I.C.M. - SW MN WordAlone

ELECTING A BISHOP IN A TROUBLED CHURCH -WALTER SUNDBERG

It is possible to win in the ELCA. I remember fondly the reaffirmation at the churchwide assembly in 1993 that the pastoral office is one office and not three-fold (bishop, presbyter, deacon) or two-fold (ordaining deacons). This was done against the recommendations of theological “experts.” I also took heart at the rejection of the radical study on sexuality in 1994 by means of a wholesale revolt on the part of the ELCA’s lay constituency. But “victories” do not always last.

Among the deleterious effects of CCM is that it is slowly but surely bringing a three-fold order of ministry into the ELCA by the ecumenical back door. And a new radical study on sexuality, similar in all key points to the study of the early nineties, will likely be before the church in 2005. The theological “experts” in the ELCA are determined to get their way and it is not an easy thing to stop them.

So what advice can I offer you? Perhaps this: No matter where you stand on the spectrum of opinion in the church, you must agree that your up-coming election is crucial. Big decisions are on the horizon that will determine the future of the church and you need to know what your leaders think. To that end I would suggest that you need to find out two things from the candidates running for the office of bishop.

First, where does the candidate stand on sexuality. Accept no evasions. Does the candidate support the ordination of practicing homosexuals? Does he or she favor some time of Christian ritual blessing for homosexual couples? If the answer to these questions is affirmative, then the candidate should be asked the following: If gender is an arbitrary matter for ritualized blessing — so that two men or two women may be affirmed in their relationship and not just “one man and one woman”— then is the number of people involved in a relationship also arbitrary? That is to say should polygamy be legally permitted? Muslims do it; so do renegade Mormons. How about Lutherans? If not, why not? After all, if homosexuals have needs, so do bisexuals. This is not a flippant or a trick question. The key Supreme Court case that privileges traditional marriage in this country is Reynolds vs. the United States (1879) which denied polygamy to Mormons and introduced the “compelling interest” doctrine which allows the state to interfere with the free exercise of religion if there is an overriding reason to do so. Make the candidates answer this one.

Second, demand that the candidate respond in specific terms to the “Admonition for the Sake of the True Peace and Unity of the Church” of November 18, 2002, sponsored by Word Alone. The “Admonition” asserts that the only way for the ELCA to be faithful to the Confessions is if it permits ordination by pastors, affirmed in the ELCA Constitution (7.31.17), to be an option of equal standing with ordination by bishops. In addition, the practice of installing bishops into office without the participation of three bishops in episcopal succession must also be an option of equal standing. Does the candidate agree with these assertions? If not, why not?

Next comes the most telling question of all: Will the candidate be willing to be installed without the participation of three bishops in succession? Only if an elected candidate somewhere in the church does this, and is backed up by the synod, will the ELCA be forced to change. If not, then CCM has completely taken over and we will eventually be in the pale reflection of our Episcopal brothers and sisters in ministry.

Elections are about the future. To get answers to the questions on sexuality and ordination that I have listed is to see the future of the church.