Resolution 2009-11:

A Memorial Rejecting the Proposals in the Report and Recommendations on Ministry Policies from the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality

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1 WHEREAS, as Lutherans "We
2 believe, teach, and confess that the
3 only rule and guiding principle
4 according to which all teachings
5 and teachers are to be evaluated
6 and judged are the prophetic and
7 apostolic writings of the Old and
8 New Testaments alone"[1], and

9 WHEREAS, many passages in
10 Scripture both speak, and have
11 been consistently throughout
12 history heard to speak, in a plain
13 and unambiguous voice
14 concerning marriage and the
15 exercise of human sexuality, and

16 WHEREAS, the Scriptures teach very
17 positively of God's design for
18 marriage as reflected in the words
19 of our Lord Jesus, "Have you not
20 read that he who made them from
21 the beginning made them male and
22 female, and said, 'For this reason a
23 man shall leave his father and
24 mother and be joined to his wife,
25 and the two shall become one
26 flesh'? So they are no longer two
27 but one flesh" (Matt. 19:4-6a
28 RSV); and

29 WHEREAS, a majority of
30 Evangelical Lutheran Church in
31 America (ELCA) members, and
32 most Christian churches - including
33 most in the Lutheran World
34 Federation – believe that marriage
35 is a lifelong covenant between one
36 man and one woman; and

37 WHEREAS, the erotic expression of
38 sexuality is understood by some to
39 be taught and celebrated in
40 Scripture as being rightly ordered
41 to be exercised within the bounds
42 of marriage; and

43 WHEREAS, Scripture is understood
44 by some to prohibit any other
45 expression of sexually erotic
46 activity outside the bounds of
47 marriage; and

48 WHEREAS, the 2009 ELCA
49 Churchwide Assembly will
50 consider the Report and
51 Recommendations on Ministry
52 Policies from the Task Force for
53 ELCA Studies on Sexuality which
54 asks the ELCA to change its
55 teaching and policy to affirm the
56 possibility of same-sex sexual
57 relationships, for pastors and other
58 rostered leaders in the ELCA; and

59 WHEREAS, a synodical or
60 congregational option on ministry
61 standards would represent a real
62 change in the teaching of our
63 church that would be seen by some
64 as forcing even those synods and
65 congregations that do not agree
66 with this change implicitly to
67 accept the notion that Scripture is
68 not clear in its teaching about
69 marriage or about homosexual
70 behavior; and

71 WHEREAS, the interdependent
72 relationship between the
73 churchwide, synod, and
74 congregation expressions of the
75 ELCA requires one Office of
76 Ministry, one roster of pastors, and
77 one set of expectations for pastors
78 and other rostered leaders
79 throughout the ELCA; and

80 WHEREAS, the ELCA currently
81 expresses its expectations of
82 pastors and other rostered leaders
83 through documents called Vision
84 and Expectations[2] and Definitions
85 Guidelines for Discipline which
86 are intended to maintain harmony
87 with Scripture and its
88 interpretation throughout history;

89 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,
90 that the Southeastern Minnesota
91 Synod Assembly thank the
92 members of the Task Force for
93 ELCA Studies on Sexuality for
94 their work; and

95 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that
96 the Southeastern Minnesota
97 Assembly memorialize the 2009
98 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to
99 reject the proposals in the Report
100 and Recommendations on Ministry
101 Policies from the Task Force for
102 ELCA Studies on Sexuality; and

103 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that
104 the Southeastern Minnesota Synod
105 Assembly memorialize the 2009
106 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to
107 reaffirm the ELCA's current
108 standards for pastors and other
109 rostered leaders as expressed in
110 Vision and Expectations and
111 Definitions and Guidelines for
112 Discipline.

[1] Formula of Concord, The Epitome, 1. – The Book of Concord, Edited by Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert, Fortress Press.

[2] Especially pertinent are the lines: "Single ordained ministers are expected to live a chaste life. Married ordained ministers are expected to live in fidelity to their spouses, giving expression to sexual intimacy within a marriage relationship that is mutual, chaste, and faithful. Ordained ministers who are homosexual in their self-understanding are expected to abstain from homosexual sexual relationships."

Submitted by Rev. Daniel D. Baker and the undersigned voting members ofthe 2009 Southeastern Minnesota Synod Assembly:

Rev. Daniel D. Baker, Rev. John F. Holt, Paul Overgaard, Jan Overgaard,Linda Kraushaar, Steven Kraushaar, Rev. Chris Fiske, Rev. Julie Fiske, Art Ludtke, Donna Ludtke, Rev. Richard Steffen, Rev. Jim Peterson

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