Neither the conservative nor liberal wing of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is happy with a proposed statement that would change the way the church treats gay pastors.
Released Feb. 19 by an ELCA task force, the "Proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality" and related "Rostering Recommendations" admit there is no consensus about how the Lutheran church should treat its gay members and pastors.
The 20-page document recommends allowing churches and synods to make their own decisions on non-celibate gay pastors, a change from the current ban.
But the document does not call for rites for blessing gay unions, nor does it call for the re-rostering of defrocked gay pastors like Atlanta’s Rev. Bradley Schmeling.
Schmeling was the first gay pastor to be defrocked after losing an ecclesiastical trial because he was openly living with another man. Although St. John's Lutheran Church knew Schmeling was gay and in a committed relationship when he was called as pastor, then-Southeastern Synod Bishop Ron Warren deemed he was violating church rules.
Warren won the trial and Schmeling was defrocked, which means in the eyes of the Lutheran Church he is no longer a pastor. Still, St. John's retained him as pastor and Schmeling's church is one of only two Lutheran churches in Atlanta that grew in size during 2008.
While Schmeling is encouraged by parts of the proposed statement on human sexuality, and the referendum, he believes if it were enacted as is, it would damage the church.
“What we need is a clear decision from the church to confirm pastors who are in longterm monogamous relationships,” Schmeling said. “I think some people see this as a step in the right direction, but I see this as a step to a more divided church."
As written, the policy would allow synods to decide if coupled gays could serve as pastors, and allow churches within affirming synods to opt out of having a gay pastor. Churches in synods that decide not to affirm gay pastors would not be allowed call gay pastors against the wishes of their bishop.
“If this policy had been in place [during the 2007] trial, then nothing would have changed for me or St. John's,” Schmeling noted.
Phil Soucy, a spokesman for Lutherans Concerned, said the group would attempt to amend the policy before the church-wide assemblythis August in Minneapolis. Lutherans Concerned, an organization that supports full GLBT inclusion, wishes to give local churches more control, create an accelerated process for pastors like Schmeling to be re-rostered and make the statement more gay inclusive.
“It’s a step along the way; it’s a draft in motion,” Soucy said.
The draft will go through several steps before appearing as legislation on the floor of the 2009 annual Lutheran convention, where delegates from synods across the church vote on church policy. Legislation seeking to address coupled gay pastors has appeared at every national assembly for the past 10 years, and has failed each time.
Unlike the Catholic Church, the Lutheran church does not have one unified leader. The ELCA congregations determine church policy and beliefs and have struggled with gay issues for the past 30 years. While the human sexuality statement seeks to allow greater recognition of gay couples and gay pastors, it does not address the fundamental question of whether or not homosexuality is a sin.
When the ELCA came out with its first human sexuality statement in 1993, it affirmed the church policy that gays could be pastors so long as they remained celibate. That task force was also unable to find consensus, with Dr. Larry Yoder, chair of religious studies at Lenoir Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C., as the lone dissenting voice. At the time he felt that statement was too liberal.
“I am in no greater favor of altering the church’s teachings than I was 16 years ago,” Yoder said this week. “I think the case has been made been an emotional case, because there is no case that can be made in the scriptures.”
Yoder casts a long shadow in the Lutheran Church and is one of the more influential conservative voices in the ELCA.
Pastor Paull Spring is chair of Lutheran Coalition for Reform (CORE) in State College, Penn. His group will oppose changing the human sexuality statement and any legislation aimed at increasing the role of coupled gay pastors.
“This is the one that really is the killer, this is the one that will make it or break it,” Spring said. “On a frustrating note we’ve been dealing with this issue for 10 years, and each time we think it will be the last time, but every two years, here it comes again.”
Spring disagrees with the notion that is no consensus, pointing out the rejection of prior bills and their own polling that shows 60 percent of the church does not support non-celibate gay clergy. He fears if this statement is passed, there could be a great falling away among ELCA congregations.
“We’re not leading that, we’re not supporting that,” Spring said. “We’re asking people to stay within the ELCA … that’s not our position at all.”
Both sides find some of the same flaws with the proposal. Schmeling and Spring believe the church cannot be healthy if it has different rules and different beliefs in different parts of the country. But they cannot agree on a solution. Lutheran CORE wants to uphold current policy, where Schmeling needs to see a more welcoming statement.
"I think the solution is to call for a clear affirmation from the ELCA, I think a flexible structure won’t help the church, it will only divide us,” he said.
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