"Of Course!" Reflections on the Installation of Elizabeth Eaton

Presiding Minister Mark S. Hanson blesses newly installed ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton.

Of course. People were gathering for “Holy Communion with the Installation of the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,” Elizabeth A. Eaton, in Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago. Oct. 5, 2013, was a historic day but it felt more like a joyful, “Of course.”

As the magnificent organ swelled with Bach and Britten, hundreds came on line to watch the live video. A bagpiper played “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” while the ELCA Church Council, bishops, ecumenical and global partners processed. Paris Brown sang Dottie Rambo’s gospel favorite, “I Go to the Rock.”

The bells of the great chapel pealed. The time was now. Choirs, many singers from Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., grand piano and drums, everyone sang, “Come, all you people, come … .” The Lutheran church is a global church.

Then still Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson welcomed those in the chapel and online in the name of Christ and said, “We have come together from many places to mark a new season of ministry in the life of this church … Let us enter this celebration confident that through the Holy Spirit, Christ is present with us now, as we pray that this servant may fulfill God’s purpose in her life and in her ministry among the whole people of God.”

Of course!

I have been invited to write this reflection in personal historical context. Many stories came together on this one day. I invite you to reflect on your own.

I heard those churchwide words of welcome and remembered my pastor saying one day in confirmation class when I as a youth was new to the Lutheran church, “Of course women cannot be pastors,” adding in a hushed tone, “They have babies.” But that same pastor helped me go to college.

Less than a decade after that first “of course,” while attending Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, one of two women among 800 men, I heard from my homiletics professor, “Of course you cannot preach. You are a woman. Your assignment will be an ‘inspirational address’.” But I did receive an “A” in the course (before The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod turned radically to the “right” theologically) and graduated with a Master of Arts in religion in 1964. I served in deaconess ministry in St. Louis, and then for over a dozen years with our family in inner city ministry in Detroit (I preached one day at Concordia College, Ann Arbor — while pregnant) and New Haven, Conn. The degree provided a Lutheran foundation for later pursuing a Masters of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, (and still later a Ph.D.) and an invitation to teach at Yale.

Meanwhile, in the early 1970s we were exiled from the The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod over issues of more open interpretation of Scripture and more inclusive mission and ministry. Although I served on the board of Seminex, I heard an implied “of course just some of us are free,” when told in regards to women’s ordination, “Can’t you wait a few more years?”

The American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church in America had begun ordaining women in 1970 and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches would follow a few years later. Women kept responding to God’s call, even when churches through the ages said, “Can’t you wait a few more years, decades, centuries?”

There were all kinds of fears and barriers in the 1970s in reaction to women being ordained as pastors in Lutheran and other church bodies: “Jesus was a man; women cannot represent Jesus.” “If we ordain women, all the men will leave the church.” “What will happen to your children?” (They turned out fine, thank you.) “These women are Communists.”

Of course there were fears, but they were unfounded. Women did not want to take over the church or push out men. Women’s goal was inclusion and partnership, not hierarchical power.

On Oct. 5, 2013, with the welcoming words of Bishop Mark Hanson and the entire ELCA, with brass horns, a procession with candles and cross made its way up the center aisle to welcome Bishop Elizabeth Eaton at the door of the chapel. Red banner ribbons furled overhead. Signers were singing. Everyone proclaimed, “Christ is made the sure foundation.” I saw historian Martin Marty’s face in the crowd.

Vice President Rodney Sprang and Secretary John Sleasman of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the ELCA said, “We bring before you the Reverend Elizabeth Eaton who has served among us faithfully as our bishop, chief pastor, and sister in Christ … we send her forth to serve as the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.” There were tears in my eyes.

In Thanksgiving for Baptism we were reminded as sisters and brothers, “God frees us from the bondage of sin, unites us together as one body, and calls us forth to new life and mission in the world.” To the Canticle of Praise, Elizabeth was led into the chapel as the assembly was sprinkled with baptismal waters by Presiding Minister Mark Hanson, Preacher Jessica Crist and Assisting Minister Yolanda Tanner, vice-president of the ELCA Delaware-Maryland Synod.

The First Lesson, Isaiah 42:5-9, was read by Rev. Chienyu Jade Li in Chinese: “I have given you as a covenant to the people … To bring out from the prison those who sit in darkness …”

The soloist led in chanting Psalm 121, “My help comes from the Lord.”

Of course, of course.

“The lord will watch over you … from this time forth forever more.”

The Second Lesson, 2 Corinthians 4:1-12 was read by Dina Tannous Vega in Arabic. “Since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart …”

In the Gospel procession and acclamation, “Halle, Halle, Hallelujah,” global women’s voices sang, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation.”

Of course, of course.

Conrad Selnick, an Episcopal priest and husband of Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, read the Gospel, Mark 4:1-9.

Of course. Ecumenical partner and marriage partner, he represented ecumenical and full communion guests and family of Bishop Eaton this day as he also served communion.

At my ordination in 1977 in the chapel of Yale Divinity School, a very ecumenical setting, my husband, Burton Everist, a pastor, preached. Various people from all three predecessor bodies of the ELCA had tried to stop or impede my ordination. Roger Fjeld of the American Lutheran Church prevailed and presided at the ordination rite.

Just a few years before, July 29, 1974, Burton and I had attended the service where 11 women were “irregularly” ordained priests in The Episcopal Church in the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, with 2,000 in attendance. The ordinations were considered “invalid,” but one of the four bishops who participated said the ordination event “stands as a prophetic witness on behalf of and for the oppressed.” The service was interrupted by those who stood in opposition.

One of those 11 women participated in solidarity at my ordination at Yale three years later.

Two years after that Wartburg Seminary called me as a professor, first among the three American Lutheran Church seminaries to take the risk of calling a woman. In 1979, although one by one women were becoming pastors, other people were still using the Bible to claim that women could not be teaching theologians over men and could not assume any headship role because Eve had tempted Adam into sin and, “It is clear in the Bible that women can never rule or lead.” And, “We cannot use ‘inclusive language’ because God is male.” Of course!

But one young woman at the 1979 fall Warburg alumni convocation came up to me after I spoke and said, “I’ve been waiting years for you to come.” Her name was Andrea DeGroot Nesdahl. Now, 35 years later, I continue to teach at Wartburg Seminary. Challenges remain for us all to be the church God is calling us to be.

This October in Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago, Jessica Crist, bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod, chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops, preached. “A sower went out to sow.” She said this simple story could be modified, amplified, contextualized, but added that all were here today because someone sowed seeds. “Look at the plants that have grown.” She told the assembly that the impediments to success didn’t bother Jesus. She challenged, “You may be tired of rocky soil.” “You may be frustrated by thorns that accompany your every effort. What’s with it with those thorns? Why is there evil? Pain? Just keep on sowing. Does it seem birds keep eating seeds? Your words are twisted? Just keep on sowing. What matters is that we sow.”

And Crist added, that “We do not sow alone. We are part of a community. We are here to install, to sow in a wider field. Each is empowered. Each is sent. Go sow.”

The ELCA has come far since its beginning in 1988. Look at all the plants that have grown.

Representational principles adopted at the time, addressing representation of laity and people of color and whose first language was other than English, assured equal representation of women and men on boards and commissions and at synodical and churchwide assemblies. Beyond the more threatening token stage, overnight our ELCA gatherings looked, well, normal, just as God created us to be together.

But the Conference of Bishops began as an all-male group. I happened to be one of three teaching theologians to address the first Conference of Bishops meeting in 1988 and I told them it was not healthy, (perhaps I said “dangerous”) for the church and themselves that there were no women among them. I said other things, of course, about leadership as partnership, and about the liberation of men as well as women and about all the baptized being called out for vocation in the public world. At the time, there were worries that women might gain too much power. Whenever two of three of us sat together, almost always a man would come up and say, “We’ll have to break this up.” There were fears about “letting all ofthose people in” to change things and make decisions. But what was the fear? Inclusivity was not about breaking things, even “stained-glass ceilings,” but about new, healthy ways of being partners together. That’s why I was so pleased to see the September 2013 issue of The Lutheran magazine, with male and female bishops Mark Hanson and Elizabeth Eaton hand in hand.

Full partnership would come slowly, but it would come.

In the spring of 1992, Maria Jesper, minister in Hamburg, Germany, become the first woman elected a Lutheran bishop.

April Ulring Larson was installed Oct. 11, 1992, in La Crosse, Wis., as bishop of the La Crosse Area Synod of the ELCA. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl became the second woman elected an ELCA bishop, serving the South Dakota Synod.

Susan Johnson was elected the national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada on Sept. 29, 2007, in Winnipeg. This past weekend she was among the global and ecumenical partners who came forth to lead in saying the Nicene Creed together and to lay on hands at the installation of the fourth bishop of the ELCA, Elizabeth Eaton: Lutheran churches of Canada, Nicaragua, Sweden, South Africa, the United Church of Christ, Moravian, Reformed, United Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Church of Christ, Thailand, and The Lutheran World Federation.

“We believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic church …”

“Elizabeth Amy Eaton has been elected and called by the church, for installation into the office of presiding bishop.”

No objections voiced. No interruptions to the service. Nothing called irregular or invalid. No impediments. Historically speaking, this was much more than, “Of course.”

After biblical words from John, Matthew, Acts and 2nd Timothy, Elizabeth was asked, “To you is being given the care of the bishops, pastors, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and associates in ministry; the synods, congregations and other communities of this church. I ask you in the presence of God and of this assembly: Will you assume the office of presiding bishop?”

Elizabeth A. Easton responded: “I will, and I ask God to help me.”

More questions of her and then of us: “People of God, will you receive Elizabeth as a servant of God and a shepherd in the church of Jesus Christ?”

“We will.” The assembly joined in the Prayer of Thanksgiving to God: “By your Holy Spirit you sustain the church … Strengthen and sustain your bishop Elizabeth with patience and understanding … Pour out your grace that she may love and care for your people and teach the faith… .”

And after hearing, “The office of presiding bishop is now committed to you,” all were invited to extend their hands in blessing. People across the miles extended their hands too, some with tears in their eyes, seeing what few could have imagined not many years before but that which the Spirit had been guiding all along. Women had been there all along, from the time of the empty tomb, even if at first, their words were not believed.

The Prayers of Intercession were in many languages. It was clear we are a global church. Bishop Eaton was presented a cross: “Remember to rekindle the gift of God that is within you … .” Acclamation. Applause. Smiles! She shared the peace, “La paz de Cristo sea siempre con ustedes.”

And then, “Let us go now to the Banquet.”

Bishop Eaton and Assisting Minister Tanner were at the altar. We had always been so careful to not have two women at the altar together, but today it was just fine. Sure, most of the bishops are still men. But women and men served communion together today. Phyllis Anderson, the first and only ELCA woman seminary president represented them. There was Beth Lewis and Kalleb Miler and Karin Graddy and Carlos Pena, and more. The oldest and newest ELCA congregations were represented.

We need not be a danger to each other. “Taste and See, Taste and See That the Lord is Good” sang Larry Clark and Paris Brown.

After all had been fed, the assembly broke into “Blessed Assurance,” the old, old song with a new beat with clapping, and people swaying, even at the altar — not too much of course. “This is my story, this is my song.”

The Sending blessing was in Spanish, “The God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus … .”

In just short of two hours, in full voice, the assembly went forth. God calls us out for vocation in the public world again. The recession was long, the Church Council, the bishops filing out from their pews two-by-two, many leaders together, not just one up front, to the music of the bagpipe’s “Highland Cathedral.” As newly installed ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton left at the last, smiling, looking calm and confident, people waved. Applause. Full organ. “Now Thank We All Our God.” Of course!

How Do We Turn Worry and Resignation Into Caring Enough to Change?

 So what’s there to worry about? The U.S. government may—or may not—shut down.  October 1 state exchanges for the Affordable Care Act open, but most Americans do not understand them. Scientists release a report with overwhelming evidence that human beings are causing Global Warming, but it’s a beautiful day outside.

When issues are immeasurably large and my daily life is what’s real to me, what do I dare worry, or care, about?

Friday afternoon my husband and I drove twenty minutes down the Mississippi River from Dubuque to Bellevue, enjoying the early fall beauty of the bluffs. After indulging in a dark chocolate ice cream cone we wandered up the main street. I noticed a woman sitting in a chair in the street—well, at the edge of the street. “What’s this about?” I wondered, until I spotted other people standing across the street. “There must be a parade coming,” I thought. I love parades! I asked the woman what time it would start. “Shortly,” she said.

We stayed. We joined in the Homecoming Parade, cheering on the Bellevue football team, the coaches in their lead car, the school board in theirs, the band, the king and queen. Then came the juniors’ and sophomores’ floats and even one carrying the middle school student council. We clapped even louder. Some moms, on their feet cheering, offered us their folding chairs. We became part of their community. Life was real and very local last Friday, even though we had been strangers an hour before.

Friday night The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to secure and destroy Syria's chemical weapons stockpile.

President Barack Obama spoke by telephone with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in what was the first communication between the leaders of the two countries since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Afterwards Obama said, "Resolving this issue [Iran’s nuclear program] could serve as a major step forward in a new relationship between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect."

That phone call took place Friday afternoon, about the time we were cheering on young people we didn’t know marching in a parade in Bellevue. We and they may have had more to cheer than any of us knew at that moment. Potential for the future, for all the world’s youth.

So what do we dare care about?

A week earlier my husband and I drove about twenty minutes north from Dubuque, this time into Wisconsin. We entered a store and commended the shop keeper for her “No guns allowed on the premises” sign on the door. I asked what reactions she had received and she replied that some people never noticed and some people laughed.  Laughed? Saddened, I reiterated my appreciation and told her of our fledgling Culture of Nonviolence Coalition in Dubuque. The next day in Dubuque I told a shop keeper about the sign and asked if she had considered one. She said, “It wouldn’t do any good. Gun laws won’t change in my lifetime.”

Resignation rather than daring to care and caring enough to change.  Government shut downs, global warming, mass shootings. This is the new normal. President Obama, speaking at the memorial after the Naval Yard mass shootings: “I fear there's a creeping resignation. That these tragedies are just somehow the way it is. That this is somehow the new normal.”

Both the cause and the result of resignation to the new normal is, “Just take care of yourself.” I expect the government to be there for me, until I personally am inconvenienced. I expected I could go about my daily life locally, safely, until one day I was not safe. Rather, what if I thought, “I need to care about the ongoing threat of government shut-downs and refusal to raise the debt ceiling for the sake of the rest of the people, including the world’s people.”? And, “I need to sign up for health care—and get a flu shot--for the sake of my neighbor.”

The disconnect between the personal and communal, between the local and global leaves us sitting in the street alone. We are the government. We are the human beings called to be stewards of the environment. In our lifetime, we can change things. We are actors in our own drama, participants in our neighbor’s parade.

One small group of obstinate people cannot really shut down the government any old time they want to  if we claim in the words of the Declaration of Independence, that “WE hold these truths…” and really do mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Clearly, we care. The question is do we care enough. I think we do. I think those middle school student council members riding in the Homecoming parade do. How can we help them and all of us really be “we the people,” that no one can shut down?

Reflect on this Sunday's appointed texts: Psalm 146; 1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31

I Was There 25 Years Ago; The Challenges Ahead

Twenty-six years ago April 30, 1987, my husband Burton and I drove from Dubuque to Columbus Ohio, where we, together with 2000 other Lutherans from 3 church bodies attended the Constituting Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America which would officially begin the following January 1, 1988.  I was teaching at Wartburg Seminary; Burton was pastor of Grace Lutheran in East Dubuque. Burton and I wanted to be at the beginning of the ELCA because we had been part of all three church bodies over the years. We were part of the American Lutheran Church. The ALC was strong in the upper Midwest. While living in New England, where the Lutheran Church in America was strong, I had served an LCA congregation. And each of us had entered Lutheran Churches as teenagers, hearing the Gospel, through Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregations in Iowa and California.  A schism in that church body in the 1970’s produced the AELC, the third predecessor church body of the ELCA.

Preparation for the ELCA began in 1982. Many, many people would work together for years towards this new beginning. Over 11 years I would be part of four different tasks forces and commissions working on the New Lutheran Church. Today, 25 years later, we celebrate the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a church body with 4 million members and 10,000 congregations.

 2 Cor. 5:17 is the anniversary passage So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed way; see, everything has become new!

A great verse. However, church-speaking, everything old has not passed away if it was in Christ and everything new is not new if it is not in Christ. When we came together we wanted to honor the past. At the constituting convention the presidents of the three churches poured water from three different vessels into the one font. All of the history, all of the baptisms, all of the people already one in Christ, were joined in this new way.  This made way for releasing what could have been a tight hold on old structures, the very places (headquarters) Minneapolis, St. Louis, Philadelphia towards a new place for churchwide (itself a new term) Chicago.  We live in a “Move forward” culture, but moving from continuity into change is difficult. When it is in Christ, however, the new is not for the sake of newness, but for the sake of mission, making way for those who not yet here.

It may be hard to imagine for some, or to remember, 25 years ago, most church conventions (what we called them then) were attended overwhelming by men. And the voices you heard most at the microphones were clergy. And rarely did one see a person of color.  But the new ELCA adopted representational principles. At assemblies and on boards, commissions, task forces, we would have equal numbers of women and men.  Lay and clergy voices would all be heard, and we would have people of color and whose first language was not English more represented.  We needed to see and hear and learn from one another in new ways.  And things changed overnight.  Huge. But you know what? People didn’t become fearful. The opposite happened. We moved beyond the “token” stage, which in terms of race and gender and class is often more fear-producing.  All of a sudden when we gathered, things now seemed “normal,” as though this is the way we were created to be, together in our differences, one body.  That inclusion has grown.  The challenge is to keep asking, “Who is not at the table? Who is not in our community?” 

In the Gospel text this anniversary Sunday, September 8, 2013, Luke 14:25-33, large crowds were traveling with Jesus and he turned and spoke to them.  Five challenging phrases.

1.   Whoever comes to me, must hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters and life itself to be my disciple. Wait a minute. Isn’t Christianity all about loving people? Especially one’s family? Well yes.  Christ is talking about the radical commitment of the call to discipleship. That fits with what we just said. We came together and come together not just as a family (In fact that term “family church” can sound exclusive) but from different histories and heritages with those who are different from “my family.” The verse preceding our anniversary verse from 2 Corinthians reads, “From now on we regard no one from a human point of view.”  We are connected to one another in Christ.  Not just Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Germans; as our new presiding bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, said in a press interview recently, not just all  flavors of Jello, but now with Latinos, Asians, national Africans, as a church body there are now different foods at our potlucks. And during these 25 years we have established new ecumenical partnerships and inter-faith dialogs. In a world of ethnic and national strife, often violent, the problem is hating the other’s father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and loving mine.  My family, My school My neighborhood, my nation. As disciples of Christ, we are called to care about land, water, good education and medical care, for all the world’s neighbors, in Martin Luther King’s words, the Beloved global Community.

2.    Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Being a Christian is not about taking up the cross to lead a parade, or holding it higher than other religions. It is about bearing the crosses as they come.  In the past 25 years we have seen joys, but also more suffering than we could have imagined.  Picture some in your local congregation.  Remember. And also in the systemic injustices of society. In Christ, together,we carry one another in the midst of a suffering world.

     Being part of the ELCA means being able to help out in disaster relief way beyond what one congregation could do. Think over 25 years: Katrina, Haiti, the Malaria campaign. From the Suffering Christ comes the church of the resurrection.  We are rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, his life, death, and resurrection,” said David Swartling, ELCA secretary, at our recent churchwide assembly in Pittsburgh.  “We are a church of the reformation. And the reformation is not only an historical event; it is an ongoing process…We are a church of reconciliation.  “Always being made new.”  Our anniversary verse follows with: “All this is from God who reconciled us to Godself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Godself…entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.  This is a new calling every single day.

3.Whoever does not estimate the cost.  Otherwise when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him. This, of course, can have a very concrete meaning a congregations who may be in a building or remodeling process. But the challenge is deeper still. With the foundation on Christ, disciples dare, wisely, courageously, collaboratively to be the building ones. Since the ELCA began 25 years ago, 435 new congregations have officially organized. Today there are 330 new starts currently under development, including 56 new starts in 2012.  ELCA members kept their commitment that at least half of these new starts are in a “situation of deep poverty” or part of “one of our ethnic strategies.” Other group new starts are “Jesus and Justice Ministries.”  Can we finish?  Can we begin? The foundation is ready, Christ himself.

 

4.    Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?  If he cannot, then while the other is still far away he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. This is way too realistic an image. We live in the world, these very days, where our President and the Congress, and all citizens across the land must think about the cost of war and the cost of the use of chemical weapons. What is our call to discipleship? How do we as individuals, as faith communities, as a church body, study Scripture, and carefully learn about and discuss world events together. It was not easy to be disciples in the world 25 years ago or now. We, you and I, each congregation, this church body are called into the world of church and state issues, and as disciples in any situation, to be very wise, praying, and thinking Christians.

 

5.     So none of you can become my disciples if you do not give up all your possessions. OK. This text calls us to have a Giving-up Day? Not a Celebration? No--again, there’s more to it. Jesus description of discipleship, on his way to the cross, is about who and what possesses us. Therefore, to be in Christ, where everything is new, we are freed to no longer be in bondage to our possessions.  Alone we might say, “Just how much is enough, Lord?” Together in Christ we have been able to do more than any of us alone could have comprehended, imagined with our communal resources put to work in service and mission.  Celebrating means accepting challenges.

 

At the Churchwide Assembly the Spirit was alive in new challenges for this now young adult, 25-year old church. An increased number of young adult voting members pushed the challenge of a five-year campaign from $69 to $77 million with the addition of funds for formation of youth and young adult leadership and a stretch goal for disability ministries.

Celebrating means challenges.  ELCA adopted the Social Statement, “The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries” by an overwhelming 882-25 vote.

The vote comes in the midst of recent national debate on racial inequities in the criminal justice system, racial profiling in stop and frisk policies, and mandatory maximum sentencing.

 

The assembly voted (828 to 40) to advocate for the adoption of comprehensive immigration reform legislation that supports an earned pathway to lawful permanent residency and eventual citizenship.

 

With a 834 to 41 vote, the assembly moved to encourage ELCA members, consistent with their bound consciences, to contact their elected officials and advocate for passage of legislation that promotes universal background checks, prevents gun trafficking and more.

 

The 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly approved nearly unanimously to continue the Book of Faith initiative which empowers its 4 million members for biblical engagement so that we become fluent in the first language of faith – the language of Scripture – to be renewed for lives of witness and service.

The ELCA has ordained 7,500 pastors since 1988, almost half of the active pastors on the clergy roster, and after the study of ministry, we now have hundreds of associates in ministry, deaconesses and diaconal ministers, many of whom studied at Wartburg Theological Seminary.

This weekend thousands of people in congregations across the ELCA will be engaged in service. God's work.  Our hands.

What a day. And tomorrow? Next week? Well, next Sunday, September 15, marks the 50^th anniversary of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, an act of racially motivated terrorism which killed four Sunday School girls. Our 25^th anniversary Sunday stands during the 18 days between the 50^th anniversary of the March of Washington for Jobs and Freedom and that 50^th anniversary reaction. I end this blog in what might seem a strange place, but deliberately. While traveling with Christ, we are always in the middle of something, historically, and now.  We mark turning points, and we ask that Christ mark us for turning points toward a more just society, more caring communities, more bold discipleship. For this we are being made new. 

Lutherans Adopt “The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries”

 
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), with 4 million members and nearly 10,000 congregations, meeting in churchwide assembly August 12-17 in Pittsburgh adopted a Social Statement, “The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries” by an overwhelming 882-25 vote.

The vote comes in the midst of recent national debate on racial inequities in the criminal justice system, racial profiling in stop and frisk policies, and mandatory maximum sentencing. The ELCA has been engaged in a broad, thorough study beginning in 2008, emerging from a concern among ELCA members over the “massive levels of incarceration in the United States.” Cynthia Osbourne, chair of the ELCA task force said, “We knew the enormity of this topic when we first convened.” “We took those first few years to study, listen and learn from both outside experts and from one another – our list of what must be addressed just grew stronger.”

The statement affirms the fundamental principles of the U.S. criminal justice system, such as due process of law and the presumption of legal innocence, and it also recognizes serious deficiencies — overly harsh sentencing and persistent inequalities based on race and class. It asks members to recommit themselves to visiting the prisoner; correct the flawed criminal justice system; participate in God’s work with hands and hearts.

Linda Manson, a member of the task force said the statement, “confronts how racism has shaped the criminal justice system.”  “It pinpoints how people of color experience higher rates of contact with police, even when other factors like age and economic status are taken into account. It points out how African Americans are more likely to be detained and statistically more likely to be convicted and to be incarcerated.”

The churchwide assembly went on to approve a series of implementing resolutions with an 891 to 22 vote.  There were 11 recommendations approved, some were amended:

Some of the 11 recommendations called the ELCA to:

+ call on ELCA members through prayer, discernment, ministry efforts and public action to hear the cries, offer hospitality, accompany and advocate on behalf of those whose lives are caught up in or committed in service to the criminal justice system;

+ call on the expressions of this church and other related ministries and organizations to advocate for system reform;

+ encourage ELCA congregations to work with victims, victim advocates and victim support organizations to grow in sensitivity and response to the harm caused by crime and to grow in awareness to restorative justice practices;

+ hold in prayer the ministry of ELCA chaplains and pastors serving in all correctional facilities or serving with law enforcement agencies and to support prison ministry;

+ develop additional liturgical resources for those involved in the criminal justice system;

+ direct ELCA advocacy ministries to coordinate efforts to develop a social investment screen on private prison operations;

+ encourage congregations to consider becoming sites of ministry and action for the incarcerated and their families;

Floor debate was vigorous, but not so much against the Social Statement as to how to be more actively engaged. For example, an amendment was offered in the above implementation resolution to replace “to consider becoming sites” with “to intentionally becoming” noting that in most congregations “we already have” people who are or who have been incarcerated and their families.

“We are a church of the resurrection.  We are rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, his life, death, and resurrection,” said David Swartling, ELCA secretary. “We also are a church of the reformation. And the reformation is not only an historical event; it is an ongoing process…We are a church of reconciliation.  The theme of the assembly was “Always being made new.”

Over the past 25 years, the ELCA has adopted 11 Social Statements.

Separately, the assembly voted (828 to 40) to advocate for the adoption of comprehensive immigration reform legislation that supports an earned pathway to lawful permanent residency and eventual citizenship; ensure humane and just enforcement of U.S. immigration laws; protect families from separation; provide resources and protections to ensure the successful integration of refugees, asylees, survivors of torture and trafficking, unaccompanied minors and other vulnerable migrants; and to ensure the protection of U.S. citizens and migrant workers

Addressing community violence, with a 834 to 41 vote, the assembly moved to encourage ELCA members, consistent with their bound consciences, to contact their elected officials and advocate for passage of legislation that promotes universal background checks, prevents gun trafficking and requires the reporting of lost or stolen guns to law enforcement so that violence in our communities might decrease. In its action, voting members also moved to lift up the ELCA social messages on suicide prevention, community violence, and mental health and to call upon congregations and synods to engage their members on ways to prevent suicide.

With an 812-45 vote the ELCA committed itself to supporting a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine and took measures to ensure that commitment through awareness-building, accompaniment and advocacy.

The 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly approved nearly unanimously to continue the Book of Faith initiative which empowers its 4 million members for deep biblical engagement that approaches the Bible as the written Word of God using a variety of methods so that they become fluent in the first language of faith – the language of Scripture – and to be renewed for lives of witness and service.

I conclude this blog with the news which is dear to my own heart. For the first time, the ELCA will have a woman leading the church body.

The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod, was elected ELCA Presiding Bishop succeeding Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson.  

 

 

 

Towards Full Partnership: The Election of Elizabeth Eaton as Presiding Bishop of the ELCA

After the first round of synodical elections after the formation of the “New” Lutheran church in January of 1988, there were no women Lutheran bishops. I was one of three speakers at the first Conference of Bishops and told those 65 men having only male bishops was dangerous. Slowly, oh, so slowly things have changed. And yesterday, we moved one more step toward the full partnership of women and men in our church body at the biennial churchwide assembly. We saw standing together current Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and Presiding Bishop Elect Elizabeth Eaton after her election and we heard in their statements immediately following collegiality beyond competition. And we saw mutual affection and respect when Bishop Hanson introduced Bishop Eaton at her news conference later that day.

Wartburg is represented at the churchwide assembly by President Stan Olson, faculty member Prof. Sam Giere and by a significant number of students who are voting members as well as by alumni and friends.  President Olson immediately informed the Wartburg community electronically of the election: “Pr. Elizabeth Eaton, Bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod, is the Presiding Bishop Elect for the ELCA. Let us give thanks for her servant leadership to come and give thanks for the servant leadership of Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson.”

Elected on the fifth ballot, Eaton received 600 votes, Hanson 287; 445 votes were needed of the 889 cast. Dr. Giere commented: “The final ballot went decidedly in her favor (approx. 2/3) It hasn't gone unobserved among us at the seminary representatives' table that the theme ‘Always Being Made New’ is being blown into reality by the Spirit.  In her acceptance she acknowledged the witness and work of those women who came before her including in particular April Ulring Larson as the first female bishop in the ELCA. . . . It is important to note the image of the assembly's work since the preparation for the third ballot when candidates began to address the gathering: three women and one man.  Not to suggest that all things are equal in this church, but there is a profound symbolism in the final four candidates for presiding bishop standing together with the names Ann, Mark, Jessica, and Elizabeth.  Last (for now) but not least, ELCA vice-president, Carlos Peña, announced the election of our new presiding bishop.”

Presiding Bishop Elect Elizabeth A. Eaton said, “We are a church that is overwhelmingly European in a culture that is increasingly pluralistic. We need to welcome the gifts of those who come from different places, that is a conversation we need to have as a church.”

Prior to becoming a bishop. Eaton served as pastor in Ohio. She has a M.Div. degree from Harvard Divinity School.

Representational principles adopted at the time the ELCA began in 1988, 25 years ago, assured equal representation of women and men on boards and commissions and at synodical and churchwide assemblies, changing the nature of such gatherings tremendously.

Things had already changed at Wartburg Seminary and by 1990 Professor Elizabeth Leeper was installed as Assistant Professor of Church History, bringing the number of women professors at Wartburg to four (the other three being Norma Cook Everist, Anne Marie Neuchterlein, and Patti Jung), plus two more serving as instructors in biblical language (May Persaud and Cindy Smith).

Changes in the path toward male and female partnership in regard to bishops as recorded in our Wartburg Seminary Persistent Voice networking newsletter:

Spring 1992 The Persistent Voice (PV): “Marie Jesper, 47-year-old minister in Hamburg, Germany has become the first woman ever elected a Lutheran bishop. When she was consecrated as spiritual leader of the 950,000 Lutherans who make up 60% of the population of Hamburg and more than 90% of the Protestants, she said, “I read and interpret the Bible with my experience as a woman. I want to be a sister among sisters and brothers.”

Summer 1992 PV: “Bishop-Elect April Ulring Larson will be installed October 11 in LaCrosse, WI, as bishop of the LaCrosse Area Synod of the ELCA. Rev. Larson, a 1977 graduate of Wartburg Seminary, was elected June 12 on the fifth ballot, the first woman elected bishop in the ELCA.” PV: “She will bring to the office a quiet wisdom, compassion and ability to listen. She has a strong commitment to justice and good skills in helping congregations resolve conflict.”

Summer 1995 PV: “The Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl will be installed as bishop of the South Dakota Synod of the ELCA Sept. 24 on the campus of Augustana College. She was elected June 2 on the third ballot. In a phone interview she said, ‘God has worked such a miracle in my heart and life by this experience.’” Although she had been a candidate in Western North Dakota before, this was the first time South Dakota had a woman as a candidate. She is a 1977 graduate of Wartburg Seminary.

One might have thought the rate of change would then increase; however according to The Lutheran (August 2013) from 1988-2012, the total number of female bishops among all the 65 synods over the 25 years had been only 12.

Spring, 2008 PV covered the story of the election of Rev. Susan Johnson as the new National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), September 29, 2007, in Winnipeg. Because two of the five synodical bishops at that time were women, that brought the total to ½ male and ½ female. Bishop Johnson said in an interview with PV, “I think we take a fair amount of pride in that accomplishment.  Does it mean we have conquered all gender issues? No, but it’s a visible witness to people that we are committed to full equality in the church.”

(One thing National Bishop Johnson and Bishop Eaton have in common, besides their gender? Susan was a high school music teacher before she entered seminary and Elizabeth’s undergraduate degree is in music education.)

At the press conference, following the churchwide election August 14 Bishop Hanson introduced Bishop Eaton as “My Colleague,” and Bishop Eaton said that all of Bishop Hanson’s work toward making the ELCA a more inclusive church had led to this moment of her election. She gave thanks for his leadership over the past 12 tumultuous years in the ELCA, referring in part to the 2009 churchwide decision on sexuality, noting also that no bishop resigned after that decision.

Bishop Eaton emphasized that the ELCA is a place where people hear the Gospel, “upon which we can all agree,” which has made this an inclusive church.

Ann Rogers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asked, “During your remarks you stated the importance of including the voices of those who had difficulty with 2009 decisions. How do you propose going about this?” Bp. Eaton: “This is one of the geniuses of the Lutheran movement—we thrive on paradox. As long as we agree on the cross of Christ, we can live together. If people believe they are being heard and there is a place for them, we will be OK.”

She was questioned by another reporter about the relationship going forward with the two break-away new Lutheran church groups. (NALC and LCMC) Bishop Eaton responded, “In baptism we are brothers and sisters in Christ,” but added that much work will need to be done before we can have a dialog because there has been much pain. “We will do what we can through God’s grace.”

With wisdom and wit, Bishop Eaton gave brief, clear answers to the questions of reporters both in the room in Pittsburgh and connected on the web. A reporter from the Chicago Tribune, who had covered the papal election, posed a question relating Eaton’s election to the election of the new pope in Rome, asking if she had a “room of tears” as the new pope had. Eaton said with a slight smile on her face, “Oh, this was just like that.”  She went on, “We have nothing like that, no frescoes. I did weep at worship this morning.” The reporter had asked about her family. Bishop Eaton noted the presence of her husband, the Rev. Conrad Selnick, an Episcopalian priest, and spoke of their two daughters, now in their 20’s.

Asked what she thought the ELCA would look like in 5 or 6 years, she answered, “God only knows,” adding that we need to make space for those coming in while continuing to honor our heritage. She ended the press conference eloquently speaking about the need for the distinctive voice of the ELCA and Lutheranism in the current American religious landscape, not to be subsumed under Christian Protestantism or deism or the religion of popular culture, but a faith of the cross and resurrection in which true joy and freedom can be found.

One Teacher, One Book, One Pen, Can Change the World

The Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban for attending classes, July 12 addressed hundreds of young people at the United Nations, urging them and world leaders to work towards free education for all girls and boys in every nation in the world.  She spoke in the name of the world’s religions calling for peace, education, and equality.

“Let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One teacher, one book, one pen, can change the world,” Ms. Yousafzai said, in an impassioned address.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had named July 12 – Ms. Yousafzai’s 16th birthday – ‘Malala Day’ in honor of her heroic stand to ensure education for all. The meeting, which featured nearly 1,000 youth leaders, was addressed by former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in his capacity as UN Special Envoy for Global Education.

 One teacher, one book, one pen, can change the world.

Malala, who was shot in the forehead and face, told the gathering that the Taliban’s attack on her nine months ago changed nothing in her life, except that “weakness, fear and hopelessness died.”

“The extremists were, and they are, afraid of books and pens,” she said. “The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women.” She urged worldwide action against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism.

This call to action was delivered just as the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization (UNESCO) Education for All Global Monitoring Report, launched a new policy paper spotlighting that globally, the number of children not allowed or able to attend school has fallen from 60 million in 2008 to 57 million in 2011. However, 28 million children out of school live in the world’s conflict zones, and more than half of those are women and girls.

Watch the video of her inspiring speech at this U.N. website:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45395&Cr=education&Cr1=#.UeGuF74o6M8

The Assault of Rampant Anti-Abortion Legislation and the ELCA Social Statement

The North Carolina state Senate voted on the Eve of July 4th on a measure that would add more restrictions on abortions. The anti-abortion measures were tacked onto a Sharia law ban even though there is no Sharia Law in the United States. Fear upon fear for the Fourth of July.

“They’re doing it quietly on 4th of July weekend because they’ve seen what’s going on in Texas and know that women will turn out,” Melissa Reed, VP of Public Policy for Planned Parenthood Health Systems said.

The bill requires abortion clinics to meet standards for licensure of ambulatory surgical centers. The bill would also require doctors to be present when women take the oral drug RU486 that can terminate a pregnancy preventing the attachment of a fertilized ovum to the uterine wall.

In Ohio Gov. John Kasich flanked by six men, signed stringent abortion restrictions into law as part of the state's new budget Sunday night. There were no women involved in the final part of the budget process.

The new abortion provisions will make it harder for family planning groups like Planned Parenthood to receive federal funding. The bill requires doctors to perform ultrasounds whether medically needed or not.

One provision prevents abortion clinics from having written transfer agreements with public hospitals. Ohio requires surgical abortion providers to have such transfer agreements so that the clinic can easily transport a patient to the closest hospital if needed. By preventing clinics from having those agreements, the bill would effectively force many to close.  

Ohio's new abortion restrictions came just days after state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Texas, successfully filibustered proposed anti-abortion regulations in her state. But those regulations were back on the table this week as Texas began a special legislative session, and Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, has vowed that this time, "it will become law." He is determined to win! Five other states, Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, Kansas and South Dakota, have quietly passed GOP-sponsored abortion legislation that takes effect this week.

So what does the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Social Statement on Abortion say? (It was adopted by more than a two-thirds majority vote at the second biennial Churchwide Assembly in 1991.)

“Because of our conviction that both the life of the woman and the life in her womb must be respected by law, this church opposes:

• the total lack of regulation of abortion;
• legislation that would outlaw abortion in all circumstances;
• laws that prevent access to information about all options available to women faced with unintended pregnancies;
• laws that deny access to safe and affordable services for morally justifiable abortions;
• mandatory or coerced abortion or sterilization;
• laws that prevent couples from practicing contraception;
• laws that are primarily intended to harass those contemplating or deciding for an abortion.”

This relentless battle advancing like wild fire in legislatures across the states is fueled by fear. One man said, “Abortion is a stain on the fabric of our nation. Our country can be healed. … In God’s timing, it will happen if we remain faithful.” This relentless “battle” seems to have less and less to do with children, or even with birth. The entanglement of faith and freedom and fear on this Fourth of July rings with emotion.  But what is the fear? And where is the concern for hungry children? And gun violence? And a nation that imprisons more of its people than any other? The ELCA’s  Social Statement does not see abortion as the highest or only sin on which we should focus: “Sin is evident in the many ways human lives are not given equal respect or treated with high value, but are subject to abuse, violence, and neglect by individuals, groups, and entire societies.”

No woman seeks to have an abortion because it’s a great experience. ELCA Social Statement: “Abortion ought to be an option only of last resort. Therefore, as a church we seek to reduce the need to turn to abortion as the answer to unintended pregnancies. Abortion ought to be an option only of last resort. Therefore, as a church we seek to reduce the need to turn to abortion as the answer to unintended pregnancies.”

The ELCA Statement also says, “The concern for both the life of the woman and the developing life in her womb expresses a common commitment to life. This requires that we move beyond the usual "pro-life" versus "pro-choice" language in discussing abortion.”

And, “We are moved particularly by the anguish of women who face unwanted pregnancies alone. The panic and isolation of such pregnancies, even in the best of circumstances, can be traumatic. Poverty, lack of supportive relationships, immaturity, oppressive social realities, sexism, and racism can intensify her sense of powerlessness.”

This ELCA Social Statement, adopted over 20 years ago is as valid today as then, and valuable, needed, in the public conversation, particularly given the assault of anti-abortion legislation sweeping across the nation from state to state. What is the fear? Why is Governor Perry determined to “win”? Do the primarily white male legislators fear losing control? Losing political contributions? Do men fear losing out to women who really do need freedom for health care of their own bodies?

 The radical nature of forced vaginal ultrasounds becomes a weapon to “win a war.” But what war? And who is the enemy? I am a woman of faith who cherishes birth and children and this nation. And I am afraid of the fear that would violate and victimize women and children.

There have been a few legislative initiatives to require equal restrictions upon men’s bodies and sexual freedoms, but most have been received in jest. Seriously, conception needs both sperm and egg.  What if across this nation, state by state, we worked together for responsible, loving, caring conception?  Instead, deeply rooted fear has manifest itself in erroneous information that a woman’s body somehow “takes care of the situation” in the case of rape. Legislation rules to punish the incest and rape victim with little mention of legislation to punish those who rape or perpetrate incest.  Men who have sex outside of monogamous marriage are also a danger. Where are the advertisements with that warning alongside those that boost testosterone?

The ELCA Social Statement on Abortion: “A woman should not be morally obligated to carry the resulting pregnancy to term if the pregnancy occurs when both parties do not participate willingly in sexual intercourse. This is especially true in cases of rape and incest. This can also be the case in some situations in which women are so dominated and oppressed that they have no choice regarding sexual intercourse and little access to contraceptives. Some conceptions occur under dehumanizing conditions that are contrary to God's purposes.”

What would it mean to promote sex education for young men and women that is accurate and positive and includes the faith foundations of all, not just some people on the religious right?

The ELCA Social Statement on Abortion: “Marriage is the appropriate context for sexual intercourse. This continues to be the position of this church. We affirm that the goodness of sexual intercourse goes beyond its procreative purpose. Whenever sexual intercourse occurs apart from the intent to conceive, the use of contraceptives is the responsibility of the man and of the woman”.

And: “Our congregations and church schools ought to provide sex education in the context of the Christian faith. Such education, beginning in the elementary years, needs to emphasize values such as responsibility, mutuality, and abstinence from sexual intercourse outside of marriage. Parents should also be prepared to teach sexual responsibility to their children in the home. It is especially important that young men and young women be taught to exercise their sexuality responsibly.

And: “Because this church recognizes parenthood as a vocation that women and men share, we should encourage and educate males, from an early age, to assume more responsibility for raising children. Congregations should provide parenting classes and support groups for fathers and for mothers.”


And, “Greater social responsibility for the care, welfare, and education of children and families is needed through such measures as access to quality, affordable health care, child care, and housing. Sufficient income support for family’s needs to be provided by employers, or, in the case of the unemployed, through government assistance. As a society we need to provide increased support for education, nutrition, and services that protect children from abuse and neglect.”

And, “Because parenthood is a vocation that women and men share, this church supports public and private initiatives to provide adequate maternity and paternity leaves, greater flexibility in the work place, and efforts to correct the disparity between the incomes of men and women.”

The Supreme Court Rulings handed down last week were diverse in content and outcome; however one could find a connecting theme of freedom and fear in them as well. Striking down the heart of the Voting Rights Bill of the Civil Rights Movement has huge implications.  Voter Suppression is on the rise. Why fear the freedom of all to vote?

Concerning Marriage Equality, there was the fear that marriage of LGBT people would diminish marriages of heterosexual people.  Heterosexual people do not need to be afraid of Gay and Lesbian people.

So what is the fear on this Fourth of July? Fear that if all people, of every color, ethnicity and creed vote, Caucasians will have less power? Fear that if women have access to health care and choice and become full partners with men, men will somehow have less control, less power?

Freedom for some needs to mean freedom for all. Of that we need not be afraid. Planned Parenthood, planned partnership. Freedom from fear.