He would have learned more on a dairy farm.
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
March 11, 2010
ELCA Conference of Bishops Comments on Ministry Policy Revisions
10-088-JB
ITASCA, Ill. (ELCA) -- The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) offered its counsel on revisions to churchwide ministry policy documents before they are sent to the ELCA Church Council, which is expected to consider them for adoption next month.
The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the church, consisting of the ELCA's 65 synod bishops plus the presiding bishop and ELCA secretary. It met here March 4-9.
The bishops commented on and offered a few amendments to four documents:
+ "ELCA Candidacy Manual," used by synod committees to help guide ministry candidates on behalf of the ELCA from the time they consider a call to the ministry through their seminary years
+ "Vision and Expectations: Ordained Ministers," a document that outlines the ELCA's expectations of its clergy
+ "Vision and Expectations: Associates in Ministry, Deaconesses and Diaconal Ministers," a similar document for professional lay workers
+ "Definitions and Guidelines for Discipline," which explains grounds for discipline of professional leaders.
Revised drafts of each document, incorporating the bishops' suggestions, will be posted by March 16 at http://www.ELCA.org/ministrypolicies on the ELCA Web site, said the Rev. Stanley N. Olson, executive director, ELCA Vocation and Education.
Revisions to each document are needed as the result of decisions made by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. The assembly approved proposals that would create the possibility for Lutherans in committed, publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA clergy and professional lay leaders. The revised documents are intended to spell out policies consistent with the assembly's action. Several unrelated updates are also being proposed.
Bishops suggested some specific amendments to Vision and Expectations (V&E). The Rev. James F. Mauney, bishop, ELCA Virginia Synod, Salem, asked that a line be inserted in the text that stated: "This church is committed to the sanctity of marriage." The document uses the term marriage to refer to marriage between a man and a woman.
"I would find that as an extremely helpful tool in going back to my synod. Using that phrase allows many in the life of our church to walk with us and stay with us," he said.
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GJ - Sure, bishop, if you say so. A nod to traditional marriage will bind those congregations to ELCA, after 23 solid years of lobbying for an alternative clergy and wearing those rainbow stoles at the August 2009 convention.
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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "ELCA Bishops Mention Traditional Marriage To Keep ...":
Does the document actually spell out marriage as being "between a man and woman," or is that just the media's and bishops' take on the document? I'd say if it's not explicit, the bishops are just trying to pull a fast one.
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"The document uses the term marriage to refer to marriage between a man and a woman."
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Norman Teigen has left a new comment on your post "ELCA Bishops Mention Traditional Marriage To Keep ...":
Good job, GJ, on the proofreading. Don't you just love those typos? Dairy, diary.
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GJ - As Norman knows from this blog, we all make mistakes. But I am struck by ELCA not noticing that howler for a long time. They canned 47 staffers recently. Perhaps one was the proof-reader.
Norman edits my work for free. The Shrinkers used to jibber and shout when I posted a typo, but now they refrain from posting altogether, once I switched to OpenID.
