March 3, 2005

CHICAGO – Seventeen theologians of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) issued "A Statement of Pastoral and Theological Concern" March 1, warning their church against accepting three recommendations on homosexuality that a task force for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality developed for the 2005 Churchwide Assembly in August.

"We urge that all three recommendations of the task force be rejected since, if adopted, they would alter fundamentally the ecclesiology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and that, in turn, would threaten not only the unity and stability of this church but, as a consequence, its ability to proclaim the truth of the gospel," the theologians said.

On Jan. 13 the task force released a report on its first three years of work. The report included three recommendations for the assembly to consider in August, when it is expected to answer two key questions on homosexuality: Should the church bless same-gender relationships? Should the church allow people in such relationships to serve the church as professional lay and ordained ministers?

After the recommendations became public, several Lutheran theologians began sharing their impressions of the report with each other by e-mail, said the Rev. Karl P. Donfried, professor of religion and biblical literature, Smith College, Northampton, Mass. The exchange continued until the statement was drafted, he said. Seventeen of the participants signed on to the statement by March 1, Donfried added.

The task force recommended that the ELCA: + concentrate on finding ways to live together faithfully in the midst of disagreements + continue to respect the pastoral guidance of a 1993 statement of the ELCA Conference of Bishops opposing the blessing of homosexual relationships but remaining open to pastors wanting to provide pastoral care for gay and lesbian Lutherans + continue under current standards that expect unmarried ministers to abstain from sexual relations – defining marriage as being between a man and a woman – but respecting the consciences of those who find these standards in conflict with the mission of the church, the ELCA may choose to refrain from disciplining gay and lesbian ministers in committed relationships and from disciplining those who call or approve partnered gay or lesbian people for ministry.

"Based on our careful review of the report and its recommendations, we maintain that the third and primary recommendation of the task force, contrary to its stated intention, threatens to destabilize the unity and constitution, as well as the historical, biblical, and confessional teachings and practice of this church," the theologians said.

"Further, this final proposal places the first two, although in principle containing some assertions that are indeed admirable and commendable, into an interpretative context that makes them objectionable as well," they said.

The theologians said "the most conspicuous logical inconsistency" in the report is that it said it is recommending "no change in policy" while it advocates a fundamental shift in policy – asking the church to refrain from disciplining those who act contrary to policy.

"The task force proposes that permission for such activities be granted on the basis of ‘conscience' and a ‘pastoral approach' in lieu of the traditional criteria employed by this church. This proposal, in our view, suffers from several flaws," they said.

The statement addressed the recommendations on matters of conscience, pastoral care and ecclesiology – theological doctrine relating to the church.

The task force said the ELCA should "trust congregations, synods, candidacy committees and bishops to discern the Holy Spirit's gifts for ministry among the baptized and make judgments appropriate to each situation." The theologians said the New Testament's "criterion for the discernment of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is a broadly based, ecclesial determination and not an individual, local preference."

The theologians said if the third recommendation was implemented the ELCA "would abdicate its theological and moral constitutional responsibility by relegating the decisions for which it alone is responsible to regional and local components." Such an action would jeopardize the church's voice "in matters of doctrinal and ethical substance" so that it could no longer address other churches in the Lutheran World Federation or other churches that it engages in ecumenical dialogue, they said.

In addition to "structural dissolution of the ELCA," the theologians said implementing the third recommendation would create "intense division and disunity" at the church's more local expressions.

"The task force imposes a subjective understanding of ‘conscience,' one bound only by private judgment, upon Scripture and Luther, thus misrepresenting both. Whenever conscience severs itself from faith in Christ and fidelity to the Word it is no longer conscience in the true sense," the statement said.

The theologians cited the New Testament, where St. Paul dealt with "weak consciences" influenced by "social pressures and alien ideologies," and Martin Luther, who said an "erring conscience" responds to selfish desires resulting from weakness in faith.

On pastoral care the theologians said the Bible always holds pastors to a standard of sound teaching "governed by that which is righteous and holy in the eyes of God." The statement said "pastoral concern" cannot be employed to discern "the correctness of actions or behavior."

"In listening to the contemporary ‘voices of the baptized children of God' we cannot and must not disregard the voices of the church universal over the past two millennia; Scripture can never address us independently from that communal history," the statement said.

Seventeen Lutheran theologians signed the statement:

• Dr. Robert Benne, director, Center for Religion and Society, Roanoke College, Salem, Va.

• The Rev. Carl E. Braaten, retired professor of systematic theology, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

• The Rev. James R. Crumley Jr., presiding bishop of the former Lutheran Church in America

• The Rev. Karl P. Donfried, professor of religion and biblical literature, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

• Dr. Jean Bethke Elshtain, professor of social and political ethics, Divinity School and Department of Political Science, University of Chicago

• The Rev. Gerhard O. Forde, retired professor of systematic theology, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.

• Dr. George W. Forell, retired professor of religion, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

• The Rev. Roy A. Harrisville, retired professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.

• Dr. Hans J. Hillerbrand, professor of religion, Duke University, Durham, N.C.

• The Rev. Robert W. Jenson, senior scholar for research, Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, N.J.

• The Rev. Marc Kolden, professor of systematic theology, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.

• The Rev. William H. Lazareth, former bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod

• The Rev. James A. Nestingen, professor of church history, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.

• Dr. Michael J. Root, ELCA associate in ministry, dean and professor of systematic theology, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.

• The Rev. William G. Rusch, director, Foundation for a Conference on Faith and Order, New York

• The Rev. Walter F. Taylor Jr., professor of New Testament studies and director of graduate studies, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio

• Dr. David S. Yeago, professor of systematic theology, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.

ELCA News Service