elections’ results the night before. Very soon, they had me down for an in-person meeting, and soon I was approved for a congregational vote unanimously by the church council. I passed the congregational vote unanimously on January 15, 2017, nearly 10 years after first waiting in earnest for first call as a pastor. It seems like I have been called for times such as these. On April 1^st, at 3:30 in the afternoon, at SpringHouse Ministry Center in Minneapolis, MN, I will be ordained to the ministry of Word and sacrament.

Thankfully, I persisted.

 

 

 

 

(Joel pictured with his husband Paul Jenkins)

Guest blog by Michael Nelson

We demonstrate the gracious power and glory that is ours when we come out and take the step, saying, “We are here. We are Gay and Lesbian and Bisexual and Transgender. We are friends of Lesbians and Gays and Bisexuals and Transgender people. We are God’s. We are the kingdom.” The most precious grace God gives us is the grace to be ourselves.  And now, it is time to let grace abound.  – Joel R. Workin

Applications for the Joel R. Workin Scholarship will be made available in early March, and we encourage all Proclaim seminarians to review them and prayerfully consider a submission. While you consider this, I invite you to read Dear God, I’m Gay – Thank You!.  This book is a collection of essays written by Joel Workin and it will be important for applicants to familiarize themselves with his essays, one of which will be chosen for this year’s applicants to reflect upon. (Whether you apply or not, I think you’ll find them theologically marvelous and thought-provoking.)

Now for the exciting news! After years of faithfully tending and nurturing the fund from which the scholarship is awarded, ELM is pleased to announce that the fund’s principal has reached $100,000!  As a result, the Workin Scholarship committee will be able to award one of the largest grants yet to the selected Workin Scholar in 2017.

For those of you who may not yet know Joel, he was one of the “Berkeley Three” (himself, Jeff Johnson and Jim Lancaster).  As seminarians, they had been certified for call by PLTS as openly gay candidates, but when word of this got out, the ELCA “de-certified” them and instituted a requirement that LGBT candidates for ministry maintain celibacy – even though there was no such requirement for straight candidates.  That policy remained in effect until the 2009 Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis and the rest, as they say, is history.

A lot of people in Joel’s shoes might have given up.  But Joel’s calling was part of who he was.  Despite his pain, he went faithfully onward, serving as Assistant Director of Chris Brownlie Hospice in Los Angeles, the first free standing hospice in the country dedicated to serving people with AIDS. He continued to write theological reflections for Lutherans Concerned/Los Angeles, serving as editor of their newsletter. He was an active member of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in North Hollywood, and was an ardent supporter of Lutheran Lesbian & Gay Ministries.  He and his husband, Paul Jenkins, bought a home together in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles and while they enjoyed many happy years together, they both continued to shake things up through ACTUP/LA demanding better drug regimens for people with AIDS and advocating early for marriage equality.  The living out of his calling, though rejected by the Church, still continues to be an inspiration. In his memory, his friends eagerly established the Joel R. Workin Fund (after his death in 1995) to help other deserving LGBTQ seminarians.

Previous Workin Scholars include the Rev. Jen Rude, the Rev. Matthew James, the Rev. Julie Boleyn, the Rev. Laura Kuntz, the Rev. Emily Ewing, the Rev. Rebecca Seely, the Rev. Asher O’Callaghan, the Rev. Gretchen Colby Rode, the Rev. Amy Kumm-Hanson, Justin Ferko, and Christephor Gilbert.

Please watch for the scholarship materials in early March.

Let grace abound!

Michael Nelson is the chair of the Joel R. Workin Scholarship Committee. In addition to him, the committee includes Greg Egertson, Rev. Jeff Johnson, Rev. Rebecca Seely, and ELM Executive Director Amalia Vagts.

 

National Proclaim Gathering 2017
July 16 – 19, 2017

by Asher O’Callaghan
ELM Program Director

During these turbulent times, the Proclaim Community will be gathering this summer in Chicago around the theme “Healing the Violence.” Proclaim, a professional community of 245 publicly identified LGBTQ+ Lutheran people doing and pursuing rostered ministry, is committed to bringing good news and positive change to the world.

So during these violent times, how can LGBTQ+ ministers lead communities of healing? How can we and our communities give public witness to the violence in our world and God’s vision for healing? Through a number of hands-on workshops filled with practical tools and strategies, we’ll work to develop responses to these questions that we can adapt for use in our ministry contexts.

The program will focus on current happenings, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the 2016 elections, immigration, and environmental destruction. We’ll reflect on a number of specific events like the shootings in Charleston and Orlando, and the sharp increase of homicides in Chicago (where our retreat will be held). Lutheran responses like the ELCA’s social message on “Gender-based violence” will be considered.

In addition to bearing witness to the violence around us and in our own lives, Proclaim will also explore different pathways of healing: the arts, activism, prophetic preaching, communication strategies, and more. Building community with one another, of course, is also a pathway to healing. So there will be time to worship, socialize, relax, and have fun with one another as well.

After all, we believe that God’s will for the world is not merely to bring an end to violence. Luther’s Small Catechism teaches us that the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” means that not only are we are not to murder our neighbors, but we also must “help and defend them in every need and danger of life and body.” God wants us to heal into communities that help and defend one another. Communities where people can thrive. Together we will be exploring how we can become what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called “beloved community”.

The Gathering is open to all members of Proclaim – visit www.elm.org/retreat to learn more. It’s been occurring annually in one form or another since the early 1990’s. ELM friends make it possible for all to attend by providing funds for scholarships – you gave close to $10,000 in scholarships last year! In a few weeks, we’ll invite you to give in support of our scholarship fund for the 2017 gathering.

Asher O’Callaghan is the program director of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. Proclaim is one of the programs of ELM. There are two other programs: Ministry Engagement and Accompaniment. In the Ministry Accompaniment program, we help congregations get ready to call an LGBTQ+ rostered minister. In the Accompaniment program, we walk alongside LGBTQ+ candidates so they won’t have to go through the sometimes convoluted processes of candidacy, seminary, and interviewing for a first-call alone.