Wednesday, November 24, 2010
ELCA council proposes changing rules to make it harder for congregations to leave
Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are proposing changing rules to make it harder for congregations to leave the church body.
At its Nov. 12-14 meeting, the ELCA Church Council proposed amendments to ELCA constitutions that would make the process of leaving the church body more difficult for congregations. The changes must be approved by the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
“How ironic that ELCA leadership is so committed to disregarding the Law of God on sexual ethics but so determined to use the law of humans to coerce congregations to remain in the ELCA ,” said the Rev. Mark Chavez, director of Lutheran CORE.
Many congregations are considering whether to remain affiliated with the ELCA as they have seen the church body move away from the teaching of the Bible.
Some have cited ELCA publications that question the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection of Jesus and promise salvation to non-believers as examples of the ELCA’s move away from Scripture. Many have pointed to recent changes in church teaching and policy to allow pastors to be in same-sex sexual relationships in spite of the Bible’s clear teaching to the contrary. Still others have cited ELCA congregations and synods that have utilized a radically rewritten Lord’s Prayer that addresses God as “our mother who is within us.”
The ELCA announced Nov. 3 that nearly 300 congregations have already completed the required two votes to leave the ELCA and 140 additional congregations have taken a first vote but have not yet taken their second vote.
These congregations represent a loss of more than 200,000 ELCA members, according to an online tally. Many individuals have left congregations that remain in the ELCA, so the total membership loss is much larger.
The current process requires two votes to leave the ELCA at least 90 days apart. The votes must each be approved by a two-thirds majority. The synod’s bishop must consult with the congregation during the 90-day period. In addition, congregations that had been members of the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) or that were established by the ELCA must also receive approval from their synods to end their ELCA affiliation.
The proposed changes — all of which make the process more difficult for congregations — include the following:
+ A congregation must hold a 30-day consultation period with its bishop before taking a first vote to leave the ELCA, in addition to the current 90-day consultation after a congregation’s first vote.
+ The synod bishop is given authority to determine how the consultation will be conducted “in consultation with” the congregation’s council.
+ The bishop will be able to appoint “designees” with whom the congrega-tion will be required to consult.
+ The bishop or his/her designee must be granted the opportunity to speak at special congregational meetings regarding ending ELCA affiliation.
+ A congregation will be required to vote by a two-thirds majority to join a new Lutheran church body, or else it will be “conclusively presumed” to have become an independent Lutheran congregation, potentially forfeiting its property.
+ Congregations will be required to meet any financial obligations to the ELCA before leaving.
+ Congregations must wait at least six months before taking another first vote if the original first vote does not achieve the required two-thirds majority.
+ Congregations must wait at least six months and restart the process if their second vote does not achieve the required two-thirds majority.
+ Congregations which fail to follow the specified process must obtain synod council approval in order to leave the ELCA.
At its Nov. 12-14 meeting, the ELCA Church Council proposed amendments to ELCA constitutions that would make the process of leaving the church body more difficult for congregations. The changes must be approved by the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
“How ironic that ELCA leadership is so committed to disregarding the Law of God on sexual ethics but so determined to use the law of humans to coerce congregations to remain in the ELCA ,” said the Rev. Mark Chavez, director of Lutheran CORE.
Many congregations are considering whether to remain affiliated with the ELCA as they have seen the church body move away from the teaching of the Bible.
Some have cited ELCA publications that question the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection of Jesus and promise salvation to non-believers as examples of the ELCA’s move away from Scripture. Many have pointed to recent changes in church teaching and policy to allow pastors to be in same-sex sexual relationships in spite of the Bible’s clear teaching to the contrary. Still others have cited ELCA congregations and synods that have utilized a radically rewritten Lord’s Prayer that addresses God as “our mother who is within us.”
The ELCA announced Nov. 3 that nearly 300 congregations have already completed the required two votes to leave the ELCA and 140 additional congregations have taken a first vote but have not yet taken their second vote.
These congregations represent a loss of more than 200,000 ELCA members, according to an online tally. Many individuals have left congregations that remain in the ELCA, so the total membership loss is much larger.
The current process requires two votes to leave the ELCA at least 90 days apart. The votes must each be approved by a two-thirds majority. The synod’s bishop must consult with the congregation during the 90-day period. In addition, congregations that had been members of the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) or that were established by the ELCA must also receive approval from their synods to end their ELCA affiliation.
The proposed changes — all of which make the process more difficult for congregations — include the following:
+ A congregation must hold a 30-day consultation period with its bishop before taking a first vote to leave the ELCA, in addition to the current 90-day consultation after a congregation’s first vote.
+ The synod bishop is given authority to determine how the consultation will be conducted “in consultation with” the congregation’s council.
+ The bishop will be able to appoint “designees” with whom the congrega-tion will be required to consult.
+ The bishop or his/her designee must be granted the opportunity to speak at special congregational meetings regarding ending ELCA affiliation.
+ A congregation will be required to vote by a two-thirds majority to join a new Lutheran church body, or else it will be “conclusively presumed” to have become an independent Lutheran congregation, potentially forfeiting its property.
+ Congregations will be required to meet any financial obligations to the ELCA before leaving.
+ Congregations must wait at least six months before taking another first vote if the original first vote does not achieve the required two-thirds majority.
+ Congregations must wait at least six months and restart the process if their second vote does not achieve the required two-thirds majority.
+ Congregations which fail to follow the specified process must obtain synod council approval in order to leave the ELCA.
4 comments:
- Recovering Lutheran said...
- It would appear that the doctrine of bound conscience actually means "bound to the conscience of the ELCA's leadership" - literally. At any rate, perhaps Christians should render unto the ELCA's leadership that which belongs to them, and render unto God the things that belong to God. Let the ELCA take the property and the money. The ELCA's new god of radical secular politics is a greedy god as well as a jealous one, and the pennies the ELCA manages to wring out of poor congregations will not be enough slake their god's ravenous thirst.
- Anonymous said...
- Thank you for reporting this, and thanks to the NALC for making this page-one news in the Nov 2010 newsletter. No such details appear in the ELCA's official news release on the recent Church Council meeting. How else will folks find out what's going on before it's too late?
