ELCA Council Rejects Clergy Standards Proposal, Wants Discussion

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) agreed with a recommendation from the ELCA Division for Ministry and rejected a proposal that would allow for possible exceptions to its statement of standards for ordained ministers. In this case, the issue dealt with ordaining gay and lesbian people who engage in committed homosexual sexual relationships.
At the same time, the council reaffirmed the commitment of the ELCA "to continue thoughtful, deliberate and prayerful conversations" throughout the church on the issue.
In a separate action, the council asked for development of a "workshop model" which would help engage people to discuss the inclusion of gay and lesbian people "in our common life and mission." It also asked for synods and clergy to be more deliberate about discussing the issues.
The ELCA is organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between its churchwide assemblies. The council met here Nov. 10-13. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 8-14, 2001, in Indianapolis.
The proposal for exceptions to standards for ordained ministers originated with St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn., and was directed to the ELCA Church Council by the ELCA Saint Paul Area Synod Council. In April the council asked the Division for Ministry, in consultation with the ELCA Conference of Bishops, to prepare a response.
St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church sought an exception for Anita Hill, a lay minister who has served the congregation for several years and completed a master of divinity degree this year, a requirement for ordination in the ELCA. On behalf of the congregation, the Saint Paul Area Synod Council petitioned the ELCA Church Council to amend "Vision and Expectations," a document the council adopted in 1990. The document defines the ELCA's standards for ordained ministers.
The Saint Paul Area Synod proposed that the Conference of Bishops be empowered to grant exceptions to the ELCA standards for ordained ministers.
The council agreed with the Division for Ministry's recommendation, by a vote of 23 to 5, that the request be denied. Three council members abstained. The division said the Conference of Bishops has no such authority under the ELCA constitution and such a policy would "undercut the constitutional authority and responsibility of the synod candidacy committees." It also said provisions for such exceptions would require constitutional changes.
"The proposed resolution would not be consistent with this church's understanding that ordained ministers are to have the same rights, and be held to the same standards, no matter where they are called," the Division for Ministry response said.
Sally Young, council member, Waterloo, Iowa, presented the resolution to the council on behalf of the council's program and services committee, which she chairs. She said the council should look at the issue with "the longest, largest view." The church has not yet had adequate conversation on the homosexuality issue, she said.
"To engage this issue by exceptions is not the way to go versus conversation about the whole issue," said the Rev. Joseph M. Wagner, executive director, ELCA Division for Ministry. "The problem with the strategy of seeking exceptions is that it is an indirect solution to a problem that needs to be handled directly."
Ongoing conversation is what seems most reasonable to ELCA members, he added.
Among those who voted against the proposal was the Rev. Karen L. Soli, Sioux Falls, S.D. Many areas of the church are not talking about the issue, she said. Soli said she hoped the church could find a way to make exceptions to "test" how noncelibate gay and lesbian pastors may fit in the church.
Ida Marie Hakkarinen, council member, Greenbelt, Md., reminded the council the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly declined a similar proposal. The assembly's vote said the church did not favor a "pilot, grace period."
Council member Lily R. Wu, Forest Hills, N.Y., said she was torn on the issue. "It seems on one hand, I want to tell the Saint Paul Area Synod I hear suffering and cries, but on the other, I want to hear people who aren't ready to talk about this," she said.
Despite the rejection of the Saint Paul Area Synod request, the council adopted a second proposal calling for more conversation in the church about the inclusion of gay and lesbian people, including those who want to serve as clergy. At the suggestion of the Rev. H. George Anderson, ELCA presiding bishop, the council's resolution requested each synod to incorporate the workshop or other models in their assemblies before the 2003 Churchwide Assembly. It also asked for synod gatherings of clergy to spend at least one day in similar conversation before the 2003 assembly.
The resolution arose from a concern voiced by the Rev. Kirkwood J. Havel, council member, Midland, Mich. He said dialogue is not happening in "mid-Michigan." "Pastors are scared to death to bring it up," he said.
There is a critical need for education of ELCA members on issues related to homosexuality, since the pastors' fears are driven by member concerns, said Donald G. Hayes, council member, Winston- Salem, N.C. -- -- --
Documents from the Church Council meeting are available at http://www.elca.org/os/churchcouncil/actions.html on the ELCA Web site.

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