Lutheran Bishop Attends White House Prayer Breakfast

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "The country faces two issues -- one political, the other spiritual," said the Rev. E. Roy Riley Jr., bishop of the New Jersey Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), after attending an annual White House prayer breakfast Sept. 11.  He was one of about 70 religious leaders to hear President Bill Clinton confess and repent of "breaches of my own making."
     "In terms of our political life, the issue is whether or not we can trust President Clinton to lead," said Riley.  "I personally believe that we can."
     "In terms of the spiritual life of the country, the issue is whether or not we have the heart, the spirit for sensing our own complicity in the present situation, and the need for the kind of repentance that turns us together in a more positive direction for the sake of all," he said.
     President Clinton told the gathering, "I have been on quite a journey these last few weeks to get to the end of this, to the rock bottom truth of where I am and where we all are.  I agree with those who have said that in my first statement after I testified I was not contrite enough.  I don't think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned."
     Riley said, "There is no getting around the very serious, immoral nature of the president's conduct.  It was from the depth of his despair that I believe the president was speaking of his repentance and asking for our forgiveness."
     The Lutheran bishop said the religious community cannot gloss over the wrong that has been done.  He said it would be better to recognize "the apparent contrition of the president, to affirm his genuine repentance, and to declare to him that there is forgiveness for him and for anyone who truly repents."  The next step is "to hold the president accountable for continuing on the path upon which repentance has set him."
     Riley said that after reporters and cameras left the breakfast "virtually everyone in attendance spoke with President and Mrs. Clinton individually."  He said others who had attended previous breakfasts noted "an unusual sense of intimacy and informality" this year.
     The bishop said he was invited to the annual prayer breakfast several weeks before the event because of his work with former Senator Paul Simon (D-Ill.) "in the matter of the growing disparity between rich and poor in this country."
     "It was clear that the overriding sentiment in the room was in support of the president," said Riley, "but there were different opinions on how that support should be announced to the public."
     Riley was also in Washington, D.C., to attend a weekend briefing for ELCA synod bishops conducted by the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs.

For information contact:
Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Director 1-773-380-2955 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html