Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This letter introduces the Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies, which fulfills the 2007 Churchwide Assembly mandate to the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality to “address and make recommendations on changes to any policies that preclude practicing homosexual persons from the rosters of this church" (CA07.06.27).
A prior mandate was received in 2001, assigning us the task of preparing a proposed social statement on human sexuality. That mandate is addressed in a separate document under the title of Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.
We of the task force are continually humbled by the trust our church has placed in us as stewards of the ELCA Studies on Sexuality. As a Christian community, we have engaged in a challenging and remarkable journey of claiming one Lord, one faith, and one baptism while differing passionately with one another on issues related to human sexuality and ministry policies.
We have come to understand in each other not just reasons for convictions, but also, more slowly, the burdens which weigh upon each of us in this task. These are the burdens of personal history and of responsibility to God, neighbors, and constituencies. They are burdens of misunderstanding and burdens of harm, inadequacy, and failure. In this journey we have begun to understand, perhaps as much as any of us ever will, what it might mean truly to try to bear one another’s burdens as Christ has called us (Galatians 6:2).
We also have discovered again that our Lutheran heritage equips us well as we wrestle with questions of faithful discernment amid conflicts and complexities. The Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies emerges out of this shared journey.
We also have discovered again that our Lutheran heritage equips us well as we wrestle with questions of faithful discernment amid conflicts and complexities.
The report describes the ELCA’s current policy and addresses reasons for the debate. It then provides a rationale for the task force recommendation, which consists of four intersecting resolutions. The task force recommendation proposes that this church engage in a process of clarifying its intent and agreeing to principles before moving on to practice. The resolution on ministry practice (number 4) was supported by a strong majority of the task force and calls for structured flexibility in decision-making that respects the bound consciences of all.
We are aware that the task force recommendation will prompt strong response in this church, just as it has within the task force. We know this approach will be difficult, complex, and even burdensome. There is, in fact, no burden-free solution. The task force journey reinforces our shared conviction that whatever the outcome, we will bear one another’s burdens in Christ. It is in this spirit that this church must concentrate on finding ways to live together faithfully in the midst of our disagreements.
On behalf of Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality,
Rev. Peter Strommen,
Chair, Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality
Pastor, Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church, Prior Lake, Minnesota