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Ask Pr. Sophie
Abstract: More reflections on abstaining from communion at ELCA events.
Pr. Sophie Fortresson, our resident expert on all matters of theology, Lutheran etiquette, and social protocol, answers questions submitted by our readers and occasionally simply volunteers advice when no question has been asked. If you have questions (and who among us doesn't?) send them to pr_sophie@lutheranconfessions.com.
Dear Sophie We too have abstained from ELCA communion for many years since an incident at Holden Village when we were on staff there. We decided that until we were welcome on both sides of the table it was disingenuous to continue as if everything is ok. Nothing else seems to get their attention re: the message they send to GLBTQ members of this church. The policies are pushing people away from the church and the table. Yes the intent of communion is to bring all together but it is way too hypocritical to pretend that the gathering welcomes all - it does not. We do partake at events and places where GLBTQ persons are equally welcome on both sides of the table. ELCA Refugees in VT
Dear Readers: As the letter from the Vermont refugees indicates, Pr. Sophie has once again waded right into the thick of it, and this time there is more at stake than last year's breast pocket fashion faux pas. The fundamental issue is "Should we boycott communion at ELCA events while the church continues its policy of discrimination based on sexual preference and gender identity?"
This is a tough question, and Pr. Sophie is not going to resolve it in the next 100 or so words. Naturally, however, she will make a couple of observations and hope that they are helpful.
First, there are people of good conscience on both sides of this question: some believe it is a duty to abstain from a Eucharist that is less welcoming than it ought to be. Others believe that there must be some way other than abstinence to recall the ELCA to its mission, though what that way is may not be clear. Both groups believe there is something wrong with current ELCA policy.
Where you stand on this issue might be determined by how important the ELCA is to you: abstainers, Pr. Sophie opines, are likely to be people who hope earnestly for the reformation of the ELCA. The Eucharist at an ELCA event will not be the Eucharist until the church has changed. Non-abstainers, on the other hand, are likely to believe that the Eucharist will be the Eucharist regardless of church policy.
The Vermont refugees are right to emphasize the lack of equality "on both sides of the table," though here again there are different opinions. Pr. Sophie believes that we create those sides of the table with our attitudes toward the ordained ministry. For some of us there is a clear and important demarcation between this side and that side, between celebrant and communicant. For others, however, the demarcations are not so clear and those who gather at the altar do not stand on one side or another, but around a table that has no sides.
