R. Guy Erwin's ordination on May 11 proved quintessentially Lutheran: Two
ELCA bishops and a former bishop played key roles; the service doubled as a "teaching" moment for
California Lutheran University students, and the 75-member university choir led the 450-strong congregation in singing the final hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."
The symbolism rang poignantly true since Erwin, 53, serves as the
Gerhard and Olga J. Belgum Chair in Lutheran Confessional Theology at
CLU in Thousand Oaks; taught Lutheran studies and church history at
Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Conn., for several years; and studied in Germany for his doctoral thesis on Martin Luther's era.
Also new to the
ELCA roster is Keith Fry, a second-career pastor serving a growing congregation in Elgin, a traditionally politically conservative northwest suburb of Chicago.
Christ the Lord Lutheran isn't in the
Reconciling in Christ program, which recognizes congregations that welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) believers, and hadn't discussed the issue of gay pastors before calling him.
A year-and-a-half after calling Fry, 52, the congregation is thriving, and just called a deaconess to serve as its director of ministries.
Both men exemplify how openly gay leaders are finding their full expression as rostered
ELCA pastors.
Erwin and Fry are among 47 gay pastors ordained, received, reinstated, consecrated, returned to active status, or approved for ordination, reception or reinstatement since the 2009 Churchwide Assembly vote accepting partnered gay and lesbian rostered leaders, according to an unofficial tally by
Lutherans Concerned/North America.
Of the total, 20 moved from the roster of
Extraordinary Lutheran Ministers, which now offers a professional support network called
Proclaim for LGBTQ (the "Q" was added for "queer" because some young people use that term for themselves) rostered leaders.
Erwin, who provided a crucial last-minute vote at the assembly to adopt the gay-friendly policy, believes the
ELCA is "becoming more itself" and "more authentic."
"We've understood grace too narrowly in the past," he said. "Everything that moves us away from a legalistic interpretation of God's expectations toward one that is grace-filled moves us toward being the church that Christ intended."
One could hardly imagine a more credentialed Lutheran than Erwin. A native Oklahoman and member of the Osage tribe of Native Americans, he found himself drawn to the German language and the history of Christianity while living with his parents in Germany from age 8 to 12.
"I knew even then that I wanted to be connected in some way to that long, old story of Christianity," he said. "The extent to which people had believed and sacrificed so much for the sake of the faith was really compelling for me."
Erwin was drawn to Luther and the Reformation after he took a class on German history at
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. He was baptized during his senior year there in 1979 at
University Lutheran Church and went on to study church history and earn his doctorate at
Yale.
He returned from his doctoral work in Germany in 1985, just in time for the creation of the
ELCA. In 1990, the
ELCA suspended, and in 1996 expelled, two San Francisco congregations that had ordained gay and lesbian pastors — Jeff Johnson of
First United and Ruth Frost and Phyllis Zillhart of
St. Francis.
The church's actions dissuaded Erwin from going to seminary, and its rule requiring that gay rostered leaders be celibate cemented his decision to stay away from the pastorate. Yet Erwin said he has never felt bitter because he fulfilled his calling by teaching and by helping establish a Lutheran studies program when he taught at
Yale Divinity.
"I was pretty influential in the formation of a number of people who are now Lutheran clergy," he said. "That was very rewarding for me, but a little ironic since I was teaching people how to be pastors when I couldn't be one myself."
Erwin, who is fluent in German, got over his initial misgivings that the 2009 policy had come too late for someone his age when his mentor, the late former synod bishop Paul Egertson, reminded him that the church had been calling him all his life.
In August 2010, Erwin started his candidacy process. He is now ordained into specialized ministry at the university rather than into parish ministry.
And then there's Fry ...
Fry said he "saw the Spirit's leading and the Spirit's hands" in his call to Christ the Lord since he entered seminary in fall 2005 and graduated in June 2009 — just two months before the
ELCA assembly's vote.
"There were definitely anxious moments leading up to the vote," he said.
A longtime active
ELCA member known for his leadership in music, outreach and preaching, Fry garnered the unanimous recommendation of
Christ the Lord's council and received the congregation's call two weeks after the assembly vote.
Fry chose Reformation Sunday 2009 as his ordination day. Bishop Wayne Miller of the
Metropolitan Chicago Synod presided at the ceremony — the first ordination held at
Christ the Lord.
After Fry started his tenure about a dozen members left, including some of the largest donors. Yet pledge commitments are up this year from 2010, and the church last year received 24 new members and baptized seven babies.
"It is a wonderful example of how, if we can set aside the fears and the stereotypes, a congregation that hasn't even had the conversation can successfully call a pastor because of his or her gifts," Fry said.
Amalia Vagts, executive director of
Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, said the group intends to continue to support and build up the
ELCA. "Our organization has always been about expanding ministry opportunities," she said. "The way we do that just evolves over time."
The group built a roster of 46 people from 1990 until 2009, of which 18 were ordained after they had completed a candidacy process that mirrored the
ELCA's.
"We are now focused on candidacy accompaniment — walking alongside LGBTQ people who need our resources to give them advice and coaching and provide chaplain support," Vagts said.
The
ELCA rostering process, she noted, can be more difficult for people who have cloaked their sexuality for much of their lives than for young adults who have always been out.
"There is still a great deal of education that needs to happen in this church," Vagts said.
Neither Fry nor Erwin joined the
ELM roster.
The two have something else in common. Each is in a long-term relationship rivaling the length of many U.S. marriages. Fry just celebrated his 20th anniversary with his partner, while Erwin is in his 17th year with his partner.
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