"Progress"?

This posting is offered as my own summary, inaccurate perceptions included, of the current status of the ELCA following the decision of our Churchwide Assembly to open ordination to our gay, lesbian, and transgendered brothers and sisters in Christ.

Our status at the close of 2009 includes the following observations:

1. Many ELCA members rejoice at the reduction of discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgendered people by allowing them to be "rostered" in the ELCA. Many ELCA members grieve for the manner in which our Churchwide Assembly has made this decision outside the boundaries of scripture.

2. While I understand the concern about social justice for gay, lesbian, and transgendered persons within the ELCA (as for any minority group), this frankly does not seem to me to be the central issue. As many have already said, it is the issue of how scripture is read and interpreted that is the core issue here, rather than an issue of sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is simply a case in point.

3. The splits generated within the body of the ELCA by #1 and #2 above are becoming clearer, as the polarities within the membership begin to widen and crystalize. This polarization is evident
a. at an individual level, as some leave the ELCA for other denominations,
b. at a congregational level, as some congregations either leave or add an additional
affiliation with a church body such as Lutheran Churches in Mission for Christ , LCMS,
the new church body being formed by Lutheran CORE, etc.
c. at a synodical level, as with the Northeast Iowa Synod and perhaps the South Carolina
Synod.

4. As ELCA staff conduct the business of converting Churchwide Assembly policy into rules and regulations for implementation, it seems to me to be virtually inevitable that the fracture lines will deepen and that schism is on the horizon. Consider: as Dr. Michael Root points out on www.lutheranspersisting.com, the study on which the decision was made argued for flexibility and tolerance (i.e., "bound conscience"), but the pre-existing ELCA Constitution requires that synod constitutions must comply with the ELCA Constitution. The concept of "bound conscience" is incompatible with the ELCA's own constitutional provisions.

5. Fewer people on either side of the issue are listening to what the other has to say.

If the present course is continued (and I see nothing that would suggest 2010 will be different), I expect to see the following:
a. further loss of members and financial support for ELCA ministries,
b. continued deterioration of ecumenical relationships with denominations that have
stayed within the boundaries of scripture and tradition, and
c. the gradual appearance of information in Augsburg-Fortress educational materials for
adults, youth, and children which is inconsistent with scripture and the tradition of the
Church, leading to further loss of traditionalist members, further loss of financial
support.

I grieve for the pain I see in some of my ELCA friends and colleagues. I grieve that, despite our leadership's call for "continued conversation" on this issue, the conversation between traditionalists and revisionists seems essentially to be over. I grieve for the loss of diversity within the ELCA, fully expecting that, in time, the ELCA will reach a state of equilibrium, with a smaller traditional voice and fewer members (including the loss of some who don't really care about the issues but simply don't want to be members of a denomination in continuous conflict). If this happens, the ELCA will be more homogenous but far less rich.
As we face the coming new year, I can't help but wonder: has the "progress" made justified the cost?

Christmas Angel

As my daughter Jennifer and I worked this past week to pack up the remaining stuff in our old house, we took quite a few trips to the local "green box" location to get rid of many overflowing bags of trash. During one of those trips, a small gray-haired woman walked up to us and asked, "Hi. What are you throwing away?" Except for the fact that the woman was driving a recent model car, I might have thought she was a bit eccentric if not outright daft -- who in their right mind asks about the contents of a stranger's trash bags? Granted that the contents of the trash bags were junk from around our house and not rotting fruit and chicken bones. But still the encounter seemed strangely surreal.

It turned out that this woman collects discarded but usable items and gives them to people who are poorer than herself. Within two minutes, we were fast friends. Blushing a bit at the way we were casually disposing of things I thought of as "junk," we opened our trash bags to her as well as our hearts.

After she had collected a few things she thought others might use, we invited her to the house and managed to find a number of other "junk" items for her to give away, including some that we otherwise would have kept.

It was a deeply humbling encounter, especially with Christmas on the near horizon. I told the woman that she was an angel, and meant it -- tired and slightly grumpy as I was from days of packing and cleaning -- reminding me of God's free and unbridled giving of Himself. The memory still powerfully reminds me still of the humble circumstances of God coming incarnate into the world -- His birth 2000 years ago announced to unwashed shepherds outside a small, rural town. God Himself born in a smelly stable and laid in a feed trough. Christ born again in my heart in a trash dump.

May Christ be born in you, too.

Spirituality #4: Simplicity

I have been the pastor of Orangeburg Lutheran now for over a year, and the house my family and I moved from is still vacant.

It's the real estate market, of course. Right after we moved to Orangeburg, the value of homes plummeted, and nothing much is selling now except for foreclosures and houses that are nearly in foreclosure. Because of market conditions, I've not been terribly quick to move completely out of our old house -- we still have a few pieces of furniture and some boxes of stuff, some old clothes and the like. But Advent has given me an opportunity to reflect on the way our possessions can tie us down and distract us from our proper focus on God.

Even after the repairs and new paint and new carpet we've done since we moved, the unsold house continues to drag on our lives with its weight. The house must still be maintained, utility bills paid, yard work finished, and so on. What was once our home now surely serves at times as a distraction from my calling as a pastor, and, just as surely, as a competitor for time that otherwise would be spent with God.

It's a powerful reminder for my family and me that "the world" can be too much with us. Simplicity of life is a goal that is more important to me now than ever. Whatever your circumstances, I commend greater simplicity of life to you for your consideration as well.

Blessings,
Pastor Garry

The "Science" of Faith

Most of us are aware of the spiritual value of faith. I thought it
might be interesting to review some of the science of faith as
well. Kenneth Cooper, author of ‘it’s Better to Believe’, says
that having deep personal convictions and values can do
wonders for almost every aspect of your physical and emotional
well-being. He listed several specific enhancements to health
that have been linked to firm, inner commitments to moral
principles, social values, God, or even oneself.

Less Depression, Smoking, And Alcohol Abuse

In a study of more than five hundred African-American men
conducted by Wayne State University in Detroit, a significant
correlation was found between the participants' religious
involvement and their health. The researchers identified a
number of indicators of true religious commitment, including
overall religiosity and church attendance. They found these
were linked to various beneficial health effects, such as less
depression, little or no smoking, and infrequency of alcohol
consumption. (Source: November 1994 issue of the Journal
of the National Medical Association)

Healthier Mothers And Babies

Maternity patients with a strong religious commitment, and
their newborns, who were studied at the Department of
Family Medicine, East Carolina University, had fewer medical
complications than maternity patients without a religious
affiliation. (Source: November 1994 issue of Southern
Medical Journal)

Protection From Colon And Rectal Cancer

In an Australian study of patients with cancer of the colon or
rectum, 715 cancer patients were compared with 727 "controls"
without cancer. The researchers found that the respondents
who saw themselves as most religious were less likely to have
cancer than those who were not as religious. In other words,
self-perceived "religiousness" was a statistically significant
protective factor against the diseases. Another interesting
finding in this study was that self-reported or perceived
religiousness was associated with median survival times of
sixty-two months. In contrast, those patients who reported
themselves as "non-religious" had a median survival time
of only fifty-two months. (Source: November 1993 issue of
the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine)

Improved Coping With Breast Cancer

A number of studies have associated a deep religious faith with
an ability to cope more effectively with cancer, including breast
cancer. Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science
Center at San Antonio published a study about the impact of
deep faith on the condition of women with breast cancer. They
found that with a group of Anglo-American patients, "intrinsic
religiousness" was a strong predictor of spiritual well-being and
hope- both of which are important factors for successfully coping
with cancer. (Source: Oncologocial Nurse's Forum,
September 1993)

A Healthier Emotional Balance

A study at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, ranked
participating young men and women as high, medium, or low in
the quality of their personal religious commitment. Those in
the high religious category, regardless of their religious
denomination, scored highest for self-esteem, emotional maturity,
and nondepression. (Source: June 1993 issue of Psychological
Reports)

Lower Blood Pressure, Healthier Cardiovascular System
And Reduced Stress

A commitment to maintain significant social ties, including marriage
and religious community involvements -and a willingness to act on
such commitments-can have tremendous beneficial effects on health.
A study on this issue, involving more than 1,100 healthy men and
women aged seventy to seventy-nine, was reported by Yale
epidemiologist Lisa Berkman at a January 1995 meeting of the
American Medical Association. She confirmed that strong emotional
support and social ties can help lower blood pressure and enhance
survival after a heart attack. Berkman also found that significant
social ties, including close friendships and family relationships,
improved the levels in the brain of the chemicals norepinephrine
and cortisol, which have been associated with excessive stress.

Stronger Marriage Ties

Religious compatibility between spouses at the time of marriage
has a large influence on marital stability. A study, conducted by
E. L. Lehrer and C. U Chiswick of the Economics Department of
the University of Illinois at Chicago, also found that spouses of
different faiths generally break up more often than those with a
common faith. (Source: August 1993 issue of the journal
Demography)

A commitment to a meaningful marriage-rather than just
cohabiting with a partner or remaining single-has also been
linked in scientific studies to some specific health benefits.
Researchers from the University of Chicago found that divorced
men had twice the rate of alcohol abuse as married men.
Divorced women also had more problems with alcohol than their
married counterparts. Other researchers reported that those
who live together before marriage have higher divorce rates,
are more likely to be sexually disloyal, and are generally less
happy than married couples. (Source: Conferences of the
Population Association of America, April 1995).

In fairness, I should note that there are more studies than these,
some of which have produced negative results. On balance,
however, religion seems to be good for you.

Science is limited to empirical results, but our relationship with God
remains both a gift and a treasure.

Blessings!
Pastor Garry