Greenfield church bolts ELCA over gay clergy issue
Others may follow, but at least 3 will stay with ELCA
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Pastor Larry Gember watched St. James Lutheran Church member Harry Morgan use a claw hammer to remove the initials ELCA from the front of the church's exterior Wednesday. / Rob Goebel / The Star
North American Lutheran Church
» History: Founded Aug. 27, 2010, at a conference in Ohio, by Lutherans upset over the liberalizing of the church, particularly on issues of homosexuality.» Membership: More than 207 congregations have voted to join the North American Lutheran Church since August.
» Headquarters: Hilliard, Ohio.
» Beliefs: "We believe that the mission of the church is to preach the Gospel and to make disciples for Christ. We believe that making disciples in our congregations, in our communities and nations, and around the world must be a priority of the church in the present age."
» Leadership: The Rev. Paull Spring, bishop; the Rev. John Bradosky, general secretary; the Rev. Larry Gember, Greenfield, Indiana regional dean.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
» History: Formed from The American Lutheran Church, The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and The Lutheran Church in America on Jan. 1, 1988.» Membership: 4.8 million members and about 10,500 congregations across the U.S. and the Caribbean.
» Headquarters: Chicago.
» Beliefs: "The ELCA is a community of faith that shares a passion for making positive changes in the world. Our faith is built around a strong belief in God as made known to us in Jesus Christ. Through worship, service and education, we practice our faith, grow our relationship with God and experience God's grace in our lives."
» Leadership: The Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop; the Rev. Bill Gafkjen, bishop, Indiana-Kentucky Synod.
-- Compiled by Star library
GREENFIELD, Ind. -- A Hancock County church has become the first in the Indianapolis area to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America over the issue of allowing clergy who are openly gay.
Others might soon follow suit, but two Hamilton County congregations and another in Indianapolis have decided to stay with the denomination. A Noblesville church plans a vote in July.
The trend reflects the controversy sparked nationwide among churches when, in 2009, the Evangelical group decided to allow openly gay men and women to serve as ordained clergy at its affiliate churches. For orthodox theologians such as Larry Gember, pastor of St. James Lutheran Church in Greenfield, the decision went a step too far.
"The primary issue is not sexuality," Gember, 59, said Wednesday. "It's that the authority of Scripture is being undermined."
Gember's congregation voted April 10 to sever ties with the ELCA, and the church is holding a "Celebration of Unity" at noon Sunday. The idea, Gember said, is to move past the divisiveness.
A few dozen members left, Gember said -- many relocating to another Lutheran church in nearby New Palestine that remains affiliated with the ELCA.
Gember's church is now affiliated with the North American Lutheran Church, which formed in August in response to the Evangelical group's 2009 decision and a general sense that it was becoming too liberal.
Statewide, at least 14 Indiana congregations have affiliated with the NALC since the 2009 decision on gay clergy. Some of them are start-up churches composed of Lutherans who previously attended ELCA churches.
Even churches that have remained with the ELCA have experienced disunity over the issue.
In Indianapolis, the Cross and Crown Lutheran Church congregation voted in January 2010 to remain with the ELCA. It lost more than 200 members, who left in response to the vote's outcome. The pastor was among those who left, helping form another church called Spirit of Joy.
The interim pastor now serving the Cross and Crown congregation said she strongly supports the ELCA's acceptance of gay and lesbian pastors.
"There are people with fine gifts for ministry, and I don't think the church should exclude them just because of their sexuality," said Karen Husby, 59, who has served the congregation since June. "With the ELCA, everyone is welcome at the table, and Jesus Christ is at the center of that table."
The turmoil over the issue has been a difficult chapter in the Lutheran experience, said Bill Gafkjen, bishop of the ELCA's Indiana-Kentucky Synod.
"The real issue is, can we be a church that disagrees about things like that and still work together in mission?" Gafkjen said. "How is it we live together fruitfully and faithfully with serious differences and find our common mission as members to bear witness to . . . the crucified and risen Christ?"
He emphasized that any gay clergy would be expected to be, if not celibate, faithful within the context of a committed lifetime partnership -- just as a heterosexual minister would be expected to be either celibate or faithful within marriage.
"This is not about promiscuity," he said. "There is accountability."
King of Glory Lutheran Church in Carmel has also decided to stay with the ELCA, though church leaders held numerous forums and meetings with the congregation rather than put it to a vote.
"Bringing this issue to a vote is to say this vote is God's will," said Paul Swartz, senior pastor. "A majority vote does not determine the word of God."
Christ the Savior Lutheran Church in Fishers voted in November to remain with the ELCA, even though more than half the voters wanted to break their allegiances with the group.
Fifty-three percent voted to leave, while 47 percent voted to stay, said senior and founding Pastor Joe Freeman. The anti-ELCA group was just shy of the two-thirds majority needed to leave.
"It's been a painful journey for the congregation and denomination, but it's been a defining feature and we are moving forward with the mission of the ministry," he said.
In Noblesville, the pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church is encouraging his flock to leave the ELCA when the issue comes up for a vote July 17.
"I just want us to stay biblically centered and theologically grounded in the traditional orthodox style," said Pastor Doug Gast, 60. "I believe our (ELCA) hierarchy has kind of lost the grounding in the authority of Scripture."
A member of the Indianapolis gay community who studies theological issues said too many Christians regard gay relationships as representing a cardinal sin.
"If you're gay, God made you that way," said Steven Giovangelo, 63, who lives in the Irvington neighborhood. "And God does not say you're evil or wrong because of that."
However the Lutheran debate unfolds, it is nothing new, said Carol Johnston, a theology professor at the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.
"These kinds of disputes about what Scripture means and how it is interpreted in a changing culture are actually in the New Testament itself," Johnston said. "This was going on since the very beginning of the church."
In addition to the conflict among Lutherans, the Greenfield pastor leading the move to break away from the ELCA has experienced his own internal turmoil, he said. Both his brother and best friend, Gember said, are gay.
Gember has spent time in gay bars and at gay events, he said, and for years during the 1980s and 1990s advocated for more liberal church policies toward homosexuality.
"Gay people are welcome in my church," he said.
---
ALPB Online, George Erdner
Between Zion Lutheran and these three from Pastor Barnhart's blog:
1. ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH, STARBUCK, MN unanimously passed second vote to leave the ELCA.
2. FRANKLIN LUTHERAN CHURCH (SOLDIER'S GROVE) VIROQUA, WI passed second vote to leave the ELCA, 38-19. LCMC
3. HOPE LUTHERAN CHURCH, LADYSMITH, WI passed first vote to leave the ELCA, 113-21.
4. SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH, SALISBURY, NC passed second vote to leave the ELCA 199-14. Joining NALC and LCMC.
We now have 500 Congregations that have left the ELCA.
Pessimists who can only see the negative and darkness might mourn about this. ECLA "company men" will attempt to diminish this as unimportant. But those of us who are positive and optimistic about the renewal of mission that accompanies a new beginning for a congregation as it affiliates with a new denomination will rejoice in this milestone as a significant event worthy of prayers of thanksgiving.
Others might soon follow suit, but two Hamilton County congregations and another in Indianapolis have decided to stay with the denomination. A Noblesville church plans a vote in July.
The trend reflects the controversy sparked nationwide among churches when, in 2009, the Evangelical group decided to allow openly gay men and women to serve as ordained clergy at its affiliate churches. For orthodox theologians such as Larry Gember, pastor of St. James Lutheran Church in Greenfield, the decision went a step too far.
"The primary issue is not sexuality," Gember, 59, said Wednesday. "It's that the authority of Scripture is being undermined."
Gember's congregation voted April 10 to sever ties with the ELCA, and the church is holding a "Celebration of Unity" at noon Sunday. The idea, Gember said, is to move past the divisiveness.
A few dozen members left, Gember said -- many relocating to another Lutheran church in nearby New Palestine that remains affiliated with the ELCA.
Gember's church is now affiliated with the North American Lutheran Church, which formed in August in response to the Evangelical group's 2009 decision and a general sense that it was becoming too liberal.
Statewide, at least 14 Indiana congregations have affiliated with the NALC since the 2009 decision on gay clergy. Some of them are start-up churches composed of Lutherans who previously attended ELCA churches.
Even churches that have remained with the ELCA have experienced disunity over the issue.
In Indianapolis, the Cross and Crown Lutheran Church congregation voted in January 2010 to remain with the ELCA. It lost more than 200 members, who left in response to the vote's outcome. The pastor was among those who left, helping form another church called Spirit of Joy.
The interim pastor now serving the Cross and Crown congregation said she strongly supports the ELCA's acceptance of gay and lesbian pastors.
"There are people with fine gifts for ministry, and I don't think the church should exclude them just because of their sexuality," said Karen Husby, 59, who has served the congregation since June. "With the ELCA, everyone is welcome at the table, and Jesus Christ is at the center of that table."
The turmoil over the issue has been a difficult chapter in the Lutheran experience, said Bill Gafkjen, bishop of the ELCA's Indiana-Kentucky Synod.
"The real issue is, can we be a church that disagrees about things like that and still work together in mission?" Gafkjen said. "How is it we live together fruitfully and faithfully with serious differences and find our common mission as members to bear witness to . . . the crucified and risen Christ?"
He emphasized that any gay clergy would be expected to be, if not celibate, faithful within the context of a committed lifetime partnership -- just as a heterosexual minister would be expected to be either celibate or faithful within marriage.
"This is not about promiscuity," he said. "There is accountability."
King of Glory Lutheran Church in Carmel has also decided to stay with the ELCA, though church leaders held numerous forums and meetings with the congregation rather than put it to a vote.
"Bringing this issue to a vote is to say this vote is God's will," said Paul Swartz, senior pastor. "A majority vote does not determine the word of God."
Christ the Savior Lutheran Church in Fishers voted in November to remain with the ELCA, even though more than half the voters wanted to break their allegiances with the group.
Fifty-three percent voted to leave, while 47 percent voted to stay, said senior and founding Pastor Joe Freeman. The anti-ELCA group was just shy of the two-thirds majority needed to leave.
"It's been a painful journey for the congregation and denomination, but it's been a defining feature and we are moving forward with the mission of the ministry," he said.
In Noblesville, the pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church is encouraging his flock to leave the ELCA when the issue comes up for a vote July 17.
"I just want us to stay biblically centered and theologically grounded in the traditional orthodox style," said Pastor Doug Gast, 60. "I believe our (ELCA) hierarchy has kind of lost the grounding in the authority of Scripture."
A member of the Indianapolis gay community who studies theological issues said too many Christians regard gay relationships as representing a cardinal sin.
"If you're gay, God made you that way," said Steven Giovangelo, 63, who lives in the Irvington neighborhood. "And God does not say you're evil or wrong because of that."
However the Lutheran debate unfolds, it is nothing new, said Carol Johnston, a theology professor at the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.
"These kinds of disputes about what Scripture means and how it is interpreted in a changing culture are actually in the New Testament itself," Johnston said. "This was going on since the very beginning of the church."
In addition to the conflict among Lutherans, the Greenfield pastor leading the move to break away from the ELCA has experienced his own internal turmoil, he said. Both his brother and best friend, Gember said, are gay.
Gember has spent time in gay bars and at gay events, he said, and for years during the 1980s and 1990s advocated for more liberal church policies toward homosexuality.
"Gay people are welcome in my church," he said.
---
ALPB Online, George Erdner
Between Zion Lutheran and these three from Pastor Barnhart's blog:
1. ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH, STARBUCK, MN unanimously passed second vote to leave the ELCA.
2. FRANKLIN LUTHERAN CHURCH (SOLDIER'S GROVE) VIROQUA, WI passed second vote to leave the ELCA, 38-19. LCMC
3. HOPE LUTHERAN CHURCH, LADYSMITH, WI passed first vote to leave the ELCA, 113-21.
4. SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH, SALISBURY, NC passed second vote to leave the ELCA 199-14. Joining NALC and LCMC.
We now have 500 Congregations that have left the ELCA.
Pessimists who can only see the negative and darkness might mourn about this. ECLA "company men" will attempt to diminish this as unimportant. But those of us who are positive and optimistic about the renewal of mission that accompanies a new beginning for a congregation as it affiliates with a new denomination will rejoice in this milestone as a significant event worthy of prayers of thanksgiving.
