2002 Synod Assembly

Resolution 2002-05 - Supporting Ordinations Outside the Historic Episcopacy

Failed

WHEREAS, one of the clear Biblical expressions of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is "freedom" (John 8:31-32, 36; Galatians 5:1, and others); and

WHEREAS, Christian freedom is always in danger of being lost in human rules and regulations, not least of all within the sphere of the church itself; and

WHEREAS, one of the fundamental issues of the Reformation for Martin Luther was freedom in Christ for individuals and for the Christian community, and the necessity to distinguish between what was necessary and not necessary (a distinction in regard to adiaphora); and

WHEREAS, many people in the Blue Earth River Conference of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod still see the policy and practice of the Historic Episcopacy as infringing on a desirable and healthful freedom; and

WHEREAS, the administration of the Historic Episcopacy ordination policy may be intimidating to vulnerable seminary graduates who have been approved for ordination; and

WHEREAS, the 2001 Churchwide Assembly passed a bylaw accepting ordinations apart from the Historic Episcopacy;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOVLED, that the Blue Earth River Conference of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA support seminary graduates who seek ordination apart from the Historic Episcopacy by the approval of this resolution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that it shall be the policy of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod the Blue Earth River Conference memorialize the Southeastern Minnesota Synod to affirm the policy that any qualified seminary graduate shall not be denied ordination because of a preference for ordination apart from the Historic Episcopacy; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Historic Episcopacy is a matter of adiaphora, that is, not an essential matter of faith and practice, in the Southeastern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA.

Submitted by David Hernes and Daniel Baker, by the Blue Earth River Conference, February 10, 2002.