After All These Years, Approval: According to an account that appeared February 19 on the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) blog, Rev. Anita Hill, ordained extra ordinem on April 28, 2001 and rostered with ELM, has been approved for reception to the ELCA clergy roster by the candidacy committee of the St. Paul Area Synod. To the best of our knowledge, Pr. Hill is the first ELM-rostered pastor formerly excluded from the ELCA clergy roster to be approved by an ELCA candidacy committee.
The approval comes in advance of the final revision of the ELCA's ministry policies. The candidacy committee reported:
At the recommendation of the panel that met with you on February 2, 2010, it was moved by Marty Ericson and carried that Anita Hill be received onto the roster of the ELCA for ordained pastors pending the implementation of the Vision and Expectations policy changes approved at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August 2009...
Recognizing the intentional, prayerful, parallel process of the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries candidacy process, as well as your ministry partnership within the life of our synod, the Saint Paul Area Synod Candidacy Committee celebrates with you as you anticipate being received onto the roster.

We are far from experts, but we doubt that there will be a policy implementation before the ELCA Church Council meets in April 9-11, 2010.
Pr. Hill's approval marks a dramatic turnaround in attitudes within the ELCA. Speaking at the time of Pr. Hill's ordination, Bishop Mark Hanson noted that her ordination "is not recognized by the ELCA." An article from the issue of The Lutheran was titled: St. Paul-Reformation 'ordains' Anita Hill: Lesbian minister is ordained in irregular ceremony.
We do not know at this time if the candidacy committee's decision is contingent on "re-ordination."

Rivers in the Desert Redux: On February 13, a group of about 180 people gathered in the Heritage Hall of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in San Francisco to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first extraordinary ordinations: on January 20, 1990, Pastors Ruth Frost, Phyllis Zillhart, and Jeff Johnson were ordained at St. Paulus Lutheran Church in San Francisco.
Co-hosts for the event were Greg Egertson and Jeannine Janson, and the theme for the celebration was Rivers in the Desert (Isaiah 43:19). Many luminaries were on hand. Bishop Mark Holmerud and bishop's associate Rev. Nancy Feniuk Nelson brought greetings from the Sierra Pacific Synod and heard from ELM Executive Director Amalia Vagts that Bishop Gerald Mansholt of the Central States Synod had taken the honor of being the first bishop to end the censure of a congregation disciplined for calling a pastor from the ELM roster. Members of the ELM Covenant Circle attended en masse. First United and St. Francis, the congregations that issued calls to the three ordinands in 1989, were represented by current and former pastors, members, and council members. Members of the St Francis Lydia Circle were also present and looking very dapper.
After a casual reception with much conversation and reminiscence, the group was led in procession to the sanctuary for a time of reflection and vespers. Reflections were offered by more speakers than we can summarize here. But our reporter noted the following: Pastor Jen Nagel, a high school student at the time, recalled both her outrage on reading a dismissive notice about the ordinations in The Lutheran and her later realization that these ordinations were connected with her own pastoral vocation; ELM Co-Chair Pr. Erik Christensen noted the unlikely beneficiaries (the jackals and ostriches of Isaiah 43:20) of God's bounty; Pr. Ruth Frost gently reminded the worshipers that silence still equals death.

Reconfiguration: On February 18, the 464th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther, Lutheran CORE released a document titled: A Vision and Plan for The North American Lutheran Church and Lutheran CORE, a community of confessing Lutherans.
Vision and Plan is the next step in Lutheran CORE's proposed reconfiguration of American Lutheranism, and it takes the important step of giving the proposed new Lutheran denomination a name: The North American Lutheran Church (NALC). The vision for NALC is that it will be Christ centered, mission driven, traditionally grounded, and congregationally focused, but these are hardly distinctive values for a Protestant church.


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    Hot Dish Hotline: "We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." What have you seen or heard that other people really need to know about? Use the Hot Dish Hotline to submit your item online.


    While Vision and Plan is not a constitution for NALC, it does suggest some distinctive features of the proposed church body. The plan places a strong emphasis on the priesthood of all believers. It suggests that NALC congregations will have pastors, but it's not entirely clear why, if at all, ordained clergy are necessary in the life of the church. There are, for example, no references in the plan to the sacramental responsibilities of ordained clergy.
    The plan also makes abundantly clear that the congregation is to be the fundamental unit of the new church, and the organizational proposal for the denomination reflects this. The plan envisions a great deal of congregational autonomy and as little ecclesiastical hierarchy as possible: a single bishop as the head of the church with regions headed by deans. An annual or biennial convocation with approximately equal representation of clergy and laity will be primary forum for decision making.
    Appended to the plan is Lutheran CORE's 2005 Common Confession, and if it were not for Article 6 of the Common Confession (Marriage and Family) there would be no hint of the source of the controversy that gave rise to the plan in the first place:
    We believe and confess that the marriage of male and female is an institution created and blessed by God. From marriage, God forms families to serve as the building blocks of all human civilization and community. We teach and practice that sexual activity belongs exclusively within the biblical boundaries of a faithful marriage between one man and one woman.
    The new denomination may face some challenges in developing its internet presence: the domain name nalc.org is already taken by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC).

    Out Loud: On February 14, the Believe Out Loud campaign was launched to encourage more mainline Christians and church institutions to actively support LGBT rights within the church and society, to equip leaders with the tools to begin conversations about LGBT inclusion in congregations, and to support the already existing LGBT advocacy efforts within mainline Christianity and the broader society.
    Michael Livingston, member of the Believe Out Loud strategic team and former National Council of Churches president, commented on the aim of getting church members to talk honestly about issues of gender identity and sexual orientation:
    Real progress toward the full inclusion of all people in the life of church and society is severely hampered by an absence of real honest talk. Believe Out Loud aspires to stimulate conversation and help people speak up and speak out: we are all created in God's image - every color, men and women, young and old, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered.
    Rev. Robert Chase addressed the need to engage more Christians in the dialog about full inclusion:
    By reaching out to those who are still uncertain about homosexuality in the church, we expand the conversation. As individuals begin to move from fear to empathy, from ignorance to understanding, and from apathy to action, a new space is created for extravagant welcome to all.

    A few days earlier, on February 9, the Religious Institute released Sexuality and Religion 2020: Goals for the Next Decade, a 50-page report to set an agenda for sexual justice in faith communities.
    Rev. Debra W. Haffner, executive director of the Religious Institute, summarized the report:
    Sexuality and Religion 2020 articulates the vision that by the year 2020, all faith communities will be sexually healthy, just and prophetic. Achieving this vision is the work of clergy and congregations, of denominations and seminaries, and of advocates and activists of all faiths who believe we must change the conversation around sexuality and religion in America.
    The report sets ambitious goals:
    breaking the silence around sexuality in congregations and faith communities;
    improving ministerial training in sexuality issues;
    providing better pastoral care on sexuality-related issues and sexuality education for youth and adults;
    becoming more effective advocates of comprehensive sexuality education, sexual and reproductive health, and the full inclusion of women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons.
    Supporters of those goals are encouraged to join the Faithful Voices Network.
    A conference call with a panel of religious leaders accompanied the release of Sexuality and Religion 2020, and our readers will be pleased to know that Lutherans were prominent among the panelists: Martin E. Marty, professor emeritus from the University of Chicago and Rev. Ann Tiemeyer, Director of the Program for Women's Ministry at the National Council of Churches.
    In 2009, the Religious Institute launched Acting Out Loud, a resource to assist faith communities in moving beyond welcome toward a wider embrace of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families.

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