Thursday, August 15, 2013, 9:00 AM
Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was defeated yesterday in his bid for re-election. In his place, the ELCA has elected its first female presiding bishop: Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Northeastern Ohio Synod.
The election went to a fifth ballot, the ELCA notes, where Bishop Eaton received 600 votes to Bishop Hanson’s 287. Sarah Pulliam Bailey notes at Religion News Service that the election of Bishop Eaton was something of an upset: “The election was a surprise to many,” she writes, “as Hanson was expected to win an unprecedented third term after 12 years in office.” Before becoming Bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod, Rev. Eaton served as the pastor of Ohio congregations. She is married to Rev. Conrad Selnick, an Episcopal priest.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests both Bishop Eaton and Bishop Hanson are considered “centrists” in the ELCA. It noted that while Bishop Eaton “supported the decision to allow local options on partnered gay clergy,” she further expressed the opinion that “being an inclusive church meant respecting those who had a different understanding of Scripture and doctrine.” “These people also have voice in this church,” she said. “We need to make room for those who do not agree with us, but agree with our claim upon the cross.”
90.5 WESA (Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station) adds some context from Bishop Guy Erwin, the man who became, earlier this year, the first openly gay person to be elected a bishop in the ELCA. He suggested Bishop Eaton’s election signals no change from the ELCA’s current stance (that same-sex pastors and marriages are a matter of “bound conscience” at the local congregational level). “I don’t know how she really feels about all these things,” he said, “but I don’t think you should confuse the fact that she’s trying to hit a conciliatory tone in her address to the assembly with the idea that there’s any kind of intention to change the policies as they’ve been established.”
The 2009 Churchwide Assembly saw the ELCA narrowly vote to allow the ordination of non-celibate gay pastors and the blessing of same-sex marriages. That decision led to a massive decline in ELCA membership over the next two years, with critics contending the ELCA had abandoned the Scripture’s clear witness on human sexuality.
The 2013 Churchwide Assembly is taking place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from August 12-17.
Photo: ELCA News Service
8 Comments
Devinicus
August 15th, 2013 | 9:58 am
The ELCA “centrists” are either [1] revisionists who lack the power to press their case all the way, or [2] deeply self-deluded moderates who utterly fail to understand the situation in their church. I am happy to see Eaton as the latter if that is the more charitable view.
Look at the recent history of TEC. “Centrist” Episcopalians were saying quite the same thing ten years ago as Eaton is saying today. Now in TEC, of course, “those who do not agree with us” are all gone. The same will eventually happen in the ELCA, although likely more slowly given the different social foundations of the ELCA compared to TEC. Just give it time.
John R.
August 15th, 2013 | 11:09 am
I left the ELCA in 1994 because I saw the direction it was headed. While there are some good Christian parishes in the denomination, the main core of the denomination ought to be classed as either neo-Gnostic or neo-Pagan.
Ben
August 15th, 2013 | 11:53 am
I’m an ELCA Lutheran, and there’s no doubt that ours is a church with severe problems.
The election of Mrs. Eaton is a mixed message for those who would see the ELCA through the Decline-and-Fall-of-TEC prism. She was elected based largely on the argument that we need to regain our Lutheran voice and reverse the slide into generic mainline Protestantism. Excellent news! But of course the Lutheran confessions do not allow for female bishops, gay marriage, etc. Not so encouraging.
For those unfamiliar with the history of the denomination, the national leadership was largely stacked against tradition orthodoxy from the beginning, via quotas and bylaws. But individual parishes are relatively independent, far more so than TEC or RC parishes.
On the one hand, this lack of ecclesiastical discipline makes it easy for various churches to “push the boundaries” in ways that continually move the national church away from confessional orthodoxy. I think this is the experience many people have with the ELCA.
But it also means that here in the upper Midwest, where a town’s churches are ELCA or LCMS not for doctrinal reasons but because the town was settled by Germans (LCMS) or Scandinavians (ELCA), it’s easy to ignore the national leadership and continue as confessional, orthodox Lutherans, as we always have.
At some point these tensions will become too large, and will be resolved somehow, for better or for worse. It’s still too early to say how our new presiding bishop will contribute to that resolution.
Stephen
August 15th, 2013 | 12:06 pm
I can’t help but think that Pastor Liz of Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church must be happy.
Curtis
August 15th, 2013 | 12:52 pm
“a massive decline in ELCA membership”
In what sense is an additional 4% loss “massive”?
Here are the numbers
http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Communication-Services/News/Resources/Stats.aspx
Eric Thorson
August 15th, 2013 | 1:07 pm
It might be helpful for conversation if voices who oppose the ELCA’s 2009 decisions would at least become educated about the careful attention supporters have given to scripture. When we are characterized as being heretics who don’t believe in the Bible, we know better. We have been through long hours of study and prayer, and simply cannot find the scant and unclear evidence of scripture as justification for continuing to persecute sexual minorities.
Pr. LD
August 15th, 2013 | 3:46 pm
Well said, Eric Thorson. Thank you.
Devinicus
August 15th, 2013 | 4:16 pm
Eric, every Protestant “believes in the Bible”. Sadly, every Protestant denomination which “believes in the Bible” does not believe the same thing about the Bible or what the Bible teaches. So simply trotting out the sweat equity which the ELCA has invested into its New Dispensation is no argument at all.
Ben, you say “She was elected based largely on the argument that we need to regain our Lutheran voice and reverse the slide into generic mainline Protestantism.” I will grant you this point as I no longer follow internal ELCA politics very closely. Yet I do note that Bishop Eaton is married to a TEC priest. That sure suggests generic mainline Protestantism to me.
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