Category: Blog

Guest blog by Proclaim member, Amy Hanson.

As I write this post I am just a few short weeks away from finishing my internship at First Lutheran Church, in St Peter, MN. I am the first intern for this congregation. When the congregation began discerning the possibility of having an intern long before my arrival, they compiled a profile that said, “We believe that our conviction of welcome and designation as a Reconciling in Christ congregation makes us makes us an ideal site for an LGBTQ intern.”  My interview went very well, and as I walked home, I thought, “I have found my internship site.”  On that very same day, Pastor Alan stated to the congregational council, “I have found our intern.”

One of my fears prior to internship was that I would be known only as “the gay pastor.”  I was afraid that all of my work and my pastoral formation would be filtered through that part of my identity.  In a world that so often forces LGBTQ people to apologize for who they are, before they can even begin to live into their vocation, I have seen, heard, and experienced something exciting at First Lutheran Church.  This congregation’s convictions about hospitality and welcome are real, and they are living out the Gospel. In this place, I am Pastor Amy first, and a gay pastor second.

Like most LGBTQ people I have struggled with belonging.  Belonging in our families, churches, communities, and workplaces. The church is a particularly painful place for many of us. In representing my congregation as a Reconciling in Christ site at the Southwest Minnesota Synod Assembly, I had the opportunity to talk with many people about what it means to be a safe place of welcome for all people. As many lamented that their congregations might never openly welcome LGBTQ folks, and tears were shared for family members and friends who left these congregations, I was able to share some hope that there is a new day dawning in the church.

Part of my sense of call is to unceasingly proclaim to all the beautiful, broken, and beloved people of God who feel pushed aside by our culture or the church itself, “You already belong.  You may feel like you are on the margins, but you are part of the Body of Christ.”  My call is also to baptize and serve Holy Communion to equip this Body for their own work for justice, peace, and mercy in the world.

My experience as an intern this year, as well as my participation in Proclaim, has given me the confidence to live boldly into my calling to ministry.  I no longer apologize for being who God created me to be, but instead give thanks that I am who I am, that I have this call and have this sacred task before me.

Amy Hanson is a graduate of the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO.  After she completes her internship, she will be embarking upon an adventure as a chaplain at St Anthony Trauma Center, also in Denver.  Her future hope is to be a Mission Redeveloper in the ELCA and she is an active blogger at: www.amychanson.blogspot.com

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries celebrates the life of the Rev. Bishop Stanley E. Olson. Bishop Olson was born September 4, 1926 in Omaha, Nebraska and died on July 2, 2014 in Sacramento, CA.

Bishop Olson was a champion for justice and played a formative role in the early days of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. In the early 1990’s, he was part of the founding board of the Extraordinary Candidacy Project (ECP), which launched a pathway to certification for LGBTQ people called to ordained ministry in the Lutheran Church.

In his retirement, he continued to make a public witness in support of LGBTQ clergy. He and his spouse Mary Lou were active members of Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Sacramento, traveling a distance each week for worship. He was an avid supporter of Rev. Robyn Hartwig (ELM Historic Roster) and was instrumental in securing an internship for then-ECP candidate Jay Wilson (ELM Historic Roster). Bishop Olson participated in the extraordinary ordinations of the Rev. Anita Hill, the Rev. Megan Rohrer, and the Rev. Jay Wilson. In these and other numerous ways, he was a visible witness for justice.

He is loved and remembered by many in this movement.  ELM Co-Chair Mike Wilker remembers him as a “beautiful force.”

While Bishop Olson was known for preaching primarily from notes and memory, his daughter Sara found this snippet from a sermon he preached in 1968, speaking to the church and the civil rights movement.

“…….I am called by God to a ministry of Word AND action … a ministry that will inevitably cause the calm waters of congregational life to be whipped into the waves of a major storm. And to be less, or to do less, or to do nothing out of a fear of causing controversy in the house of God, is to be trapped by the devil. It is to be disowned by God. It is to fail His cause of love and of justice. It is to be silent when called to speak. ….. Our inoffensiveness has been offensive….. We have kept millions bound in their suffering and poverty…..”

His daughter Sara also shared this anecdote and glimpse into the depth of commitment Bishop Olson had for LGBTQ issues with the following story:

“My dad had an oversized file box (plastic, twice the size of a banker’s box) that was FULL of files that were all related to LGBT and the church, each file carefully labeled.   The funniest thing to me was that there was one lone file at the very back that was titled ‘Not Gay Stuff’ which was empty.”

We give thanks for the life of Stan Olson and for the beautiful force he was in the life of this church and in the lives of so many. We offer our prayers to his wife, Mary Lou, to his children and grandchildren, and to all who mourn this loss.

At the request of the family, donations in his memory can be made to Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, Sacramento; ReconcilingWorks, or the ELCA Foundation.

Memorial Service: Saturday, July 19 at 11 a.m., St. John’s Lutheran Church, Sacramento (1701 L St, Sacramento, CA 95811)

Condolences can be sent to his wife Mary Lou at 4307 Garden Oak Ct., Sacramento CA 95841 or by email care of daughter Sara (sorehms956@aol.com).

“If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” – Romans 14:8

But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—‘I believed, and so I spoke’—we also believe, and so we speak…                                               2 Corinthians 4:13

This is a teaser blog. An experience of both instant and delayed gratification. Or, to put it in more spiritual terms – both now and not yet.

A small group of Proclaim members has been working on collecting stories of LGBTQ leaders within the Lutheran church – rostered leaders, seminarians, and those awaiting call. We were inspired by a similar resource from the United Church of Christ that came out (!) about 20 years ago. We received permission from those who created the UCC resource, And So We Speak, to create a Lutheran version.

But like any good story, putting together a collection of amazing stories takes time. So…. we’re still working on it. It’s “not yet.” But it will be worth the wait.

This resource will include interwoven stories about being called to ministry and coming out, the joy of queer faith, gender identity and images of God, and more.  But, it’s just too good not to share parts of it with you now. Much of the final collection will be longer stories about individuals in our community, but here are a few short nuggets:

What do you think God thinks about you being LGBTQ?

In giving me, a gay man, a call to ministry, God affirms my sexuality as a gift given and not a defect to hide. I know at the very core of my being, that God loves me, that God has gifted me, and that God wants to make use of me.
– Austin Newberry, First Call Candidate, Columbus, IN

How and why do you publicly identify as LGBTQ?

For me it’s about wholeness. It’s about living with integrity–as in the word “integral” meaning “necessary to make the whole complete”. My gender identity and sexuality cannot be separated from who I am in the world. When ministry is done well, people are inspired to live as the people that God has created them to be. I can’t do this kind of ministry if I myself am not living into the fullness of life that God has called me to.
– Asher O’Callaghan, Seminarian

I don’t know that it’s a conscious choice for me – I use all of who I am in my ministry, and being Queer is one part of how God created me, one piece of what I naturally use. But I’m glad for being Queer- it’s how God liberated me from a rules-based religion, and taught me grace. It’s how I learned about discrimination, and can now work for justice for all kinds of other people. And it helps me connect with folks who are scared of the church for all kinds of reasons- showing them that I can be my full self in church invites them to think that maybe then can be too.
– Rev. Lura Groen

How did you come out to the congregation?

In a meet and greet with the congregation, I was asked to share my story, and so in
sharing my call story, I chose to leave in my coming out rather than editing it out of the story. This not only gave me an easy way to come out, but it also couched it in the context of God’s call in my life, which I think was accurate and beneficial.
– Emily Ewing, First Call Candiate

How have you experienced being “The First”?

I am the first intern at my congregation (and also the first LGBTQ intern). Our congregation is also the first (and only) RIC congregation in our Synod. My experience has been wonderful and positive, as the congregation really lives into what it means to be welcoming. It has taught them that their convictions about welcome and hospitality are real and that they are living out the Gospel. I am Pastor Amy first, and a gay pastor second.
– Amy Hanson, seminarian

Your gift to ELM not only helps shape these stories of LGBTQ leaders in the Lutheran church, but also helps support the collection, publication, and distribution of this resource as a gift and resource for the whole church. Thank you!

Guest blog by Proclaim member, the Rev. Erik Christensen.

This past weekend was Pride weekend here in Chicago and in many other cities around the country. In recent years I’ve heard, and eagerly jumped into, plenty of conversations questioning the value of these large-scale gatherings filled with giant floats with corporate sponsors conveying scantily clad dancers from a host of bars and other venues. “Is this what we spent the last half century fighting for?” I’d wearily ask.

This year I’m less inclined to diminish or dismiss the gains our movements have made, or the celebrations that mark them. That is due, in no small part, to a recent visit by representatives of South Africa’s Inclusive and Affirming Ministries (IAM) to Chicago June 12-16, 2014.

The congregation I serve, St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of Logan Square, has hosted folks from IAM (including Proclaim member Pieter Oberholzer) many times over the last eight years, each visit deepening our commitment to walking together toward liberation for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities around the globe. This year St. Luke’s partnered with a blend of ecumenical and secular communities and organizations to present a weekend of activities for people of faith and activists from across Chicago as an expression of solidarity with LGBTI people across the continent of Africa suffering under increasingly violent conditions (learn more here).

Conscious that these trips create a significant financial burden for IAM, and knowing that they have to work hard every year to raise the necessary funds to carry out their work, I was concerned that their trip might not have been worth the effort on purely economic terms. IAM’s Executive Director, the Rev. Judith Kotzé, allayed my fears as we met the morning of her flight home to evaluate this year’s slate of events.  She said,

“You cannot know what it means for me, for us, to be able to worship with you here in Chicago. To see an openly gay pastor and his partner so warmly accepted by their congregation. To see that it is a non-issue, that your leadership is accepted and trusted. To be able to share our story with you, and to receive the gift of your prayers and your songs. To be able to carry that story home with us to share with people and congregations who can barely imagine that such a thing is possible.”

As I listened to Judith, all I could think is how it wasn’t that long ago that we, here in the United States, were saying the same thing. I can remember a time when I could count on one hand the number of publicly identified LGBTQ clergy in the ELCA that I knew, and they were almost all members of what has grown to become the Proclaim community.

Our work, yours and mine, is a witness to people of faith around the world. Each time we simply show up, put on the collar, step into the pulpit, consecrate the elements, pray for the ill and the dying, visit those in prison, we are proclaiming a future for the whole church that has already broken in, but is not yet complete. That is something to be proud of, something to celebrate, loudly and publicly and shamelessly.

To learn more about the work of IAM, and to make a gift to their courageous and life-saving work, visit http://www.iam.org.za

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!“   Romans 10:11-15

We celebrate the beautiful, good-news-bringing feet of Brenda Bos and Julie Recher, two Proclaim members who received first calls this weekend.

Brenda Bos has been called to serve as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in San Clemente, CA.

Julie Recher has been called to serve as associate pastor at Atonement Lutheran Church in Wyomissing, PA.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  Many more gifted and called LGBTQ candidates are ready to be sent.  We celebrate their gifts and pray both for candidates who continue to seek a first call and for the congregations and ministries who need their beautiful good-news-bringing feet.

Your support enables ELM to accompany, affirm, and support LGBTQ seminarians, candidates, and rostered leaders as they are called and sent to serve God’s church and world!  

Two Thrivent representatives organized an event last Saturday night to benefit Lutheran organizations working for justice for LGBTQ people.

The representatives, Gregory Jahnke and Judith Dancer, are opposed to recent Thrivent Financial changes that make the groups Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries and ReconcilingWorks ineligible for Thrivent funding.

Here’s what Greg Jahnke had to say about the event,

“The wonderful Karen Hirst and Tom Shaw entertained our guests at Martuni’s in San Francisco for a ‘fun-draiser’  for Reconciling Works and Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.  Judith Dancer and I are openly queer Thrivent reps standing in opposition to Thrivent’s new benevolent giving program restrictions. Our guests gave $7,000 for these great organizations! Thanks to everyone who donated. You are making a difference.”

We think Greg and Judith are fabulous! We stand with them in their role as Thrivent representatives who have done much for the LGBTQ community and our organization. We have been remembering in prayer Greg, Judith, and other LGBTQ-identified Thrivent employees who have been hurt by the recent Thrivent decisions.

Thanks to these wonderful supporters, ELM will receive even more than we did through Thrivent Choice Dollars in 2013. These funds will help our efforts to ensure that LGBTQ people called to rostered ministry in the Lutheran church are affirmed and supported in their calls.

Stay tuned for how you can get involved in a continued “on-line event!”

Guest blog by Proclaim member Rachel Anderson.  Rachel is a student at the Lutheran School of Theology at Philadelphia, finishing her internship year at Lord of Mercy Lutheran Church in Sparks, Nevada.

On June 29, 2013 my wife, Carrie, and I committed our lives to each other in the presence of God, our families, and our friends. It was almost a year earlier, and with much trepidation, that I came out to my wonderful candidacy liaison. We were on a weekend long retreat on the Connecticut shoreline and I was about to return to Philadelphia for my second year of seminary in just a few days. I had not kept my sexuality a secret from my candidacy committee, or the seminary, or anyone really. But I knew I had to share this part of my life with these people, out of a responsibility to Carrie, my church, and the many people who still struggle to find acceptance among God’s people. I kind of laugh when I think about the conversation we had. “I’m getting married,” I said, very matter-of-factly. “That’s great!” He said. “But I’m getting married to a woman,” and I was sure his smile was about to fade. “Even better!” he said, and gave me a great big hug.

Experiences like that confirm for me, over and over again, that the church is moving forward. They are also confirmation that ministries like Proclaim and ELM continue to be vitally important for the body of Christ. No one should have to doubt their place at the table. No one should ever be afraid that their gifts for leadership are not welcome in the church for something as inconsequential as how they were born or whom they were born to love.

But in the year 2014, for many, many… many people and organizations, one’s sexual orientation or gender identity is not inconsequential. Coming from a loving and accepting family that never batted an eye when I came out, dealing with the slow-moving church has been heart wrenching at times. During my junior year of seminary I was turned down by three potential internship sites because I am openly gay, and Carrie and I took this rejection pretty hard. Maybe I would never go on internship; maybe I would never get a chance to be a leader within the church. Maybe we were racking up all this debt just to find out that the church would never have a place for us at the table (or in the pulpit). The feeling is akin to, I’m guessing, being the last puppy in the litter to get adopted. I watched all of my seminary friends accept internships at various churches while I waited, and waited.

Looking back on that time, I am so glad for those experiences. Just over a month after we were married, Carrie and I left our friends and family in the northeast and drove across the country to Sparks, Nevada for my internship at Lord of Mercy Lutheran Church. I never could have predicted moving to the west coast for anything, much less internship. We have quickly fallen in love with northern Nevada, but mostly we have fallen in love with this absolutely fantastic congregation. These are people who have taken their calling to be the body of Christ seriously. They love to serve their neighbor, they have a deep faith, and they take their commitment to raise up new leaders in the church very seriously. If only every church were like Lord of Mercy, only so happy to not only accept, but to welcome an LGBTQ leader!

My time at Lord of Mercy will always be one of the most profound blessings in my life, and it would not be possible without the generous assistance of ELM. Were it not for ELM, Carrie and I would likely still be wondering if there is a place for us in the church. Were it not for ELM, I wouldn’t be able to preach the Good News to people who not only love to hear it, but need to hear it, especially from a person who knows just how good the news really is. In many ways serving Lord of Mercy has been a spiritual resurrection for me, and it has certainly resurrected my faith in the progress the ELCA is making to be sure that all people can claim their place at the table without fear. All leaders can preach the Good News and know it is for them too, and they are in a place of safety and love.

If it were not for ELM, I never would have met a sixteen year old girl in Reno, Nevada a few months back. We got connected one way or another through the church, though she had never been to Lord of Mercy. In our first conversation she was convinced that being gay was the ultimate sin, and that God could not possibly love her the way she is. If not for ELM, and my internship in Sparks, she might still be convinced that there is something wrong with her. But because she came to a church leader who has been where she was, and who could show her a God and a community that accepts her unconditionally, she can smile again, and she can be herself, proudly. ELM and Proclaim touch more lives than probably any of us are aware. I thank God for this truly extraordinary ministry, and live in hope that the day is soon coming when no person will live in fear and all will truly be welcome in this place.

 You support leaders like Rachel with your gift to ELM. Rachel and other seminarians receive pastoral care and support through Proclaim and Accompaniment. Lord of Mercy Lutheran Church received a small grant from ELM to support Rachel’s internship. Learn more or give to support leaders like Rachel at www.elm.org.

Pentecost is Sunday.  Divided tongues as of fire, the sound like a rush of violent wind, people speaking all kinds of different languages, but all speaking about God’s deeds of power.  And Peter recalling the prophet Joel, “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young [ones] shall see visions, and your old [ones] shall dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)

This weekend we join in celebrations of God’s Spirit pouring out upon two members of the Proclaim community:

Laura Kuntz will be ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament and installed Saturday June 7th at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lansing, Michigan.  Laura has been called to serve as Associate Pastor for Children, Youth, and Young Adults at Calvary Lutheran Church and St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Lansing, MI.  She will also serve as Assistant Pastor for Youth Ministries at All Saints Episcopal Church in East Lansing, MI.

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Rev. Dr. Dawn Roginski will be installed as the pastor of Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in Vallejo, CA on Pentecost, Sunday June 8^th.

“When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31

We join in the bold witness and celebration of Laura, Dawn, and the communities of Calvary Lutheran, St. Stephen Lutheran, All Saints Episcopal and Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity!

As we celebrate, we continue lift up the 21 Proclaim members who are awaiting first call and pray the Spirit’s work in bringing together gifted and called LGBTQ leaders and bold communities of faith to prophesy, vision and dream together.

Your generous gifts keep pastors like Dawn and Laura surrounded by a supportive community of peers, congregations and allies.

A guest blog by Proclaim member Rev. Cindy Crane

Rev. Cindy Crane was a member of the historic Extraordinary Roster and was reinstated to the ELCA clergy roster following the 2009 changes in ministry policy.

“You are not only responsible for what you say but for what you don’t say.”   Martin Luther

I am inspired by our tradition’s many quotes and writings that direct us to love our neighbor. And it makes a difference to be doing advocacy work from a faith perspective with my ordination fully recognized. I realized just how much I valued doing advocacy work as a pastor within my first few weeks working as the director of the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin (LOPPW) beginning in January 2014.

I was very attracted to the LOPPW position and thought I could draw on my background both in parish ministry and the work I’ve had in secular nonprofits. However, I didn’t expect to feel this – a sense of wholeness and of having returned from a sort of exile, an experience I only associated with going back into parish ministry if that would ever happen. But being part of the ELCA with a team of people around the country praying and grappling with scripture, social statements and current public policies when looking at injustice feels just right at this time in my life. I am thankful.

LOPPW is one of about 14 state public policy offices that receive funding from the ELCA. Four of those offices, including Wisconsin’s, have directors that are churchwide employees. ELCA World Hunger supports us to focus on hunger issues, which create a large umbrella. Some of the offices advocate for just policies related to the environment and taxes as well as for safety net programs and laws that can move in the direction of eradicating hunger. Right now LOPPW’s priorities are youth experiencing homelessness, human sex trafficking and Wisconsin’s plan for how to use its tax excess. In the case of youth who experience homelessness with their families we also support a higher minimum wage. Kudos to Bishop Eaton for writing a letter asking for a higher minimum wage to all of the U.S. senators.

LOPPW’s advocacy is on the level of public policy. We build relationships with political leaders and expand an advocacy network of ELCA members across the state. We also join with other faith-based groups and secular organizations to deepen our impact and support the efforts of others who act as instruments of God’s peace.

Needing to be open about who I am as a lesbian and having my ordination fully recognized before taking another position in the church were both a part of my activism. I don’t judge others who take different paths; I was completely to partially closeted for 10 years in the parish. I didn’t leave the ministry and not look back at the church but I didn’t look back at contradictions that wore at my spirit. I appreciate engaging with paradox, but not confusion.

Thanks to a grant from Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries a couple of years ago, I was able to start a part-time ministry 14 years after leaving the ministry. That ministry helped to crack the church door back open for me.    Now I feel graced to have returned this way to a full-time call with my activism in tact and in wonder of how God moves us to be advocates for others.

Check us out at www.loppw.org and like us on Facebook (look for LOPPW)!