New Covenant Circle Members

Sharei Green April 22, 2009

ELM welcomes the following new people to volunteer leadership roles with Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.

Fred Wolfe (Philadelphia, PA) – Candidacy and Credentialing
A long-time member of University Lutheran Church of the Incarnation in Philadelphia, PA and currently serves as Administrator. He is active on the SEPA South East Pennsylvania Synod’s LGBTQ Task Force, serving as Camp Director for “Wonderfully Made,” a camp for LGBTQ high school youth, and has been active with the YES! Coalition, a Delaware Valley Inter-Faith LGBTQ organization. Fred lives in Philadelphia with his partner, Gary Bronson.

Rose Beeson (Phoenix, AZ) – Congregations & Ministries
Currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona and is a member of Faith Lutheran Church. Rose was central in her congregation’s process to open calls to the ELM roster. She serves as Secretary of Lutherans Concerned/North America and is a past Regional Coordinator for LC/NA. Rose is moving to Berkeley, CA this summer and will begin a master of divinity program at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in the fall.

Vance Blackfox (Tulsa, OK) – At large member
A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, lives in Oaks, Oklahoma and serves as Director of Annual Fund for the Oaks Indian Mission. Vance was very active in the Lutheran Youth Organization, including service as the President of the Churchwide Board of the LYO and serving on many planning teams for the ELCA’s Youth Gathering. Vance is moving to Chicago this summer to begin his studies toward a Ph.D. at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago this fall.


Pastor Paul Egertson (Thousad Oaks, CA) – Vocational Support & Oversight
A retired ELCA pastor and bishop emeritus of the Southwest California Synod of the ELCA. He resigned as bishop in 2001 after presiding at the extraordinary ordination of Pastor Anita Hill. He is currently the only ELCA bishop who has presided at an extraordinary ordination while in office. Pastor Paul Egertson resides in Thousand Oaks with his wife, Shirley, and serves as senior lecturer at California Lutheran University.

Favorite food dish
Fred: I’m dying to taste candied grapefruit rind dipped in dark chocolate. I have more of a bitter tooth than a sweet tooth. Don’t know what that means.
Vance: Korean BBQ!
Favorite Film
Rose: Running with Scissors, Tipping the Velvet, Real Women Have Curves, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Paul: Anchors Aweigh (I saw it 12 times as a kid).
Favorite hobbies
Fred: When I’m not at church, I always seem to either have a camera in front of my face or a trowel in my hand, sometimes both at once. Most of our garden grows in containers, either on our roofs or in the yard (to keep out of the path of the dogs).
Vance: I am a movie watcher! A weekly trip the theater, with friends or alone, is a must if at all possible.
Rose: Traveling, volunteering with the theater, participating in a bi-weekly Socrates Café, meeting friends at a bar after the Socrates Café to discuss the definition of words.
Paul: Reading and exploring the Internet.

Holy Week Blessings

Sharei Green April 9, 2009


A blessed Holy Week to you from Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries…

During this time of reflection and anticipation, we invite you to virtually visit some of the pastors on the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries roster as they examine and experience Holy Week in their own communities.

Pastor Megan Rohrer is on her annual Lenten Street Retreat. Follow her Street Retreat blog.

Pastor Donna Simon is blogging here.

Pastor Erik Christensen is posting his sermons here.

Pastor Dan Hooper is blogging here.

May these pastors’ words bring insight, reflection and connection to your week.

Rev. Megan Rohr featured in the news!

Sharei Green April 8, 2009

Recently, Rev. Megan Rohrer, ELM roster (pictured left, in a photo by Gabriela Hasbrun), was the featured pastor in the Human Rights Campaign’s Religion & Faith News, which is emailed to

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thousands of people. In the profile, readers learn about Pastor Megan’s work with the homeless through the Welcome Ministry, especially her outreach to the many GLBT-identified homeless in the Polk-Gulch neighborhood. Pastor Megan is also currently featured in the exhibit, Polk Street: Lives in Transition, that explores San Francisco’s Polk Gulch neighborhood from the 1960s to the present.

Two New Roster Members!

Sharei Green March 23, 2009

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries enthusiastically welcomes two new members to its roster, the Rev. Paul Brenner and the Rev. Steve Robertson. Rev. Brenner and Rev. Robertson were approved by the Twin Cities ELM candidacy panel on March 9.

Rev. Brenner has been involved with hospice work for over 30 years. He served as interim pastor at St. Francis Lutheran Church and has also been very active in music ministry.


Rev. Robertson served nearly 25 years as an ELCA pastor. He is currently serving as a Spiritual Coordinator/Bereavement Counselor for AseraCare Hospice, Bloomington.


Pastor embraces challenge to grow congregation

Sharei Green March 4, 2009

Logan Square church is surviving, growing under leadership of openly gay minister

By Dawn Reiss |Special to the Tribune

March 4, 2009

Rev. Erik Christensen clutches a 64-ounce Diet Coke while a parishioner fixes a rusty slop sink–it’s a double Big Gulp kind of day for the pastor of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of Logan Square. The minister knows that what his century-old church with its neo-Gothic flying buttresses really needs is tuck-pointing. This is just one of many obstacles Christensen and the congregation have faced. Both have been told by Lutheran church administrators they shouldn’t exist: Christensen, 35, because he is an openly gay minister, and the congregation because membership had dwindled to about a dozen.

But over the last two years, Christensen has nearly tripled the congregation. And the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the country’s largest Lutheran denomination, announced last month it is considering allowing gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy members.

John Brooks, spokesman for the Chicago-based Lutheran church group, said that if gays are allowed to be clergy it will likely be at the discretion of each church. Christensen said he appreciates that the group is showing flexibility. “It’s about creating a policy to reflect what is already happening for years in a fairly unspoken way,” he said.

But his main focus is on continuing to grow St. Luke’s, where the threat of closing still looms.
Some of Christensen’s methods can seem non-traditional. While he tries to reach people from the pulpit, he also posts his sermons on Facebook and it’s not unusual to find him on the dance floor of a club. His congregation members say they appreciate his trying to blend tradition with liberal thinking.

Libby Ahearn, 24, said that’s why she and husband Brian Gilmore, 23, joined St. Luke’s more than a year ago after a long search. “We were getting desperate to find a church,” said Gilmore. “We went to five churches, even as far as away as Lincoln Park, and couldn’t find any one we liked. But then we found St. Luke’s and Erik.” The couple liked the small, friendly congregation and Christensen’s down-to-earth sermons. “He always seems to tailor his message to our needs,” and to the neighborhood, said Ahearn, who now serves as the Sunday school teacher, the first the church has had in many years.

St. Luke’s path has been anything but traditional for a long time. After swelling to 800 members in its heyday in the 1950s and ’60s, it declined as the neighborhood changed and families moved away. Before Christensen, the last full-time pastor left in 1991 and the church limped along with only 10 to 12 parishioners regularly attending services.

By June 2001, the church council recommended St. Luke’s close. But the remaining stalwarts were adamant that it stay open.
“We virtually had no kids, but there was a core group of us that were very stubborn and wanted to give it one last chance,” says Judi Keippel, 64.

They sold the parsonage in 2004 and used $390,000 from that sale as seed money to redevelop the church. They put on a new roof, installed a boiler and began searching for a full-time pastor.
After years of searching unsuccessfully to find a pastor through traditional methods, Keippel noticed a mailing advertising pastors from Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, which helps ordain and place ministers regardless of sexual orientation.

“I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say a few old-time members don’t care for the idea” of hiring an openly gay pastor, Keippel said. “But most are accepting and like Erik’s enthusiasm, energy and ability to organize and his outreach to the community. His spiritual gifts are phenomenal, and he really seems able to relate to people.”

“Besides, we’ve always been known as the church that never really follows directions,” Keippel’s husband, Bill, said.
“Some refer to us as that feisty congregation,” he quipped. “And I love that.”

Christensen had been ordained by ELM after being kicked out of a mainstream seminary for being gay. He had worked for a couple of years helping homeless youths in non-profits in Washington and Atlanta before returning to a more spiritual life.
He was offered the St. Luke’s post in October 2006. Until that point, only eight ELM-ordained people had ever been called to serve parishes.

“[Parishioners] actually felt like there was a place for them in Logan Square and that they weren’t ready to give up,” Christensen said. “And I could relate.”

Since then, membership at St. Luke’s has grown to 30 or more regular members, a testimony to Christensen throwing open the church doors to the community, including non-Lutherans.
The church now houses a Boy Scout troop, Elijah’s food pantry, Narcotics Anonymous and a Weight Watchers group. There is also Teatro Luna, a Latino-women run theater company; a music program for grade-school children available through a partnership with DePaul University; a bilingual Fine Arts for Tots music program; the Chicago Community Chorus; and a yoga and tai chi studio.

Christensen said members originally thought the church would need to close some time this year. With revenue from these groups, Christensen now estimates that St. Luke’s has enough money to stay open for two years.
Phil West started attending services at St. Luke’s three weeks ago with his fiance, Liz Garvey. He said he is not concerned about the size of the congregation or that Christensen is gay.
“It’s the warmth that you feel,” said West, 33, who is “church shopping.”

“People are people. It doesn’t matter your sexual orientation. … Times are changing and people are becoming a little more open.”

So, hopes Christensen, is the Lutheran church.

“My dad told me that everybody is called to be something,” said Christensen, who grew up in Des Moines, the son of a choral conductor. “Lutherans believe that.”

Response to the ELCA Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies and the proposed Human Sexuality social statement

Sharei Green February 25, 2009

Several years ago, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (acting then as our predecessor organizations) made a decision to remove ourselves from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s process to develop a sexuality statement. This decision was made because of the lack of substantive involvement of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the process and because of assumptions made in the process that same-sex intimacy is inherently sinful.

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries upholds people of all sexual orientations and gender identities as full partners in the promise and responsibility of baptism. Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries upholds the good news of the Gospel for all people. Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries rejects the belief that same-sex intimacy is inherently sinful. Similarly, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is no longer involved in the decision-making process surrounding the ELCA’s current ban on ordination of partnered gay clergy. Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is focused on our mission to expand ministry opportunities for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in Lutheran life and ministry.

We continue to maintain a structured credentialing and candidacy process; to work with congregations and ministries who wish to open their call process to our roster; and to provide financial support for these ministries. Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries celebrates and affirms the vibrant and life-changing ministry of Jesus Christ as shared by the pastors on the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries roster and the congregations and ministries they serve. Individual members of our roster and ELCA congregations served by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries’ pastors may respond in their own ways to these statements from the ELCA. We celebrate and affirm their decision to do so.

Update on ELM Gathering on February 14

Sharei Green January 27, 2009


Friends of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries will gather in San Francisco on February 14, 2009 at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and you are invited!

 The daylong event is open to all and will focus on the ministry being done by members of the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries Roster and ELM affiliated congregations and ministries. Events include worship, fellowship, conversation, and entertainment by the talented Bay Area queer duo Coyote Grace.
This free event is from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, and includes lunch. There will also be a special service opportunity from 5:30 – 7:00 PM at the Welcome Ministry for those who are interested. To register for the event, please email Rachael at operations@elm.org.

Extraordinary Ordination of Steve Keiser

Sharei Green January 27, 2009


Pastor Steve Keiser became the 18th Lutheran pastor to be extraordinarily ordained since 1990, and the 10th since 2006. This is the first extraordinary ordination in the eastern time zone. The huge Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion sanctuary was filled–estimates place the crowd at about 500 with nearly 40 vested clergy participating. It was a truly amazing day. Pastor Steve has been serving at Holy Communion for 8 years as a pastoral associate and has been called as pastor to the congregation. He will serve with Pastor Kari Hurt.

The Rev. Jay Weisner placed a stole which has been worn by every ELM ordained since Anita Hill on Steve’s shoulders during the service and the oldest member of the congregation read the final words proclaiming Steve a called and ordained pastor. It was magnificent!

Sharei Green January 6, 2009

Openly transgender minister ordained

by Heather Tirado Gilligan

First United Lutheran Church in San Francisco, the first Lutheran church to ordain an openly LGBT pastor in the 1990s, recently welcomed a new queer member of the ministry. Jay Wilson, now one of the few openly transgender pastors in San Francisco, was ordained by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries and installed as a pastor at First United last month.

First United became a refuge for LGBT pastors after the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America decided in 1989 that all openly gay and lesbian clergy must live celibate lives or be expelled from the ministry. The First United church was itself expelled from the ELCA in 1995 for ordaining openly gay pastor Jay Johnson shortly after the denomination’s ruling on celibacy.

Wilson’s December 6 installation celebrated the unique perspective he would bring to his pastoral work. Wilson will be working with the homeless and the disabled as well as offering education around gender identity in his pastoral role at First United.

“Jay helped 36 people get into housing since April,” said pastor Megan Rohrer, who officiated the ordination and installation. Wilson began his pastoral work with the homeless several months before his ordination.

“It felt hopeful to be ordained, and a bit overwhelming, too,” Wilson said in an e-mail interview with the Bay Area Reporter after his ordination and installation.

Wilson, who has Asperger syndrome, prefers to offer such counseling in one-on-one sessions. The ceremony included a number of accommodations for his disability. Red ribbons, strung from the balcony at the back of the sanctuary to the pulpit, were used to approximate the traditional laying on of hands near the close of the ceremony. Attendees held the length of the ribbons, and Wilson held the end, a moment of connection without the physical touching that would have caused Wilson discomfort.

As part of his official ordination, Rohrer draped Wilson with a stole sewn by his mother, Deb Wilson, who attended the ceremony with Wilson’s father, Ron Wilson. The stole featured a repeating rainbow motif, with a cross stitched onto the side of the fabric that will rest on Wilson’s chest.

ELM, the Lutheran organization that ordained Wilson, was created in 2007, formed from two LGBT-friendly grassroots Lutheran groups that emerged in response to the celibacy rule. They sought to credential all qualified pastoral candidates regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Wilson found that he needed that credentialing process near the end of his pastoral training. After four years of training as an openly transgender and queer pastoral candidate, Wilson was disqualified from pastoral service.

“There was an article published about me in a conservative Lutheran newsletter which faulted the seminary and denomination for allowing me to serve,” Wilson explained.

The candidacy group that had supported Wilson’s pastoral candidacy withdrew its support after the article, Wilson said. His congregation, however, didn’t waver in their embrace.

“The Sacramento congregation where I was serving as intern pastor was prepared for this, and mobilized to make sure that the congregation and I were continuing to be supported,” Wilson said. Wilson continued his work there as an ELM candidate.

As a pastor, Wilson will focus on helping the homeless population of Polk Gulch, many of whom also have disabilities, get the official papers that enable them to access benefits.

“In today’s political climate, our guests are treated as non-persons without ID, because they cannot access benefits, get housing (even in shelters), get jobs, or legally be out on the streets.” Wilson explained. “Combine those realities with the lack of adequate shelter and low-income housing, and basically homelessness is being criminalized without the resources for people to get out.”

01/01/2009

Happy Holidays from ELM!

Sharei Green December 29, 2008

Wishing you a joyful and blessed Christmas Day!

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“All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:3-5)

May your light shine brightly this Christmas Day and in the New Year!

With gratitude and joy for all you do for the full inclusion of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in Lutheran life and ministry,

The Covenant Circle, Roster and Staff of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries