Theologians Urge ELCA to Support Proposal on Homosexuality

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A growing number of theologians of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) signed a four-paragraph statement in favor of the church implementing three recommendations on homosexuality that a task force for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality developed for the 2005 Churchwide Assembly in August. There were 63 signatures at the bottom of the statement when it went public on April 6.
The statement was co-authored by the Rev. Ralph W. Klein, professor of Old Testament and acting dean, and the Rev. Barbara R. Rossing, associate professor of New Testament, both at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
"The provisional list of people who signed it represents professors at ELCA seminaries, professors at ELCA colleges and Valparaiso [(Ind.) University], and Lutherans who teach at non-Lutheran colleges and seminaries," Klein said. "I expect the list to grow."
Seventeen theologians issued a statement on March 1 urging the ELCA to reject the task force recommendations. "We disagree with the claims of the 17 theologians who have criticized the task force's recommendations on ecclesiological and theological grounds," the April 6 statement said.
"We represent a variety of perspectives and methodologies in our approaches to the questions of sexuality, ethics, theology and ecclesiology," said the statement in favor. "Some of us would have wished for greater welcome of gays and lesbians while others are more cautious. We believe, however, that the task force report and recommendations represent a much-needed and faithful compromise for this moment in the life of the church."
On Jan. 13 the task force released a report on its first three years of work. The report included three recommendations for the assembly to consider in August, when it is expected to answer two key questions on homosexuality: Should the church bless same-gender relationships? Should the church allow people in such relationships to serve the church as professional lay and ordained ministers?
The task force recommended that the ELCA:
+ concentrate on finding ways to live together faithfully in the midst of disagreements.
+ continue to respect the pastoral guidance of a 1993 statement of the ELCA Conference of Bishops opposing the blessing of homosexual relationships but remaining open to pastors wanting to provide pastoral care for gay and lesbian Lutherans.
+ continue under current standards that expect unmarried ministers to abstain from sexual relations -- defining marriage as being between a man and a woman -- but respecting the consciences of those who find these standards in conflict with the mission of the church, the ELCA may choose to refrain from disciplining gay and lesbian ministers in committed relationships and from disciplining those who call or approve partnered gay or lesbian people for ministry.
The statement in favor of the recommendations supported "the overall theological integrity" of the report and recommendations. "We give thanks for the careful theological, biblical and ecclesiological work of the task force over a number of years," the signers said.
"We urge the ELCA to find ways to implement all three recommendations in some form, including the commitment of Recommendation #3," they said.
"The task force's recommendations do not jeopardize our Lutheran communion or our ecumenical partnerships. Differences on sexuality and ecclesiology do not threaten the unity of the gospel," the statement in favor said.
"We felt that the highly critical document released several weeks ago by 17 other Lutheran theologians might give the impression that their opinion was the predominant one among Lutheran theologians, when in fact it is not," Klein said. "We are also aware that the Church Council is meeting soon to formulate a resolution to the Churchwide Assembly, and we wanted them to be aware of our views," he said.
Theologians who favored the recommendations did not feel a need to state their support until they saw the March 1 statement opposing the report, Rossing said. "We haven't responded because we were pleased with it (the task force report), but now we see the need to communicate our support in a more formal way," she said.
Rossing said she felt the opinions of the 17 theologians against the recommendations were not "representative of the majority of teaching theologians."
After participating in a North American consultation of the Lutheran World Federation on "Deepening the Bonds of Communion" here March 31-April 2, Rossing said, "To take the modest steps the task force is recommending would not jeopardize the global Lutheran communion. Issues of sexuality do not threaten the fundamental unity of the gospel and we can differ on these."
"We recognize that the members of the ELCA have widely divergent opinions on this subject and that the recommendations of the ELCA task force responsibly sought to find a middle ground that will enhance further conversation as we move into the future," Klein said.
"In the end, we all need to be accountable on how we answer the question of who is welcome in our pews, in our pulpits and at our altars and to give a rationale for our policies that is faithful to the church's confession and responsive to the realities of the 21st century," Klein added.
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The complete statement with the current list of signers is available at http://prophetess.lstc.edu/~rklein/ on the Web.
Information about the Studies on Sexuality is at http://www.elca.org/faithfuljourney/ on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news