September 17, 2010

CHICAGO – Three pastors with historic ties to the struggle for inclusiveness in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will be welcomed for the first time to the church's clergy roster when they participate in the church's "Rite of Reception" Sept. 18.

The Rev. Anita C. Hill, the Rev. Phyllis Zillhart and the Rev. Ruth Frost will be received at a worship service at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, St. Paul, Minn. All were part of well-known "extraordinary" ordinations and have been on the clergy roster of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, Chicago.

Frost, Hill and Zillhart became eligible for reception onto the ELCA clergy roster this year. In 2009 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly directed that ELCA clergy policies be amended to make it possible for qualified candidates living in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA clergy and other professional church workers. In April the ELCA Church Council adopted new ministry policies and approved the Rite of Reception.

The Rev. Peter Rogness, bishop of the ELCA Saint Paul (Minn.) Area Synod, will preside and the Rev. Barbara Lundblad, Union Theological Seminary, New York, will preach.

Among the other church leaders expected to participate in the service are the Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom, Green Valley, Ariz., former ELCA presiding bishop; the Rev. Lowell O. Erdahl, Roseville, Minn., former bishop of the ELCA Saint Paul Area Synod and a leader at Hill's ordination in 2001; and the Rev. Craig Johnson, bishop of the ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod.

Rogness told the ELCA News Service he looks forward to the service "with positive anticipation" and said people who know the three pastors respect them.

"They've sought consistently to cast all of these matters not as win-lose propositions, or one faction of the church doing battle with another faction of the church," he said. "They will consistently talk about this as a yearning for the church to open its doors."

The event signals an openness in the church, especially for younger people and others who may stand outside the faith, Rogness said. It's also an occasion for people who favor the policy changes and have shown sensitivity and restraint toward those who disagree, to celebrate and rejoice, he added.

Frost and Zillhart were ordained and called by St. Francis Lutheran Church, San Francisco, in 1990. Because they were not approved for ordination by the ELCA, St. Francis was suspended from the ELCA for five years and eventually expelled. The congregation became an independent Lutheran congregation, and Frost and Zillhart continued to serve there for 15 years.

At the same time as Frost and Zillhart's ordinations, First United Lutheran Church, San Francisco, ordained the Rev. Jeff Johnson, who was not approved for ordination by the ELCA. That congregation was also suspended and eventually expelled from the ELCA. Johnson was received by the ELCA July 25 in a Rite of Reception.

During those years in San Francisco, Frost and Zillhart ministered to many people affected by grief and loss because of AIDS. "A lot of our ministry was disarming the power of religious abuse," Frost said in an interview. "Our message was that it was vital to integrate sexuality and spirituality in order to be whole."

Frost, who has served nearly five years as a chaplain with Hospice of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis, said she looks forward to being received by the ELCA and connected to a wider body of Christians.

"It's an honoring of many years' service that has gone unrecognized prior to this year," Frost said. "By extension it is honoring the gifts of the gay and lesbian people in ministry everywhere – those who have served invisibly and those who had to leave the ELCA."

Tomorrow's receptions are more than the pastors' individual receptions in the life of the church, Frost said. "It is symbolic of a wider welcome," she said.

For the past two years Zillhart has been serving as a chaplain at Fairview Home Care and Hospice, Minneapolis.

Zillhart said the Rite of Reception, "feels good … like a homecoming."

"I always knew that it would happen eventually," she said. "Once hope, visibility and justice comes out of the box, there's no putting it back in. I didn't know I would see it in my lifetime. I didn't know it would be coming around for me."

Of special significance to Frost and Zillhart is that some members of St. Francis will make the trip to Minneapolis for the event.

"It feels important to me that we're not doing this as individuals," she said. "A congregation was taking a big chance, a bold step back in 1990. It will be good to have them there."

Zillhart also reflected on the significance of being received by the ELCA at the same time as Hill. Hill was present when Frost and Zillhart were ordained in 1990, and placed a stole on Frost. They, too, were present when Hill was ordained.

Since 1994 Hill has served at St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn. She was ordained at the same place as this weekend's Rite of Reception service. St. Paul-Reformation was censured for calling and ordaining her.

"It is exciting and fulfilling that this ‘regularizing' is going to take place," she said. in an interview. "I see it as a confirmation and validation of the vision of the congregation that started a ministry called ‘Wingspan' in 1983." Hill said St. Paul-Reformation worked to change the ELCA's ministry policies, but said that there is still more work to be done for people who are gay or lesbian, and in other areas of justice.

Hill sees this weekend's event as a rite for the congregation she serves and the efforts members made that led to policy changes. "This rite is for all the people who paid their way to churchwide assemblies, who visited their bishops to tell their stories, and the 16 members who stood in the front of the plenary hall at the churchwide assembly in Orlando," Hill said. "It's not an issue. It's about people and their lives."

Well aware that some in the ELCA and others who have left do not agree with the church's decisions in 2009, Hill said she hopes for opportunities to converse with people who have questions and doubts.

"The experience of St. Paul-Reformation welcoming GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) people is that the church can grow and thrive, and be about mission beyond its walls. Every kind of Christian can work together. Reconciliation is what Christ has brought us," she said.

St. Paul-Reformation announced it will broadcast the Sept. 18 worship service live at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time at http://www.stpaulref.org/, on the Web.

ELCA News Service