I have previously written about St. John's Lutheran Church in the Roanoke area of Virginia and its move to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA") because of the national church's vote back in August to allow partnered gay clergy in monogamous relationships. That was more than St. John's homophobic pastor could take and from a new Roanoke Times story it seems he pushed for the parish to leave the ELCA. Like so many of those I deem to be false Christians, Pastor Mark Graham clings to strict application of a few Bible passages while utterly ignoring others and missing Christ's message - just like the Biblical Pharisees so thoroughly condemned through out the New Testament. One can only hope that history will view the good reverend in the same light as rabid pro-slavery, pro-segregation Southern Baptist pastors from the past. Here are some highlights from the Roanoke Times story that look the turmoil that Rev. Graham has unleashed: *
St. John Lutheran Church looks fine from the outside. Inside, it is a church in pain. Married couples are at odds. So are parents and children. The oldest of friends are not speaking. Many people have left the Southwest Roanoke County church altogether. One woman took her husband's ashes from the church columbarium with her. Some can't even bear to look at the building as they drive by.
*
At the root of it is the question of homosexuality and an August vote in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to accept as clergy gay people in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous" relationships and to recognize and support such relationships in general. Previously, the church allowed gay clergy to serve only if they were celibate. That was more than St. John's leaders could bear.
*
And that in turn was more than some church members could bear. "I've grieved more over this than I did over the passing of my mother and my father," said Richard Herring, 68, a charter member of the church. The Herrings and others have left St. John in search of new church families. Sunday attendance is down from an average of 600 before the vote to 450, and contributions are down, too,
*
"Six months ago, these people were our dearest friends," lamented Bethany Uhl, 59, a 13-year member who walked away. "Membership at a church is different from membership at Sam's Club. If you're a church, that's family." To finalize its break from the ELCA, the congregation must ratify the first vote with a second on Jan. 10.
*
Some people left St. John long before the September vote because they didn't like where Graham was headed theologically. People were "tired of the law, the law, the law," Uhl said. "Pretty much the only sins we've heard about for the last six years are homosexuality and abortion," Herring said.
*
For Graham, the question of homosexuality is only the smoke. "The fire is the issue of the authenticity of Scripture," he said. To him, Scripture holds one consistent position on homosexuality: that it's a sin. To ignore the Bible on that point is to open the door to ignoring it on other points. "If the Bible is wrong about marriage and sexuality, it could be wrong about Jesus Christ," he said.
*
But not everyone reads Scripture the same way. "It's not that simple," said Harold Uhl. "It's clearly a matter of a broad view of the understanding of the openness of Jesus to people and where they are. ... Did God really mean those specific words, or is the overall openness of Jesus" what's important? Herring put it this way: "How much hatred do we have to have for others to live as our Lord has commanded?"
*
Herring said the decision was "rammed down our throats." To him, it felt like Graham saying, "Hey folks, I've got the votes. I've been waiting for this, planning for this, and if you don't like it, there's the door. Good luck, and God bless you."
*
St. John Lutheran Church looks fine from the outside. Inside, it is a church in pain. Married couples are at odds. So are parents and children. The oldest of friends are not speaking. Many people have left the Southwest Roanoke County church altogether. One woman took her husband's ashes from the church columbarium with her. Some can't even bear to look at the building as they drive by.
*
At the root of it is the question of homosexuality and an August vote in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to accept as clergy gay people in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous" relationships and to recognize and support such relationships in general. Previously, the church allowed gay clergy to serve only if they were celibate. That was more than St. John's leaders could bear.
*
And that in turn was more than some church members could bear. "I've grieved more over this than I did over the passing of my mother and my father," said Richard Herring, 68, a charter member of the church. The Herrings and others have left St. John in search of new church families. Sunday attendance is down from an average of 600 before the vote to 450, and contributions are down, too,
*
"Six months ago, these people were our dearest friends," lamented Bethany Uhl, 59, a 13-year member who walked away. "Membership at a church is different from membership at Sam's Club. If you're a church, that's family." To finalize its break from the ELCA, the congregation must ratify the first vote with a second on Jan. 10.
*
Some people left St. John long before the September vote because they didn't like where Graham was headed theologically. People were "tired of the law, the law, the law," Uhl said. "Pretty much the only sins we've heard about for the last six years are homosexuality and abortion," Herring said.
*
For Graham, the question of homosexuality is only the smoke. "The fire is the issue of the authenticity of Scripture," he said. To him, Scripture holds one consistent position on homosexuality: that it's a sin. To ignore the Bible on that point is to open the door to ignoring it on other points. "If the Bible is wrong about marriage and sexuality, it could be wrong about Jesus Christ," he said.
*
But not everyone reads Scripture the same way. "It's not that simple," said Harold Uhl. "It's clearly a matter of a broad view of the understanding of the openness of Jesus to people and where they are. ... Did God really mean those specific words, or is the overall openness of Jesus" what's important? Herring put it this way: "How much hatred do we have to have for others to live as our Lord has commanded?"
*
Herring said the decision was "rammed down our throats." To him, it felt like Graham saying, "Hey folks, I've got the votes. I've been waiting for this, planning for this, and if you don't like it, there's the door. Good luck, and God bless you."
*
As is the case with many of the unduly hysterical homophobes, one cannot help but wonder what personal demons are haunting Rev. Graham. He sounds a lot like Ted Haggard before his hypocrisy was revealed. One never knows.
2 comments:
I'm not a Lutheran and I don't know any more about this congregation than I learned based on what you wrote here. I do, however, understand the evangelical mindset and it is as much culturally repulsed by homosexuality as it is spiritually offended. Scripture tells us that many things are sinful. Sexual relations outside of marriage are just ONE of these sins. I emphasize the phrase 'sexual relations outside of marriage' because it is the orthodox view that all sex must be within marriage, so premarital heterosexual relations are just as sinful as homosexual relations. Divorce, except possibly where there has been infidelity, is also prohibited according to scripture; divorce and remarriage are equated with adultery. From a conservative scriptural perspective, homosexuality has to be seen as a lesser sin than divorce or, worse, divorce and remarriage. The fact, though, is that there are probably a lot of divorced or divorced and remarried people in the congregation that you write about. I'll bet the pastor tolerates it. Fundamentalists think they are consistent in their beliefs but they often pick and choose and then take the moral high ground. From a Catholic perspective, divorce and remarriage amount to a state of perpetual adultery. It could be argued that this is worse than an occasional homosexual or heterosexual act. The Catholic can confess and be forgiven unless s/he is divorced and remarried in which case s/he is separated from the Church.
Divorce is the primary destroyer of families, not homosexuality. It's much easier to pick on gays, though, when there are so many divorced Christians. I don't think that you can expect traditional Christian denominations to change their theology to please gays but you can demand doctrinal consistency by pointing out these facts. Those who live in glass houses really should not throw stones.
I'm an ELCA Lutheran. What I'm concerned about with churches leaving the ELCA is the connection of the pastor leaving and the church he/she is leading leaving. Often it is the pastor stirring up the church to leave. If that happens, the pastor, presumably will still have a job and salary. I'm not sure if anyone talks to the people of the church as to what they will have to do in the future to get another pastor.
If the pastor wants to leave, well, fine, leave on principle. And that principle should be so high that he/she is willing to leave his/her salary/pension/medical benefits. But that isn't happening. The pastors who are meeting about leaving are still with the church (ELCA.)
If the pastor talks the church into leaving, then that church loses all the associations they have had with other ELCA groups. That happened to a church near here which left for other reasons, but now the people are grieving the loss of contacts that they no longer have.
Let the church leave for its own reasons. Let the pastors leave for their own reasons. Leave or stay on principle. Lutheran churches have traditionally not been build around a pastor as prominent personality.
As for the church I belong to, in a rural area, it has long (for years before any stuff about Gays was in the news) had a faith statement that says that all are welcome and it seems that this has informed our out reach and "in-reach." We are growing.
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