Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Affiliated College Opens the Door to Gay Wedding

Eric Palmer, left, and Ethan Tarvin plan to get married in Augustana College's Ascension Chapel. (Anthony Souffle, Chicago Tribune / January 10, 2013)

As regular readers know, I am very hard on many Christian denominations, especially the Roman Catholic Church of which I was once a member, for the hate and bigotry that they promote daily against LGBT individuals with no regard whatsoever for the lives that are damaged or ruined or lost to suicide.  Likewise, I often criticize the "good Christians" as I call them who do too little to counter the incessant hate and nastiness spewed by the Christofascists.  But there are some denominations that are working for LGBT equality albeit not at the rate I would want.  One such denomination is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA") of which I now count myself a member.   Highlighting the ELCA's pro-equality agenda are developments at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, an ELCA affiliated college, which has opened its chapel doors to same sex weddings.  The Chicago Tribune looks at the development.  Here are article highlights:

When Eric Palmer came to Augustana College four years ago, he wasn't expecting to fall in love. And he certainly wasn't expecting to be a pioneer when he requested to use the chapel to declare his devotion to his fiance.

But his betrothed is Ethan Tarvin, also a senior at the liberal arts college, which is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. When the Rock Island, Ill., school recently decided to allow its chapel to be used for the blessings of same-sex unions, another barrier quietly fell.

"I didn't have to wrestle with this. ... It was a matter of integrity," said President Steve Bahls, citing the school's anti-discrimination policy. "If you say you don't discriminate based on sexual orientation but you can't use our chapel, then you're a hypocrite."

A decade ago, Bahls said he would have rejected such a request. Even if he did agree, he would have faced swarms of angry alumni — instead of the overwhelming support he received for what is believed to be the first of 26 ELCA colleges nationwide to take such a stand, he said.

For Palmer and Tarvin, their choice of venue for a fall 2013 wedding wasn't about activism, but deep ties to the campus where many life-changing experiences occurred.  "Augustana is just a very sentimental place for us," said Palmer, who met Tarvin in 2011, when he registered him to vote. The two hit it off and got engaged last April Fools' Day.  Said Tarvin: "I met Eric on campus, proposed on campus and it seemed only logical to have the ceremony in the chapel. ... It really represents my personal, professional and religious life."

In a 2009 statement, the churchwide assembly acknowledged that consensus on this dmatter doesn't exist in the ELCA and allowed congregations that choose to do so to find ways to recognize and support same-sex, monogamous relationships, according to the Rev. Mark Wilhelm, program director for ELCA colleges.

"The statement acknowledges that members of our church hold various convictions — and Augustana is reflecting one angle on this," Wilhelm said.

Because the college is affiliated with the ELCA, but not a congregation, the final decision rested with the 58-year-old Bahls. "I asked myself: Is this consistent with church doctrine? Yes. Is it consistent with Augustana's doctrine. Yes. So, to give life to our anti-discrimination policy, I had to make it available to all."

Bahls informed the local bishop and the board of trustees, but did not issue a press release. The news leaked out in November and he braced himself for a firestorm — which never happened.  "That was probably the biggest surprise is how this has been overwhelmingly accepted — not unanimously, but for every negative comment, I received a dozen that were positive," said Bahls, who called each critic to discuss his verdict.

I am proud to be a member of the ELCA and once again urge those looking for a church home - especially those raised Catholic - to check out their local ELCA parish (make sure it is ELCA affiliated and not an affiliate of the anti-gay Missouri Synod Lutheran Church).  The services are nearly identical to a Catholic Mass and one will no longer be associated with the morally bankrupt child rapist enablers and protectors in the Catholic Church hierarchy.