Southeast Iowa Synod Event

An ORGANIZE FOR FAITHFULNESS Lutheran Coalition for Reform (Lutheran CORE) event is being held at Zion Lutheran Church, 4300 Beaver Ave, Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday March 29 from 10am-3pm.

The purpose of the event is to encourage traditional ELCA Lutherans to come together in a ministry of witness and reform to work for the preservation within the ELCA of the authority of Scripture according to the Lutheran Confessions.

Of immediate concern is the upholding of the traditional Lutheran (and Christian) Biblical understanding of marriage and sexuality. A draft of a proposed ELCA Social Statement on Sexuality of the ELCA has recently been released by the ELCA for response and revision. The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly will vote on the final draft of the statement as well as on recommendations on whether to change the ELCA’s standards for clergy to allow the ordination of persons in same-sex sexual unions and the blessing of such unions. The voting members for that 2009 Churchwide Assembly will be elected at this year’s 2008 synod assemblies. The Southeast Iowa synod of the ELCA will also be electing a new bishop. Now is the time for traditional and orthodox Lutherans to gather their courage and work together for the future of the ELCA.

The event is being co-sponsored by Zion Lutheran (Lead Pastor John Kline) and Lutheran Church of Hope of West Des Moines (Senior Pastor Mike Householder). The moderator for the event is Pastor Ken Kimball, a member of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee (serving Old East and Old West Paint Creek Lutheran parish, Waterville, Iowa—Northeastern Iowa synod). The chief presenter for the day is Pastor Mark Chavez, Director of Lutheran CORE.

There is no cost for the event. Pre-registration by e-mail or phone would be a helpful courtesy (particularly in ensuring sufficient lunch is ordered and coffee brewed!) but aren’t required. If you have further questions or would like to register ahead of time, you may do so by e-mail johnkline@ziondsm.org or phone 515-270-8142.

Below is the schedule for the Day and an explanatory paragraph on Lutheran CORE.

The schedule for the day:

Organize for Faithfulness Saturday March 29 Zion Lutheran, Des Moines, Iowa
9:30 am Registration and coffee
10:00 am Welcome & Opening Prayer -Pastor John Kline
10:10 am “What We’re Doing Here”-Pastor Ken Kimball
10:45 am “The Challenges and Opportunities Before Us” - Pastor Mark Chavez
Noon Lunch
1:00 pm “Building a Network for Reform” - Pastor Mark Chavez
2:15 pm Putting Together a Leadership Team for Witness and Reform
2:45 pm “What Next?” Closing Prayer
3:00 pm Done

What Is Lutheran CORE?
Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Reform) is a coalition of individuals, congregations and reform movements in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that speaks for the historic center of Lutheranism. We seek to preserve within the ELCA the authority of Scripture according to the Lutheran Confessions. Lutheran CORE's members and participants represent the vast middle of American Lutheranism, spanning geographical regions, political viewpoints and vocations. We are united by our common conviction as Lutheran Christians in the authority of the Word of God. Lutheran CORE is a voice of the solid, faithful core that is the majority of ELCA members, pastors and congregations.

Looking for Hope

“Restore us to thyself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old!
Or hast thou utterly rejected us?
Art thou exceedingly angry with us?”
(Lamentations 5:21-22, RSV)

This cry from the end of the book of Lamentations resonates more and more with me the longer I am working with Lutheran CORE. I hear from friends and colleagues who wonder, with a mixture of anger and resignation, what future they have in the ELCA. There is discouragement, and weariness, and anguish, and despair. Many of us who find ourselves in the “conservative” or “traditional” end of the issues care deeply for the mission and ministry of the ELCA, and pray daily for those who serve this church body, including and especially those who serve in churchwide and synodical offices. Nonetheless, we find ourselves at times accused of despising the ELCA, of working to undermine its existence and being a cause of schism. We hear that we are opposed to justice, that we do violence against our brothers and sisters in Christ, and that we use the Scriptures and the Confessions as weapons to tear apart families and congregations.

These are heavy charges to hear. Our first response must be, in humility, to ask, “Lord, is it I?” We are truly in bondage to sin, and even our best work and deepest belief cannot assure that what we do is without stain. We cannot avoid the call to reflection and repentance just because we believe that our interpretation of Scripture and our understanding of confession and tradition are more correct.

But with that call also comes the reminder that we are not to give in to despair. The ELCA does not belong to us. It belongs to Christ, as part of the one holy catholic and apostolic church, His body. The organizations that we have formed and belong to for the renewal of the ELCA are not ours, either. They are tools in the hands of the Lord of the church, and they will be used by Him in ways that will undoubtedly surprise and, at times, dismay us. Like the writer of Lamentations, we long to be restored to the Lord, to be a pure body for the work of proclaiming the Gospel. And like that writer, we fear the signs we see all around us as being signs of God’s rejection. But the end of Lamentations is not the last word. Like Psalm 22, which begins with the cry of rejection that our Lord uttered from the cross in His time of abandonment, there are more words to come, words of hope and new life.

These words of new life, however, come after the time of struggle, of anguish, of the cross, and of death. Our times are in God’s hands, and He alone will determine the time and the way that His will for the ELCA will be revealed. As this Holy Week enters the intensity of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the time of the Great Vigil, we hear Jesus’ words to his disciples: Remain here, and watch with me. In this week, and in the times to come, let us respond with the words of another who longed to see the dawning of God’s salvation:

“Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord! Lord, hear my voice!
Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning,
More than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plenteous redemption.
And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”
(Psalm 130, RSV)

Pastor Erma Wolf
Lutheran CORE steering committee

News Release Regarding Draft Statement

NEWS RELEASE
March 13, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Chavez (717) 898-0801
info@lutherancore.org

Lutheran CORE leaders respond
to release of draft ELCA sexuality statement

Leaders of Lutheran CORE responded Thursday, March 13, to the release of the “Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality” for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Lutheran CORE is a coalition of pastors, lay people, congregations and reforming groups that seeks to preserve the authority of Scripture in the ELCA.

“It is important to recognize that this is the first draft of a social statement on sexuality,” said the Rev. Paull Spring of State College, Pa., chair of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee. “We encourage ELCA members to study the draft and to take the time to submit responses to the Task Force supporting areas where the statement is strong and suggesting ways that the statement can be improved.”

“There is a lot in the statement that can be affirmed, but there are some glaring theological errors here,” said Spring, the retired bishop of the Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod.

“The draft statement would change the definition of marriage by implication. This is a cause of great concern,” Spring said. “Lutherans have traditionally defined marriage as ‘a lifelong covenant of faithfulness between a man and a woman.’ The statement calls marriage a relationship of love and trust between two people. From this perspective, the statement opens the door to supporting same-gender committed relationships.”

“Lutherans have traditionally addressed sexuality biblically by starting with creation and noting that God created humans male and female. The draft statement seems to have avoided those biblical passages and that perspective of human sexuality,” Spring explained. “There is a surprising absence of procreation as a purpose of marriage,” he added.

“While I appreciate the work and the dedication of the members of the task force in writing this draft, I must express my profound disappointment at the weakness of this statement,” said the Rev. Erma Wolf, vice chair of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee. “However, I strongly encourage people across the ELCA to read this statement and to submit their responses to the task force. This statement, if passed, will be the basis for teaching and for future policies in this area. The task force needs to hear from the congregations and the baptized people of God in order to have a statement that will truly serve the mission of the church in boldly following her Lord, Jesus Christ.” Wolf is associate pastor of the Brandon-Split Rock Lutheran Parish in Brandon, S.D.

Lutheran CORE has prepared a resource to help members of ELCA congregations to participate in the process leading to an ELCA Social Statement on Sexuality and to enable them to better understand some of the questions on human sexuality that will be considered at the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The resource is available online at www.lutherancore.org.

The first draft of the social statement is available online at www.elca.org/faithfuljourney. This draft was prepared by a church task force and is the result of a seven-year study process. The draft released on Thursday is awaiting response and input from church members.

Following an eight-month period of input from members of ELCA congregations, a second draft of the statement will be prepared. The revised draft is scheduled to be released in February 2009. The Task Force will also release its recommendations on whether the ELCA should change its policy to permit persons in same-sex sexual relationships to serve as pastors and other “rostered leaders” in the ELCA in February 2009.

The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly (Aug. 17-23, 2009, in Minneapolis) will decide whether to adopt an ELCA social statement on human sexuality.

ELCA social statements are to explain what the ELCA understands to be Scripture’s teaching and faithful Christian responses to a given topic. They are intended as teaching statements addressing the members of ELCA congregations to help them in their own ethical decision-making. Social statements also shape the activities of ELCA organizations as they address social issues through church policy and efforts to influence government action.

For more information on Lutheran CORE go to www.lutherancore.org.

New Resource Available

Greetings from Lutheran CORE:

The ELCA Task Force on Human Sexuality will release its first draft of an ELCA Social Statement on Human Sexuality on Thursday, March 13.

Lutheran CORE has prepared a resource to help ELCA members and churches participate in the process leading to an ELCA Social Statement on Human Sexuality and to enable them to better understand some of the questions on human sexuality that will be considered at the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

The resource, "Some Questions and Answers about the ELCA Sexuality Discussions" is available online at:

http://www.lutherancore.org/papers/s-ques-031108.shtml.

Lutheran CORE is grateful to Pastor David Baer, Whitewood, SD, Mr. James Gale, Washington, D.C., and Pastor Russell Saltzman, Kansas City, MO, for preparing this resource. We encourage you to read this document and to make it available to others in your congregation and area.

We also strongly encourage you to take time to read the first draft of an ELCA Social Statement on Human Sexuality and to submit a response to the task force by Nov. 1 offering your response to the social statement draft and your suggestions for its improvement. Lutheran CORE will continue to offer resources to ELCA members to help them consider the social statement in the coming weeks and months.