I decided to go to Chicago yesterday. "Why?" you may ask. I went to Chicago to be a presence during the ELCA Churchwide assembly. The assembly is going to consider the question of whether to allow partnered gay clergy to openly lead congregations. I was part of over 30 clergy that were present and of over 80 clergy in a devotional book.
The assembly is being held on Navy Pier. I had not been there since the big revamp of the place. It was really quite cool. The weather was damp so the skyline was a bit obscured.
Every so often the sun would break through the clouds and shine on the lighthouse in the bay. It was cool.
Within the building on Navy Pier, there is a permanent installation of stained glass. Of course I was in heaven. The one here is a glass Christmas mosaic. There were also many Tiffany windows and some Arts and Crafts windows. Definitely worth a check. (Click on the picture to see the detail. I am so envious!)
There was a worship service sponsored by Goodsoil. Two years ago, there were approx. 350 people at the service, this year there was over 650! The ELCA is going to change, the question is just when.
On the way home. I stopped in to see Morgen from It's a Blog Eat Blog World. I got to his shop at 9 am, his shop opens at 10 am. I probably should have hung around, but there is not a whole lot to do in Dowagiac MI for an hour. So I headed on home.
Oh the way home, I drove through the town of Climax, MI. I just thought it was too funny.
3 comments:
I have a night light of that Chicago lighthouse; when it is on I think of my life in Chicago.
I think you will be glad you went. It is not clear if any thing will happen this time around, but had you not gone, you may have later regretted that you did not take your stand.
I should probably be forewarned by this that my homophobic Lutheran co-worker will be at my cube ranting about "homosexuals in *his* church" again. He thinks I am an apostate because I stick up for gays and gay marriage.
I just returned from the Pier myself. After people have a couple of days to process the events and post on them, I am hoping to host a carnival of posts about the Assembly, and would love to include your thoughts.
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