From the ALPB Online Forum, ipsissima verba:
mariemeyer
ALPB Forum Member
Posts: 22
Re: Lesbian Pastor Tests ELCA Celibacy Rule
« Reply #512 on: Today at 08:46:49 PM »
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Posts on this topic have come primarily from persons who are members of the ELCA. I'd like to comment "up close and personal" as an LCMS women.
Today's article in the NT Times first caught my attention because I grew up in the shadow of Fordham Lutheran Church. When my husband and I returned to the area that now comprises the Metro Synod I served on the Board for LSS of Metropolitan NY and so had the opportunity to meet Bishop Bouman. IMO his stated defense of Pr. Foster, "She's not afrasid to tell people that she loves God and that God loves them" sounds so generic. His reference to a genuine faith that she lives in an "inclusive" way will be ammunition to those in the LCMS who claim that Lutheran bodies who ordain women do so on the on the basis of inclusivity.
Throughout the LCMS it is maintained that Lutherans who ordain women do so on the basis of equality, inclusivity, love and fairness. Thus, LCMS women who openly speak up for an open discussion of how the LCMS defends a male only pastorate are assumed to base their request on "inclusivity and equality." The specter of a "slippery slope' leading to the ordination of persons in a same sex relationship is an insurmountable barrier to any discussion of how the LCMS defends a male pastorate.
I suspect few in the ELCA realize the degree to which how the ELCA deals witrh the ordination of gays and lesbains impacts upon the lives of LCMS women who maintain that the LCMS defense of a male only pastorate ought to be open for discussion.
Marie Meyer
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GJ - Pastor Herman Otten's sister, Marie Meyer, is an advocate for women's ordination in the Missouri Synod. So is Ralph Bohlmann. I understand Jerry Kieschnick favors women's ordination as well. I met Marie at Concordia, Ft. Wayne and thought I knew her from before. She said we had never met. When I mentioned this to Herman, he said, "She's my sister!" Then I realized her Ottenesque gestures, voice, and looks made me think we had met.
I put the errant words in bold. Several passes through the inspired text were required to find all the mistakes. But truly, Marie's final paragraph, er ah, statement, er ah, paragraph, is worthy of an award.
From this blog I see that Marie Meyer was speaking on the campus of Concordia University Wisconsin. However, her brother Herman is not allowed to speak at either LCMS seminary.
