Churchwide Assembly: Wrap Up

Apologies
'Sorry for the delay in writing, folks. Our very weak Internet connection pretty much died - along with my energy...


Overall Reflections
This assembly - my first as a voting member - was both exhilarating and exhausting: physically, emotionally and spiritually. As I said to a couple of folks along the way, I didn't realize I should have gone into training for this event - but it would have helped with:

• Backaches (and other aches) from sitting too much
• Blisters from walking in the wrong shoes
• Indigestion from eating too much conference food
• Lack of sleep due to a packed schedule
• The burning desire to connect with as many people as possible...some expected, others surprising.
• Intense conversations, what GoodSoil called, "Gracious Engagement"
• Travel challenges - including a suitcase that didn't arrive in Ypsi until 11PM Monday (I arrived in Detroit at 8PM Sunday)

I feel deeply for our bishops, both Mark and Steve, and the churchwide and synod staff who will be on the receiving end of some angry responses to the decisions made in Minneapolis. They are in need of our special prayers during the coming days, weeks and months.

We will be celebrating the full inclusion of GLBT folks into all of the ministries of this church on Sunday, August 30th at 10AM. Please join us as we give thanks to God for the realization of 1 Corinthians 15:58:

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.

I encourge you to read Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson's eloquent and pastoral response to last week's decisions. (And not just because your new synodical bishop and pastor appear once again on the web page!!)

Grace and Peace to All,

PS

Churchwide Assembly: Day 5: Friday

An Historic Day

• The day was a blur. The major items before us, of course, were the four ministry principles that put into effect the acceptance of GLBT clergy in committed relationships (that long phraseology is just toooooooooo long to repeat!). While there were some who approached the process from a position of anger and threat, most approached the day from a position of earnest belief and prayer. There were some remarkable speeches from the floor. I was able to speak once and while in line a second time (didn't get to the mike)...got to chatting with the man in line in front of me. 'Seems he has a nephew headed to Michigan for law school this fall. (Always working, you see!)


• After the fourth ministry policy was adopted, the first person I saw outside the assembly hall was Brad Schmeling. I was able to give him a big hug and to say, "Welcome back." He was beaming from ear to ear!


• We have an amazingly grace-filled Presiding Bishop who, by the end of the day, clearly felt the weight of the ELCA on his shoulders.


• Chelsea and I enjoyed dinner with Frank Norman, one of our alums and great supporters. I have connected with all but one alumnus - Tim Wengert - so that is my goal for today. LOL has been WELL represented at this Assembly. It just seems right.


• We celebrated last night, though it still seemed surreal, leaving me wondering what Saturday will bring.
• Chelsea was in the New York Times! Check it out online!


• We're exhausted, some are getting sick from air conditioning, stress and lack of sleep.


• Although there was much talk of people leaving the ELCA, I began wondering this morning: How many more clergy will we have on the roster by the end of this year because they have been waiting for this moment...THAT has got to be good for mission!

Love and Blessings to All,
PS

Churchwide Assembly: Day 4: Thursday

Random Reflections
Our day began with a quasi-committee of the whole, over breakfast, at round tables in the dining room. To my left was the Bishop of North Carolina who shared the story of how a pastor in his synod wrote a letter to his congregation, explaining how he felt about the Statement on Sexuality and the rostering of GLBT folks in committed relationships (which they refer to as, "publically accountable, lifelong, committed, monogamous relationship"). In his letter, the pastor explained, "If we make major changes, my parents will leave the church but if we don't make major changes, my children will leave the church." I suspect that's not an uncommon sentiment.

Sitting to my right was my classmate, Kari Toavs Parsons' uncle, Paul Tiedemann. I've heard about him for years but this was my first opportunity to meet him. Delightful! Of course, he worked for years at St. Paul Reformation with LOLer Anita Hill.

Good News from Newark
New Jersey Bishop Roy Riley told a wonderful story of how the last remaining ELCA congregation in Newark - New Jersey's largest city - came back to life through intentional outreach to Brazilian and Portuguese immigrants. I'll have to find a copy of his description because that simple statement doesn't convey the excitement that he shared. It was one of those stories that leaves one thinking, "It's a good time to be the church."

Question: With How Many Church Bodies is the ELCA in Full Communion?
As of this afternoon, the answer is six, as we entered into an agreement for full communion with the United Methodist Church. (In case you're wondering or have forgotten, the other 5 are: The United Church of Christ/Presbyterian Church USA/Reformed Church in America, The Episcopal Church and The Moravian Church.

I now feel even more strongly that my ecumenical theological education is a gift. I've worked with ALL of these folks (okay, and I've been confirmed in two of them!)...so to the person who once said to me, "You didn't go to a Lutheran seminary? Then, you don't have any colleagues"! Oh, contraire!

Old Home Week (aka LOLers in Lutheran Land)
Let's see...I've seen Dave Carlson (he says HI to everyone)...Kate Drefke...Patrick Lyon (just returned from Switzerland and heading to a wedding in Duluth...hm...I wonder whether Dave is presiding...)...We've heard from Professor Tim Wengert several times but I have yet to have a chance to introduce myself. Of course, George Watson is doing a great job of keeping us on task. George and everyone at GoodSoil are doing remarkable ministry. We have reason to be very proud.

Update on Tornado Damage at Central Lutheran
Funny how things happen. The tornado managed to uproot two old trees that the congregation had slated for removal. The assembly is offering two young trees that have adorned the stage at the convention center. Today's worship offering was a gift to Central...which Central shared with another Lutheran charitable organization.

Quote of the Day from Professor R. Guy Erwin
One of the great Reformation scholars of our generation, Guy was George Lindbeck's last PhD student and now runs the Segerhammar Center at CLU (could the world GET and smaller?). Guy was also my polity teacher. He's made a couple of wonderful statements before the assembly. During the discussion leading up to the vote on Full Communion with the Methodist Church, he spoke (I didn't know Guy was raised in the Methodist church!) eloquently as always. Here's the quote du jour: "My frineds tease me that I'm a professional Lutheran. (pause) It's NOT a very lucrative career."

Finally, Open Your Hymnals to "O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing"
Take note of the next to the last verse. Does this sound Lutheran or what?

Tomorrow...
Since we have only two minutes at the microphone, I had to edit down the three major points I want to make during the debate on the ministry proposals. Wait for it...

Tonight's plenary went until 6:30, Chelsea and I had a drink with Patrick, and then we went out to dinner with the SEMI Synod contingent. As we were walking back to the hotel, I realized: I have breakfast in the room. I can sleep until 7! HOORAY!!! (Honestly, I didn't do enough training for this project. It's EXHAUSTING!)

Peace, Shalom, Salaam,
Sue

Churchwide Assembly: Day 3: Wednesday, August 19

We have pictures!

Okay, I can find only one at this point.

The bishop and I made it onto the front page of the ELCA web site! (Photo from Tuesday.) We had been asked to talk about how we saw God moving in our places of ministry & Bishop Steve and I were having a heart to heart about prayer. Of course, before I saw this photo, I had heard about it from half a dozen people! Pretty funny! The bishop said he was relieved that they didn't catch us clowning around...us? Naw...

Today was a marathon. I personally broke my long-standing streak of having someone call the question every time I reached the microphone.

In fact, I submitted my very first amendment (a friendly one) and it passed. Cool. (It was to add other means of technology to a motion calling for worship resources for folks with visual impairment. I shared with the assembly a bit of what we learned from Jessie - so she gets the credit!)

After working on several talking points for various situations, I finally got up the nerve to approach the microphone to offer one. It was after that that I could see where people were coming from based on their body language as I passed by. Smile? We agree. Snear? We disagree. Step out to say a word of thanks...or step out of the way so as not to come too close...Human beings are very interesting characters.

The Social Statement on Human Sexuality
The ELCA's consitution requires a 2/3 vote in order to pass a social statement. The process seemed to go far more quickly than the Presiding Bishop had anticipated but he did say that folks were trying out every parliamentary possibility they could conjure up...really testing his mettle as Chair...but he said they were doing that as early as Monday night.

Tornado!
Oh - you should know that while we were in session addressing the social statement, a tornado went by - we had been told to stay in the assembly hall. We heard the warning siren and the announcements from the security officials as well as the presiding bishop. We didn't know until after the fact (!) that the tornado had touched the far end of the convention center and done some damage to Central Lutheran Church (thankfully, no one was hurt (& there were 75 people in the building at the time!); the spire was hit - a little crunched in the top 1/4 to my eye) and the tent and tables - aka "pub central" - were blown all over the place (much to everyone's chagrin, it will be closed for a time). (Sorry to have to break that news, Mert.)

Back to the vote
Once we cast our votes, Bishop Hanson got the most stunned look on his face. It was a rather unnerving moment as the PB has among the best poker faces I've ever seen. After a rather pregnant pause he said, "I'm going to show you the results but then I'm going to step away for a moment." The results? 66.67% YES and 33.33% NO. Oh, and then the sun came out. Go figure.

The Social Statement passed with EXACTLY the 2/3 vote needed. Tomorrow, we will consider the implementing statement and then on Friday the ministry policies.

Worship at Central Lutheran
It was full tilt boogie GoodSoil worship tonight. I need to remember to tell Tim that we sang a Kenyan song that needs to be worked into the October liturgy - great stuff! And we have the license for it.

There were so many Yale Divinity School Alumni that we decided the ELCA Churchwide Assembly deserves to have a YDS gathering much like the UCC does. I think there were three of us in rapid succession in the procession, at least one serving as a Eucharistic Minister, one or two in the congregation and, of course, the best preacher in the church, Barbara Lundblad, who did NOT disappoint! (One line in her sermon that stood out was, "We've been studying sexuality...since we were ordained"! It reminded me of a friend who recently said, "If I'd known when I entered the ministry that I'd spend this much time talking about sex, I'd have told the Holy Spirit, "Thanks but no thanks.")

After worship, we had a joint gathering with our companion synod, SE Penn and the very small but delightful Alaska contingent. We're exhausted. We've done a lot of sitting and a lot of walking and a lot of concentrating. We're wiped.

But at least I have my clock on CENTRAL time now, so when I set it for 6:30 it will not jolt me out of bed at 5:30! (No WONDER I was so groggy!)

Well, that's all from here for tonight. The BlackBerry is a dangerous toy - even though I'm STILL figuring out how to use it!

Blessings from Minneapolis,
PS

Churchwide Assembly: Day 2: Tuesday, August 18

Today was an interesting day. (How's that for a lame beginning?)

We heard the Presiding Bishop's report which, as expected, was enlightening and inspiring.

We heard a LOT about the Malaria and HIV/AIDS initiatives (Rebecca Coulborn! You shoulda been here - but the docs are online...) It seemed to me as though a remarkable number of people had personal experience with malaria. $10 buys a netting for a bed that's been treated with an insecticide that is not harmful to humans but is to mosquitoes. The Malaria initiative is in conjunction with the LCMS, Lutheran World Relief and a program of the UN that is escaping my brain at the moment...

We heard the Report of the Vice President, Carlos Pena, who was delightful.

We heard from the Task Force on Sexuality and then went into a quasi committee of the whole on the subject. Despite the fact that the proposed sexuality statement is comprehensive and mentions things like developing liturgical rituals for the time of divorce and respecting the value of friendships (!), people seemed preoccupied with homosexuality. At one point, a guy who had driven us nuts last night got up to the microphone and we sort of thought, "oh no," but then he spoke, beginning with the statement, "I am a homophobe." And then he shared a bit of his experience of learning and being changed...It was the most profound statement I heard today.

There are hearings this afternoon and evening regarding the social statements. There has been a concerted effort to undermine the ELCA's Peace Not Walls Middle East Strategy but the fellow behind it is not a voting member, so though he spent a lot on a lunch that was designed to try to undermine the strategy, it appears as though his work will be for naught. When the substitute motion comes to the floor (it was passed by 4 synods), if Chelsea, Al Asfour and Rani Abdulmasih speak, that should take care of things...There are also two other Palestinian American pastors here, one of whom has been in ministry for 40 years. (The other two, Rani and Khader El-Yateeem from New York, are young...)

The cacophony of voices seems to be wearing on me. My introvert needs to crawl into a cave for a while and be still...so many talking heads in rooms that reverberate so...

I guess that's all for tonight. Nothing too exciting...but then, it's a church meeting...you were expecting something else? (Not till Friday, my friends...not till Friday...so please keep those prayers coming!)

Peace, Shalom, Salaam,
Sue

Churchwide Assembly: Day 1: Monday, August 17

Preface
Before I share about the assembly, I want to mention that Bishop Marsh's mother had a heart attack yesterday (August 16, the first anniversary of Bishop Schreiber's death - creepy coincidence). Please keep his family in your prayers. His mother is in Temecula with two sisters and a brother at her bedside. It's tough on Bishop Steve not to be there, as you can well imagine.

Opening Worship
As usual, wonderful. Bishop Hanson used the Easter II text (the disciples were in hiding for fear...Jesus pops in and says "peace be with you," breathes on them and says, "receive the Holy Spirit...")

He spoke a lot about fear. About our own fears. About how this week is not the "done deal" that the media have made it out to be. He encouraged us - with true Mark Hanson passion - to offer our fears up to God, to let God hold onto them, whatever they may be.

He also spoke movingly about New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's response to seeing 37,000 ELCA Youth raising their joyful voices in the SuperDome. He said he wished that everyone in New Orleans could experience the way that the youth transformed into life and joy a place that has been so strongly associated with death among the people of New Orleans.

One of the Communion hymns was "Like the Murmur of the Dove's Song," which was my ordination hymn...It always takes me right back to that moment...and then to the many things that have changed...the people who are no longer here...the challenges that have followed...this is for me a bit of a collision of numerous parts of my life...I'll try not to belabor that!

Session 1
There were some tense moments, some potentially contentious ones, but now and again people referred to Bishop Hanson's sermon...Of course, there are wide ranging opinions. One of the things that impresses me (as someone who is intimidated by getting up at a microphone in front of 1000+ people in order to express an opinion - stop laughing, y'all...) is that people have the courage of their convictions to stand up and to advocate for their positions. Some are incredibly articulate, while others stumble around in pools of passionate feeling that they struggle to convey. Then, of course, there are the people who really like to get up and did so at least two or three times during our first session! (No names!)

The success of the evening, for those of us who were concerned about a concerted effort to change the rules, was that the request for a 2/3 "supermajority" on the ministry recommendations was defeated. The "stair step" method - which would have allowed consideration of the 2nd recommendation only if the 1st passed, and so on through the four (I'm not sure I'm articulating that well). In any event, that motion was defeated as well. These are hopeful signs.

It's clear that GoodSoil is well organized and in good spirits. They received about 500 prayer shawls!! They provided us with mini agendas which are really nice as they tuck neatly into our nametags and serve as a quick reference (rather than hauling around those hulking binders!). GoodSoil is taking an approach they call, "Gracious engagement." There was a real shift at the last Assembly in Chicago and I think that the expanded sense of understanding and welcome has continued to grow across this church.

A Funny Moment
Someone moved that speakers be restricted from 3 minutes to 2. One fellow got up and said he opposed the measure because he felt it discriminated against pastors...

Another Challenge
Peter Pettit, who has his doctorate in Jewish studies and teaches at Muhlenberg College, has - along with a handful of other synods - put forth a resolution that is a distortion of the ELCA's established and active "Peace Not Walls" campaign designed to further the cause of Middle East Peace. It employs terms like, "Arab - Israeli - Palestinian..."

Many of you know that our synod has a companion relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and our delgation includes two Palestinian Americans who are a couple of the most gracious human beings I know. I'm certain they will be speaking powerfully to this resolution as will our own Chelsea Mathis (increasingly famous - she was on the cover of the Assembly News today and is likely to be interviewed by the NYTimes - the model young adult voting member of the Assembly). After a year in the Holy Land, which included accompanying the bishops who attended the Bishops' Academy in January, Chelsea has an intimate understanding of the reality on the ground - far greater than those of us who have spent 10 days at a time there...

Looking ahead...
Now that we have adopted the rules of procedure, we will move forward to address numerous issues. (God love Mark Hanson for showing such remarkable grace under pressure and good humor in chairing the meeting)

Of course, the assembly is streaming live on the web: www.elca.org/assembly. I hope you'll have a chance to catch some of it live as it happens. It's really quite remarkable to be a fist time voting member...

Oh - and for those of you who enjoy a little ecclesiastical irony...sitting right ahead of me is Bishop Roy Riley (NJ Synod) and across the aisle and back a table? The Grand Canyon Synod delegation. I haven't seen the So Cal folks yet but Bob Rimbo's zipping around with his grandchild having a good time...There's something endearing about watching a man of his stature look so giddy pushing a stroller...

Well, it's 12:15 h ere...1:15 back in Michigan. Time to turn in for the night. We'll be back at it at 8AM. So much for my resolution to get up for "stretch and pray" with Bishop Finck!

Blessings to all! Please feel free to post comments, questions, etc. and I'll do my best to respond. (We're not supposed to have cell phones or blackberries on in the meeting hall...but pastors will be kids...)

Peace, Shalom, Salaam,
Pastor Sue