Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries

The censure against Abiding Peace Lutheran congregation in Kansas City, Missouri which has been in effect since March 2001 has been lifted. The censure was put in place because the congregation called and ordained ELM roster member Pastor Donna Simon the previous October. Bishop Gerald Mansholt of the ELCA Central States Synod lifted the censure.

Pastor Donna has served that congregation since her ordination and call. Donna Simon is a 1999 graduate of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, CA. She was extraordinarily ordained by ELM in 2000.

Her service and ministry drew praise from the bishop. In his letter to the congregation, he said of Pastor Donna, a lesbian not yet on the roster of the ELCA, and her service as pastor for nine years: “…though ordained outside the established processes of the Church, Pastor Simon has been a gracious witness among us in this synod as well as in the larger Church. She has spoken the truth in love, and shared her witness and struggle as a baptized child of God, even as she has prayed for a day of wider understanding and acceptance in the Church.”

Bishop Mansholt, in notifying the synod of the lifting of the censure, repeated the above praise for Pastor Donna and commented on the faithfulness of the congregation at Abiding Lutheran: “As the Church studied, prayed and conversed with one another over the matters of gay and lesbian people in the Church, Abiding Peace Church might have walked away. But they remained in the Church and stayed in dialog with brothers and sisters who were trying to make sense of these issues in the light of the Gospel. They kept on praying for a better day, a time of wider awareness and acceptance. . . . I know the congregation also longs for the day when their pastor might be welcomed onto the roster of the ELCA.”

Here is also a link to Donna’s blog: http://www.peacepastor.blogspot.com/

We celebrate this great news and hope the best for Rev. Simon’s and her congregation!

Meet new ELM roster member- Vince Lavieri.

Vince was ordained in 1977 by the Michigan Synod of the Lutheran Church of America. He served three LCA congregations as pastor in Michigan, in Dearborn (assistant pastor), Albion, and Greenville. In the Michigan Synod he served on the Stewardship, Youth Ministry, and Peacemaking committees.

Because of ELCA’s former policies, Vince was unable to continue on the ELCA roster. He continued in service to Christ’s Church on the Stewardship Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan. Under the auspices of an American Old Catholic church body, he served as pastor in adult foster care home ministry in Greenville, Michigan.

In the United Church of Christ, Vince served as an associate pastor in Muskegon, Michigan. For the Michigan Conference UCC, he served on the Conference Board of Directors, and on the Grand West Association’s Council and New Church Start committee. He currently serves as a pastor in the Ohio Conference UCC.

Vince, a native of Chicago, graduated from North Park College (Chicago) and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He did his Clinical Pastoral Education at the University of Michigan Medical Center. He is also a member of the State Bar of Michigan’s Legal Assistant’s Section.

Vince values the home that the UCC has given him during his time of exile from the ELCA, deeply appreciating the UCC’s particular insight that God Is Still Speaking. Vince is at core a confessional Lutheran who yearns to return to parish ministry in a Lutheran context.

We welcome him to the ELM roster!

We welcome three new members to the ELM roster!

APPROVED FOR ORDINATION
Julie Boleyn and Matt James have been approved for ordination. Julie and Matthew’s approval is contingent on completion of the Masters of Divinity degree later this spring.

TRANSFER ROSTER MEMBER
We welcome Vince Lavieri to the ELM Roster. Pastor Vince is a transfer candidate from the United Church of Christ. Pastor Vince previously served in the Lutheran Church of America, and transferred to the UCC when he was banned from serving because of his sexual orientation.

What are ELM Donors Saying at the end of 2009?

Here’s snapshot of a few of the great messages I’ve been receiving the past few days as we receive many end of the year donations. The money we raise goes to support ministry by openly lesbian, bisexual, transgender and gay pastors. Thank you to all our wonderful supporters!

“I am grateful to be able to support the wonderful work this organization does.”

“ELM has done stellar work.”

“Thank you for all you do.”

“Thank you for your ministry among us!”

“We’re so happy to be able to support ELM. Keep up the terrific work!”

“We are so pleased and excited about the wonderful things that Eric and Kyle are doing at St. Luke’s.”

Any comments or suggestions for our blog please email Rachael at operations@elm.org

We are looking forward to 2010!

ELM roster member and Co-chair Rev. Erik Christensen of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of Logan Square (Chicago, IL) sermon is featured on the Beatitudes Society’s blog. The Beatitudes Society develops and sustains a national network of emerging Christian leaders and provides leadership development resources.

Read the article on his sermon here.

Congratulations Erik!

This was just released by the ELCA press office.

ELM roster member Rev. Susan Strouse has received a call from the Sierra-Pacific Synod of the ELCA for her position as pastor at First United Lutheran Church, San Francisco.

Pastor Susan was placed “on leave from call” by the ELCA when she accepted a call to First United Lutheran Church. First United was removed from the ELCA in 1995 following a trial of their decision to call openly gay Jeff Johnson as pastor. Because Pastor Susan was serving a non-ELCA congregation, her call previously was not recognized by the ELCA.

Pastor 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 previously served congregations in Buffalo, NY and Novato, CA.

The call was announced in the Sierra Pacific Synod’s December 3 enewsletter. ELM expresses its thanks to Bishop Mark Holmerud and the Sierra Pacific Synod for this extension of welcome to First United and Pastor Susan.

St. Francis Lutheran Church, San Francisco, will celebrate its first “Feast of Hope” worship Dec. 27, in celebration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly decision directing changes in ministry policies.

ELM roster member The Rev. Anita Hill, pastor of St. Paul-Reformation Church, Minneapolis, will serve as guest preacher.

Since 1995 the congregation has held a “Feast of Expulsion” in late December, commemorating the date when the congregation was expelled from the ELCA, according to a news release from the congregation. But since the ELCA has changed it’s policy the congregation felt it was appropriate to change the emphasis for the congregations annual observance.

ELM roster member The Rev. Robert M. Goldstein, who serves as lead pastor at St. Francis, said the congregation council began discussions about changing the emphasis for the congregation’s annual observance.

“We weren’t sure what to name it,” he said in an interview. “Since the congregation on the whole is very hopeful, and we’re still in a holding pattern until we see the details in the (ELCA) Church Council’s reformulation of polices, we thought ‘hope’ was the best and most accurate name to give this.”

Read the full press release here

Emily Eastwood is featured this month on IN THE LIFE, the public television show documenting the lives and people shaping the gay experience. Their January episode, “Profiles in Leadership,” focuses on how religious leaders are paving the way for full LGBT inclusion to their congregations, threatening an establishment that would prefer policy come from the pulpit.

The lead segment, ‘A Call for Inclusion’ profiles two leaders in the faith communities leading the call for tolerance, inclusiveness and religious freedom. Emily Eastwood (pictured left), Executive Director of Lutherans Concerned/North America who has worked for policy change in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Interfaith Alliance President, Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy, who put his career on the line to write a paper calling for religious freedom and constitutional rights for all.

Profiles in Leadership will begin airing January 1^st and be available for free video streaming and downloadable podcasts from the IN THE LIFE website on January 2nd. To find out when it will air in your local area, to stream or download it, go to http://www.inthelifetv.org/

Watch a preview for the video here

This past Monday, seven members of the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries roster met with members of the ELCA Churchwide staff. The meeting began with the seven roster members telling parts of their story to Bishop Mark Hanson. Each person took about 7-10 minutes to talk about their joy in ministry, the discrimination they have faced as a gay or lesbian pastor, and their hope for the Church. Bishop Hanson listened deeply to the stories and offered his affirmation of the gifts for ministry displayed by the group.

We then spent several more hours talking about how ELM pastors may be welcomed to the Roster of the ELCA. As we often say, ELM is about making ministry happen. Our work in that area continues, as we affirm and support the many gifted members of our roster. We believe that in baptism God calls all people to a vocation, and that the call to ordained ministry comes to people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity as equal members of the human family. We will continue to offer ourselves as a resource to the ELCA as they develop new policies and procedures in light of the decisions made by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.

The conversation on Monday was not a decision-making one. We will continue to keep you informed of developments as they happen.

Those attending the meeting included (from left to right in photo) Rev. Anita Hill; Rev. Ross Merkel; Rev. Cindy Coleman; Rev. Erik Christensen; Julie Boleyn; Rev. Jen Nagel; and Rev. Jeff Johnson. Also attending were ELM Executive Director Amalia Vagts; Lutherans Concerned/North America Executive Director Emily Eastwood; and Goodsoil Legislative Team Chair Rev. Chris Berry.

Many of you contacted us to share your prayers for the outcome of this and future meetings. We also gathered in a circle of prayer at the Lutheran Center just before going upstairs. We named in prayer many who have led this movement for years, many of your names, and names of future gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender leaders in this Church. Thank you for your continued support of our ministry.