Category Archives: Faith
Laeodicean as Usual
Yahoo News: Lutherans to allow pastors in gay relationships
As usual, the ELCA fails to actually take a stand on this and instead issues a tepid ruling suggesting that practicing GLBT pastors not be punished.Â? I have a feeling that this will be all the rage in metro and some coastal synods and places like Montana will tell CWA where they can stick their decision.Â? (One of the reasons I love Montana: people aren’t afraid to stand up to the authorities.)
I also noticed that Yahoo! News took out the statements from the Lutheran CORE pastors who opposed it and also failed to mention that it was a margin of 107 votes in an assembly of 1000.Â? Way to be fair and balanced!
(For those who are going to lambast me for pointing out the margin of votes, let me explain something. For something like this to work, there needs to be an overwhelming margin — like 85%, not 55/45 like this vote was.Â? Something like this on a margin that slim is just going to cause schism, not change.)
I can also just imagine what’s going to happen in the Lutheran World Federation when this news hits the fan.
Churchwide Assembly 2007 Schtuff
Ah… where two or three are gathered, there WILL be politics.
Bishop Hanson got re-elected as presiding bishop on the 2nd ballot.Â? (He was 2 votes short on the first.)Â? I’m not amused because he’s a revisionist idiot (IMHO) but he’s also head of the Lutheran World Federation at the moment which is going to keep him (for the moment) from doing anything too stupid as pissing off the remainder of the world’s Lutherans is *NOT* a good thing to do.
All the social justice things passed (not even an issue in this church).Â? The same-sex marriage stuff is being sent to the sexuality taskforce which I’m not sure is entirely good because it seems like the taskforce’s job is simply to spin the changing of the social statement into something pretty.Â? (Basically, it’s a 50/50 split in the church which means that there is going to be pain and suffering in 2009 for at least half of the church with whatever comes out.)
The most amusing memorial/resolution/amendment/whatever was the whole adopting of the “Book of Faith: Lutherans Read the Bible”.Â? For a denomination that claims sola Scriptura, this should not be all that surprising that we actually, like, READ the Bible and, like, APPLY it.
Where Two Or Three Are Gathered… There WILL Be Politics
Churchwide Assembly has started on Navy Pier in Chicago and already there’s controversy.Â? A list of 80 openly GLBT pastors has been distributed.Â? Said pastors/candidates put their names out in the open in protest against the rule that GLBT clergy must remain chaste and I do believe said rule is going to be HOTLY debated at the Assembly.
Pray for us in the ELCA that we can come to an agreement on something instead of this endless loop of dialogue that is making everything worse.
Protected: Pet Peeves
FLBC Redux: The Good, the Bad, and the “Um Yeah…”
I just got back from Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp where I was from Sunday afternoon to today. As I love this method of reduxing the week, here are my lists.
The Good
-the beauty of the camp
-the AWESOME staff
-decent food
-getting to interact with the kids
-worship in the mornings and at campfire
-our SUPER COOL nurses for the week
-the quality of the Passion Play and getting to discuss it afterwards with five cooperative teenage boys
-getting to be one of the players in the Resurrection Service
-the cabins of Trailblazer girls with whom I hung out
-having the Trailblazer girls come up to me and tell me that they were praying for me after both yellowjacket stings
-having my Epi-Pen not hurt when I had to stab myself with it
-finding out that I’m not as deathly allergic to yellowjacket stings as I had been told I was
-being able to play field games with the kids
-being part of the Hunger Drama
-the conversations with Pr. Joel (one of the other pastors-in-residence this week)
-the conversations with the other pastors and their spouses
-volunteering at the canteen
The Bad
-the SWARMS of yellowjackets that were unleashed by the tornado/winds in the Flathead Valley last week that caused the 10+ bee stings every day
-getting stung TWICE in 24 hours after avoiding getting stung for 16 years
-having to go to the ER after the second sting because I was getting so sick
-having to stab myself with the Epi-Pen
-the guilt I felt for using up one of the camp’s Epi-Pens once I found out that I wasn’t allergic
-the brattiness of some of the 6th and 7th grade boys I dealt with at the canteen
The “Um Yeah…”
-finding out that some of the KIDS had seen “Charlie the Unicorn” and could quote it almost perfectly
-watching a cabin try to set up a couple of the counselors
-having the same cabin decide that I should have a baby
-“Electric Campfire” (fun but too loud — it was like being a metal concert)
-the “Saved By Grace” song
Jon had an awesome time this week doing his two “messages” at campfire and worship on Wednesday, participating in “Pastor Hot Seat” sessions where the kids could ask him ANYTHING, hanging with the Trailblazer girls who ADORED him, and just getting to have a relaxed week even though he was technically working. 🙂
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Sponsor Jen in Blogathon 2007 on July 28th. Come join the fun at her Blogathon site as she blogs for International Justice Mission! Even a pledge of $1 makes a difference!
Thursday Blogathon PUSH
OK… this is how it’s going to work:
I’m going to take a well-known bible passage and translate it verse-by-verse into different languages like this. Y’all can leave guesses in the comments as to what it is and the first person to guess it gets a $10 sponsorship (if they’re a ‘thonner) or a $10 donation to the charity of their choice (if they’re not a ‘thonner). The post will be up around 10:30 am EDT (7:30 am PDT — extrapolate from there) on the day of the Blogathon.
Here are the rules:
-No putting verses through Babelfish or any translation software.
-No looking at other guesses before making yours.
-No google searches.
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Sponsor Jen in Blogathon 2007 on July 28th. Come join the fun at her Blogathon site as she blogs for International Justice Mission! Even a pledge of $1 makes a difference!