[1] It has been said that "May you live in interesting
times" was an ancient Chinese curse. Surely ours qualify as
"interesting times." Difficulties surround us on
international, national, regional, local, familial, and personal
levels. The issues-the "war on terror," the conflict in Iraq,
the ongoing devastation of world and local hunger, the economic
disparities between those who "have" and those who "have not," the
multi-faceted health care crisis in the United States, the families
torn asunder by physical, emotional, and substance abuse and mental
illness, to name a few-are complex. Some issues are primarily
economic, some primarily political, some environmental, some
military, some religious; most are complex in many dimensions
simultaneously. Many believe that the complexity of these
issues is intensified by the decay of civil, constructive, and
moral discourse on international, national, and local levels.
[2] One of the most issues is the status and rights of
homosexual persons in the United States. Various dimensions
are increasingly in public view, from secular discussions of the
status of gay marriages in San Francisco and recent court decisions
in Massachusetts to discussions within various religious
denominations regarding the status of gay marriages and whether or
not gay persons might be ordained. The threatened separations
of the Episcopalians and Methodists, and discussions within Roman
Catholicism regarding whether or not Catholic public officials who
support gay rights should be able to receive communion testify to
the intensity of the debates.
[3] The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is no
stranger to the controversies. The 2001 Churchwide Assembly
adopted resolutions that called the ELCA to develop a social
statement on sexuality, and to study homosexuality with reference
to blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination, consecration,
and commissioning of people in committed same sex unions. The
latter two issues will be taken up again at the 2005 Churchwide
Assembly; the target date for submitting the social statement is
the 2007 Churchwide Assembly. Journey Together Faithfully,
Part Two: The Church and Homosexuality, produced by the Task Force
For ELCA Studies on Sexuality, was developed as a resource for
congregations throughout the ELCA who wish to study and reflect on
these issues prior to the upcoming Churchwide Assemblies.
[4] Journey Together seems to assume that ELCA
congregations are-or ought to be-"communities of moral
deliberation." Viewing congregations as "communities of moral
deliberation" is a concept that has been developed in preceding
ELCA documents, including "The
Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective" and "Talking Together as
Christians about Tough Social Issues" This essay will review
the concept of congregations as "communities of moral deliberation"
as developed in these documents.
[5] The intent of this essay is not to argue pro or con
with respect to the blessing of same-sex unions and the rostering
of people in committed same-sex unions. Rather, the intent is
to provide material that could serve as a basis for reflection on
ELCA congregations' attempts to be "communities of moral
deliberation" with regard to the resolutions regarding same-sex
unions to be addressed at the 2005 Churchwide Assembly.
The Church in Society: A Lutheran
Perspective
[6] "The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective" was the
first social statement of the newly constituted ELCA, approved at
the second biennial ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 1991. The
statement "sets forth affirmations and commitments to guide [the
ELCA's] participation in society." It seeks to "be true" to
the ELCA's "mandate to confess and teach both law and Gospel as the
whole Word of the Triune God," thereby witnessing "to the living
God-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-who in love creates, judges, and
preserves the world and redeems, sanctifies, and brings it to
fulfillment in God's reign"(Introduction). There are six
affirmations and three commitments developed in the document.
Moral deliberation is developed as both an affirmation and a
commitment of the ELCA.
[7] The affirmation entitled "A Community of Moral
Deliberation" presents a view of deliberation that acknowledges
unity and diversity within the ELCA; gives attention to God's Word,
God's world, and the relationships between the two; and relies upon
revelation, reason, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit:
Christians fulfill their
vocation diversely and are rich in the variety of the gifts of the
spirit. Therefore, they often disagree passionately on the
kind of responses they make to social questions. United with
Christ and all believers in baptism, Christians welcome and
celebrate their diversity. Because they share common
convictions of faith, they are free, indeed obligated, to
deliberate together on the challenges they face in the
world.
Deliberation in the church gives attention both to God's Word and
God's world, as well as to the relationship between them. The
church sees the world in light of God's Word, and it grasps God's
Word from its context in the world. The church must rely upon
God's revelation, God's gift of reason, and the guidance of the
Holy Spirit (I.F).
[8] Scripture is "the normative source in [the ELCA's]
deliberation," but because of "the diversity in Scripture" and "the
contemporary world's distance from the biblical world" it is
"necessary to scrutinize the [Scriptural] texts carefully in their
own setting and to interpret them faithfully in the context of
today." This approach to Scripture is "guided" by "the
ecumenical creeds and the Lutheran confessions," and "instructed"
by the "church's history and traditions." The church's
deliberation, "transformed by faith," draws upon "God-given
abilities of human beings to will, to reason, and to feel."
As such the ELCA "is open to learn from the experience, knowledge,
and imagination of all people in order to have the best possible
information and understanding of today's world." To "act
justly and effectively, [the ELCA] needs to analyze social and
environmental issues critically and to probe the reasons why the
situation is as it is" (I.F).
[9] The ELCA's deliberation "should include people-either
in person or through their writing or other expressions-with
different life-experiences, perspectives, and interests" including
"those who feel and suffer with the issue; those whose interests or
security are at stake; pastors, bishops, theologians, ethicists,
and other teachers in this church; advocates; and experts in the
social and natural sciences, the arts, and the humanities."
As a "community of moral deliberation" the ELCA "seeks to 'discern
what is the will of God-what is good and acceptable and perfect'
(Rom 12:2)" (I.F).
[10] The "commitment" entitled "Deliberating on Social
Questions" opens with the following: "The ELCA commits itself
to foster moral deliberation on social questions" (II.C).
[11] The statement continues in telling fashion,
quoted verbatim here: "…this church shall: be a community
where open, passionate, and respectful deliberation on challenging
and controversial issues of contemporary society is expected and
encouraged; engage those of diverse perspectives, classes, genders,
ages, races, and cultures in the deliberation process so that each
of our limited horizons might be expanded and the witness of the
body of Christ in the world enhanced; draw upon the resources of
faith and reason-on Scripture, church history, knowledge and
personal experience-to learn and to discern how to respond to
contemporary challenges in light of God's Word; address through
deliberative processes the issues faced by the people of God in
order to equip them in their discipleship and citizenship in the
world; arrive at positions to guide its corporate witness through
participatory processes of moral deliberation; and seek to
contribute toward the upbuilding of the common good and the
revitalizing of public life through open and inclusive processes of
deliberation" (II.C).
[12] The statement closes with a brief section entitled
"God's Faithful Love." Here it is noted that the witness of
the ELCA "is a response to God's faithful love received in Word and
Sacraments," and that "[w]e in the ELCA set forth these
affirmations and commitments in society with the prayer that our
words and deeds may be earthen vessels that witness to the power of
the cross" (III).
Talking Together as Christians About Tough Social
Issues
[13] The 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly was forward looking,
and adopted "Initiatives to Prepare for a New Century." The
third of the seven initiatives, entitled "Witness to God's Action
in the World," encouraged congregations to develop and share with
the world a "new vision" of "community life." Part of the
"new vision" was the ability of congregations to "address and
deliberate on pressing social and ethical questions in a spirit of
civility, drawing upon Scripture, our theological tradition,
contemporary knowledge, and our varying experiences…"
In response to this initiative, and to facilitate this "new
vision," the Division for Church and Society of the ELCA published
"Talking Together as Christians About Tough Social Issues."
"Talking Together" gives further insight into congregations as
"communities of moral discernment."
[14] "Talking Together" acknowledges that disagreement on
controversial issues can, and sometimes does, threaten and divide
congregations, but points out that this doesn't necessarily have to
be the case:
Disagreements can become destructive when congregations don't
have the attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, skills, and behavior to
talk together constructively. However, if those who shape the
life of a congregation give clear, reassuring signals that "we talk
about matters like that here," and if the congregation has
developed the habit and learned practices for doing so, this begins
to feel like a natural part of what it means to be a church.
When issues arise, they must be talked about, and these
congregations feel that they can talk about them (pp. 2-3).
Such constructive conversations: involve "respectful yet
passionate dialogue from the
perspective of the faith [members] share" that seeks to "understand
and clarify the issue, its causes, dimensions, and consequences";
account for "personal and community experiences of the issue, as
well as Scripture, church tradition and teachings, human knowledge
and reason"; and end in a discernment of what ought to be
done. Constructive conversations represent serious dialogue
"about what really matters in the life of the Christian community
and in the life of the world" and are both "part of the public
ministry of a congregation" and "of the congregation's witness in
the world" (p.3).
[15] Why should congregations participate in conversation
about tough social issues? "Talking Together" asserts that
this is part of the vocation of the Church:
As the Church, we believe
and proclaim that God is active in all realms of life-including the
social, economic, and political. God preserves creation,
orders society, and promotes justice in a broken world. Faith
active in love seeking justice in the world is a single, unified
vocation of the church. God continually pulls us out of our
private lives and into the public-where we participate in a world
in common with those who are different from us
(p.4).
In this sense moral
deliberation in congregations is quite different from "democratic
discussion" or "civil conversation." The point of
conversation in the church is to "discern what God may be up to,
how Scripture or Christian tradition inform the discussion, or what
God may be calling people to understand, say, or do…"
(p.5).
[16] "Talking Together" asserts that the Holy Spirit is
active in this process, enabling diverse people to communicate in
ways "beyond the usual barriers." These ways challenge
individuals, but also hold the promise of deepening our
relationships with each other and with God; ultimately these
challenges point to the transforming powers of God:
The Spirit continues to do
so in ways that strengthen and deepen who we are in relation to God
and one another. Those who are "other" from us challenge us
when we mistake our reason and experience as being the case for all
people. With new eyes we begin to see how God is active in
the world-in the people, the social issues, ethical challenges, the
suffering, and the delights that we discover there. We find
that our relationship with God grows stronger, our relationship
with people in our congregation grows deeper, and our lives and the
life of our congregation are transformed. As these things
continue to happen, God works to transform the world around
us.
A Context for Journey Together Faithfully
[17] Read in this way "Church in Society" and "Talking Together"
provide a context for "Journey Together." That is, the ELCA
is "committed to foster moral deliberation" about "tough social
issues" in its congregations and through the rest of the church
structure. This commitment is in response to a call from God,
a part of the vocation of the church, and is a "manifestation of
faith active in love seeking justice in the world." Moral
deliberation recognizes unity and diversity within the ELCA, is
concerned with God's Word and God's world and the relationship
between the two, and relies on Scripture, revelation, and reason to
"discern the will of God." It is to be an inclusive process,
one that displays "a new vision of community life" in which
challenging issues are approached through habitual, learned
practices as part of public witness and ministry. This
process acknowledges the destructive risks inherent in such
discussions, but is also open to the potential to deepen and
broaden our relationships to each other and to God, and points to
the transforming power of God.
[18] There are many challenges to attaining such a vision.
Not the least of these is the distinct possibility that not all are
comfortable with the idea that congregations ought to be such
"communities of moral discernment." Even for those who do agree in
principle there are many reasonable questions to raise. Does
such a vision require special training for pastoral and lay leaders
so that they can facilitate constructive-and avoid
destructive-deliberation? If so, who will do such training,
and who will pay for it? Does moral deliberation of this kind
require an inordinate amount of time and resources, both at
congregational levels and within the ELCA as a whole (consider, for
example, the amount of time and resources the ELCA and local
congregations have devoted to Journey Together)? Who will
decide, on congregational and churchwide levels, what issues will
become the focus of moral deliberation? What is to be done in
congregations where attempted moral deliberation is destructive
rather than constructive?
[19] None of these questions necessarily abrogate the idea of
congregations as "communities of moral discernment." Indeed,
the fact that congregations within the ELCA are currently
undergoing such a process with Journey Together suggests that it
may be possible. At a minimum, congregations in which study
has occurred will have a wealth of knowledge and experience to
share regarding the risks and benefits of communal moral
discernment, and the ELCA as a whole will approach the upcoming
Churchwide Assemblies with a significant amount of input into an
important social issue. And, perhaps, at least some persons
and congregations will have reached deeper understandings of the
issues, themselves, and each other, or at least are more
knowledgeable and respectful of their differences. And,
perhaps, the process as a whole may help the ELCA better discern
the will of God on these issues.
[20] Journey Together can be seen as an opportunity to explore
not only issues surrounding sexuality and homosexuality, but also
as an opportunity to explore congregations and the Church as a
whole as "communities of moral discernment." The next few
years, while challenging, also hold within them the possibilities
of renewal and transformation. At the least, the next few
years will be "interesting times"; whether or not this proves to be
a "curse" or a "blessing in disguise" is yet to be discovered.