ELCA Church at the Crossroads

 

Rev. Richard Mahan
South Charleston, WV
richmahan@sttimothy.com

• Practical Evangelism: Anyone Can Share the Good News of Jesus
• How to Evangelize My Neighborhood?

On August 13, the 2003 Churchwide Assembly adopted “Sharing Faith in a New Century: A Vision for Evangelism in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.” The strategy calls on the ELCA to “train disciples by equipping people of all ages to be faith-filled witnesses to God as revealed in Jesus Christ.” To help with this equipping, the ELCA Evangelism Partners Network is a group of skilled evangelism practitioners who are ready to provide workshops and seminars on practical evangelism skills for ELCA synod or cluster gatherings.

To schedule a partner in evangelism for a
workshop or seminar, contact:
Kathryn Love
ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries
8765 W. Higgins Road, Chicago, IL 60631
800-638-3522, ext. 2102 or
kathryn.love@elca.org 

St. Timothy Church at a crossroad
By Alison Knezevich

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- In the cornerstone of St. Timothy Lutheran Church, two dates are engraved.

In 1948, members broke ground on Ohio Street in South Charleston. In 2004, they held their first service at a new church built on a hilltop off Corridor G.

Now, the congregation - and other Lutheran churches around the country - have reached another point in their history.

Earlier this month, leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met in Minneapolis and voted to allow gays and lesbians in lifelong, monogamous relationships to serve as clergy.

St. Timothy's pastor, the Rev. Richard Mahan, received national attention when The Associated Press quoted him calling homosexuality "immoral and perverted" at the ELCA assembly.

He got more notice after he hung black cloth over the word "Lutheran" on the church's signs, in protest of the vote.

It's not clear whether St. Timothy, which has nearly 400 members, will separate from the ELCA. During the past week, Mahan has declined media requests for comment. And several church members told the Sunday Gazette-Mail they don't know what direction the congregation will take.

Bishop Ralph Dunkin of the ELCA's West Virginia-Maryland Synod plans to meet with Mahan in the next few weeks.

"I know that Pastor Mahan took the decisions very hard. I think he's personally hurt," he said. "I think part of Pastor Mahan's struggle is, how do we show that we disagree or dissent without leaving? And covering up the sign is one way to do it."

Reactions have been mixed among Lutherans, Dunkin said.

"We have some pastors who will celebrate this decision, and their best friends will be on the other side," said Dunkin, who also voted against allowing sexually active gays and lesbians to serve as pastors.

In Dunkin's synod, many don't accept the decision, he said.

"Our congregations are very conservative," he said. "I think one of the real divides of our church is that the urban areas have been discussing this for 40 years. This synod only been talking about it since 1997."

Dunkin said the ELCA always has welcomed gays and lesbians. Before the assembly's vote this month, they could serve as clergy if they took a vow of celibacy.

"A lot of our people, they're just not ready to go to the next step," he said.

Church leaders still have to work out details and write policies related to the assembly's recommendations - a process that could take nine months, Dunkin said.

The decision won't force any church to hire sexually active gay pastors, said ELCA spokesman John Brooks.

"The policy of the ELCA has always been that the congregation chooses its pastor," Brooks said. "Nothing has changed with this action."

Physically, emotionally,
Spiritually drained

The ordination of gays and lesbians has been an issue since three Lutheran organizations joined together to form the ELCA in 1988. It now has about 10,400 congregations in the U.S. and Caribbean.

It's too early to tell whether many ELCA churches will separate, Brooks added.

"We've certainly heard from a few that are deeply concerned," he said. "But it remains to be seen whether they actually decide to go ahead and do that."

If St. Timothy or any other church wants to break away, the congregation must vote to do so by a two-thirds majority, according to the ELCA Constitution. Then, church members must meet with Dunkin and take a second vote.

If the church decides to separate, the Synod Council has to grant permission for the congregation to keep its property, according to the ELCA constitution.

---

U.S

Conservatives mull future after ELCA lifts gay ban

By PATRICK CONDON Associated Press Writer

Aug 22nd, 2009 | MINNEAPOLIS --

Even though the Rev. Mark Chavez believes the leaders of his church made a decision in direct contradiction of the Bible by lifting a ban on sexually active, monogamous gays and lesbians as clergy, he said he's staying with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

"I'm not leaving," Chavez said Friday night, promising an effort to keep the church moving even further toward what he sees as an embrace of behavior condemned by Scripture.

Chavez, of Landisville, Pa., is director of Lutheran CORE, a conservative group within the ELCA that fought the gay clergy policy. The group will hold a convention in Indianapolis in September to review its next steps, but Chavez said he thinks some ELCA clergy, congregations and individual members will walk away from the nation's largest Lutheran denomination.

The change to gay clergy policy passed with the support of 68 percent of about 1,000 delegates at the ELCA's national assembly. It makes the group, with about 4.7 million members in the U.S., one of the largest U.S. Christian denominations yet to take a more gay-friendly stance.

"I have seen these same-gender relationships function in the same way as heterosexual relationships -- bringing joy and blessings as well as trials and hardships," the Rev. Leslie Williamson, associate pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Des Plaines, Ill., said during the hours of debate. "The same-gender couples I know live in love and faithfulness and are called to proclaim the word of God as are all of us."
But the change may be too much for some Lutherans. Conservative congregations will not be forced to hire gay clergy, but opponents nevertheless warned there could be spiritual consequences for a church that strays from Scripture.

"This will cause an ever greater loss in members and finances. I can't believe the church I loved and served for 40 years can condone what God condemns," said the Rev. Richard Mahan, pastor at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Charleston, W.Va. "Nowhere in Scripture does it say homosexuality and same-sex marriage is acceptable to God. Instead, it says it is immoral and perverted."
Mahan said he believed a majority of his congregation would want to now break away from the ELCA.

Other leaders indicated they might leave as well. The Rev. Tim Housholder, pastor of St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Cottage Grove, Minn., described himself during the debate as a rostered ELCA pastor "at least for a few more hours." The Rev. Marshall Hahn, pastor at St. Olaf Lutheran Parish in Dubuque, Iowa, said he'd need to talk to his bishop "to discuss what this means for my future with this church."

Other Christian denominations in the United States have struggled to remain united in the face of such debates. In 2003, the 2 million-member Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop, a move that alienated American Episcopalians from its worldwide parent church, the Anglican Communion. The divide has led to the formation of the more conservative Anglican Church in North America, which claims 100,000 members.

But ELCA supporters of its denomination's change said failure to ratify it ran just as great a risk of alienating large portions of the membership, particularly younger ones.
The Rev. Katrina Foster, pastor at Fordham Evangelical Lutheran Church in The Bronx, N.Y., said Lutherans heard similar warnings about flouting Scripture when they made past changes that are now seen as successful -- chiefly, the ordination of women.

"We can learn not to define ourselves by negation," said Foster, a lesbian. "By not only saying what we are against, which always seems to be the same -- against gay people. We should be against poverty. I wish we were as zealous about that."

Under the new policy, heterosexual clergy and professional lay workers must still abstain from sex outside marriage. The proposed change would cover those in "lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships."

ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson said after the vote that he'd commit himself to keeping opponents of the new policy within the ELCA fold.

"For those that did not prevail tonight, are you willing to stay engaged in the conversation?" Hanson said. He added, "I'm pleading with people to stay in there with us in this conversation."

***
GJ - I published a chapter in "Out of the Depths of ELCA" about this, 22 years ago. The movement has been pan-denominational.

The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

Cover by Norma Boeckler
The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM Phoenix Time


The Hymn #479 Zion rise 2:13
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual 2 Corinthians 3:4-11
The Gospel Mark 7:31-37
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #469 Glorious things 2:26

Ministration of Righteousness

The Hymn #442 Lord of glory 2:61
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #508 Thou whose almighty Word 2:7

KJV 2 Corinthians 3:4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

KJV Mark 7:31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. 35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. 36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; 37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

Twelfth Sunday After Trinity
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast created all things: We thank Thee that Thou hast given us sound bodies, and hast graciously preserved our tongues and other members from the power of the adversary: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy grace, that we may rightly use our ears and tongues; help us to hear Thy word diligently and devoutly, and with our tongues so to praise and magnify Thy grace, that no one shall be offended by our words, but that all may be edified thereby, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

The Ministration of Righteousness
This Epistle is one of the great Bible passages on the importance of the Gospel, without denigrating the Law.

The history of Christian doctrinal conflicts is full of extreme positions being taken, usually as a reaction to some error or weakness. A reaction to a weak position does not create a strong, orthodox position. It often generates another problem to be faced.

Luther properly divided the Scriptures into Law and Gospel. Unionistic Protestants like to say there are few differences between the Lutherans and them, so why not just agree with them? That is like saying men and women have hundreds of similarities, so why not overlook the differences and declare one gender?

The differences between Lutherans and other Protestants add up, and so do the differences between Book of Concord Lutherans and the rest.

Let’s start with Law and Gospel itself. No other Christian confession emphasizes this so much. In fact, they really do not use those categories in any consistent way. For example, Karl Barth—theologian of Fuller Seminary—began one of his volumes this way: “The gift is a demand.” So he was saying (via his mistress Charlotte Kirschbaum, who wrote most of his Dogmatics) that the gift of salvation imposes a Law demand on all believers. For Lutherans, that is a clear confusion between Law and Gospel, turning the Gospel into Law.

Non-Lutheran Protestants impose Law demands on believers to prove outwardly that they are believers. For example, they must not smoke, drink alcohol (not even communion wine) use tobacco, dance or watch dancing, or participate in the theater in any way (including Disney movies). The essence of Lutheran Pietism is a list of outward signs of inward sanctification, while relaxing doctrinal standards and neglecting the Means of Grace.

Among Lutherans, Law/Gospel confusion can be found in various forms.

To emphasize the greatness of the Gospel, some Lutherans become anti-Nomians and declare, “There is no Law. It is obsolete.” This is appealing because anti-Nomian attitudes lead to hedonism, universalism, UOJ.

Clever anti-Nomians even use Paul’s inspired words to turn his doctrine upside-down. They say, “The Law is a pedagogue or tutor that leads us to Christ.” So the Law no longer has any function once we are believers. But I have found these anti-Nomians are the most legalistic people around, and quick to condemn anyone who does not fall for their claptrap. Oh, they have shiploads of Law for those people.

That is where the anti-Nomian position harmonizes the UOJ of WELS/ELS/LCMS with the Gospel reductionism of ELCA. They have the same message – “Everyone is forgiven by God’s grace.” Each sect says they others are bad because of outward behavior, either promoting sodomy or not promoting sodomy, advocating close communion or advocating open communion. But the apostates of each group like working together because they agree on basic doctrine – Everyone is forgiven, everyone saved – the Gospel is telling people this message that they are already forgiven, saved, going to heaven.

Paul’s message in this lesson is very much condensed, which is why Luther saw more Gospel in the Epistles than in the Gospel narratives themselves.

In II Corinthians, Paul is defending himself against false teachers by teaching the congregation what a faithful ministry is. The accusations were about the shortcomings of Paul, including his chronic illness (which is never disclosed to us).

Those now familiar with Pietism can see the Pietistic argument – “You are outwardly defective in these ways so you are not a real minister or the right one.” America is Pietistic to a fault, which is why a lying murderous scoundrel has to be buried as a saint to make his followers feel good. I finished watching the latest Kennedy funeral thinking, “He was just too good to be sullied by association with the rest of us. Heaven may need some new laws passed before he will step inside.”

“Our sufficiency is of God.” Those familiar with the efficacy of the Word know what this means. A careful reading will show a perfect harmony between faithful ministry, the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word, and the effectiveness of the Gospel.

A wrong (Reformed) view of the Gospel is that we must make it alive, germane, relevant, appealing. A good Reformed minister, like the late D. James Kennedy, is one who is good at packaging and selling the Gospel. I mention him because I liked him and admired what he did – to an extent. I did not admire his doctrine at all.

Opposition to the Word never takes the form of “I hate the Scriptures.” People will say, “The announcements are too short or too long.” And they work over the minister and each member of his family. This is funny when a member of the church is busy wrecking it, because the same people then say, “He is a charter member of this church,” conferring sainthood on demonic activities. But such are God’s ways, that He turns destructiveness into new blessings and moves the Gospel to another place and new people.

“Our sufficiency is of God” is just the opposite of worrying about “how well we are doing.” Looking for outward signs of success is typically Pietistic and bound to lead into doctrinal error and apostasy. The Old Adam wants an Old Adam minister who appeals to his carnal nature with spiritual-sounding words.

6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

There are many ways to rewrite this and keep the same meaning. Ministers of the Gospel are ministers of the Holy Spirit. The Law kills but the Holy Spirit gives eternal life through justification and salvation.

9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.