ELCA Boards Appoint Task Force for Studies on Sexuality

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Boards of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Church in Society and Division for Ministry appointed a 13-member task force to assist the Rev. James M. Childs Jr., director of the ELCA studies on sexuality. The boards acted in a joint session here March 16.
Childs began Feb. 1 as director of a four-year study on homosexuality for the ELCA. The study is meant to help the church answer questions about the ordination of homosexual clergy and the blessing of same-gender relationships. The study will also feed into the preparation of a social statement on human sexuality.
In August the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly asked the Division for Ministry and Division for Church in Society to lead a comprehensive four-year study on homosexuality and report back to the 2003 and 2005 Churchwide Assemblies. The assembly also asked the Division for Church in Society to prepare a social statement on human sexuality.
The two divisions developed a six-point "protocol" to coordinate the assembly mandates. The protocol outlined how leadership in the projects will be shared, the selection of a study director, how the director is to be supervised, the selection of a task force, how and when study reports will be issued and how study documents will be authorized for distribution.
"On behalf of the whole ELCA, the board members and staff of the Division for Ministry and the Division for Church and Society express our sincere gratitude to these persons for their willingness to accept appointment to the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality," said Childs. "We are confident that these individuals are persons of deep faith and genuine integrity who will serve the church well."
Childs said the task force will work with him "in setting directions for the studies and in the preparation of reports and documents responsive to the mandates of the 2001 Churchwide Assembly regarding studies on sexuality."
"A task force selection committee, which included representatives from both boards, engaged in extensive deliberation and consultation with persons throughout the church before selecting a slate of nominees from more than 200 nominations received from church members all over the country," said Childs.
"Although it is not possible for a workable-sized task force to be a microcosm of the church in all its various viewpoints and constituencies, we have taken care to see that it includes persons who represent a variety of important voices in the church and who have the necessary blend of maturity and competence to listen, study, and prayerfully and intelligently process the myriad of concerns, convictions, and theological, ethical, and scientific opinions that come before it," Childs said.
"It is important to underscore the fact that the task force will be supplemented by consultations with people of various viewpoints and with particular expertise and experience," said Childs. "Most important of all will be the feedback from dialogues carried on in congregations, synods, and schools throughout the church," he added.
The Rev. Margaret G. Payne, bishop of the ELCA New England Synod, Worcester, Mass., will chair the task force. The other 12 members are: + Erin Clark, student at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, member of Grace Lutheran Church, Knoxville, Ill. + the Rev. Terence E. Fretheim, professor at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., member of Messiah Lutheran Church, Park Ridge, Ill. + Dr. Julio A. Fonseca, psychologist, member of Iglesia Luterana Getsemani, Dorado, Puerto Rico + Louis M. Hesse, farmer, member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Moses Lake, Wash. + the Rev. Lucy A. Kolin, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Oakland, Calif. + the Rev. Gary J. Liedtke, Calvary Lutheran Church, Brookfield, Wis. + the Rev. Kevin R. Maly, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Denver + Dr. John Prabhakar, surgeon, member of Faith Lutheran Church, Rochelle, Ill. + the Rev. E. Peter Strommen, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Minnesota Synod, member of First Lutheran Church, Duluth, Minn. + Dr. Nancy W. Walker, psychologist, member of St. Luke Lutheran Church, Charlotte, N.C. + the Rev. Timothy J. Wengert, professor at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia; member of St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Glenside, Pa. + Dr. Diane Yaeger, professor at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; member of Resurrection Lutheran Church, Arlington, Va.
"We have a task force that represents the broad thought and perspective of the church," said the Rev. Denver W. Bitner, Zion Lutheran Church, Rockford, Ill. Bitner is board chair of the ELCA Division for Church in Society.
As a member of the selection committee, Bitner said he was impressed by the large number of people who expressed an interest in serving on the task force and by "their desire to help their church come to grips with these difficult issues."
As a parish pastor, Bitner said he has been concerned about the church's ability to deal with the delicate issues related to human sexuality. "Seeing the people who have agreed to serve on the task force, I have real hope that the church can do this and do it well," he said.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html