More Equality: On April 3, the Supreme Court of the State of Iowa ruled unanimously that the Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violated the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution. The ruling will take effect upon "issuance of procedendo" which should occur in 21 days. Iowa will become the third state (following Connecticut and Massachusetts) to allow same-sex couples to marry. (Same-sex marriages in California have been an on-again/off-again affair and are currently disallowed pending the results of a legal challenge to the Prop. 8 ballot initiative.)
The 69-page decision reads in part:
We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective. The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification...
[T]he language in Iowa Code section 595.2 limiting civil marriage to a man and a woman must be stricken from the statute, and the remaining statutory language must be interpreted and applied in a manner allowing gay and lesbian people full access to the institution of civil marriage.

Unanimously We Are Not of One Mind: Our eyewitness news team approached the ELCA Church Council meeting in Chicago on March 28-30 with more than a little trepidation. The proposed social statement on human sexuality and the accompanying recommendations for rostering of clergy in same-sex relationships are hot-button issues for many in the ELCA. The ELCA Task Force for Studies on Sexuality had released its final report with a disclaimer:
The hope of finding a clear path to full consensus among us on what was most controversial has not been realized.
How would the Church Council respond to the absence of consensus?
Before addressing either the social statement or the rostering proposals, however, the Church Council took up memorials from 18 synods regarding the procedural recommendations for the 2009 Churchwide Assembly made by the council in November, 2008. In November the council voted down proposals that a super-majority (two-thirds or greater) be the standard for adopting recommendations and resolutions related to the human sexuality social statement.
In the interim, 18 synod councils submitted resolutions in response to this decision: 15 synods urged the council to consider again recommending a "super-majority" standard; 3 synods endorsed the council's earlier rejection of super-majority.
Our reporters say that debate on the issue centered on fairness: Was it fair to change the rules now that the task force had published its findings? What did it mean that 47 synods had not responded?
The council finally rejected the super-majority proposal (10 in favor; 21 against; 2 abstentions).
That vote, however, was the furthest the council ventured from unanimity.
After introductory remarks, a brief Q & A, and a 30-minute closed session "committee of the whole", the council voted to recommend the proposed social statement to the Churchwide Assembly. Our reporter indicated that there were no dissenting votes.
On Sunday, March 29 the council took up the rostering proposals for clergy in publicly accountable life-long monogamous, same-gender relationships. The chair denied a proposal that an abbreviation be used for "publicly accountable life-long monogamous, same-gender relationships" in the debate and so the full 20 syllable phrase was used throughout the discussion.
A 30-minute closed-session committee of the whole was followed by an open-session committee of the whole discussion. In the open session, by far the longest discussion concerned the third resolution (regarding the church's commitment to honor the bound conscience of the neighbor). When the committee of the whole ended, minor amendments to clarify two of the resolutions were adopted and the council then voted with minimal dissent, or perhaps

virtual unanimity, to transmit the recommendations to the Churchwide Assembly.

The Odd Couple: Also at the Spring meeting of the ELCA Church Council (March 28-30), one of our far-flung reporters observed that Pr. Mark Chavez, Director of Lutheran CORE and Dr. Bennett Falk, Publisher of Lutheran (True!) Confessions shared a table at the back of the visitors' section.
We understand Pr. Chavez and Dr. Falk had not previously met, and as they introduced themselves, our reporter overheard Pr. Chavez say "Lutheran (True!) Confessions, I've always wondered who was behind that."
Our reporter opined that the most intriguing moment of the entire weekend had nothing to do with the Church Council and its deliberations. On Saturday, Bishop Mark Hanson led a Bible study on Acts 3:1-16 and at the end of the study, Bishop Hanson asked everyone to turn to their neighbor, make the sign of the cross on that person's forehead, address them by name, and say "Child of God, you are marked with the cross of Christ forever."
And there they were, Pr. Chavez and Dr. Falk (who, we presume, could disagree sharply on many issues), each touching the other's forehead, each declaring the other to be a child of God under the cross.

Beset in Duluth: The annual assembly for the Central Great Lakes Synod was held April 1-3 at the Lake Superior Maritime Museum in Duluth, MN.
Owing to what synod insiders assured us was an unfortunate typographical error, the assembly adopted the following resolution by a vote of 51 to 47:
RESOLVED, that the Central Great Lakes Synod Assembly memorialize the 2009 Churchwide Assembly to add the following provision to the rulesof procedure for the assembly:
Any resolution, memorial, motion, substitute motion, or amendment to come before this Churchwide Assembly regarding human sexuality or regarding changes in this church’s current policy and practice for the rostering of ordained ministers, diaconal ministers, associates in ministry, and deaconesses with respect to expectations of sexual behavior shall require a 99% vote by the assembly for adoption.
When asked by our reporter to comment on the resolution, Bishop Thorvald "Wally" Noe-Effingway replied, "I doubt it's what was intended, but the error wasn't noticed until the vote had been taken, and no one offered a motion to reconsider. My hands are tied."
A contributing circumstance may be that during the assembly session many voting members were distracted by the icy drama that unfolded just beyond the Duluth pier in Lake Superior.
Overnight winds and heavy snowfall had created a 2-3 foot thick solid mass of ice extending from the shores of Minnesota to Wisconsin, six miles north into Lake Superior. Attempting to depart from the Duluth harbor, the motor vessel Lee A. Tregurtha was beset in ice at approximately 10:45AM and unable to move. The Coast Guard Cutter Alder was dispatched to assist and finally freed Tregurtha between 3 and 4 in the afternoon.

Homeless in Holy Week: Each year, Pr. Megan Rohrer, Director of the Welcome Ministry in San Francisco interrupts her regular routine to live on the street for seven days and seven nights and "get a small taste of what it feels like in my bones" to live on the street. Pr. Rohrer's 2009 "street retreat" began Saturday, April 4 and will include most of Holy Week.
Pr. Rohrer shares her experiences on the Homeless Retreat blog. She would want us to remind you that donations to the Welcome Ministry are always appreciated and they promise to put your gifts to good use.

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