November 19, 2004

CHICAGO - In 2005 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is to consider whether or not the church should bless same-gender relationships and whether or not it should allow people in such relationships to serve the church as professional lay and ordained ministers. At its last scheduled meeting of 2004 the ELCA Church Council heard updates on a churchwide study of the issues, participated in the study and acknowledged the process and timeline for a task force report related to the study.

The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met here Nov. 11-15. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 8-14, 2005, in Orlando, Fla.

A 14-member ELCA Task Force for Studies on Sexuality is developing a report to the 2005 Churchwide Assembly and recommendations on how to answer the questions on homosexuality. The report and recommendations are to become public on Jan. 13.

The recommendations will be open to a number of reviews until the Orlando assembly votes on them.

The council decided the churchwide assembly votes will require approval by two-thirds of the assembly's more than 1,000 voting members to pass, said Carlos PeÒa, vice president of the ELCA and chair of the Church Council, Galveston, Texas.

"There were those who felt that maybe it just needed a simple majority, that we were actually changing the rules of procedure in anticipation of the task force report," PeÒa said.

The council considered the margin of votes required for major decisions previously, including those made in churches that formed the ELCA in 1988, PeÒa said. It also considered the impact these recommendations could have on changing church governing documents, he said.

PeÒa said it was important for the council to set the assembly's rules of procedure before seeing the report and recommendations of the task force for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality. "It allows us not to be swayed one way or the other by what the task force reports," he said. "It makes it more neutral."

Ellen T. Maxon, council member, Chelan, Wash., said that making the decision while the task force is still working on its report and recommendations may influence its work. "This recommendation is not neutral," she said.

Grieg L. Anderson, council member, Portland, Ore., said that, if the council made its decision while looking at the task force report and recommendations, it would appear that "we were putting our thumb on the scale" - deciding on the margin of vote needed based on how much the council liked or disliked the recommendations.

In the closing minutes of the council meeting, Maxon said, "We are a divided church that has chosen to stand with those inside the circle again," making it more difficult to change current policy than to keep it. "If you think that yesterday's (Nov. 13) action did not signal where the council stands, you're only fooling yourself," she said.

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, told the council that the decision reflected the tension within which it operates - wanting to speak prophetically to church and society, while wanting to lead the whole church responsibly with every action it takes.

During the first plenary session of the 2005 Churchwide Assembly, voting members of the assembly will vote to accept the rules of procedure. They have the ability to amend the rules before approving them.

Council Participates in Churchwide Study on Sexuality

The Rev. James M. Childs Jr., director, ELCA Studies on Sexuality, used materials the task force developed, "Journey Together Faithfully: Part Two," to lead council members through the study in two closed small-group sessions. Members returned to an open plenary session to discuss the study.

Hanson opened the plenary session by saying the discussion was not meant to pre-empt the work of the task force, as though it was signaling how the task force should think.

Several council members reported on the general conversation in their small groups. Some expressed the concern that the church may be put in the position of creating "us" and "them" factions. Some wondered what messages the ELCA would be sending to the larger Christian community and to the larger world community.

The Rev. Kevin S. Kanouse, bishop of the ELCA Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod, Dallas, said the study materials cited Bible verses often used by those who interpret them literally to condemn homosexuality. He said there were no biblical quotes more often used by those who interpret Scripture based on Christ's "gospel mission" to include all people.

In a related action, the council voted "to express thanks to the members, congregations, synods and partners of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who have engaged in study, dialogue and discernment as part of the Studies on Sexuality and to the thousands of individuals and groups who provided response to "Journey Together Faithfully: Part Two" by the Oct. 31, 2004, deadline."

Council Hears Updates on Churchwide Study on Sexuality

The council also received a report from Childs on task force activities since his last report to the council's April 2004 meeting.

Childs said the task force met in October and "began deliberating and testing where we are." The task force was mindful that it was still receiving responses to the study materials, he said, but it was also aware of its need to produce a report and recommendations in three months. Childs reported that more than 28,000 responses were sent to the ELCA by the Oct. 31 deadline.

"After laying out a variety of ideas and concerns, the director was asked to work with a consulting group of task force members to do some preliminary drafting," Childs said.

The council voted "to acknowledge the process and timeline for the 'Report and Recommendations' of the task force for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality as this church prepares for the 2005 ELCA Churchwide Assembly" and "to anticipate and welcome comments and responses throughout this process, particularly from synod councils prior to the April 2005 Church Council meeting."

The task force report and recommendations will be embargoed until noon (EST) on Jan. 13, 2005. ELCA leaders will receive a confidential preview of the report and recommendations at noon (EST) on Jan. 12, 2005.

The Jan. 13 public release of the report and recommendations will coincide with a news conference here with Childs and the Rev. Margaret G. Payne, task force chair and bishop of the ELCA New England Synod, Worcester, Mass.

The ELCA's 10,657 congregations may study the report and recommendations January through March, with responses directed to synod councils and synod assemblies. The ELCA Conference of Bishops is expected to discuss the report and recommendations when it meets March 3-8 in Dallas.

The boards of the ELCA Division for Church and Society and the ELCA Division for Ministry will meet here March 10-13. They are expected to review the task force report and recommendations and forward them to the council with any additional comments from the boards.

The council will meet here April 8-11. It is to receive the task force report and recommendations with any additional board comments and to transmit the report and recommendations to the 2005 Churchwide Assembly. The council is to prepare a resolution for the assembly action on the recommendations.

From April through June the ELCA's 65 synods meet separately in synod assemblies. They may discuss the report and recommendations and address the 2005 Churchwide Assembly through resolutions called "memorials." The churchwide assembly will receive the report and recommendations, and it will consider the council's resolution, synod memorials and other related resolutions from voting members of the assembly.

ELCA News Service