Rude, Lutheran, To Be Ordained

Gay pastor tests celibacy rule

LUTHERAN ORDINATION |

She's becoming a minister at Lake View church but won't take vow

November 7, 2007

BY SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH Religion Reporter/shogan@suntimes.com

The new bishop in the Chicago Metropolitan Synod faces his first test case on the celibacy requirement for gay clergy in the nation's largest Lutheran denomination.

Resurrection Lutheran Church in Lake View plans to ordain Jen Rude as its associate pastor in a 2 p.m. public ceremony Nov. 17. She's a lesbian who won't vow a lifetime of celibacy because she considers the rule discriminatory.

Jen Rude is to be ordained a pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Chicago on November 17.

(Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)

Heterosexual pastors can marry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Rude said she isn't in a committed relationship now, but remains hopeful about finding a life partner.

"God is the actor in all of this," said Rude, 27, whose father and grandfather are ELCA pastors.

Bishop Wayne Miller, who took office in September, didn't return phone calls Tuesday. He's previously said he felt torn by his desire to have the celibacy rule lifted and his vows as bishop to uphold church policies.

***

Extraordinary Candidacy Project - ELCA's version of Church and Change.

More information on the ordination.

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (formally Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries and the Extraordinary Candidacy Project) will officially launch on Reformation Day (Oct. 31, 2007) marking the 490 year anniversary Luther’s posting of the 95 theses.

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is a national non-profit that credentials and rosters openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people for ministry; supports these pastors by working with congregations that will call them and providing mission grants to support their ministry; and provides a network of support to the congregations and pastors. Fourteen ELCA and two independent Lutheran congregations are served by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries pastors.

Rude’s ordination will be the 12th “Extraordinary Ministry” in the seventeen years since the first ordination of openly gay pastors Jeff Johnson, Ruth Frost and Phyllis Zillhart in San Francisco, CA.

Where Have All the Lutherans Gone?

Donald McGavran, Disciples of Christ Guru to WELS/ELS/LCMS

Where Have All the Lutherans Gone?
(Tune - Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Background here.)

Where have all the Lutherans gone, long time passing?
Where have all the Lutherans gone, long time ago?
Where have all the Lutherans gone?
Gone to Fuller everyone.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all D.Mins gone, long time passing?
Where have all the D.Mins gone, long time ago?
Where have all the D.Mins gone?
To the best calls everyone.
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

Where have all the best calls gone, long time passing?
Where have all the best calls gone, long time ago?
Where have all the best calls gone,
Gone apostate everyone.
When will Missouri learn?
When will Missouri learn?

Where do all apostates teach, long time passing?
Where do all apostates teach, long time ago?
Where do all apostates teach?
Fuller Sem is Number One!
When will WELS ever learn?
When will WELS ever learn?

Comment on Evangelical Opposition to CGM Fads

Lawrence Otto Olson's Nickname in WELS:
Our Staff Infection

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Slice of Laodicea":

Sometimes I wonder if there is not more opposition to the Church Growth Movement outside of Lutheran circles than from within. Based upon the approval of the CGM by synodical leaders, the evidence certainly points in that direction. Slice of Laodicea is one of many such websites which I believe can be extremely valuable when looking for exposure and opposition to the latest offerings from the CGM. A majority of these websites will never argue from a Confessional Lutheran point of view, like Ichabod does. However, many of the CGM fads are so atrocious that one can build an argument against them almost exclusively using human reason. There is another aspect of this as well. Let us consider the timing of the acceptance of the CGM fads by synodical CGM gurus. Most of the time, the WELS is a day late and a dollar short. If you keep your finger on the pulse of the CGM, you can usually be ready for it when it hits your local congregation. Forewarned is forearmed. I understand that this may well fall under the category of technique. I was caught off guard several years ago when the Purpose Driven Life was sweeping through the churches in this country. Most of all, we have the scriptural admonition to test the spirits.

***

GJ - I can understand why there is almost no opposition to CGM apostasy in WELS/ELS/LCMS. One layman put it this way, "They all want to be on a board, and no one wants to say anything that will keep that from happening."

Doctrinal discipline in those bodies (for 30 years) has been:

1. Eject the critics of Church Growth,
   
2. Label confessional Lutherans as legalists,
   
3. Promote the Fuller graduates.

Being on a board means having influence, visibility, and a chance for a better call or a free trip to Europe and Russia. The studious, hard-working parish pastors do not get those perks. The illiterate political pastors do.

Several WELS pastors opined that "Larry Olson is no threat to WELS. No one takes him seriously. Everyone knows he is a heretic." Nevertheless, Olson (D. Mini., Fuller) runs a Staff Ministry program at Martin Luther College (nee Dr. Martin Luther College, aka Northwestern College in Exile). He and the other Fuller graduates are the key players in all conferences and agendas.