Although I was only there for one day, I did watch chunks of it on the internet. You gotta love technology!
One of the things that really p*ssed me off was the "Greeting" from the President of the Lutheran Chruch Missouri Synod. In general I thought it was pretty civil concerning the rocky history of the two sects. Where I got hot under the collar is when the the Rev. Keischnick said he prayed, "that we will be able to come to harmonious conclusions regarding the authority and interpretation of the word of God, so the distance between us will not be widened, but will be bridged." Which is ancient right-wing for, "If you don't interpret the Bible the same way we do, we will take our Saviour and go home."
If the ELCA allowed GLBT clergy, then they were not going to interact with the ELCA. WHO CARES? Why should the ELCA listen to them anyway? They are back in the dark ages. They will not ordain women and they do not believe anyone except them can pray appropriately. Not the kind of Lutheranism that I understand. We know that when they say, "conclusions regarding the authourity and interepretation of the word of God," that means to interpret it THEIR way. They are not willing to conceed that the Spirit may be moving them to change.
I thought his comments were pot shots and had no place at the Assembly. I thinik the LCMS should be ashamed at using such strong-armed tactics.
The article from The Lutheran can be found here.
2 comments:
This attitude is ageless with the LCMS. They have always been this way. It gets even worse with the L.C. Wisconsin Synod churches. Sadly there is also a mild form of it within the LCS/ALC/ELCA.
My experience with such congregations in communities in my past was that we had to do it their way or they would pull up their pants and go home.
I can understand the need for some level of doctrinal integrity, but my mind often goes to the occasions when Christ was asked what was the most important commandment in the Torah. To my dismay contemporary/popular Christianity has totally lost sight/understanding of his answer.
I typo'd LCA as LCS
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