Signs of promise, signs of defeat

Feb 20, 2009 by Daniel Ross-Jones

Yesterday the ELCA publicly released its proposed statement on human sexuality today, along with a series of resolutions (“enabling actions”) based on its standings.  While a vast improvement from its original, it still, in my opinion, has a long way to go.

One of the hardest things to accept, though, is that the church that left me no other option but to leave — yet I still wrestle with in love — still won’t take a definitive position and instead is willing to compromise the integrity, value and God-breathed nature of an entire group of people in the name of a futile attempt at preserving a false sense of unity and uniformity.

Let me establish one thing here: division in the church is painful.  It is painful to Jesus Christ, our head.  It is painful to a world already shattered and fractioned, seeking a place of solace and refuge.  It is painful to churchgoers who take seriously the fundamental truths of the Christian faith and see no reason for “frivilous disagreements” of non-fundamentals.  But, I will dare propose, occasionally division is inevitable and the space it creates allows for creative growth, Spirit-led innovation, and the future possibility of reunification.

The final thing I love about the UCC is our ability to wrestle together over life’s tough questions.  Our structure allows for difference of opinion.  Our theology has developed in such a way that dissent is (generally) not a communion-shattering event.  Following yesterday’s announcement, one of the organizations around the ELCA dedicated to a conservative, traditional Lutheran witness in the United States slammed the church for failing to recognize the ‘movement,’ if you will, of voters in states that have “[upheld] traditional marriage better than church leaders.”  Likewise, an organizaion committed to an inclusive, progressive momentum issued a stark critique of the church for not providing enough resources for the local option they are proposing.

The ELCA doesn’t have the flexibility in their structure for such division.  (I’d like to point out that the church leaders there would tell you they do, but the fact of the matter is they don’t.)  The calling and leadership system doesn’t allow for congregations to search for qualified, rostered ministers on their own without going through synodical offices.  That means conservative congregations in liberal synods might not be able to call conservative ministers, and are instead subject to the wishes of the synodical office.  The reverse is also true.  Even a local option like has been proposed doesn’t really solve the problem.  People on both sides feel hurt, not listened to, unrepresented.

And so the continual decline of the church presses on.  In efforts to prevent large-scale schism, individuals and groups leave the ELCA — sometimes for other denominations or independent churches, but all-too-often in a feeling of abuse and defeat they leave the organized church altogether.

I am convinced that the ELCA will look significantly different following the Churchwide Assembly this summer in Minneapolis.  I do believe a large-scale exodus will result.  There simply are no remaining options without a complete reestablishment of the denominational structure.  Certain caucus groups affiliated with the church already have the resources — monetary, people, publishing and theological/educational — to break en masse and establish another Lutheran body in the United States.  And while this will create immediate pain, confusion, and frustration, when the dust settles I do believe that both groups will be the better for it — because it will provide a safe space for people as they continue to wrestle within their own, local settings, and perhaps in the future allow for reunification in a positive setting that allows for the growth and development of all God’s children.

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