September 9, 2009

CHICAGO – The Rev. Bradley E. Schmeling has been receiving letters and stories of Lutherans returning to church after many years away, given actions taken at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in August.

"Even my own partner's sister's family intends to return to an ELCA congregation after many years of worship in other denominations," Schmeling said. "People write to me about their experiences with church issues. (They) know my name because of the trial a couple of years ago."

In 2007 Schmeling was removed from the ELCA clergy roster for being in a committed, same-gender relationship while serving as pastor of St. John Lutheran Church, Atlanta. A disciplinary committee ruled that Schmeling was in violation of an ELCA policy regarding the sexual conduct of pastors. ELCA ministry documents state that "ordained ministers who are homosexual in their self-understanding are expected to abstain from homosexual sexual relationships."

Schmeling's case gained significant attention across the church and in the news media.

Voting members at the 2009 assembly approved a series of proposals to change the denomination's ministry policies, including a policy to allow Lutherans in lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, clergy, deaconesses and diaconal ministers. The ELCA churchwide organization is working on revising the ministry policies to reflect the assembly's actions, a process that may take several months.

"I hope the story of people returning to the church gets told," Schmeling said. "We hear a lot about those who are in pain because of the changes and talk about leaving" the church.

Schmeling said he understands how it feels to be on a side where the church moves in a direction "that you don't want to see it go. But I continued to participate in the church for all these years. It's important for us to figure this out together. When St. John was going through the trial experience and thought there could be disciplinary action against the congregation for keeping me as their pastor, we chose to increase our benevolence as a way of making clear our commitment to participating in the ELCA, even though it was acting against us and our ministry at the time," Schmeling said.

"I'm not saying that it was easy. It was hard, and people had questions about increasing our funding, but in the end it was about faith" and "connecting with the different ministries of the ELCA that we felt enthusiastic about," he said.

Given the number of ELCA members who disagree with the assembly's actions, Schmeling said he remains hopeful about the future of the ELCA.

"I understand that we'll enter a difficult period in the church, discerning how to move forward through these changes. I know there are many people who feel hurt. But I feel that, in the end, it will strengthen the church. Since the founding of the ELCA we have struggled with this issue and have used an enormous amount of energy and resources discerning our pathway through this. Now that we've made a decision, we can move on," he said.

As the ELCA begins its work to modify ministry documents to reflect the assembly's actions, Schmeling will continue to serve as pastor of St. John. His partner, the Rev. Darin Easler, may seek reinstatement on the ELCA clergy roster. Since being dropped from the roster, Easler transferred to the United Church of Christ working in hospice care as a bereavement coordinator.

Schmeling began his ministry with St. John in 2000. Although single at the time, Schmeling told the congregation about his sexual orientation from the very beginning. "It never stood as a barrier to my ministry with the congregation," he said. Five years later, he met Easler and the congregation "threw us a party."

Schmeling reported the relationship to the ELCA Southeastern Synod, Atlanta. The synod's bishop at the time, the Rev. Ronald B. Warren, filed charges against Schmeling. Warren said the decision to file charges was difficult because of his respect for Schmeling and the congregation.

Schmeling said one of the most powerful moments for him at the churchwide assembly, when votes about changing ministry policies had passed, is "when Darin turned to me and said: ‘Now I can come home.'"

A "Brief Summary of Actions" about the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly is at http://www.elca.org/summary/assembly/, on the ELCA Web site.

Information about St. John Lutheran Church is at http://www.stjohnsatlanta.org/, on the Web.

ELCA News Service