May 20, 2010

CHICAGO – A group of Lutherans in Galena, Ill., worships at a local hotel. Another group in Elk River, Minn., worships at an elementary school. Although in separate locations, both groups have something in common – they left their primary congregations to start new congregations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Members of Central Lutheran Church in Elk River, Minn., voted earlier this year to terminate their relationship with the ELCA, but some members there sought to remain in the ELCA and have started their own worshiping community.

"For now we're called Elk River Lutheran. We may undergo a name change, but we had to do something quickly. People started leaving Central," said Richard Spyhalski, president of Elk River Lutheran's steering committee.

The ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission program unit affirmed Elk River Lutheran as an ELCA "new start" in March 2010.

"Elk River is a congregation under development," said the Rev. Susan E. Tjornehoi, director for evangelical mission, ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod.

Tjornehoi said the members of Elk River are passionate about their mission and ministry. "They've gone from no place to bursting at the seams. The depth of their joy, tears of happiness and being the people of God has freed them to gather in community, (engage) in ministry and identify with the ELCA."

Elk River Lutheran "intends to be a full-service ELCA congregation," said Spyhalski. "Right off the top" members of the community committed 10 percent of Elk River's budget to support ELCA ministries, said Spyhalski. "We are very brand-loyal."

Spyhalski said he joined Central Lutheran in 2007 and became disenchanted with the congregation. "Central had stopped certain ministries like Sunday school, and/or started doing other things, which had caused people to leave the congregation," he said.

"The final straw for me was the congregation's response to the decisions of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly," said Spyhalski.

The assembly adopted a social statement on human sexuality and called for revisions to ministry policy documents, making it possible for eligible Lutherans in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA clergy and professional lay leaders. The ELCA Church Council adopted the revisions to ministry policy documents April 10.

To date less than 2 percent of the ELCA's 10,396 congregations have officially left the denomination, primarily as a result of the assembly's actions.

Central ended its affiliation with the ELCA when it joined Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) in January.

Members of Central voted in 2001 to redirect 90 percent of their benevolence away from the ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod and ELCA churchwide organization as a protest to "Called to Common Mission" – the full communion agreement between the ELCA and the Episcopal Church. Also that year the congregation joined WordAlone, a non-profit, Minnesota-based organization.

"The actions of the (2009 ELCA) assembly were the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back," said the Rev. Paul S. Johansson, a pastor of Central Lutheran. Members of Central wanted ELCA ministry policies to remain unchanged.

Members of the new Elk River are "a good group of people, who were ideologically opposed to the will of the majority of Central Lutheran," said Johansson, adding that members of Central collected an offering to support Elk River Lutheran.

"We are trying to care for the people remaining firm with the ELCA," said the Rev. Craig E. Johnson, bishop, ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod.

For participants of Elk River Lutheran, "this is the last thing they want to do, start a new church, because of the hard work they have done in supporting their local congregation," said Johnson. "It is a sad story. There is new life but a lot pain behind it. These are very courageous people who are very excited about their new church."

Elk River Lutheran "wants to be a welcoming congregation," said Spyhalski. "Participants enjoy worship because it is joyous," he said, adding that participation has grown from 85 worship participants to more than 280 on Easter Sunday.

The same is true for members of Lord of Love Lutheran, a worshiping community in Galena, Ill.

"We want to be a welcoming congregation," said Nancy Peterson, president of Lord of Love's steering committee. "We're developing ministries to reach out to people who are not churched, people who've become disenfranchised with the church," she said. "We want to be a welcoming congregation, and we are not trying to be anything more than that."

ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission affirmed Lord of Love as an ELCA new start in March 2010.

Lord of Love formed this past fall when a group of members from St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Galena, left over differences and the possibility that the congregation would leave the ELCA, according to Peterson.

St. Matthew still remains a congregation of the ELCA.

The potential for leaving the ELCA was an issue for some of us, said Peterson. "This caused a rift in the congregation, and a group of us left St. Matthew," she said.

Lord of Love "has become much more engaged with the mission and ministry of the ELCA, which was not true as members of St. Matthew. As members of St. Matthew, we heard very little about the ministry of the larger church," said Peterson.

"We, as (Lord of Love) worshiping community, want to be more aligned with the ELCA in all of its love and ministry," she said.

The Rev. Frederick W. E. Baltz, pastor of St. Matthew, called the departure of members who left "ironic, because some of those who left said that St. Matthew was welcoming. We believe we are welcoming, and we always had been." Baltz once served as vice-chair of WordAlone's board of directors.

The membership of St. Matthew is growing, said Baltz. "Some of our prospective members have said that we are welcoming, particularly the gay and lesbian community. We believe that the Bible has things to say about lifestyle and what God approves. We are welcoming of all people, although we wouldn't say that we approve of all lifestyles," he said.

"Our congregation has not taken a formal vote to leave the ELCA," said Baltz. "We had small group discussions after the assembly, and the result of those was that the consensus was that we would take no action to leave the ELCA at this time."

There are five synodically-authorized worshipping communities in the ELCA Northern Illinois Synod, said the Rev. Gary M. Wollersheim, bishop of the synod. Worshiping communities are authorized by ELCA synods to respond to the need for a local Lutheran worship opportunity.

"Our synod council set a goal to be supportive of those who want to stay in the ELCA while their congregations are in the process of leaving," he said.

Establishing a worshiping community is one way to provide a place for Lutherans who want to remain in the church, said Wollersheim. A worshiping community "provides them an opportunity for worship, prayer and mutual support as they determine what God is calling them to do and be in the future," he said. Some of the worshiping communities may become "new missions starts, which is very exciting."

Wollersheim said Lord of Love is "very committed to being a hospitable and welcoming community for all." He said about half of the worshiping community comes not only from St. Matthew but from the neighborhood, particularly people who have not participated in church, and gay and lesbian neighbors who have been not active in a church.

Wollersheim said that worship attendance in synodically-authorized worshiping communities average between 40 and 60 participants every Sunday, and they worship anywhere from a factory lunchroom to a hotel, a school or in a home.

Information about the ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod is at http://www.mpls-synod.org/, and the ELCA Northern Illinois Synod at http://www.nisynod.org/, on the Web. Information about ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Ministries is at http://www.ELCA.org/eocm/, on the ELCA Web site.

ELCA News Service