The New direction of the ELCA?
Read that all here. If you think that's just a passing matter of notice, look at the quote in the Argus today from the bishop-elect:When the South Dakota Mainstream Coalition was initially formed in June 2005, many people, especially Republicans, had lots of questions. Since then, few of those questions have been answered.
The Coalition was founded by seven South Dakota Republican senators: Ed Olson of Mitchell, Tom Dempster of Sioux Falls, Dave Knudson of Sioux Falls, Stan Adelstein of Rapid City, Royal “Mac” McCracken of Rapid City, J.P. Duniphan of Rapid City, and Duane Sutton of Aberdeen.
The group of so-called moderates formed the Coalition because they felt their disagreement with the Republican base on a number of issues was not welcome. According to a report by David Kranz in the Argus Leader, executive director Senator Ed Olson of Mitchell said that the battle over the life and death of Terri Schiavo was the catalyst for the formation of the group. The same article also quoted Olson as saying, "Many of us don't like the idea of putting specific religious beliefs into state law."
Also regarding the formation of the coalition, Adelstein said, “In some ways, it comes down to religion.”
Permanent officers and board members have since been elected: Ed Olson is the executive director, former state rep. Mel Olson of Mitchell is the chairman, and former state senator Arlene Ham is vice chairman. Other members include former state health secretary Katherine Kinsman, former state director for Rep. Bill Janklow David Volk, Dakota Wesleyan University president Bob Duffett, Reverend Dave Zellmer of Pierre, banker Gary Schofield, former state rep. Jan Nicolay, and Reverend Kathryn Timpany of Sioux Falls.
As a bishop, Zellmer also must confront the larger issues that have roiled his denomination in later years.Read that whole article here. He's been elected to a position of leadership for tens of thousands of South Dakotans, and one of the first things he feels he should address to South Dakotans is the gay marriage amendment that was decided last year?
Everyone in the state dealt with one issue, he said, pointing to last fall's constitutional amendment declaring marriage only between a man and a woman.
"I was not comfortable with the way it was worded," Zellmer said. "Not because of gay and lesbian people but how it might affect older folks. And I have some concerns about heterosexual couples living together without benefit of marriage."
Now, I'm not going to throw stones at this point, but let's just say that the previously expressed agenda of the founders of the MAINstream coalition seems a bit far off from what you would expect of the more devout on issues such as abortion and the definition of marriage.
It also brings into question whether or not this represents a ideological shift in the ELCA in South Dakota towards Democratic Party tendencies at the same time that mainstream Catholicism shifts more towards conservative values and the GOP. I'm convinced that religious realignment such as this signals tons of uncertainty in expectations for traditional political coalitions.
Only time will tell where it all falls out.
*Update* - hold the farm. I had a note from one of the readers, BK - who was there at the election. He notes that I'm not looking in the right place (Argus and MAINnstream Board membership). And that we should instead compare Zellmer to the outgoing Bishop, making this actually a conservative shift for the group.
So, who's correct?
Comments
I vote for my values at the ballot box. Not at my church.
I'd want the bishop to concentrate on matters of faith, not his own goofy politics.
"Because of our conviction that both the life of the woman and the life in her womb must be respected by law, this church opposes:
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the total lack of regulation of abortion;
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legislation that would outlaw abortion in all circumstances;
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laws that prevent access to information about all options available to women faced with unintended pregnancies;
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laws that deny access to safe and affordable services for morally justifiable abortions;
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mandatory or coerced abortion or sterilization;
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laws that prevent couples from practicing contraception;
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laws that are primarily intended to harass those contemplating or deciding for an abortion.
The position of this church is that, in cases where the life of the mother is threatened, where pregnancy results from rape or incest, or where the embryo or fetus has lethal abnormalities incompatible with life, abortion prior to viability should not be prohibited by law or by lack of public funding of abortions for low income women. On the other hand, this church supports legislation that prohibits abortions that are performed after the fetus is determined to be viable, except when the mother's life is threatened or when lethal abnormalities indicate the prospective newborn will die very soon."
http://www.elca.org/SocialStatements/abortion/
The bishop's work with the Mainstream Coalition is clearly in line with ELCA statements on abortion.
Also 3:02, be careful in assigning political beliefs to Jesus. It goes both ways. President Bush might have to explain his war policies when he gets to Heaven. :)
the man has had the job for what, two days? ease up a little, time will tell either way.
I took the opportunity to hear Bishop-elect Zellmer and the other 4 applicants speak. Each has his strengths and spoke well as to the direction that they’d like to see our church go in the future. A Lutheran bishop, unlike other denominations, does not set policy per se. A bishop may propose, recommend, and guide, but the church’s policy on issues is ultimately decided upon by the members at a synod conference.
It is joyful to know that the author of this blog has the divine gift of determining who is devout enough to serve just a small segment of God’s People, but such holy skills usually don’t come alone. What other miraculous powers have you obtained, Pat? Cured any lepers lately?
All I did was point out that the Bishop-elect is on the MAINstream coalition board, the views of that organization, and that one of Zellmer's first comments was on the Definition of Marriage act which passed this past fall, AND questioned whether this indicates a n organizational shift towards the more liberal tendencies endorsed by the MAINstream coalition.
Why is this important? Church attendees have always tended to be #1, conservative, and #2, a hotbed of Republican votes.
I really don't care who the ELCA elects - that's their business. I'm looking at it from the basis of whether or not this indicates a change in this voting bloc, and if that's something that those seeking office will need to respond to.
This kind of thing is actually important to those who try to get people elected. It determines message, approach, etcetera.
MAYBE you should take a moment and actually read something before you decide to criticize it, instead of acting holier than thou.
But when a different - and very large - religious group seems to have a shift to the left, I think it bears careful watching. If it continues trending that way, it could spell trouble.
Not all Christians are conservative. And, for that matter, not all conservatives are Christian.
If there were some valid way to quantify it, I'd love to see a breakdown of the religious denominations on a scale from most liberal to most conservative.
Obviously, this post is getting some knee-jerk reactions because I'm mixing religion and politics. Some people such as 8:38 didn't even bother to read it, and just started ranting.
Whether we like to consider it or not, religion and politics are incredibly intertwined. Those who recognize that are constantly trying to determine how a denomination is going to respond to a political issue.
Remember the fuss that Daschle's people had over the Catholic Bishop? That had important electoral ramifications. As will the Death penalty issue for Republicans when it comes up in the near future with this new Bishop - many will be holding their breath to see where this Bishop falls on the issue.
You of all people should know what few scraps of a quote the Argus MisLeader chooses to take and print from a lengthy interview. How can you seriously use the Argus as a filter for determining what the Bishop elect thinks should be one of the first things to address?
If you were there, and I was, you'd have heard him speak directly to a number of matters much more important to him than this. And if you'd been around, and I have been, you'd know that the Bishop elect is far to the right of Bishop Andrea. FAR to the RIGHT.
This is a development and a movement TOWARDS conservative policies, both within the ELCA and without.
BK
I'm going off the Mainstream participation AND the Argus comments.
So, you're saying it's an actual shift to the right based on the leadership of who was there before? If that's the case, how would you anticipate this is going to be expressed from the top?
I would anticipate, based on my knowledge of the Bishop-elect, that he'll have a more (relative to Bishop Andrea) keen interest in public and political affairs, and that we'll see that interest unfold over the years. The public positions he'll take might very well be in some conflict with those of Churchwide as we in the ELCA call it. And I expect him to challenge those positions, which have tended to be very liberal over the 20 years of the ELCA's existence. The Bishop-elect is anything but liberal. Nor is he as conservative as some in our midst.
With respect to his orders of business, I think the Bishop-elect made clear that he has a very keen interest in seeing that the pulpits in Lutheran churches statewide are filled with pastors of the highest sort, called by God and their congregations, to preach to congregations, whose members, filled with the Word, go out and work to spread the Word themselves; that the Lutheran church camps across the state are similarly filled with little Lutherans and kids from other traditions, eager to hear the Word and go out and do great works; that the Sunday and Wednesday schools are filled with children of all sorts, welcomed into a warm and caring environment, and so forth.
I think, at heart, the Bishop-elect is about fundamentals and basics. Preaching, teaching, caring, and making sure that people have the tools to go out and do those things we're called to do.
Thanks for the forum PP. You continue to do good work here.
BK
I don't really see this as a "shift" one way or the other. It's about electing the right person for the job. And if we disagree with Bishop-elect Zellmer on an issue, we're free to vote our minds at the next church assembly.
So Bishop-elect Zellmer is a conservative. So what? That's not going to stop me, as an ELCA member, from supporting things that might be contrary to that.
The longer this thread goes on it becomes clear that It's not about Mark, Luke and John, but Lee, Leslie and Brock...or Scott, Tom and Tim.
For those of the Catholic faith, would it be a good thing or a bad thing if the new bishop agrees with the Pope on issues such as war and the death penalty?