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Guest blog by Proclaim Seminarian Team Convener, Peter Carlson Schattauer

One of the great joys I feel in the call to rostered ministry is the expectation that we work to create community among Christians and neighbors.

In the gospel stories of Jesus, we hear of the ways in which Christ’s ministry focused on gathering people together for teaching, meals, and healing. In the Acts of the Apostles and the letters of Paul, we hear of the many ways that the early followers of Jesus built communities and the struggles these early communities faced.  These communities were not always permanent structures – sometimes a community gathered once for a meal and left transformed. These communities often were separated geographically, but connected through Christ.

Although Proclaim Seminarians are scattered around the country and Canada, we are connected in community through Christ, too.  This time of year many of our students are returning back to their communities on campus. As leaders on campus, the members of the Proclaim Seminarian Team (PST) are immediately involved in the work of creating connections with new people in the community as well as re-connecting with people returning to campus.

PST members had a robust and active presence in the orientations at each of our 8 Lutheran seminaries and at a couple ecumenical divinity schools with Proclaim students.  Many new students had never heard of Proclaim before and this was the first time they had been connected with other LGBTQ seminarians – what a gift to know that as you follow this exciting and sometimes scary call as an LGBTQ person that you are not alone!

Kristian Kohler, who represents Lutheran students at non-Lutheran seminaries on the PST and attends Yale Divinity School, hosted a Proclaim table during Yale Divinity’s School’s Orientation.  Kristian connected with a couple of students on exchange at Yale from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. These two students come from theologically conservative dioceses in the UK and were surprised, but excited to hear about the work of Proclaim and ELM. They even took Proclaim and ELM brochures so they could learn more about the work of ELM and use the resources we provide for pastors and congregations on our website!

Beyond orientation, our representatives are planning ways to connect and build community throughout the first semester.  Dug Swank, a first-year student at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and the PST representative for LTSP, plans to organize a social for Proclaim members at LTSP as well as Proclaim members who live and work in the Philadelphia area. For students who attend seminaries in areas where many Proclaim members live, a gathering like this is a great opportunity to expand their community outside of the seminary.  This community can provide encouragement, mentoring, and professional connections for students as they move through seminary and internship.

The PST will also build community beyond campus this semester – hosting video and phone chats, sending care packages and notes to members on internship or being assigned for first call, and praying for members of the group each month.  Like many of the early Christian communities, this group of seminarians is geographically scattered, but through Proclaim we will support and care for each other, and stay connected through Christ.

Peter Carlson Schattauer received his Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School last May and serves as the pastoral intern at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Seattle. He is busy learning about his new home in Seattle, both the natural beauty and ways in which the housing crisis is disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable Seattleites. If you email him and he doesn’t respond, you should assume that he’s watching a show imported from the BBC or listening to the Indigo Girls.

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries celebrates the life of  pastor, advocate for justice, and LGBTQ ally Rev. Paul A. Tidemann.

Pastor Tidemann played a significant role in the early days of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, notably during the 2001 extraordinary ordination of the Rev. Anita Hill. Pastor Tidemann served for many years as lead pastor of St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church. He was involved with many levels of the movement for LGBTQ justice in the Lutheran church, including ReconcilingWorks, Wingspan, and through his leadership at St. Paul-Reformation. And he was a tireless advocate for justice for many peoples in addition to LGBTQ people, including his advocacy for racial and economic equality

ELM Board Member Jeremy Posadas, who served on the Goodsoil Legislative Team with Pastor Tidemann remembers him this way,

“Paul was truly the deep conscience within a whole community of folks trying to right the church’s moral compass. I was always awed by the wisdom he had wrought from long melding the roles of pastor, prophet, and organizer. Paul was one of the only people I know who had stared so far into the sinfulness of the institutional church but still held faith that it could yet be redeemed into the communion of grace God yearns for it to be — a faith strong enough that he endlessly agitated and advocated and organized wherever he could to hasten that redemption. I hope the LGBTQ Lutheran community will honor Paul’s memory by bravely imagining what new frontiers of justice — what new coalitions and solidarities — we will seek in coming years, as we inhabit the church in new roles.”

 We share our thankfulness and sadness with Paul’s family, friends, all those who were impacted by his ministry.

You can read Pastor Tidemann’s full obituary here. 

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ – Ephesians 4:11

Celebrate!

We celebrate first calls for Proclaim members Javen Swanson and Paul Gibson.  As they enter into Christ’s work to equip the saints for ministry in these new communities, we give thanks for their spirit and witness in building up the body of Christ.

Javen Swanson has been called to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in St Paul, MN.  His ordination and installation will be at Gloria Dei on August 10th at 3pm.

Paul Gibson has been called to Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Petersburg, Florida.  His ordination will be August 16th at 2pm at St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Clearwater FL (Paul’s home congregation).

Supporting First Call Candidates

ELM has put together a resource for LGBTQ first call candidates.  The Mysteries of the Ages: ELM’s Unofficial Guide for LGBTQ First Call Candidates provides detailed, fresh advice about navigating the approval and assignment process from those who’ve been there.  The guide is informative, funny, and one-of-a-kind. It is currently being reviewed by those in the approval process and will be released this fall.  It was created by Proclaim members who are currently serving in their first call and members from the Accompaniment Team.

Thank You

Your gift to ELM helps us affirm, support, and walk with LGBTQ seminarians, candidates, and rostered leaders in their ministry.  This is a gift to the whole church.  Thank you!

by Amalia Vagts, ELM Executive Director

Remember how fun it was to get a gold star in school?

I felt that way this week when Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries received the GuideStar Exchange Gold participation level from one of the premiere sources of nonprofit information.

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is in the midst of a three year strategic plan. Goal 8 is to become an organization that meets widely accepted benchmarks for nonprofit excellence, and this helps us get closer to achieving that goal. ELM is committed to transparency and accountability as a a core organizational value.

Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Think of us this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.” We take seriously this commitment to using our supporters’ resources wisely and carefully.

GuideStar  helps current and future supporters make informed decisions about where they are investing their charitable contributions.  We’re working hard to make ELM efficient and effective!

You can check out our listing by clicking here.

Thank you to all our wonderful supporters who are helping us grow in a sustainable manner so we can continue to assure LGBTQ ministers and their ministries that will be here for them as they live out their call to proclaim God’s love and seek justice for all.

ELM announces a new monthly giving program, Extraordinary Friends.

You can make concrete differences in the lives of LGBTQ people called to Lutheran ministry through your support of the programs & projects of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. One ELM program is Proclaim, a community of 150 LGBTQ seminarians & rostered leaders. Another is Accompaniment, supporting over 40 LGBTQ candidates for ministry through their candidacy process. A third is Ministry Engagement, which connects & highlights LGBTQ led congregations & ministries. We’re a growing, thriving organization and we need your support.  Read on to see how you can support leaders like Pastor Sara Cogsil:

Two members of Proclaim, the professional community for publicly identified LGBTQ Lutheran rostered leaders and seminarians, are being ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament!

Erik Haaland has been called to serve as Associate Pastor at Christ Church Lutheran in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He will be ordained and installed Sunday November 24, 2013 at 2pm.  In presence, in spirit, in prayers, we join Erik and Christ Church Lutheran in this celebration!

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Sara Cogsil has been called to serve as pastor of University Lutheran Church in East Lansing, Michigan.  She will be ordained Saturday December 7, 2013 at 10am in the chapel at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, OH.  Sara will be installed at University Lutheran Church on Wednesday, December 11, 2013.  In presence, in spirit, in prayers, we join Sara and University Lutheran in this celebration!

For Erik and Sara and these communities of faith, praise be to God!