ELM board co-chairs Rev. Erik Christensen and Rev. Jen Nagel are involved with an exciting upcoming event, the Emerging Leaders Institute sponsored by Plymouth Center for Progressive Christian Faith. The Institue is April 28-May 1, 2011 in Minneapolis. Diana Butler Bass is the keynote speaker.
Erik is a past attendee and this year he has been hard at work serving as conference planning chair. Jen is serving as a mentor to 2011 Institute attendees. Learn more about the Institute and how to apply by visiting the following sites:
The ELM Board of Directors met over the weekend in Chicago for their semi-annual retreat. This meeting occurred the same weekend as Paul Egertson’s memorial service in Thousand Oaks, CA. Paul was serving on the ELM board at the time of his death.
The meeting began with a time of remembrance and celebration of Paul’s life. ELM board member, Vance Blackfox, a member of the Cherokee nation, led a simple service of story-sharing. Members placed a bit of tobacco in a small bowl and lit a candle as they shared a story or memory about Paul. Members also lifted up prayers for Paul’s wife, Shirley, and their children, especially Greg, who has been closely involved with ELM since its formation. Vance later wrapped the tobacco in a small prayer cloth and tied it to a cedar tree near our meeting place.
On Sunday, the board worshiped at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Chicago. Rev. Erik Christensen, ELM’s co-chair gave a sermon about Paul’s life and work. The sermon is part of the way the ELM Board of Directors honored Paul’s life over the weekend. Paul’s life continues through ELM and all those whose lives he touched.
Paul W. Egertson, former ELCA bishop, and beloved advocate for the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people passed away at his home yesterday following a heart attack.
For the past two years, Paul has been serving as a member of ELM’s board of directors, the Covenant Circle. He will be deeply missed.
We will share a longer tribute to Paul in the coming days. In the meantime, we ask for your prayers for Paul’s beloved spouse, Shirley Egertson, their sons, and extended family.
In the forward to a collection of essays by Joel R. Workin, Paul wrote,
“When Joel died, all of us cried, and I was blessed. It was one of those experiences you recall when reading lines like those in Robert Browning Hamilton’s poem, Along the Road:
I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chattered all the way,
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow
And ne’er a word said she;
but oh, the things I learned from her
When sorrow walked with me!”
Paul, thank you for your amazing life and for your endless love and tireless advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. You have blessed us.
A memorial for Paul Egertson was held Saturday, January 15 at 1:00 p.m. at Samuelson Chapel at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA.
Join other Lutheran publicly-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rostered leaders for a time of renewal, community building, and professional development. We are planning a fabulous weekend and want you to be there! This event is hosted by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.
The retreat will be held at the George Williams College Retreat Center on beautiful Geneva Lake in Wisconsin.
The retreat is for all Lutheran publicly-identified LGBTQ rostered leaders, those seeking to be rostered, and seminarians. Partners are also invited to attend.
Early-bird Registration: $225. After Feb 1: $260.
ELM practices travel equalization (a lovely but complicated process). We will share travel costs, so please budget approximately $260 for travel. Please note: there is a free shuttle to the retreat center from the Milwaukee airport.
Scholarships are available. The application is due by Jan. 31. Announcements will be made as soon as possible upon receipt of application. Scholarship recipients will be excluded from the travel equalization pool, but scholarship funds will not be applied toward travel. The application is available here.
Please note, this retreat will be public and your name and photo may be used in connection with the retreat. If you have questions or concerns about privacy, please contact ELM Executive Director, Amalia Vagts at director@elm.org.
Please visit www.elm.org for more information about the retreat, travel equalization, and to register online.
Rev. Steve Keiser was received to the ELCA clergy roster this morning during the 11 a.m. worship service at Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion in Philadelphia. Bishop Claire Burkat, ELCA Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod preached at the service and presided at the Rite of Reception. Keiser is pastor at Holy Communion, along with Rev. Kari Hart.
Rev. Keiser is the 15th pastor who was extraordinarily ordained to be received onto the ELCA clergy roster. Other ELM pastors and other LGBTQ rostered leaders have also been reinstated or received onto the ELCA roster.
The ELCA Rite of Reception is the formal rite developed by the ELCA to receive ELM roster members who had been extraordinarily ordained onto the ELCA clergy roster.
On Sunday, December 12, Rev. Jay Wiesner was received onto the roster of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA. The service took place during an Advent celebration at University Lutheran Church of the Incarnation in Philadelphia, PA.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod posted a lovely recap of the service on their blog. Read it here.
Rev. Megan Rohrer wrote an article featured on the ELCA sister site, ‘Living Lutheran’. The article “The Body of Christ has AIDS” explores the connection between communion and remembering those living with HIV/AIDS.
December 1st is World AIDS Day-a key opportunity to raise awareness, commemorate those who have passed on, and celebrate victories such as increased access to treatment and prevention services. At ELM we keep those directly impacted by HIV/AIDs in our thoughts and prayers.
Rev. Megan Rohrer is an ELCA pastor and director of Welcome in San Francisco. ELM has supported Welcome with a Mission Partner grant for the past three years.
ELM has been supporting Rev. Robyn Hartwig’s EcoFaith Recovery in the Portland, OR area for the past two years with a Mission Partner grant. EcoFaith Recovery was launched in 2009 with the assistance of an ELM Mission Grant. Since then, the project has grown immensely. Part of that growth has been the development of a website to connect supporters and share information about the project.
The program offers table talks, trainings and a number of workshops and interactive projects.
EcoFaith Recovery is:
EcoFaith Recovery
“A collaborative effort among Lutheran and other faith communities based in Portland, OR. EcoFaith Recovery develops and supports spiritual recovery from the addictive patterns of human life that contribute to the climate crisis, heighten social injustice, deprive people of spiritual meaning, and threaten life on earth. The means of fostering eco-spiritual recovery includes retreats, workshops, spiritual practices, institutional reform, and pilgrimages to reconnect with the natural world.”
Rev. Robyn Hartwig serves as the founder and part-time developer of EcoFaith Recovery. Check out EcoFaith Recovery’s blog here.
ELM Mission Partner grants fund ministry by publicly-identified LGBTQ rostered Lutheran leaders. Since 1995, ELM has given away over $750,000 to support congregations and ministries. ELM will give away over $60,000 in 2011 alone.
Jay is originally from New Ulm, a small town of German descent in southwestern Minnesota. He graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota with a BA in religion. After college, he attended Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. During his senior year, he publicly came out to the faculty and students at Wartburg and left to take some time off. He finished his Master of Divinity degree in 2002 and immediately began work at Bethany Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as Pastoral Minister of Outreach. He was called to and ordained at Bethany on July 25, 2004. He served the congregation from 2002-2008.
Jay currently serves as pastor of University Lutheran Church of the Incarnation, an ELCA congregation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he also serves as dean of the Central Conference of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod. He is also pastoral director of The Naming Project.
Steve Keiser is the pastoral associate at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion in Philadelphia. He was ordained at Holy Communion on January 25, 2009. He is a graduate of Wheaton College (1981, BA in Philosophy) and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (1999, M.Div). Prior to entering seminary, he worked in branch management for fifteen years for Bell Savings Bank and Meridian Bank (now Wachovia).
He has taught at Cabrini College, the Lutheran Seminary and for the Adventures Program at the seminary. He has also assisted Dr. Katie Day, a sociologist of religion who is studying the impact of volunteerism on churches burned as a result of arson. His ministry at Holy Communion includes working with young adults and establishing small group ministries. Steve shares the pastoral leadership of Holy Communion with Pastor Kari Hart.
Changing the church through the ministry of publicly-identified LGBTQ Lutheran rostered leaders
Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) expands ministry opportunities for publicly-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people called to serve God as clergy and rostered lay leaders. We do this work through our three programs: Proclaim, Candidacy Accompaniment, and Ministry Grants.
Through this work, we seek to make real in the world today Jesus’ message that all are invited to share and receive God’s gifts.
Rev. Steve Keiser