MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) – The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) urged all in the church to continue discussing their differences, and meet “not in our agreements or our disagreements, but at the foot of the cross — where God is faithful, where Christ is present with us, and where, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are one in Christ.”
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, spoke shortly after the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly approved controversial changes in the church’s policies that would allow people who are in committed same-gender relationships to be on the church’s official rosters. Previously, church policies required clergy and professional church workers who are gay or lesbian to refrain from homosexual sexual relationships.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 17-23 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. About 2,000 people are participating, including 1,045 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is “God’s work. Our hands.”
The presiding bishop, who spent 23 years as a parish pastor, said his work Aug. 21 was like the work of a pastor called to a family that had “experienced loss, or perhaps were wondering if they still belonged or in fact felt deeply that ones to whom they belong had been severed from them.” To that family, the presiding bishop said, he would explain that Scripture assures Christians that nothing “in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Christ.”
Or, Hanson said, his work today is like “going into a family or a group, a community that had always wondered if they belonged and suddenly had now received a clear affirmation that they belonged?” That family needs to hear the Bible verse that says “you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall.”
The ELCA contains both those families, Hanson said. And, he added, “what if those two groups were together, but also in their midst were those who had not experienced loss or the feeling of the dividing wall of separation coming down, but were wondering and worried if all that had occurred might sever the unity that is ours in Christ and might wonder if their actions might have contributed to reconciliation or separation?”
Then the bishop said, he would ask all to follow the Bible’s (Colossians 3) mandate to “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.”
The bishop’s words were aimed at those with varying opinions in the controversial sexuality discussions which occupied the assembly this week. Those who are disappointed with the decisions still have “in this church the expectation and the freedom to continue to admonish and to teach.” Those who, because of their concerns for people who are gay and lesbian may have “experienced reconciliation today,” are “called to humility. You are called to clothe yourselves with love.”
The bishop’s words echoed the spirit of resolutions passed here calling upon all with disagreements to “bear one another’s burdens” and remain united in the faith. Hanson said, “we’re all called to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, remembering again and again that we are called into the one body.”
The presiding bishop said, “We meet one another finally, not in our agreements or our disagreements, but at the foot of the cross — where God is faithful, where Christ is present with us, and where, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are one in Christ.”
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Information about the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly -- including a link to Bishop Hanson’s comments to the assembly -- can be found at http://www.elca.org/assembly/ on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
