Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality Holds First Meeting

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is engaged in studies to answer specific questions about homosexuality and to develop a social statement on sexuality. A 13- member Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality assembled here May 3-5 for its first meeting.
"This is a group that wants to listen to the church, not to go about its own agenda," said the Rev. James M. Childs Jr., director for ELCA Studies on Sexuality. "There is a keen desire to be very good listeners to one another's views," he said.
The Rev. Margaret G. Payne, bishop of the ELCA New England Synod, Worcester, Mass., and task force chair, noted "the honesty of open exchange that began to be more evident as the time went on."
"The main thing that was accomplished was the establishment of a working relationship and getting a grasp of the task that is before us," said Payne. "I came back from the meeting with a new sense of certainty that everyone was committed to doing this work together in prayer and for the sake of the gospel, instead of any agenda," she said.
The task force is to work with the director in setting directions for the studies and in the preparation of reports and documents. The ELCA Division for Church in Society and Division for Ministry share overall leadership for the sexuality studies. Their boards appointed the task force in March.
In August 2001, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly mandated a study on homosexuality that would help the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 2005 make key decisions about the church's positions on blessing same-gender unions and on acknowledging clergy and lay leaders who live in committed gay or lesbian relationships. The churchwide assembly is the chief legislative authority of the ELCA; it meets every other year.
The ELCA has no churchwide policy on the blessing of same-gender unions; its standards preclude homosexuals from ordained or lay ministry if they engage in homosexual sexual relationships.
The 2001 assembly also asked for a proposed social statement on sexuality. That proposed statement may be ready for consideration in 2007.
The Rev. Joseph M. Wagner, executive director of the ELCA Division for Ministry, told the task force its members were selected for their ability to collaborate and to listen. He said they will need to listen hard for the church's conservative voices.
Wagner said many people in the ELCA "don't want to be embarrassed or feel they must defend themselves" in the open forums the church normally sponsors in a study process to gain the perspectives of Lutherans.
The Rev. Terence E. Fretheim, professor at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., and task force member, described a meeting he had with about 100 ordained and lay ministers of the ELCA Montana Synod. He reported to the task force several points they wanted him to raise about the studies' process and the ways the ELCA deals with possibly contentious issues.
Many task force members volunteered "to be present for events in synods in the church, wherever possible, simply to listen, record and bring back what the concerns and convictions are out there in the church," said Childs.
"I don't think we can listen enough," said Erin Clark, student at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, and task force member.
Childs said the ELCA Church Council approved a total $1.15 million to fund the six-year project, which, among other expenses, will make it possible to hold about 32 hearings across the United States and Caribbean. The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between its churchwide assemblies.
The task force began to review and discuss existing resources, such as the ELCA's 1996 message "Sexuality: Some Common Convictions" and the church's "Talking Together as Christians about Homosexuality." Some members agreed to review books on related subjects for the task force.
The group discussed subjects it would like consultants to address at future meetings.
The task force also began to make individual assignments. When it meets again in September, each member is to identify "the strongest arguments both for and against change" of current church policies regarding homosexuality. That exercise will help the task force begin "to envision and produce what will become a study document for the church," said Childs. -- -- --
The ELCA Studies on Sexuality are featured at http://www.elca.org/faithfuljourney/ on the Web.

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