Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries

Today we hear from guest blogger Brenda Bos. She is currently on seminary internship at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Santa Monica. Brenda is a member of Proclaim and a 2012 Internship Grant recipient. She is a student at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley. The Rev. Jim Boline is her internship supervisor. 

Why Our Message Matters

Bishop: Will you proclaim the good news of God’s grace and Jesus Christ to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities in our area?

Intern: I will and I ask God to help me.

Bishop: Will you serve as a beacon of hope to Reconciling in Christ Congregations, and to other congregations who are prayerfully considering inclusivity?

Intern: I will and I ask God to help me.

And with those words I was installed as the first intern of the Los Angeles chapter of Reconciling Works.   The chapter decided it was time to hire someone to be intentional about getting our message of grace out to the wider LGBT community in Southern California.  But we also realized it was time to “check in” with the ELCA congregations in Southern California, offering support and encouragement to congregations who are wondering about welcome. 

You’ll notice similar themes coming up for Proclaim as we figure out how to serve the church going forward.  For some of us, we’ve been out and pretty comfortable for several years.  We forget there are still hundreds of LGBT Lutherans who don’t know how to get support on their journey.  And we need to continue to boldly reach out to them.   There are straight allies who must remain silent, and the silence is excruciating. 

In the simplest terms, people of faith fall on two sides of inclusivity.  One side believes their faith calls them to love all people.  The other side believes their faith calls them to exclude sinners.  Loving, faithful people are on both sides of this issue.  And I feel called to listen, respect and love those who truly feel called by God to exclude me.  I’ve been on their side of the issue, and so I have compassion for their struggle.  I have also experienced the amazing liberation of grace and wish to share that as well.  We continue to learn the painful lesson that anger and hatred do not move us forward: compassion and dialogue do.

So often progressive clergy feel they have to be politically correct.  We cannot thump the Bible too hard.  We have to apologize for Imperialistic Christianity.  We’re sorry for the sins of the church, including the sins we have been subjected to in our ordination and coming out processes. 

But there are conflicted Christians who need to hear from us.  We don’t do any favors when we wear a collar and don’t proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Christians are looking for clergy to help them find their position on LGBT issues.  If we, as Lutheran clergy or lay leaders, do not stand boldly on the words of Jesus Christ, but rather hem and haw and try to find a politically correct “non-offensive” stance, we have become like so much tasteless salt. 

Conflicted Christians are those who read their Bibles and think they are supposed to judge sexual minorities, but also read Jesus’ messages of love over and over again.  It’s been said the anti-gay message tends to be from the writings of Paul, while the pro-gay messages tend to be from Jesus.  Now, I’m grateful to our brother Paul: I think we all became Christians because of his work.  But I’ll pick Jesus Christ over every other voice in the Bible every time. 

We are called to love boldly.  We are called to live rightly.  We are called to proclaim the love and grace of Jesus Christ, and we will.  And we ask God to help us. 

Brenda Bos is a member of the Proclaim Communications Duo and a 2012 Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries seminarian internship grant recipient. She lives in Pasadena, California with her partner Janis Reid.  

Last year at the Proclaim retreat, several people commented how wonderful it would be to have Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries and Proclaim banners to use for special services such as installations and ordinations. After looking into several options, we felt we could only do service to ELM’s beautiful logo by commissioning some original artwork. Many of us at ELM are well acquainted with Holden Village and the former Village Artist, Kristen Gilje. We contacted Kristen and she was thrilled to have the chance to work on the project. 

Several generous Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries donors embraced the invitation to underwrite the banners. The banners will soon be finished and available for celebration events such as Proclaim members ordinations, installations and reinstatements. The banners were made possible by special gifts from Bonny and John Vaught, Erik Stevens, the Revs. Jen Nagel & Jane McBride, Jerry & Val Vagts, David Lester & Amalia Vagts, and other friends from Holden Village.

Kristen Gilje does commissioned work for churches and organizations all over the nation, teaches workshops and shorter classes in several places as well as privately in her home. She lives in the Bellingham, WA area.

You can read the process and see photographs by visiting Kristen’s blog here.

We conclude in-depth looks at the 2013 Ministry Grant recipients with a congregation that continues working with their community.

PARISH MINISTRY: Grace Lutheran Church, Houston, TX: Rev. Lura Groen: $2,500    

Grace Lutheran Church in Houston continues to expand and minister to the Montrose neighborhood they have called home since 1922.  ELM donors have been supporting Grace Lutheran Church since 2008.  Thanks in part to the generosity of ELM supporters, this congregation was able to call Pastor Lura, who was extraordinarily ordained in July of 2008. Membership and attendance continues to grow.  This grant will allow Grace to focus on growth rather than survival.  Grace works on a number of justice ministries such as micro financing, AIDS walks, and supporting the local food pantry.

How will this ELM grant help you in your ministry?

Perhaps most exciting for our small urban congregation has been the influx of young people in the last few months, many of whom come from religious traditions that have rejected them because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. For the first time in years we have a young adult Bible study, started because our new members asked for it.

For more on ELM’s Ministry Grant program go to: https://www.elm.org/elm-grants/

Joseph Graumann, an MDiv candidate at Gettysburg, Fund for Leaders recipient, and Proclaim member is featured in a Living Lutheran article, and on the home page of the ELCA.  Read his full article ” Called Through Love” here. 

Joseph writes offered this reflection on Proclaim & the importance of community:

As a gay future pastor in the church, I am so proud to be a part of Proclaim.  Without the work of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, my education — let alone my participation in the Fund For Leaders program — would not be possible.  While in Chicago, I met with Amalia to discuss how best to further Proclaim at Gettysburg seminary, and I was happy to find that there was such a vital community to be found in the organization. Even better, I was able to connect some LGBTQ-identified classmates with Proclaim’s resources and meet a fellow Proclaim-er at our annual Luther Bowl football tournament.  Because of your work, I have found a welcome place both at Gettysburg and in the wider church.

For more on ELM’s Proclaim program go here: https://www.elm.org/proclaim/

POVERTY & HOMELESSNESS MINISTRY: Welcome, Rev. Megan Rohrer: $1,000   

This grant will enable Welcome to work with Lutheran congregations across the country respond to poverty & homelessness in their communities.  Rev. Megan Rohrer will be working with the ELCA Domestic Hunger Program to create best practices for congregations responding to poverty. 

How will this ELM grant help you in your ministry?

Over the years, grant support from ELM has enabled the Welcome Ministry to take our ministry to the next level.  Ten years ago, in seminary when people told me that it was impossible to be a pastor in the ELCA, ELM supported my candidacy process and gave me scholarships to the annual retreat for pastoral leaders.  Six years ago, ELM grant funds enabled me to become ordained into a full time call.  Three years ago, ELM enabled Pastor Jay Wilson to be ordained and work to enable nearly all of our homeless guests to become housed.  Today, ELM is enabling us to expand our work across the country and to work more closely as a resource to the ELCA and ELCA congregations.  ELM’s grant support has enabled me to mature and grow as a pastor and to become an integral part of the ELCA. 

For more on ELM’s Ministry Grant program go to: https://www.elm.org/elm-grants/

We are taking a short break from honoring our 2013 Grant Recipients in order to reflect on Transgender Day of Remembrance. Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual observance on November 20 that honors the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is committed to overcoming barriers created by gender conformity and supporting leaders of diverse gender identities and expressions.

In honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance we share worship resources for congregations, including different forms of Confession and Forgiveness and Prayers of the People. These materials were written by Rev. Jay Wilson. Read the full worship resources here. 

Jay is a queer and genderqueer transguy, autistic and disabled, who identifies as a Lutheran postmodern, third-wave feminist, academic geek, disability rights activist, and social justice advocate. Jay is a member of Proclaim. Jay has worked with religious communities and diverse organizations as a presenter, educator, and advocate in cross-movement anti-oppression, sexuality and gender identity, Self-Advocacy movement, and community access.  Jay served ELM as chair of the Diversity and Inclusion committee.

Paul Gibson: Lord of Mercy has been an RIC congregation for two years and they are eager to be a force for good and for change in the Reno/Sparks metropolitan area. The idea for Open Doors came from members of the congregation who saw an urgent need for mentoring and community-building and hoped the church could provide it. I am the first gay intern that Lord of Mercy has had, and they have been quick to recognize the gifts I offer to them and their community. This grant will enable me to lay the groundwork for a project that will continue even after I return to seminary. The project will allow me to serve an age group with which I have very little experience. It will also provide me the opportunity to work with area businesses and community leaders.

For more on ELM’s Ministry Grant program go to: https://www.elm.org/elm-grants/

YOUTH MINISTRY: East Bay Lutheran Youth Program, Oakland: Rev. Craig Minich; $1,000

The East Bay Lutheran Youth Program (EBLYP) is a joint youth ministry program made up of four congregations. The program ministers to a great diversity of folks and families in terms of ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic realities, and family make-up. The program works with youth and their families from birth to post college. This ministry has been thriving for 12 years and is served by Rev. Craig Minich.

How will this ELM grant help you in your ministry?

Pastor Craig: Since I minister to the youth and families from four Lutheran churches in the East Bay of California, as well as with the youth of our 200 plus ELCA congregations in the Sierra Pacific Synod (Northern California) there is not a lack of need and ministry opportunities in our inter-generational, gospel-centered, youth-leader-training ministry. Our challenge has been in closing our budget gap for funding this ministry fully. We have vibrant congregations who give us their time and are spiritually full, but candidly are not financially affluent.  The ELM grant helps us keep our ministry thriving and gets us closer to being fully funded. We have been self-sufficient for most of our 12 years, and we hope to regain self-sufficiency in the near future. As happened in our first years, the ELM grant helped us then and helps us now bridge that financial gap. We thank you with gusto and sing praises for ELM’s generosity.

This grant will support the program by ensuring Craig can continue working in a much needed full time capacity. During this time of economic instability for families and youth in the East Bay many are having a hard time making ends meet. This ministry is needed now more than ever.

For more on ELM’s Ministry Grant program go to: https://www.elm.org/elm-grants/

ENVIRONMENTAL MINISTRY: EcoFaith Recovery, Portland, OR: Rev. Robyn Hartwig: $4,500    

This grant will fund the continued development of EcoFaith Recovery as a ministry of Lutherans and ecumenical partners based in the Portland metropolitan area.  EcoFaith Recovery nurtures faith-based recovery groups and relational leadership networks to help individuals, communities and institutions emerge from our intoxication with consumerism to recover our relatedness to God, ourselves, one another, and the entire Earth community.

To do this, EcoFaith Recovery helps people discover their own stories, creates experiential opportunities for learning and spiritual practice, facilitates spiritual renewal through relational organizing, trains leaders willing to call their primary institutions into recovery, provides stipend internships for seminarians and young adults, and connects leaders and congregations by building and strengthening relational networks. In these life-sustaining communities, people reclaim their stories, their lives, their passions, their various calls to ministry, and their living connection with God. In the process, EcoFaith Recovery engages in theological reform, incites action to reduce the climate crisis, fosters the renewal of community life in the Pacific Northwest, and offers a practical model for people of faith throughout the country.

How will this ELM grant help you in your ministry?

Pastor Robyn: EcoFaith Recovery’s ministry is expanding rapidly. Over 350 people have participated in our retreats, small groups, classes, workshops, networking events, worship experiences, internships, and leadership teams, most of which are conducted in partnership with other Lutheran organizations. With funding from Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries and other sources in 2013, EcoFaith Recovery will offer additional leadership training, implement an expanded communication plan, and develop a three-year funding strategy so it can continue to welcome people of faith into recovery from unsustainable ways of life and into the kind of life-giving alternatives our faith calls us to pursue.