This past weekend the Southeastern Synod of the ELCA met in assembly. I am not one for meetings, so I generally have a sense of dread about attending these things. I am very much a guy who likes his routine, and does not like interruptions to said routine. On the bright side, I do always look forward to seeing friends and colleagues from around our synod that I often only see at assembly or other large synodical functions. So its not all bad.
Synod Restructuring
Several issues emerged at synod this year. Some were of clearly local concern, like synod restructuring. In the past we have had 14 conferences. This was reduced to 9. This also decreased the number of representatives to the synod council. The argument for changing was that our conference structure wasn’t working according to the constitution. My reply was that most folks didn’t know what the constitution said about conferences. I don’t now about you all out there cyberspace, but I don’t sit around reading synod constitutions. Anyway, instead of giving the synod an opportunity to follow the current guidelines, they changed them, so that now we have giant conference. The conference I was in included just a few churches on the southside of Atlanta. Now it includes churches that stretch from Valdosta (near the Florida border) to Kennesaw (a suburb northwest of Atlanta). That is a difference of over 200 miles. One proposed conference in Mississippi would have seen a difference of more than 400 miles between its far flung churches. The logic is that we will be more serious about conference meetings because of the great distance we will have to travel. My thought is that this sounds cumbersome and will discourage long term activity among the individual churches. Only time will tell, of course. All I know is that I now have a meeting on the day of the Florida-LSU game, which doesn’t make me happy, as that is a big family day!
Bible Study
I am not going to say much here, other than the fact that the Bible study smacked of partisan politics. I sent out a tweet at one point that I felt as if I were at a Democratic caucus meeting. I hate politics and church mixing, and being told that being a Christian means feeling a certain way about political issues. This is part of the reason I left church in the first place, and I hate that it is creeping back in, just with a different political orientation.
Highlight of the Assembly
The highlight of the assembly was easily the powerful words of Pastor Gemechis Buba, a Lutheran pastor from Ethiopia. He bascially preached about mission, but had a line that stood out to me: salvation costs you nothing, but discipleship will cost you your life.
Get to the Sex Already
Naturally the big buzz all weekend was about where our synodical discussions regarding sexuality would go. In the past, the Southeastern Synod has tended to be fairly conservative on this issue, and I really thought that this year would be no different. I was wrong. The synod voted to memorialize to the Churchwide Assembly that the sexuality statement be approved, that the four recommendations on ministry policies be passed, and that those who have been denied ordination or removed from the roster have a means of appealing.
So here is my ambivalence: I don’t like the fact that the ministry policy recommendations are in essence a local option. I think passage of these recommendations will serve only to further divide the church into two separate camps. To an extent, it has been that way a long time. The difference now is that the split is essentially codified. We will have two expressions (pro-gay or pro-status quo) rather than three (local, synod, churchwide). It will bring about the worst in congregationalist government and tendencies, something we already have to fight in the ELCA. I see this as a desperate decision designed to make everyone happy that will ultimately make no one happy. Those in favor of gay clergy will accuse those churches that are opposed to gay/lesbian pastors of being discriminatory. Meanwhile, some of the more conservative churches on this issue will simply deny that they are truly in communion with churches that accept gay/lesbian pastors. It will be easy enough for those in East Tennessee and Savannah to look at churches in Atlanta or Nashville – which tend to be more liberal – as an anomaly, as not really part of them. This policy, if passed, will divide us as it has other denominations. We’ve already lost some churches and clergy (though not many). Be ready to lose more.
I really wish the Church had simply made a stand. If we have to vote on this stuff, I would like to see a straight up-down vote that would have said yea or nay to gay clergy and gay unions, and then a 10 year moratorium (regardless of results) before bringing it back up again. But they didn’t, and maybe that is ok.
So what does the future hold? I think passing these ministry recommendations is a slam dunk. I would be shocked – utterly shocked – if this didn’t pass at churchwide. I don’t think it will pass by much, but it will pass, and it will leave a lot of moderate churches and clergy really feeling the pinch of what to do. I’ve spoken with several pastors who have expressed their concern. These are good pastors who want to faithfully serve, but for whatever reason feel they must draw their line here. I hope that all this talk of bound consciences and living together amonst disagreements is true and not just more church-ese. At the same time, I’ve also spoken with gay and lesbian members (and clergy) who have felt the pinch to stay closeted for years, and in this they see a little glimmer of hope.