Associated Press article on the Sierra Pacific Synod Service

Sharei Green July 26, 2010

Gay Lutheran pastors to join church roster

By SUDHIN THANAWALA

The Associated Press

Saturday, July 24, 2010; 11:13 PM

SAN FRANCISCO — Seven pastors who work in the San Francisco Bay area and were barred from serving in the nation’s largest Lutheran group because of a policy that required gay clergy to be celibate are being welcomed into the denomination.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will add six of the pastors to its clergy roster at a service at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in San Francisco on Sunday. Another pastor who was expelled from the church, but was later reinstated, will participate in the service.

The group is among the first gay, bisexual or transgender Lutheran pastors to be reinstated or added to the rolls of the ELCA since the organization voted last year to lift the policy requiring celibacy.

Churches can now hire noncelibate gay clergy who are in committed relationships.

“It’s going to be an extremely glorious and festive ceremony because it’s the culmination of decades of work to welcome LGBT people into the ELCA,” said Amalia Vagts, executive director of the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, a nonprofit that credentials openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people for ministry.

Megan Rohrer, one of the pastors who will participate in Sunday’s rite of reception service, grew up in South Dakota and attended a Lutheran college where she said students tried to exorcise her “gay demons” by throwing holy water on her. Some of those people are now Lutheran pastors in South Dakota, she said.

Rohrer, who is transgender and a lesbian, was ordained by four congregations in San Francisco in 2006, but could not join the ELCA roster until the denomination’s national assembly approved the new policy in August.

“I didn’t really believe the policy was going to change as quickly as it did,” she said.

Rohrer said she is hopeful Sunday’s service will be a “symbol” to young people that the Lutheran church is working toward becoming more welcoming of people of all different backgrounds.

Jeff Johnson, another one of the pastors who will be added to the roster, said the ELCA’s position for years of not accepting the choice of some congregations to ordain gay clergy was painful and disappointing.

“The actions the church is taking on Sunday affirms the decisions of those congregations,” Johnson, pastor of the University Lutheran Chapel in Berkeley, said. “The church is respecting our family, our partners, the choices we’re making.”

A small number of congregations have voted to leave the ELCA in response to the August vote. Johnson and Rohrer want Sunday’s service to heal some of the rifts.

Johnson said the goal, in part, is to show people the church has space for many different opinions.

“There’s room for them,” he said. “It’s a tolerant church.”

The special rite of reception that will be used for the first time on Sunday was developed specifically to welcome gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender pastors, said Melissa Ramirez Cooper, a spokeswoman for the ELCA.

Two more rite of reception services are scheduled for September in the St. Paul-Minneapolis area and another will follow in Chicago, Cooper said.

This article appeared online and in print in more than 300 media outlets, including: NPR, The Miami Herald, The Washington Examiner, the DC Daily Caller, the Fresno Bee, USA Today, Yahoo News, The Washington Post, MSNBC, Houston Chronicle, Manchester UK Guardian News, SFGate, Fox News, Star Tribune, Newsday, Seattle Times, etc

ELM pastors featured in Bay Area Reporter

Sharei Green July 22, 2010


An article in the Bay Area Reporter featured this Sunday’s Sierra Pacific Synod celebration and profiled ELM pastors. ELM roster member Rev. Jeff Johnson is featured:

“I think this is a very significant step for the church, which has been in this two-decade process of studying gay and lesbian people and talking about finding ways to include us. That process has now come to an end and the church has decided that LGBT people are to be welcomed fully as leaders and members of the church, so it is a huge step that the church has taken,” said the Reverend Jeff Johnson, whose ordination 20 years ago as an assistant pastor at the city’s First United Lutheran Church sparked the internal dialogue within the national Lutheran Church.”

Many other ELM supporters and roster members are quoted, read the article here.
Watch a live stream of this Sunday’s service here.

Update on ELM Pastors Seeking ELCA Candidacy

Amalia Vagts July 15, 2010

Many ELM roster members are working towards becoming part of the ELCA roster. Currently, 12 ELM pastors have received approval for reception, reinstatement or ordination by an ELCA candidacy committee. We celebrate with the church as we live into the new ministry policies and we continue to support and work with those who are in the process of approval.

Approvals:

Sierra Pacific Synod
Reception: Rev. Jeff Johnson, Rev. Dawn Roginski, Rev. Sharon Stalkfleet, Rev. Megan Rohrer, Rev. Craig Minich, Rev. Paul Brenner
Reinstatement: Rev. Ross Merkel

Minneapolis Area Synod
Reception: Rev. Jen Nagel

St. Paul Area Synod
Reception: Rev. Anita Hill

Southeast Iowa Synod
Reception: Rev. Erik Christensen

Metro Chicago Synod
Ordination: Julie Boleyn

New England Synod
Ordination: Matthew James

Cara Knutson

Sharei Green July 8, 2010
Cara Knutson

I was born and raised in a family of faith that instilled deep values that continue to shape and form my identity to this day. Throughout my college years I searched to make my faith my own eventually discerning a call to ordained ministry while enrolled in graduate theological study. Through the next nine years I encountered many delays and roadblocks but still pursued where I felt God leading me. A wise friend once shared with me to pay attention to the opportunities that present themselves in life as this is one way a person can discern where God is calling them.

Through a series of events I was invited to apply to ELM and this summer was formally entered into the program. In the fall of 2009 I began seminary study at United Theological Seminary in New Brighton MN. I am looking forward to continued spiritual growth and formation through my courses at UTS and Luther Seminary and growing further into community with school, church, ELM and family.

My partner Maja Knutson and I were married in Des Moines IA in Aug. 2009 and are very excited at all the new beginnings in our life together. Maja’s family lives in the Twin Cities area and are delighted to have us living so close and have been incredibly loving and supportive.

Dr. Lisa Stenmark

Sharei Green July 8, 2010
Lisa Stenmark

Lisa Stenmark earned her M.Div. from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, an MA in Systematic Theology from the Graduate Theological Union.  After serving for a year as an interim pastor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, she went on to Vanderbilt University where she earned her Ph.D. in Religious Studies.

She currently teaches at San Jose State University, in the Comparative Religious Studies Program.  She has been active in the science and religion discourse for over a decade and was the founder and Director of Women in Religion, Ethics and the Sciences (WiRES). She currently serves on steering committee of the American Academy of Religion’s Science, Technology and Religion Group, after serving as Co-Chair. Her scholarly interests include the implications of narrative trajectories for understanding the relationship between science, technology and religion, and rethinking the ways that religion, science and the science and religion discourse can and should engage in the public sphere and is currently working on a book entitled  A Disputational Friendship:  Religion, Science and Democracy.

In her spare time she practices Aikido (in which she has a Black Belt) and other martial arts, trains for triathlons and is an avid Science Fiction fan.

Greg Egertson

Sharei Green July 6, 2010
Greg Egertson

Greg A. Egertson, M.Div. was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1957. The oldest of six sons, his parents are the Rev. Dr. Paul W. Egertson (Bishop Emeritus, Southern California West Synod ELCA) and Shirley Smith Egertson. Greg grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, and in Los Angeles, California. He was raised in the American Lutheran Church and comes from a family of Lutheran pastors, including his father, grandfather and brother.

Greg graduated from California Lutheran University in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Two years later, he completed the requirements for an undergraduate degree in Music. He worked at UCLA as a Research Associate in the Neuropsychiatric Institute until 1982, when he relocated to San Francisco. Since then, he has been a member at St. Francis Lutheran Church where has served in a number of leadership roles, including congregation president.

In 1983 Greg enrolled as an openly gay student at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS), in Berkeley, CA. Often referred to as the “fourth seminarian,” Greg was a classmate of Jeff Johnson, Jim Lancaster and Joel Workin, “the Berkeley three.” After completing his internship at St. James Lutheran Church in Portland, OR, Greg graduated from PLTS in 1989. Because he refused to vow celibacy, Greg was not approved for ordination in the ELCA. Upon his return to San Francisco, Greg was appointed to serve on the call committee at St. Francis that called Ruth Frost and Phyllis Zillhart to serve with Jeff Johnson as the founding pastors of Lutheran Lesbian & Gay Ministries (LLGM).

In 1993, Greg became a founding board member of the Extraordinary Candidacy Project (ECP) where he served until 2003. He joined the LLGM Board in 1998 and was approved for ordination by the ECP in 1999. During his time with LLGM, Greg filled many board positions including co-chair. He helped to shepherd several extraordinary ordinations and installations of ECP pastors. He also provided key leadership in the visioning process that resulted in February’s agreement to join LLGM and ECP.

In his secular life, Greg currently holds a position as Associate Dean for Budget, Administration and Enrollment Management at Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco.

“Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters” this week

Sharei Green July 6, 2010



This week ELM pastors and ELM Executive Director Amalia Vagts are heading to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul for the 2010 Lutherans Concerned/North America biennial assembly. It will be held in Minneapolis July 8-11 (pre-events on July 7).


ELM is pleased to be a sponsor of the conference. This event draws supporters of full inclusion for LGBT people from across the country for worship, workshops and community. The 2010 theme is “Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters”, read about the workshops here.

Julie Boleyn

Sharei Green July 5, 2010
Julie Boleyn (right) with family

Julie Boleyn grew up in Oregon, attending a Lutheran church for the first time at the invitation of a high school friend. While still in high school, she became a Sunday School teacher, jr. high youth leader, and sang in the choir. Almost directly upon graduation, Julie started working for a start-up software company as their first employee. While the work was interesting, she found her real joy was always in the volunteer work she did with the church.

In August of 1997 she came out as a lesbian, leaving her marriage of 2 years. It was in Bible study, not long after, that she realized that God’s love urged her out of the closet, much as Jesus called to Lazarus to come out of the tomb.  With this new found freedom and hope, she left her work in software and volunteered on long-term staff at Holden Village. It was there that she discerned a call to the ministry as a parish pastor. In May 2010 Julie completed her masters at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Julie and her partner, Jeanine Reardon, were married in a church ceremony at St. Paul Lutheran in Evanston, Illinois in October of 2004.  Jeanie is training to become a chaplain, and is completing her year-long residency at Alexian Brothers Medical Center. In January of this year, Julie and Jeanie welcomed the birth of their daughter, Madelyn. They are thrilled, awestruck, and humbled by this new vocation of parenthood.

The Rev. Dr. Susan Strouse

Sharei Green July 5, 2010
The Rev. Susan Strouse

Rev.  Susan Strouse is a native of Pottstown, PA (near Philadelphia) and is a graduate of Antioch University/Philadelphia (B.A. in Human Services) and the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg (Master of Divinity) She has previously served congregations in Amherst, NY, Buffalo, NY, and Novato, CA. She has been at First United since December 2004 and on the ELM roster since 2009. She was on the ELM steering committee and served as the first chair of the Congregations ellipse on the Covenant Circle. Since 2010, she has served as Dean of the San Francisco conference.

In 2005 she received a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. Her area of study and interest is interfaith theology, particularly working with congregations and clergy to explore the meaning of being a Christian in our religiously diverse world. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio.

Pastor Susan resides in Berkeley and enjoys the CA weather, sitting in cafes, and hanging out with her “significant other” and resident furry friends.