Northeastern Iowa Synod Council asks that ELCA Sexuality Social Statement be overturned and synod's "bound conscience" be respected

Those in the Northeastern Iowa Synod are providing significant leadership in trying to keep their synod together in spite of the biblical and theological crisis in the ELCA. Call to Faithfulness, one of the reform groups that comprise Lutheran CORE, has provided leadership in the efforts in the Northeastern Iowa Synod.

The Northeastern Iowa Synod Council has passed two resolutions in response to the Churchwide Assembly’s votes.

The first resolution calls upon the ELCA Church Council to reject and work to overturn the Sexuality Statement and the Recommendations on Ministry because they are contrary to the Confession of Faith in the ELCA constitution.

The second resolution affirms the votes of the NE Iowa Synod Assemblies of recent years, stating that the ‘bound conscience’ of the synod regards the 1990 Vision and Expectations for Rostered leaders to be the norm for the synod and rejects any new Vision and Expectations based on the votes taken at the 2009 Churchwide.

The Northeastern Iowa Synod takes the rhetoric of the Churchwide Assembly at its word, that the ‘bound conscience’ of synods is to be respected. It remains to seen if this will be the case or if the present rumbling from Chicago will not allow synods to have a ‘bound conscience’. If it does not allow a synod to have a ‘bound conscience’ then the basis for the votes taken at Churchwide are suspect, built on a fiction the ELCA cannot or will not honor.

Call to Faithfulness hosted the "Faithful Voices" on Saturday, November 21, 2009, at St. Peter Lutheran in Greene, Iowa. More than 125 laity and pastors from four synods gathered to be encouraged by their mutual faith in Christ and organize to renew and reform the Church.

Pastor Cori Johnson, one of the three dissenting voices on the Sexuality Task Force brought the keynote for the day. Pastor Marshall Hahn, Pastor Jason Cooper, Pastor Ken Kimball and Pastor Gary Hatcher spoke on behalf of Call to Faithfulness on concrete ways congregations can begin to make a difference.

The presentations are available at the Call to Faithfulness website.

Building Connections Between Partners

The goal of Lutheran CORE and the WordAlone Network is to provide congregations and individuals with options that will best suit their various needs,  ecclesiology, and ministry values.  Some who favor a congregationally-based organization may prefer to join LCMC as a church body;  others who favor a more centrally structured denomination may prefer the new church being put together by CORE.  Many, like myself, hope to affiliate with both.

On the other hand, the idea of the “Free-Standing Synod” is to connect people (no matter where they are affiliated) to a broader network of organizations and para-church ministries that will work in intentional partnership.  Through this informal fellowship, we hope to do what has not really been done before: to keep friends in mutual ministry and working for the benefit of all – regardless of whether they leave or stay in the ELCA.

Lutheran CORE leaders announce that a new Lutheran church body will be formed for those leaving the ELCA

NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. — Leaders of Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Renewal) have voted to begin work on a proposal for a new Lutheran church body for those who choose to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, they announced Wednesday, Nov. 18.

The votes by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August to allow pastors to be in committed same-sex relationships have created a biblical and theological crisis throughout the ELCA and have generated conflict in local congregations. Many congregations and individuals are considering the possibility of leaving the ELCA or have chosen to redirect giving away from the national church.

More than 1,200 Lutherans gathered in Fishers, Ind., Sept. 25-26 unanimously voted to authorize the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee “to initiate conversations among the congregations and reform movements in Lutheran CORE and other compatible churchly organizations leading toward a possible reconfiguration of North American Lutheranism” and to bring a recommendation for action in 2010. The Lutheran CORE Steering Committee decided Tuesday that a new church body likely will be necessary and directed that work begin on a church body proposal.

“Many ELCA members and congregations have said that they want to sever ties with the ELCA because of the ELCA’s continued movement away from traditional Christian teachings. The vote on sexuality opened the eyes of many to how far the ELCA has moved from Biblical teaching,” said the Rev. Paull Spring of State College, Pa., Lutheran CORE Chair.

“Along with the WordAlone Network and our other renewal movement partners, Lutheran CORE will aid in the formation of a Lutheran church body for those congregations and individuals that choose to end their affiliation with the ELCA. This church body will stand where Lutherans have always stood and will center its life on the mission of the church to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Spring, the retired bishop of the Northern Pennsylvania Synod.

A special working group will draft the church body proposal in consultation with the WordAlone Network and the other reform movement partners of Lutheran CORE. The recommendations are to be released in February to allow interested individuals and congregations time for feedback. Final proposals will be brought to the Lutheran CORE Convocation Aug. 26-27 in Columbus, Ohio.

The working group will also bring recommendations for the continuation of Lutheran CORE as a free-standing synod that will serve both Lutherans in the ELCA and those in other church bodies. This working group will be in conversation with other Lutheran church bodies about ways to work together. Lutheran CORE has been in conversation with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, an association of Lutheran congregations which many ELCA congregations have joined, and will continue to work closely with LCMC. The proposed new church body is intended to provide a place for congregations that desire a more traditional denominational structure.

“We have not made any firm decisions about what this church body will be or how it will be structured. That reality will come into focus as the working group meets with the members of Lutheran CORE who are looking for a new church body and with other Lutheran church bodies and reform movements in North America,” explained Ryan Schwarz of Washington, D.C., a member of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee, who chairs the working group.

Lutheran CORE to continue as free-standing synod

Lutheran CORE will continue to exist as a free-standing synod. Both those within the ELCA and in this new church body will be able to continue in fellowship through Lutheran CORE.

“Lutheran CORE is committed to be a church fellowship for Lutherans who are committed to the teaching of Scripture — both those who choose to remain affiliated with the ELCA and those who choose to end their affiliation with the ELCA,” Spring said.

“It is important that those who want to uphold Biblical teaching work together. We need each other. To be an effective witness, Lutherans — both those who remain affiliated with the ELCA and those who end that affiliation — need to work together. Lutheran CORE hopes to continue to provide that church fellowship and serve that common mission,” he added.

“This new church body and the Lutheran CORE free-standing synod will make it possible for faithful congregations to work together in mission and to relate to other Lutherans worldwide,” Schwarz said. “Lutherans around the world have been scandalized by the ELCA’s actions. Lutheran CORE will work closely with Lutherans around the world who share our commitment to Scripture as it has been understood by generations of Christians.”

“We are not leaving the ELCA. The ELCA has left us. Lutheran CORE is continuing in the Christian faith as it has been passed down to us by generations of Christians. The ELCA is the one that has departed from the teaching of the Bible as understood by Christians for 2,000 years,” Spring said. “The division in the ELCA is not only really sex. It is about the authority of Scripture in the life of the church. The crisis in the ELCA is a direct result of the actions of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.”

“We grieve that it has become necessary for so many to leave the ELCA and for so many others to alter their relationship with the ELCA, but we are heartened by the clear sense of mission and ministry that is motivating these changes,” the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee said in a letter to members of Lutheran CORE announcing the decision.

Major annoucement from Lutheran CORE Steering Committee

"Hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:5)



November 18, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The past couple months since the ELCA Churchwide Assembly and Lutheran CORE's Convocation have filled us with a strong sense of hope. The Spirit has stirred up a remarkable outpouring of activity by traditional Lutherans across the country. Congregations are entering into discernment processes to determine their own future courses. Congregations and individuals are refocusing their benevolence giving on faithful ministries. New local and regional renewal movements are being formed almost weekly. Just this past week, we welcomed six new regional affiliates of Lutheran CORE, from Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and the Southeastern US, as well as the Union of Oromo Evangelical Churches and the Seven Marks group of pastors.

It is now clear that a very substantial portion of the ELCA cannot and will not accept the decisions of the Churchwide Assembly this past summer. Along with the WordAlone Network and our other renewal movement partners, we in Lutheran CORE are now hard at work planning pathways forward for faithful Lutherans, both for those who decide to stay in and those who decide to leave the ELCA. This letter describes some recent significant decisions about those future pathways.

The Lutheran CORE Convocation in Fishers, Indiana, voted to transform our ministry into a free-standing synod, operating apart from any Lutheran church body. This free-standing synod will serve as a coalition of those who choose to leave and those who choose to remain within the ELCA. It will include congregations, reform movements, individual pastors and laypersons, synods, and schools, from across the USA and hopefully Canada as well. It will carry out many synodical functions and will serve in partnership with other reform movements. In this manner, Lutheran CORE will continue to be a confessing and confessional movement that is open to all faithful Lutherans.

Many of our members and friends, both congregations and individuals, will stay in the ELCA, at least for the time being. For them, the free-standing synod will provide a fellowship or community of traditional Lutherans and an ongoing connection to orthodox Lutherans who leave the ELCA. It will also provide, as a service to its member congregations, faithful synodical functions such as missions and evangelism support, assistance in the call process, and resources for theological education, congregational teaching and worship.

It has also become clear over the past few months that many faithful congregations will certainly leave the ELCA as a result of the ELCA's departure from Biblical teachings. Some of those congregations will join Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC), an association of Lutheran congregations formed in 2001 which we view as a valued partner in mission. Other congregations, however, have come to us asking us to form a church body with a more traditional denomination structure and scope.

As a result of these conversations and requests, and after much prayer and deliberation, the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee has decided to explore the formation of a new Lutheran church body in North America. We do this in service to those congregations who wish to leave the ELCA, and perhaps also for congregations who might wish to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) as a result of similar issues in that church body, and to advance the mission of Christ by planting new churches across North America.

This new church would have a confession of faith and a constitution. It would have the competence to examine and ordain clergy, and a discipline process for congregations and clergy. It would be capable of reaching church-to-church relationships. Its constitution would provide for the election of officers and it would be governed by a representative assembly of delegates. The new church would provide for dual membership for congregations and ordained ministers. It would invite other Lutheran churches and entities to participate in shared ministry. It would utilize resources for ministry from already-existing para-church movements and from the WordAlone Network, and would develop other resources as needed. We intend for this new church to be complementary to the ministry and mission of LCMC.

The new Lutheran church body and the free-standing Lutheran CORE synod would cooperate closely in ministry and mission. Special attention will be given to the calling and mobility process, resources for ministry, local and global missions, and strengthening a sense of community and witness to the Gospel. The new Lutheran church body and the free-standing synod will also seek to develop close relationships with other Lutheran churches and entities - particularly with LCMC, and also with others including the ELCA, the ELCIC, and the LCMS.

One thing we want to lift up clearly. We are seeking to do something that has proven difficult in other denominations: maintain tangible unity and organic relationships between those who leave and those who stay in the ELCA. For this reason we are forming both a new church body and a free-standing synod, and both are essential to our vision of continued fellowship and common ministry. Please join us in making a commitment to this important goal.


We have asked our Vision and Planning Working Group to develop narrative designs for the new Lutheran church and for the continuation of Lutheran CORE's ministry as a free-standing synod. Those designs will be published for review and comment in February 2010. After that, constitution task forces will prepare a constitution for the new church, as well as constitutional amendments necessary to implement the free-standing synod, for adoption at the 2010 Convocation of Lutheran CORE on August 26-27 in Columbus, OH.

In all that we do, we remain in prayer and seek to discern the will of God. Likewise please keep us and the members of the Vision and Planning team in your prayers. That team includes retired Bishops Paull Spring and Ron Warren, Pastors David Glesne, Dan Selbo, Michael Tavella and Cathi Braasch, Mrs. Carolyn Nestingen and Mr. Ryan Schwarz. Please feel free to reach out to any of them, or any of us, with your thoughts and suggestions. Contact information is available on our website, www.lutherancore.org.

We grieve that it has become necessary for so many to leave the ELCA and for so many others to alter their relationship with the ELCA, but we are heartened by the clear sense of mission and ministry that is motivating these changes. As we move forward, let us walk humbly as we seek to follow the path that God has in store for us.

In His service,

The Lutheran CORE Steering Committee

"Faithful Voices" - A Call to Faithfulness Conference

“Cry loudly, do not hold back; raise your voice like a trumpet, and declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.” Isaiah 58:1 

“Faithful Voices” 
A Call to Faithfulness Conference 

9:30am – 3:00pm November 21, 2009 

St. Peter Lutheran Church, 324 E. Traer St. Greene, IA 

Keynote Address: Rev. Cori Johnson 

Pastor Johnson is 2003 graduate of Luther Seminary, St. Paul. She served her internship in Cherokee, Iowa. Her first call was Palmer Suomi Lutheran Parish near Negaunee, Michigan. Pastor Johnson served on the ELCA Sexuality Studies Task Force from 2007-2009 and along with Dr. Scott Suskovic and Bp. Carol Hendrix was a dissenter to the Task Force’s 2009 Report and Recommendations. This summer she served as a voting member from the Northern Great Lakes Synod to the 2009 CWA. She is among the leaders in an effort to organize a Lutheran CORE group/chapter in the Northern Great Lakes Synod. She presently lives in Crystal Falls, Michigan. 

Presentation & Discussion Topics 

“Faithful Confession” – What is Status Confessionis? Is it time? - Rev. Jason Cooper 

“Faithful Leadership” – How to remain faithful in the NE Iowa Synod? - Rev. Marshal Hahn 

“Faithful Stewardship” – How do we support the ministries of the Church? - Rev. Ken Kimball

 “Faithful Fellowship” – How do congregations/individuals join together? - Rev. Gary Hatcher 

*Pre-Registration REQUIRED by November 18: $10 per person (Includes lunch).  For more info, contact Pr. Gary Hatcher, PO Box 638, Greene, IA 50636) 

Some Advice for Those Who Are Beginning

Pastor Steven King has offered this helpful advice at the Faithful Transition blog:

Many congregations, pastors, and laity are asking how they might take some practical steps to address their concerns about the direction and decisions of the ELCA. Many have been aware for some time of the major shift that is taking place in our denomination, and how it has been moving away from the teachings of Scripture and orthodox Christian theology. Others are just beginning to learn where the denomination has been heading.

For those who are new to all that is happening, there are a few pieces of advice that you may want to consider, and some steps that might be helpful in laying the ground-work for a serious and responsible process of discernment.

Things NOT to do:

1) Do not immediately abandon your congregation, or hastily force a vote for your congregation to leave the ELCA. Those actions are only advisable after you have done the proper groundwork of education, conversation, and engagement with others. There are many things you can and should do before making that decision (see below).

2) Do not imagine or fool yourselves into thinking “if the orthodox members of the ELCA can just get organized, we can bring the ELCA back to the right track.” The truth is, many faithful and hard-working people have been organized and engaged for years within the system to affect positive change. The ELCA is beyond that point now. We have learned from the experience of other church bodies that the deterioration of the denomination will only accelerate in the next few years.

3) Do not assume that if your pastor, council, or congregation needs time for discernment and due process, it is a sign that they have “gone over to the dark side” or some such nonsense. There will be some orthodox pastors and laity who may ignore or downplay the seriousness of these issues out of a genuine sense of trying to do what is best for the congregation. Your job is to help them have the courage to be faithful and to take responsible action.

Things you SHOULD do, as a reasonable starting point:

1) Educate yourself on the issues facing the church, and the deeper problems they represent. Fundamentally, what is at stake in the present time is not simply a matter of ethics and sexuality, but the Church’s core beliefs about Scripture and the nature of the Gospel. Go to the website of the WordAlone Network (www.wordalone.org) and Lutheran CORE (www.lutherancore.org) to familiarize yourself with the many educational resources that are available there.

2) Attend area gatherings or chapter meetings of the WordAlone Network or one of the other local reform groups that are a part of Lutheran CORE. Take the time to listen to speakers. Some current meetings are posted at www.lutherancore.org/menu_call_pages/meetings.shtml.

3) Encourage your congregation to make the initial step of adopting an orthodox statement of faith, as a summary of your church’s teaching. By adopting the statement called “The Common Confession” — individuals, church councils or congregations can make a public witness to where they stand. It can be found at www.lutherancore.org/com_conf.shtml .

4) By adopting the “The Common Confession,” individuals, church councils or congregations can also express their desire to join the WordAlone Network and Lutheran CORE. A membership information form can be found at www.wordalone.net/joining.shtml.

(Note: Joining the WordAlone Network automatically makes one a member of Lutheran CORE, but not vice versa. Those who would like to affiliate with Lutheran CORE only may do so at www.lutherancore.org/menu_call_pages/joincore.shtml .)

5) Learn more about LCMC – “Lutheran Congregations for Mission in Christ” by checking out their website at www.lcmc.net . There is a lot of helpful information there about how a congregation might make a transition from the ELCA, along with responses to frequently asked questions. Also, stay informed about the development of the “free standing synod” being proposed by Lutheran CORE. Both of these may serve as options for a congregation’s future affiliation, and will be intentional about relating to one another.

For a more complete discussion of options, and for where to go after these initial steps, please refer to the document posted on the Lutheran CORE website, entitled: “What Do We Do Now?” It can be downloaded for free at: www.lutherancore.org/pdf/what-do-we-do-now.pdf

CORE Connection Newsletter for November

Here is what you can read in November's CORE Connection newsletter:

+ Lutheran CORE leaders announce timeline for work toward reconfiguration of Lutheranism - Major announcement set for Nov. 18; Proposal coming in February

+ Working groups shaping future of Lutheran CORE

+ Reform groups and congregations are joining Lutheran CORE

+ Seven Marks Society to serve evangelical catholic Lutherans

+ ‘Bound to Confess and Resist’ is WordAlone Network theological conference theme

+ Call to Faithfulness to host ‘Faithful Voices’ conference

+ Foundation provided $250,000 for efforts to change ELCA teaching and policy on marriage and homosexual behavior

+ ELCA releases draft of revised standards for pastors

+ ELCA will not allow synods to maintain traditional standards

+ ELCA proposes expedited process to reinstate gay pastors

+ Redirecting benevolences can be time for growth in mission

+ Everything I learned about the redirection of financial support, I learned from the ELCA

+ Confessional crisis created by the decisions of 2009 Assembly

Foundation provided $250,000 for efforts to change ELCA teaching and policy on marriage and homosexual behavior

A foundation dedicated to changing attitudes on homosexual behavior and bankrolled by a Michigan billionaire provided $250,000 for efforts to change ELCA teaching and policy on marriage and homosexual behavior.

The Arcus Foundation’s 2008 annual report lists a grant to Lutherans Concerned of “$200,000 over two years to organize and support a grassroots collaborative effort to change existing denominational policy at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America toward the full inclusion of LGBT people of faith.”

Arcus’ 2007 report lists a grant to Lutherans Concerned of “$50,000 to support the work of allied Lutherans at the 2007 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to end discrimination against gay clergy within the Lutheran Church.”

The efforts by Lutherans Concerned led to votes by the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to change ELCA teaching to affirm homosexual behavior and to allow pastors and other rostered leaders to be in same-sex relationships.

The Arcus Foundation was founded by Jon L. Stryker of Kalamazoo, Mich., who is the foundation’s president. Forbes magazine lists Striker as one of the “400 richest Americans.” He is the grandson of Homer Stryker, the surgeon who invented the mobile hospital bed and other medical products including cast cutters and specialty stretchers.

The foundation’s “Religion and Values Program” has “the goal of achieving long-term change in cultural attitudes and religious institutions that currently stigmatize same-gender sexual orientation and gender variance. The goals of this program are to engage with and advance greater understanding and acceptance of sexual orientation and gender variance by mainstream religious institutions and leaders, and to help create a positive shift in cultural attitudes and values toward sexuality in general and GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) issues in particular,” according to a 2007 press release announcing the program.

“In our Theory of Change strategic planning process for the Arcus LGBT Program, we identified several barriers that must be addressed in order to advance the cause of LGBT human rights and equality. Moral values based on religious or secular teachings are often raised as reasons why lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people should not have equal rights. The Arcus Foundation is therefore interested in supporting efforts that examine the beliefs and principles that these moral values are based on, and that explore ways to promote LGBT acceptance. In the area of ‘values,’ we envision that applicants may be focused on issues related to procreation, pleasure, sexual behavior, sexual identities, and family structure as well as other issues that involve cultural and religious norms and ‘morality.’ We welcome requests to support efforts that pose new paradigms and visions of morality and values that affirm and promote LGBT acceptance and LGBT realities,” the Arcus website states.

“The goal of the Religion & Values Program is to achieve LGBT moral equality.” The Lutherans Concerned grant was the program’s third largest grant for 2008.

The program list three funding goals:

● “Achieving policy change within religious denominations (e.g., Episcopal, Methodist, Lutheran) in the United States and globally.”

● “Influencing leaders and leadership structures in denominations where the potential for significant impact exists, e.g., Catholicism, the Baptist movement and Islam.”

● “Creating an effective pro-LGBT faith-based movement.”

The Arcus Foundation’s website highlights the 2009 ELCA votes to change church teaching and policy as one of its achievements:

“A little more than a month after the Episcopal Church affirmed ordination processes inclusive of LGBT people and the blessing of same-sex unions, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America passed its ‘Social Statement on Human Sexuality,’ and eliminated the ban against ministers in same-gender relationships. The Arcus Foundation believes in the full inclusion of LGBT people within religious communities is a core social justice issue and applaud the actions of the Evangelical Lutheran and Episcopal Churches. This is an extraordinary moment for those who have worked tirelessly on behalf of the LGBT faithful.”

“The mission of the Arcus Foundation is to achieve social justice that is inclusive of sexual orientation, gender identity and race, and to ensure conservation and respect of the great apes.” The Arcus Foundation provided $50 million in grants through its LGBT programs and $40 million through its “Great Apes Program” from 2000-2008.

ELCA will not allow synods to maintain traditional standards

ELCA synods will not have the option of upholding traditional Christian teaching on marriage and homosexuality in their standards for pastors and other rostered leaders according to a draft of candidacy rules released Oct. 10 by the ELCA churchwide organization.

No synod or bishop may make decisions on ministry standards that differ from the new policies of the ELCA churchwide organization as defined by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, the policy draft explains. The ELCA now allows pastors and other rostered leaders to be in committed same-sex relationships.

“By the governing documents, all candidacy and call decisions are made on an individual basis, thus no body can make a blanket statement ofapproval or disapproval for a group of
candidates. Nor can a body alter the policies which this church has accepted. However, a decision making body may express its general understanding of what will best serve the mission of Christ in the places and times for which they have decision making responsibility. No body can restrict the authority given to another by the governing documents. Thus, for example, a synod council cannot bind a synod call committee nor can a synod bind its congregations, but any of these entities may express convictions and preferences to the others,” the draft states.

The only option for a synod candidacy committee that wishes to uphold traditional standards for sexuality is to transfer a candidate to another ELCA synod.“There is local option on same-sex blessings — no congregation is to be forced to perform them (that is what the Assembly adopted; we will have to see how it develops). But ordination policy as proposed is, so far as I can see, tolerance as long as one does not obstruct. A synod could urge partnered gay and lesbian candidates to go somewhere else, but it could not outright refuse them,” the Rev. Dr. Michael Root of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary wrote on the “Lutherans Persisting” blog.

The proposed standards suggest that those who believe in biblical standards for sexuality resign from synod candidacy committees: “Individuals who have a share in discernment and decision-making responsibility need to decide whether they can function in that role under the new policies.”

Professor Root and those participating in the discussion at Lutherans Persisting have traced the way the decisions on allowing pastors and other rostered leaders to be in same-sex relationships were transformed from the local option proposed by the Sexuality Task Force to indisputable change in ELCA policy by the ELCA Church Council.