Warning: Illegal string offset 'itemurl' in /home/lutheran/www/www/admin/global_functions.inc on line 257
O, Canada, Part 2
Abstract: National Bishop Ray Schultz decries acrimony, division, and the "shareholder" church.
In his report to the ELCIC convention, outgoing National Bishop Ray Schultz drew attention to the threat of disunity:
The theological and confessional integrity of the church is currently the flash point of acrimonious and divisive argument. For the first time since the merger of 1986, there are proposals by organized groups that this church be divided into two separate church bodies organized around opposing views of religious authority and leadership for mission. Organizations of pastors and congregations are expressing the opinion that disagreeing with the leadership of the church is cause enough to divide the church or withdraw responsible support. Congregations (and some individuals) understand themselves to be independent owners of resources and authority to which the church is expected to account before they will agree to "buy in." It is as if the church is nothing more than an organization owned by a body of shareholders and turns our theological discourse into nothing but party politics. Such expressions undermine the baptismal covenant that we are called and incorporated into a single body by the Spirit. Such expressions undermine the covenant that we will account to the church for our stewardship of the gifts given us in baptism. (Acts 5:1 - 4)
While the matter of blessing same-sex couples has become the excuse for a separatist political movement, its real agenda is the struggle for authority and control. The theological message of this divisive movement promises certainty in an ambiguous world. It undermines the call to discipleship as a pilgrimage of faith in Christ on a journey to the cross. It attempts to recruit church members to another set of social and cultural ends. Ordinary church members become confused because cultural and political opinions are being expressed as religious traditions.
This report is my last opportunity to appeal to middle-of-the-road church members to take a stand against this splintering abuse of the church. I beg you to insist that this church be the place where tolerance and acceptance of deeply held differences will be contained by our common baptism into Christ. The Lutheran Church would not even exist except that the church of the 16th century refused to allow the dissent of those we now call reformers to be expressed and practiced within the church. I appeal to you: Show our society a redemptive alternative to the adversarial way religious and political activists are advocating at this time!
You can read the Bishop's complete report here,
Original sin being what it is, the Bishop's remarks were followed by a fair amount of finger pointing. You can witness some of the finger pointing (and some of the acrimony) at Solid-Ground.ca. Apparently Canadian Lutherans communicate almost entirely by means of the Open Letter to...
