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Jan 06, 2009 - 01:17 PM |
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The Rev. David G. Mullen, Bishop
Sierra Pacific Synod, ELCA
Oakland, CA
August 12, 2005
By a vote of 490 to 503 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Orlando, Florida, voted down a recommendation that the church find a way to include openly gay and lesbian leaders on the roster of the church.
The vote is disappointing to many Lutherans in the Sierra Pacific Synod who had hoped to see at least some movement forward toward the acceptance of gay and lesbians persons as rostered leaders in the church. For others in the synod, as for many others throughout the ELCA, the vote was a positive affirmation of traditional understandings of scripture, tradition, and current church policy and practice.
Stated Bishop Mullen, “The vote, affirming a traditional view of homosexuality, will in no way make the issue go away. I hope that we will honor the hard work that has been done leading up to the vote and continue to work toward greater inclusivity, while not neglecting the overall mission of the Church.”
According to Bishop Mullen, the issue of homosexuality and of gay and lesbian persons being leaders in the church has been debated and discussed for over 15 years in the Sierra Pacific Synod, which includes the Bay Area, northern California and northern Nevada. Most synodical votes in recent have resulted in close counts, with the majority affirming moves toward the inclusion of gay and lesbian leaders on the roster of the ELCA.
The ELCA, comprised of 65 synods and about 11,000 congregations, has engaged in an honorable and public process of study and dialogue since the 2001 Churchwide Assembly, which placed the issue of blessing same sex unions and the ordination of homosexuals on the agenda of the church, and led to the formation of a Sexuality Task Force. Input from nearly thirty thousand ELCA Lutherans was received by that Task Force, which had been given the responsibility of offering recommendations to the church.
The Task Force forwarded to the ELCA church council three recommendations: a pledge to see church unity in spite of differences; affirmed the Conference of Bishops’ statement on the blessing of same sex marriages, and in a carefully nuanced third recommendation, asked for the possibility of finding a way to include gay and lesbian leaders on the roster of the ELCA, while not officially altering stated church policy. The first two recommendations passed.
The Task Force recommendations were approved by ELCA Church Council and with carefully crafted constitutional language to implement recommendation three, were placed before the Churchwide Assembly, and were voted down.
Bishop Mullen stated, “We need to be noticing in a deep way the strong voices of faithful, thoughtful Lutheran on either side of the homosexuality issue. I believe that everyone intends to be faithful Christians, and have the best interests of the church at heart. We have not been able to reach a consensus.”
It is Bishop Mullen’s view that in spite of the outcomes of voting, which often which suggest division, who won or lost at this particular time is far less important than the vital task of seeking to discern the will of God, and of continuing to work toward mutual respect, understanding, and acceptance as a sign of Christ’s church in the world.
“I intend to urge everyone in my synod and across the ELCA to engage in the spiritual practice of living more deeply into the reality of the church as the body of Christ. It is God’s willl, not ours, that must and will prevail,” said Bishop Mullen.
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