Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries

But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—‘I believed, and so I spoke’—we also believe, and so we speak…                                               2 Corinthians 4:13

This is a teaser blog. An experience of both instant and delayed gratification. Or, to put it in more spiritual terms – both now and not yet.

A small group of Proclaim members has been working on collecting stories of LGBTQ leaders within the Lutheran church – rostered leaders, seminarians, and those awaiting call. We were inspired by a similar resource from the United Church of Christ that came out (!) about 20 years ago. We received permission from those who created the UCC resource, And So We Speak, to create a Lutheran version.

But like any good story, putting together a collection of amazing stories takes time. So…. we’re still working on it. It’s “not yet.” But it will be worth the wait.

This resource will include interwoven stories about being called to ministry and coming out, the joy of queer faith, gender identity and images of God, and more.  But, it’s just too good not to share parts of it with you now. Much of the final collection will be longer stories about individuals in our community, but here are a few short nuggets:

What do you think God thinks about you being LGBTQ?

In giving me, a gay man, a call to ministry, God affirms my sexuality as a gift given and not a defect to hide. I know at the very core of my being, that God loves me, that God has gifted me, and that God wants to make use of me.
– Austin Newberry, First Call Candidate, Columbus, IN

How and why do you publicly identify as LGBTQ?

For me it’s about wholeness. It’s about living with integrity–as in the word “integral” meaning “necessary to make the whole complete”. My gender identity and sexuality cannot be separated from who I am in the world. When ministry is done well, people are inspired to live as the people that God has created them to be. I can’t do this kind of ministry if I myself am not living into the fullness of life that God has called me to.
– Asher O’Callaghan, Seminarian

I don’t know that it’s a conscious choice for me – I use all of who I am in my ministry, and being Queer is one part of how God created me, one piece of what I naturally use. But I’m glad for being Queer- it’s how God liberated me from a rules-based religion, and taught me grace. It’s how I learned about discrimination, and can now work for justice for all kinds of other people. And it helps me connect with folks who are scared of the church for all kinds of reasons- showing them that I can be my full self in church invites them to think that maybe then can be too.
– Rev. Lura Groen

How did you come out to the congregation?

In a meet and greet with the congregation, I was asked to share my story, and so in
sharing my call story, I chose to leave in my coming out rather than editing it out of the story. This not only gave me an easy way to come out, but it also couched it in the context of God’s call in my life, which I think was accurate and beneficial.
– Emily Ewing, First Call Candiate

How have you experienced being “The First”?

I am the first intern at my congregation (and also the first LGBTQ intern). Our congregation is also the first (and only) RIC congregation in our Synod. My experience has been wonderful and positive, as the congregation really lives into what it means to be welcoming. It has taught them that their convictions about welcome and hospitality are real and that they are living out the Gospel. I am Pastor Amy first, and a gay pastor second.
– Amy Hanson, seminarian

Your gift to ELM not only helps shape these stories of LGBTQ leaders in the Lutheran church, but also helps support the collection, publication, and distribution of this resource as a gift and resource for the whole church. Thank you!

Guest blog by Proclaim member, the Rev. Erik Christensen.

This past weekend was Pride weekend here in Chicago and in many other cities around the country. In recent years I’ve heard, and eagerly jumped into, plenty of conversations questioning the value of these large-scale gatherings filled with giant floats with corporate sponsors conveying scantily clad dancers from a host of bars and other venues. “Is this what we spent the last half century fighting for?” I’d wearily ask.

This year I’m less inclined to diminish or dismiss the gains our movements have made, or the celebrations that mark them. That is due, in no small part, to a recent visit by representatives of South Africa’s Inclusive and Affirming Ministries (IAM) to Chicago June 12-16, 2014.

The congregation I serve, St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of Logan Square, has hosted folks from IAM (including Proclaim member Pieter Oberholzer) many times over the last eight years, each visit deepening our commitment to walking together toward liberation for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities around the globe. This year St. Luke’s partnered with a blend of ecumenical and secular communities and organizations to present a weekend of activities for people of faith and activists from across Chicago as an expression of solidarity with LGBTI people across the continent of Africa suffering under increasingly violent conditions (learn more here).

Conscious that these trips create a significant financial burden for IAM, and knowing that they have to work hard every year to raise the necessary funds to carry out their work, I was concerned that their trip might not have been worth the effort on purely economic terms. IAM’s Executive Director, the Rev. Judith Kotzé, allayed my fears as we met the morning of her flight home to evaluate this year’s slate of events.  She said,

“You cannot know what it means for me, for us, to be able to worship with you here in Chicago. To see an openly gay pastor and his partner so warmly accepted by their congregation. To see that it is a non-issue, that your leadership is accepted and trusted. To be able to share our story with you, and to receive the gift of your prayers and your songs. To be able to carry that story home with us to share with people and congregations who can barely imagine that such a thing is possible.”

As I listened to Judith, all I could think is how it wasn’t that long ago that we, here in the United States, were saying the same thing. I can remember a time when I could count on one hand the number of publicly identified LGBTQ clergy in the ELCA that I knew, and they were almost all members of what has grown to become the Proclaim community.

Our work, yours and mine, is a witness to people of faith around the world. Each time we simply show up, put on the collar, step into the pulpit, consecrate the elements, pray for the ill and the dying, visit those in prison, we are proclaiming a future for the whole church that has already broken in, but is not yet complete. That is something to be proud of, something to celebrate, loudly and publicly and shamelessly.

To learn more about the work of IAM, and to make a gift to their courageous and life-saving work, visit http://www.iam.org.za

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!“   Romans 10:11-15

 

We celebrate the beautiful, good-news-bringing feet of Brenda Bos and Julie Recher, two Proclaim members who received first calls this weekend.

Brenda Bos has been called to serve as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in San Clemente, CA.

Julie Recher has been called to serve as associate pastor at Atonement Lutheran Church in Wyomissing, PA.

 

 

And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  Many more gifted and called LGBTQ candidates are ready to be sent.  We celebrate their gifts and pray both for candidates who continue to seek a first call and for the congregations and ministries who need their beautiful good-news-bringing feet.

Your support enables ELM to accompany, affirm, and support LGBTQ seminarians, candidates, and rostered leaders as they are called and sent to serve God’s church and world!  

Two Thrivent representatives organized an event last Saturday night to benefit Lutheran organizations working for justice for LGBTQ people.

The representatives, Gregory Jahnke and Judith Dancer, are opposed to recent Thrivent Financial changes that make the groups Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries and ReconcilingWorks ineligible for Thrivent funding.

Here’s what Greg Jahnke had to say about the event,

“The wonderful Karen Hirst and Tom Shaw entertained our guests at Martuni’s in San Francisco for a ‘fun-draiser’  for Reconciling Works and Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.  Judith Dancer and I are openly queer Thrivent reps standing in opposition to Thrivent’s new benevolent giving program restrictions. Our guests gave $7,000 for these great organizations! Thanks to everyone who donated. You are making a difference.”

We think Greg and Judith are fabulous! We stand with them in their role as Thrivent representatives who have done much for the LGBTQ community and our organization. We have been remembering in prayer Greg, Judith, and other LGBTQ-identified Thrivent employees who have been hurt by the recent Thrivent decisions.

Thanks to these wonderful supporters, ELM will receive even more than we did through Thrivent Choice Dollars in 2013. These funds will help our efforts to ensure that LGBTQ people called to rostered ministry in the Lutheran church are affirmed and supported in their calls.

Stay tuned for how you can get involved in a continued “on-line event!”

Guest blog by Proclaim member Rachel Anderson.  Rachel is a student at the Lutheran School of Theology at Philadelphia, finishing her internship year at Lord of Mercy Lutheran Church in Sparks, Nevada.

On June 29, 2013 my wife, Carrie, and I committed our lives to each other in the presence of God, our families, and our friends. It was almost a year earlier, and with much trepidation, that I came out to my wonderful candidacy liaison. We were on a weekend long retreat on the Connecticut shoreline and I was about to return to Philadelphia for my second year of seminary in just a few days. I had not kept my sexuality a secret from my candidacy committee, or the seminary, or anyone really. But I knew I had to share this part of my life with these people, out of a responsibility to Carrie, my church, and the many people who still struggle to find acceptance among God’s people. I kind of laugh when I think about the conversation we had. “I’m getting married,” I said, very matter-of-factly. “That’s great!” He said. “But I’m getting married to a woman,” and I was sure his smile was about to fade. “Even better!” he said, and gave me a great big hug.

Experiences like that confirm for me, over and over again, that the church is moving forward. They are also confirmation that ministries like Proclaim and ELM continue to be vitally important for the body of Christ. No one should have to doubt their place at the table. No one should ever be afraid that their gifts for leadership are not welcome in the church for something as inconsequential as how they were born or whom they were born to love.

But in the year 2014, for many, many… many people and organizations, one’s sexual orientation or gender identity is not inconsequential. Coming from a loving and accepting family that never batted an eye when I came out, dealing with the slow-moving church has been heart wrenching at times. During my junior year of seminary I was turned down by three potential internship sites because I am openly gay, and Carrie and I took this rejection pretty hard. Maybe I would never go on internship; maybe I would never get a chance to be a leader within the church. Maybe we were racking up all this debt just to find out that the church would never have a place for us at the table (or in the pulpit). The feeling is akin to, I’m guessing, being the last puppy in the litter to get adopted. I watched all of my seminary friends accept internships at various churches while I waited, and waited.

Looking back on that time, I am so glad for those experiences. Just over a month after we were married, Carrie and I left our friends and family in the northeast and drove across the country to Sparks, Nevada for my internship at Lord of Mercy Lutheran Church. I never could have predicted moving to the west coast for anything, much less internship. We have quickly fallen in love with northern Nevada, but mostly we have fallen in love with this absolutely fantastic congregation. These are people who have taken their calling to be the body of Christ seriously. They love to serve their neighbor, they have a deep faith, and they take their commitment to raise up new leaders in the church very seriously. If only every church were like Lord of Mercy, only so happy to not only accept, but to welcome an LGBTQ leader!

My time at Lord of Mercy will always be one of the most profound blessings in my life, and it would not be possible without the generous assistance of ELM. Were it not for ELM, Carrie and I would likely still be wondering if there is a place for us in the church. Were it not for ELM, I wouldn’t be able to preach the Good News to people who not only love to hear it, but need to hear it, especially from a person who knows just how good the news really is. In many ways serving Lord of Mercy has been a spiritual resurrection for me, and it has certainly resurrected my faith in the progress the ELCA is making to be sure that all people can claim their place at the table without fear. All leaders can preach the Good News and know it is for them too, and they are in a place of safety and love.

If it were not for ELM, I never would have met a sixteen year old girl in Reno, Nevada a few months back. We got connected one way or another through the church, though she had never been to Lord of Mercy. In our first conversation she was convinced that being gay was the ultimate sin, and that God could not possibly love her the way she is. If not for ELM, and my internship in Sparks, she might still be convinced that there is something wrong with her. But because she came to a church leader who has been where she was, and who could show her a God and a community that accepts her unconditionally, she can smile again, and she can be herself, proudly. ELM and Proclaim touch more lives than probably any of us are aware. I thank God for this truly extraordinary ministry, and live in hope that the day is soon coming when no person will live in fear and all will truly be welcome in this place.

 You support leaders like Rachel with your gift to ELM. Rachel and other seminarians receive pastoral care and support through Proclaim and Accompaniment. Lord of Mercy Lutheran Church received a small grant from ELM to support Rachel’s internship. Learn more or give to support leaders like Rachel at www.elm.org.

Pentecost is Sunday.  Divided tongues as of fire, the sound like a rush of violent wind, people speaking all kinds of different languages, but all speaking about God’s deeds of power.  And Peter recalling the prophet Joel, “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young [ones] shall see visions, and your old [ones] shall dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)

This weekend we join in celebrations of God’s Spirit pouring out upon two members of the Proclaim community:

 

Laura Kuntz will be ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament and installed Saturday June 7th at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lansing, Michigan.  Laura has been called to serve as Associate Pastor for Children, Youth, and Young Adults at Calvary Lutheran Church and St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Lansing, MI.  She will also serve as Assistant Pastor for Youth Ministries at All Saints Episcopal Church in East Lansing, MI.

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Rev. Dr. Dawn Roginski will be installed as the pastor of Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in Vallejo, CA on Pentecost, Sunday June 8^th.

“When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31

We join in the bold witness and celebration of Laura, Dawn, and the communities of Calvary Lutheran, St. Stephen Lutheran, All Saints Episcopal and Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity!

As we celebrate, we continue lift up the 21 Proclaim members who are awaiting first call and pray the Spirit’s work in bringing together gifted and called LGBTQ leaders and bold communities of faith to prophesy, vision and dream together.

Your generous gifts keep pastors like Dawn and Laura surrounded by a supportive community of peers, congregations and allies.

A guest blog by Proclaim member Rev. Cindy Crane

Rev. Cindy Crane was a member of the historic Extraordinary Roster and was reinstated to the ELCA clergy roster following the 2009 changes in ministry policy.

“You are not only responsible for what you say but for what you don’t say.”   Martin Luther

I am inspired by our tradition’s many quotes and writings that direct us to love our neighbor. And it makes a difference to be doing advocacy work from a faith perspective with my ordination fully recognized. I realized just how much I valued doing advocacy work as a pastor within my first few weeks working as the director of the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin (LOPPW) beginning in January 2014.

I was very attracted to the LOPPW position and thought I could draw on my background both in parish ministry and the work I’ve had in secular nonprofits. However, I didn’t expect to feel this – a sense of wholeness and of having returned from a sort of exile, an experience I only associated with going back into parish ministry if that would ever happen. But being part of the ELCA with a team of people around the country praying and grappling with scripture, social statements and current public policies when looking at injustice feels just right at this time in my life. I am thankful.

LOPPW is one of about 14 state public policy offices that receive funding from the ELCA. Four of those offices, including Wisconsin’s, have directors that are churchwide employees. ELCA World Hunger supports us to focus on hunger issues, which create a large umbrella. Some of the offices advocate for just policies related to the environment and taxes as well as for safety net programs and laws that can move in the direction of eradicating hunger. Right now LOPPW’s priorities are youth experiencing homelessness, human sex trafficking and Wisconsin’s plan for how to use its tax excess. In the case of youth who experience homelessness with their families we also support a higher minimum wage. Kudos to Bishop Eaton for writing a letter asking for a higher minimum wage to all of the U.S. senators.

LOPPW’s advocacy is on the level of public policy. We build relationships with political leaders and expand an advocacy network of ELCA members across the state. We also join with other faith-based groups and secular organizations to deepen our impact and support the efforts of others who act as instruments of God’s peace.

Needing to be open about who I am as a lesbian and having my ordination fully recognized before taking another position in the church were both a part of my activism. I don’t judge others who take different paths; I was completely to partially closeted for 10 years in the parish. I didn’t leave the ministry and not look back at the church but I didn’t look back at contradictions that wore at my spirit. I appreciate engaging with paradox, but not confusion.

Thanks to a grant from Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries a couple of years ago, I was able to start a part-time ministry 14 years after leaving the ministry. That ministry helped to crack the church door back open for me.    Now I feel graced to have returned this way to a full-time call with my activism in tact and in wonder of how God moves us to be advocates for others.

Check us out at www.loppw.org and like us on Facebook (look for LOPPW)!

by Amalia Vagts, Executive Director

I offered this reflection on opening night of the 2014 Proclaim Retreat. I’m sharing it here as a way of inviting you into a bit of “retreat” time in your day.

I want to welcome you to the 2014 Proclaim Retreat and to say a few words about three things  – community, change, and Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.

This is the 4^th Proclaim retreat. And it’s the 20^th or so gathering of openly LGBTQ rostered leaders and seminarians. I think three of the folks who attended that first one in the 1990’s are here. Many of them are still active in the Proclaim community.

Community
What do we mean when we say “community?” Proclaim community, LGBTQ community. It often conjures up the idea of a fixed group with clear edges – someone is in it; someone is out of it.

I think it is more helpful to think of this word as dynamic… think of the Holden Village community. I often talk about being “part of the Holden community” in the fall of 2005. The beauty of the Holden community is that it turns over nearly every day during high season. A bus comes in, and a bus goes out. Yet the community finds values and truths that remain constant.

If you are new to this community, I urge you to not imagine that you need to do something specific to become “part” of it. You are it. If it is your first time here, I encourage you to know that you come with some of the answers to questions we’ve been asking. And if you have been coming for 25 years, I encourage you to see that you come with some of the questions we still need to ask. This community, the Proclaim community, extends back long before the word “Proclaim” was associated with it and it will continue, I hope, long into the future reflecting new shared values and truths.

Change
The Proclaim community has experienced tremendous change in the last 5 years.  When a group grows or changes, we always lose things as we gain other things. This gathering is not what it was for those who gathered in the early 1990’s. There can be sadness in that and it’s important to name that. We need to remember always why we change and to celebrate what has come from that.

Each of you is here. Look around this room. Take a quick mental selfie. YOU are here.

And that is what we are celebrating. We are a dynamic community that continues to experience enormous change. It will be through naming this, honoring it, talking about it and moving through it together that we remain flexible and grow into new ways of being church. When you speak out about what is working or not working, you help the whole community evolve.

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries
Why does this organization even exist? Well, all justice and social movements exist in response to some form of injustice. If sexual orientation and gender identity and expression were non-issues in our church, there would be no need for Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. We  name the injustice. Our church suffers from the sins of homophobia, heterosexism, and sexism.

Later on this weekend we are going to learn from the brilliant Alexia Salvatierra. Two years ago, I did an exercise in one of her workshops that clarified my vision for this work. Alexia talks about meeting the world’s lie with God’s dream. For far too long, the world and the church have told the lie that LGBTQ people are lesser and inherently sinful.  You were faithful to God’s call through that lie. And now, some are telling a new lie – that we’re “all the same.” God’s dream is that we are wonderfully made. We are each, wonderfully made in God’s divine image and God’s dream is that we are not lesser than or inherently sinful.  God’s dream is that we are unique. And you understand that. Your are fabulous. Jesus teaches that the Body of Christ is comprised of many parts. We are not all the same – our diversity is the very thing that brings beauty and strength.  I love a simple vase of yellow tulips. It’s so pretty. But it is the dazzling bouquet that captivates and inspires me.

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is here to share God’s dream about LGBTQ people called to rostered ministry. We exist to affirm and support you and your ministries. We celebrate you. Proclaim is one important part of that work – as rostered leaders, you have been set apart for distinct ministry in this church. And we proclaim God’s love and seek justice in order to affirm and support you in that calling in the face of the world’s lies about you.

The 2^nd  part of ELM’s work is candidacy accompaniment. Through this program, we provide particular accompaniment – which can at times include advocacy – as you negotiate the candidacy process. In this way ELM affirms and supports those pursuing rostered leadership in this church and we proclaim God’s love and seek justice in this process.

The 3^rd major part of work is Ministry Engagement – affirming and supporting those ministries who are allies in this work – those calling and those seeking to call LGBTQ rostered leaders.

This is what we’re trying to say with these shirts that say “Faithful. Fabulous.” You have been astonishingly faithful to a call that has not been easy for many of you. We celebrate that. And you ARE fabulous and we celebrate and encourage your fabulousness!

I invite you to be faithful – and fabulous.

(Edited from a previous version for clarity).

In their own words, hear what some of the 80 Proclaim members and families who gathered last week for the 2014 Proclaim Retreat had to say after 4 days of Faith Rooted Organizing Training, worship at the lake, dynamic workshops, conversations with new and old friends and colleagues, laughter, and community with faithful and fabulous people of God.

“The 2014 Proclaim retreat was among the finest professional conferences I have attended as a pastor.” – Rev. Anita Hill

“More than any other group of clergy with whom I gather, this is the one that most reflects and shines with the new life of the Risen Christ.” – Rev. Mark Erson

“This was my first Proclaim Retreat and it was amazing!” – Becky Goche, Wartburg Seminary

“Our speakers reminded us that the spirit is calling us to work against remaining injustice both against us and others throughout out church.” Gretchen Rode, First Call Candidate

“The retreat affords me the the opportunity to uplift and be uplifted by others in this ministry that can be so isolating at times.” Paul Johnson, Wartburg Seminary

The retreat and connections “have had an invigorating effect on me.” Jay Berry, Lutheran School of Theology at Philadelphia

“Proclaim fills me with the patience, the vision, and the love to continue working for my place and for the places for all those who are still on an exile’s journey.” Tim Feiertag, First Call Candidate

“I have a new awareness of the gifts we have to offer the church to help heal that which is broken.” Diana Linden-Johnson

“I really feel named and proclaimed.” Gus Barnes, Jr. Wartburg Seminary

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Next Year’s Proclaim Gathering:  April 17-20, 2015, Stony Point, NY