Category: Blog

Shortly after arriving at my internship, my grandfather died unexpectedly. In the midst of beginning a new and exciting internship experience, I witnessed the death of such a dear man – someone who had loved and nurtured me my whole life. As he took his final breath, I held his hand, stroked his hair, marked the cross of Christ upon his brow, and spoke his name. Five days later, as we laid him to rest, I had the great honor of preaching at his funeral and co-officiating at his service of burial. It was then, surrounded by my family and friends, that I began to realize the complexity of joy and sorrow inherent to this wondrous call.

For many years, I have prayed for an internship experience where I could bring my whole self to ministry – not just my sexual orientation, but also my love of God and people, my thirst for learning, a zest for life, and playful sense of humor. The beginning of my yearlong internship at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, Minnesota) has been marked by a very warm welcome. Here at Holy Trinity, my identity as a lesbian is an important, yet peripheral, part of my identity as a child of God. That’s not surprising, considering Holy Trinity has been a Reconciling In Christ congregation since 1985. Their support of me, as a future leader in the church, is indeed something I cherish.

Although I am only a month and a half into my internship, I already have gotten my feet wet with preaching, text study, committee meetings, and pastoral care.  At this point in the internship, I want the chance to really get to know the members of the congregation and surrounding community. But I know that building those kind of relationships takes time. It already seems to me that this internship year will go very fast. And I plan to enjoy every bit of it. One thing I have become acutely aware of is the need for self-care: sleep, exercise, good nutrition, laughter, and recreation are absolutely necessary if I am to be successful in life, but especially in ministry. This internship year will be a time of integration. I will be integrating my academic studies with practical contextual application, while combining an emerging pastoral identity with an authentic sense of self, and in the process, becoming fully immersed in the life of the congregation. I can think of no better way to spend the next year.

This spring I attended the 2011 Proclaim retreat, where I enjoyed participating in worship and networking with rostered leaders and seminarians who publicly identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. It was enriching to be surrounded by queer people who love God and are following their own unique call in the world. Someday I hope that the full inclusion of LGBTQ clergy will be not just another ELCA policy, but a tangible reality. Until that day, I will look to ELM and Proclaim to be a strong advocate for me and my colleagues in ministry.

What can you do as an advocate for LGBTQ pastoral interns? We need more churches that are willing to be an internship site for LGBTQ interns. Having a positive internship experience will be key in developing future leaders. Another way I hope ELM/Proclaim will help is in the assignment process.  It is my hope that I will have the opportunity to interview for ministry positions for which I am qualified. If there are congregations that are on the fence concerning calling a LGBTQ pastor I hope that Proclaim will be an advocate for equal opportunity. All I ask is for support in living out this wondrous call to the best of my ability.

Julie Wright is a member of Proclaim and a student at United Theological Seminary in New Brighton, Minnesota. She is an endorsed candidate for ordained ministry through the ELCA, St. Paul Area Synod. 

 

We welcome Randy Nelson onto ELM’s Board of Directors!  In addition to his role as a volunteer member of our Board, Randy will also chair the Candidacy Accompaniment Program.

ELM is committed to finding leadership volunteers who exhibit passion for and commitment to ELM and spiritual gifts for their specific roles with ELM.  In addition, we seek to recruit diverse leaders and work to constantly expand the diversity of our pool of volunteers and leaders.

Randy brings experience through his long-time role as Director for Contextual Education at Luther Seminary. He has demonstrated passion for ELM through his role as Convener of the Midwest Extraordinary Candidacy Panel.  Through this work, he was closely involved with supporting, mentoring and evaluating LGBTQ candidates for ministry.  He brings the perspective of an Ally to the LBTQ community. Randy is also involved in his home congregation in Minneapolis, MN and is the convener for two professional advisory groups for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) centers.

Raised in rural South Dakota, Nelson found encouragement and a sense of call while filling in as preacher at several congregations the summer before his senior year of high school. He received his Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) in 1968 and remained in the Windy City to assist part-time at a north-side congregation, while working toward further degrees at the University of Chicago Divinity School and serving LSTC as a teacher, acting dean of students and assistant to the director of field education. In 1975, he received a call to Luther Seminary, where he served until his retirement.

We welcome Randy and give thanks for his investment of time and passion into this important work for ELM!

Rev. Dawn Roginski was installed on Sunday, August 28 as Associate Coordinator of the Coalition of Welcoming Congregations of the Bay Area.

Pastor Dawn was a member of the historic ELM Roster and is a member of Proclaim, the new professional community for publicly-identified LGBTQ Lutheran rostered leaders. Pastor Dawn previously served as pastor of St. Francis Lutheran Church in San Francisco.

We wish Dawn joy in her new ministry!

 

We are confirmed! The retreat will be held at Stony Point Center, New York, April 18-21. Our keynote speaker is Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, who will join us for most of the retreat. The gathering will include professional development and community building. We expect it to be a fantastic weekend!

Registration opens in January, 2012. All Proclaim members will receive updates via email.

Bp. Robinson, the current bishop of the New England diocese of the Episcopalian church, is the first publicly-identified gay person to be elected bishop in a major Christian denomination.

Please save the date and invite friends and colleagues that would be interested.

Contact Rachael Johnson, operations@elm.org, with any questions.

Proclaim is the new professional community for publicly-identified LGBTQ Lutheran rostered leaders and seminarians. Proclaim is a program of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.

Stay tuned for more details about the retreat.

Testimonials from attendees of the 2011 Proclaim retreat: 

“This weekend has been a much needed oasis for me…This was the first time I have been able to be around others who publicly identify as LGBTQ and are ELCA rostered leaders and seminarians (and their families). I didn’t realize there were so many of us (and that wasn’t even everybody!). This weekend has rejuvenated me to go back to seminary with more people that I can find support from.”

Emily Ewing, 2011 Joel R. Workin Scholar, Seminarian at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

“We arrived late, during worship, and the sound of singing resonated throughout the building.  We could not help but sing too.  Tears of joy streamed down my face as I gathered with those whose journey had taken us this far. It was an amazing weekend of welcoming, affirming, and intentionality.”

Rev. David Coffman, South Carolina Synod of the ELCA

“We are building new community through Proclaim, strengthening our witness, empowering our voice, accompanying one another into God’s gracious future!”

Rev. Jeff R. Johnson, Sierra-Pacific Synod of the ELCA

We’re back in Orlando. I was here in 2005 with scores of Goodsoil volunteers who came to witness as LGBTQ people and allies who were members of this church.  I was just coming back to the Lutheran church at that time, and newly involved in the movement for full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in the Lutheran church.

A lot has changed since 2005. As I walk down the hallways to the plenary sessions, I remember standing there with a Stoles Project stole.  I wore Rev. Jane Ralph’s stole the first day. I hadn’t met her before that. A year later, she would become part of the team that hired me as development director of Lutheran Lesbian & Gay Ministries (a forerunner of ELM).  The clearest memory I had of that experience was the way people wanted to look at anything but us when they walked down the hallway.  Then came the plenary where we moved as a group to witness silently on the floor of the assembly. It was hard for the Church to ignore us after that.

This assembly is similar in so many ways to the others I’ve attended since 2005. The layout, the speeches, the agendas, and even some of the speakers have become familiar. Here’s one major difference: For many years, so many of us suffered the pain of attending amazing worship services where preachers, bible passages, songs and litanies called for justice, and yet ignored LGBTQ  people. As LGBTQ people and our allies, we felt invisible and betrayed by the church we loved.

It is a gift this Churchwide Assembly to experience the ELCA as we live into the changes made in 2009.  In his opening sermon and address to the Assembly, Bp. Mark Hanson spoke out for the inclusion of LGBT people. Others in worship have voiced their support for people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. While many of us have experienced a welcome far beyond these initial steps for many years in our own congregations, it was a first for me at the Churchwide Assembly.

We are all living into the future together as members of the ELCA. As LGBTQ people, we know we have always been freed in Christ to serve. It is a joy to now experience that within the ELCA as well. I give thanks for the many members of our community who attended so many painful Churchwide assemblies and who worked so hard to bring us to today. You are with us in spirit. In looking back, we are living forward.

Since 1995, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries has awarded grants each year to directly support ministry by publicly-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Lutheran rostered leaders. ELM awarded $62,000 in grants to five ministries this year.  The grant recipients are selected by a volunteer team, led by Margaret Moreland.

Through this program, ELM donors support diverse ministries and congregations.  Current and past grants have gone to support parish ministry and a wide variety of specialized ministries and special projects. ELM donors have given away over $850,000 to ministry since the program began. ELM’s 2012 grant cycle is now open!

One of this year’s recipients is Grace Lutheran Church in Houston, TX. The photo above, reading “Grace Lutheran Loves Ya!” could be read as a thank you to ELM donors. Thanks to ELM donors, Grace has full-time pastor Lura Groen. But the message is to the people who Grace is now able to reach out to, thanks to you. You love Grace, and Grace loves you, and thanks to your support of ELM, they are sharing that love. Hallelujah!

The grants program is at the heart of ELM’s mission to expand ministry opportunities for LGBTQ rostered leaders.

Any member of Proclaim, ELM’s professional community for LGBTQ rostered leaders, may apply. You can read more about requirements for applying and past recipients by clicking here.

We thank all the ELM supporters throughout the years who have supported LGBTQ led ministry.

Today and this weekend the Presbyterian Church (USA) is hearing two cases on trial regarding ordination of GLBTQ congregations that pre-dated the changes to the church’s constitution. (On May 10th the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted that it will allow ordination partnered lesbian and gay Christians as elders, deacons and ministers in the church communities that wish for these candidates to become ordained. )

The case of Parnell, et al v. Presbytery of San Francisco ” is a case attempting to reverse the approval of the ordination of publicly lesbian Lisa Larges by San Francisco Presbytery.”  The other case is similar. Legal counsel for both presbyteries have filed motions to have these cases declared moot because of the intervening removal of the grounds for these cases. While neither Lisa nor the person involved in the other case is an ‘official’ party in these cases,their ordinations and their futures hang in the balance.

Our prayers are with Lisa Larges and our Presbyterian friends. Lisa was the guest speaker at the ELM/Proclaim retreat and has been awaiting ordination in the Presbyterian Church for 22 years. Lisa works for That All May Freely Serve, here is their blog.

Stay up to date on the trial by checking this website.

The 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly will take place August 15-19  at the Marriott World Center in Orlando, Florida.ELM’s Executive Director Amalia Vagts will be there along with Proclaim member and co-chair Rev. Erik Christensen. Amalia and Erik would love to meet up with ELM supporters who are attending. If you have questions about ELM or Proclaim, here is a chance to talk in person. Email or call Amalia: Director@elm.org or 563-382-6277 to arrange getting together. Amalia is also hoping to gather supporters together one night, so send her your email or cell number if you want to be invited to meet up as a group.

Lutherans Concerned/North America  is organizing a volunteer presence through the Goodsoil collaboration throughout Churchwide. Be sure to visit Goodsoil.org to sign up as a volunteer for the week’s events and to get details about some great events, like the Goodsoil Worship service!

 

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries joyfully announces the 2011 Joel R. Workin Memorial Scholars, Emily Ewing and Laura Kuntz.  ELM named two scholars this year thanks to a generous gift from Joel’s parents, Ray and Betty Workin, in loving memory of the late Rev. Dr. Paul Egertson.

The Joel R. Workin Memorial Scholarship program was created to honor the life and ministry of Joel Workin. Joel was one of the three gay seminarians who were refused ordination in 1989 after “coming out” to their candidacy committees. Joel’s family and friends created the scholarship fund following his death from AIDS in 1995.

This award comes with a scholarship to publicly-identified LGBTQ seminarians who embody Joel’s passion for justice and faith in their lives and ministry. In addition, the scholar represents ELM throughout the year. Co-Chairs of the Joel R. Workin Memorial Scholarship Endowment Committee are Rev. Jeff R. Johnson and Greg A. Egertson, beloved friends and classmates of Joel’s.  The scholars were chosen from a pool of excellent candidates.

The scholarship is funded through the Joel R. Workin Memorial Endowment. Donors may make planned or immediate gifts to the endowment by contacting Amalia Vagts at 563-382-6277.

Jeff Johnson expressed his enthusiasm for both scholars, noting that each captured one of Joel’s key messages.  Jeff writes, “While in seminary, Joel spoke passionately against a ‘church that for the most part ignores, condemns and rejects,’ us while ordaining us into lives of ‘lying and hiding, but not of truth and freedom.’  This was for him the essence of the struggle.  How do we mount and sustain a persuasive critique of this bankrupt system, institution, and ideology, and at the same time urgently foster our own wholeness, and build around us a community of justice, unconditional regard, and blessing.  This is the challenge.”

ELM congratulates and gives thanks for these two scholars who are skillfully facing that challenge.

Emily Ewing

Emily Ewing has long been involved in the Lutheran church and working towards social justice issues in the United States, South America and Slovakia. Emily recently finished her first year of seminary at Lutheran School of Theology Chicago. She is currently completing her Clinical Pastoral Education work with the Seafarer’s and International House in New York City. She provides pastoral care to seafarers at Port Newark and Port Elizabeth in New Jersey each week.  In addition, the program provides phones, phone cards, and other basic needs so the seafarers can contact loved ones back home. In the fall Emily will return to Chicago for her second year of seminary.

Prior to starting her seminary studies, she attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa studying Religion, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Spanish. Emily was very active on campus, serving as Vice-President of the Congregation Council and a Worship Volunteer Coordinator. Emily’s Campus Pastor, Amy Zalk Larson shares: “Even when others encouraged her to keep quiet about her sexual identity with her call committee, she was clear that she needed to act with integrity and honesty for her sake and the sake of the church.”

Emily strongly feels that being an out queer person during her candidacy is essential to living a life of integrity: “I made a deal with myself that I would be out from the start of candidacy. My coming out story and my call story are, in fact, so intertwined that I can’t separate them.”

When notified she received the scholarship Emily said: “This scholarship is more meaningful than I can put words to. It is a huge affirmation of my sense of where God is leading me. I could not be any more or less excited about being named a Joel Workin scholar whether it came with a scholarship for one million dollars or one penny. Of all of the scholarships I have been applying for, this one is BY FAR the most exciting and meaningful for me.”

Emily has a wide variety of experience working with all different types of people including youth and non-English speaking immigrants; she embodies Joel Workin’s commitment to the Gospel and his commitment to the LGBTQ community.

 

Laura Kuntz

Laura Kuntz is currently studying at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Ohio. Laura has a wide range of leadership skills and academic achievements including working as a chaplain at Ohio State University Medical Center and Staff Assistant at St. John’s U.C.C. Laura has spent much of her summer serving at Holden Village in Chelan, Washington. Laura’s professor Brad Binau shares “That Laura is choosing to invest her summer serving and learning at Holden is testimony to her hunger to make a difference in the church and the world.”

She is about to begin an internship at Lake Park Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her partner Sara will be joining her in Milwaukee and will be the intern at Advent Lutheran in Cedarburg. After the internship she will return to Trinity Lutheran Seminary to finish her degree.

During her first year in seminary Laura struggled with being an out lesbian, living out her truth and living openly. She reflects, “The Gospel calls us to live in this Truth, that we are ALL children of God. Knowing my identity in Christ has been foundational and I feel called to be who I am within the ELCA witnessing to the identity of Christ, crucified and risen.”

Laura said “It is an honor to receive the Joel R. Workin Memorial Scholarship in light of all that Joel has done for the LGBTQ community and the church. Joel was dedicated to the church and committed to working toward its growth. I hope that the church today can continue to be inspired by Joel’s vision.”

Similar to Joel, Laura is engaged in telling the truth to God to her family and those around her. Laura has made a commitment to living as a lesbian Christian.

 

ELM gives thanks for the news coming out of the 2011 National Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Please visit the blog of Lutherans Concerned/North America for their first-hand account of the convention and the homepage of the ELCIC for further details.