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1. What is it that you advocate for lgbt (lesbian, gay, bi, transgendered) couples, individuals, and their families?

2. Does fullness of life include civil rights, job safety, marriage, civil unions, blessings, legal protection, family rights and responsibilities ?

3. Does fullness of ministry include rostered servant-leadership in all areas of ELCA church life including endorsement, commissioning, ordination and consecration for otherwise qualified candidates?

We believe that the best of current Biblical scholarship, as best as we can understand and as taught in our ELCA seminaries and colleges, is inconclusive on these issues.

It is questionable among many Biblical scholars whether the oft quoted Biblical passages even address committed love relationships amongst lgbt couples.

Too much is unknown about Hebrew and Greek word meanings, intentions, and scope in these relatively scant Biblical offerings to warrant such harsh judgments against people.

7. So, is there more than one legitimate interpretation of each of the several Scripture passages often cited?

8. And, is there more than one legitimate interpretation of what the whole and heart of Scripture in light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has to say on these issues?

9. So, based on the evidence available, equally competent, faithful, and honest ELCA (and other) Biblical scholars and theologians can arrive at legitimate (and opposing) interpretations?

In good Lutheran Christian fashion, we wish to err on the side of grace rather than on the side of law.

By no means. We renounce the following as sins for all sexual beings: abuse, rape, promiscuity, serial monogamy, sex with a child, violence, obsession with sex, sex with a blood relative, one night stands, divorce, greed, lust, bestiality, prostitution, pornography, polygamy, incest, coercion.

13. But, you affirm and celebrate life-long committed, mutual, self-sacrificial love relationships which include among so many other things the joys and responsibilities of sexual intimacy for both lgbt and straight (male-female) couples?

14. When should the joys and responsibilities of sexual intimacy be part of a relationship?

In a life-long committed, loving, self-giving, mutual monogamous relationship, preferably vowed before God in the presence of a supportive faith community.

Yes. It is a wonderful gift of God. It expresses committed love. It sustains and makes stronger committed love.

We believe it is perilous to force on all lgbt persons a ‘spiritual gift’ given to only a very few.

We reject the medieval view that celibacy is a higher virtue than joyful and responsible sexual intimacy in a life-long committed love relationship.

19. Should synod Candidacy committees and Seminaries be about the business of discerning and growing gifts for ministry in lgbt and straight (coupled and individual) candidates?

20. Should synod Candidacy committees and Seminaries carry out current ELCA policies which discriminate against otherwise qualified lgbt candidates?

We believe that the effect and fruit of historic and current ELCA policy upon the lives and ministries of lgbt couples, individuals their families is essentially injurious. It denies these gifted and cherished members of the body of Christ and human family the wellbeing, challenge, joy and responsibility of fullness of life and fullness of ministry. It denies the church and world the benefits of their wellbeing and giftedness. The church and world are diminished by ELCA policy.

24. Does God make most people on this planet straight (male-female sexuality)?

Yes. 4-8%. We believe they are part of the good intention and diversity of God’s creation.

Yes. Actually, all Lutheran Christians make up only 2.2% of the US population. So, 4-8% is very significant.

31. Do you want to grant special favors and rights for lgbt persons in church and society?

32. Do you want to end laws and attitudes that discriminate against lgbt persons in church and society?

33. In your view, can a marriage and/or union between woman and woman, or between man and man, be every bit as profound, life-giving, and holy as a marriage and/or union between woman and man?

No. But we believe God’s future is fullness of life and fullness of ministry for all. We intend to live out this future now by giving witness to what we believe to be God’s gospel and justice in Christ.

37. Are both straight and lgbt children, youth, and adults among those who by grace receive the gift of holy Baptism?

38. Are all sealed by the holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever, all gifted for ministry, all charged to ‘go and make disciples of all peoples … to baptize … to teach?’

40. Does this include both lgbt and straight persons, coupled and single?

Yes. Our humble experience and bold testimony is that God has gifted persons in both groups for Word and Sacrament ministry. We praise God for that.

41. The Church has been consistent in accepting a tradition which counters the move to normalize lgbt love and commitment. Are you saying that tradition is wrong?

Yes. Length of time does not make something right. For example, for centuries Church tradition was wrong on issues such as human slavery, racism, and patriarchy, working against Christ and wounding the human family unto the 3 rd and 4 th generations and beyond. Further, Church tradition has sometimes been duplicitous in other human tragedies: the glorification of war-making, the legitimization of conquest and oppression, the turning of a blind eye to injustice. Certainly church tradition has been, and can be today, very wrong.

The upside of tradition is that it has stood the test of time. The downside of tradition is that it can represent the lowest common denominator - that which is politically easiest - rather than that which most faithfully reflects God’s gospel and justice in Christ.

44. Wouldn’t your view be a minority position within the worldwide Body of Christ?

Yes, we are aware of that. However, only 5-8% of Christians in the world today esteem the Ordination of women. The ELCA is already a minority church. Being a minority is a good thing. The majority is sometimes wrong.

45. But don’t many religions and cultures and governments look upon lgbt couples and individuals very negatively.

Yes. But lgbt persons exist in every culture, nation, hemisphere, tribe, ethnicity, religion, locale, congregation, time and place ... 4-8% of earth’s population. Other bodies besides our own need repentance and reformation. It is a good thing to lead in the struggle for fullness of life and fullness of ministry for all.

46. So, you advocate non-violent, humble, bold, and public ‘word/action’ against current ELCA policy?

47. And, you advocate non-violent, humble, bold, and public ‘word/action’ in favor of the views expressed above?

No, that would be impossible. We don’t pretend to speak for everyone, nor for the faith community in which we serve. However we do speak for ourselves - out of our own seminary training, faith journey, biblical and theological study, pastoral and life experience, prayerful discernment – and for those who see these things similarly.

Yes. A person or populace which chooses violence in word or deed loses a share of their own humanity and Christian witness, and plants seeds for further violence.

50. Why in your view is it a good thing that ELCA leaders be willing to go public?

51. Is this particular movement just for those currently or moving toward ELCA rostered leadership?

Yes, for now. Of course we strongly encourage a similar movement amongst ‘all the baptized’ in the ELCA. However, we believe it is the rostered leadership of the ELCA that has under-functioned in our role and responsibility.

We have been mostly silent and timid. Some of us have been coy. Others have feigned ‘neutrality’. Too many have said one thing in private, another in public. Still others have enforced this ‘policy of harm’ even though they know it to be wrong. There is no honor in carrying out injustice even when it is policy. We repent of the harm and waste our lack of courage has fashioned. We ask for forgiveness and commit ourselves to amendment of life.

53. So, from what you are saying, you find adopted Recommendation #2 of the 2005 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to be unacceptable? [** see footnote ‘a’ below]

Yes. While this recommendation represents a good faith attempt to temporarily accommodate several diverse viewpoints, we find it debasing to lgbt couples, individuals, and their families, for it reduces the cherished marriages and unions of these gifted members of the body of Christ and human family to second class, or worse. Further, it has the uncomfortable feel of offering only ‘crumbs to the dogs under the table’ (Matthew 15:27) rather than a rightful seat at the table. And finally, we believe the goal of fullness of life for all is more than just a ‘pastoral care’ issue, which Recommendation #2 implies.

54. And, you oppose that portion of the ELCA’s Vision and Expectations that denies fullness of life and fullness of ministry to lgbt couples and individuals?

Yes. That provision should be deleted from Vision and Expectations. Instead, we thank God for the ministry gifts of these past, present and future otherwise qualified lgbt couples and individuals.

This is a glimmer of hope, and we join the majority in celebrating its passage. However, the next two Recommendations almost immediately drain most of the integrity out of Recommendation #1. In our view, further conversation would fine if in the meanwhile there were a moratorium on current ELCA policy. But with each tick of the clock, the current ELCA ‘policy of harm’ is being acted out adding to what we believe is a tragedy for church and world.

56. It has been said that the votes at the 2005 ELCA Church Assembly in Orlando preserved unity. What do you think?

The votes in Orlando preserved the status quo. The status quo is a spurious unity in our view, for it bars lgbt couples, individuals and their families from fullness of life and fullness of ministry. Injustice, surface theology, and a marginalizing of Biblical scholarship continues in the ELCA.

We invite you to reconsider. But if not, we ask you to refrain from imposing one selective and weak interpretation of Scripture, as well as many layers of cultural partiality, upon the whole church.

We are not trying to give voice to those in the ELCA whose convictions deem the marriage and/or union of a lgbt couple as intrinsically invalid, or sinful. And, we are not trying to give voice to those in the ELCA who wish to deny fullness of ministry to otherwise qualified lgbt couples and individuals. Current ELCA policy is already a venue for their views.

Also, we are not trying to give voice to those in the ELCA who are ‘on the fence’. Current ELCA policy, as solidified in Orlando, is a worthy expression of this position.

And we are not trying to change anyone’s mind or heart to agree with our convictions. Any such profound change, if it is to occur, will come only by the in-breaking of God’s Holy Spirit to an open and faithful heart grounded in the Scriptures, sacraments, and the furrows of human life … for them, or for us.

Rather, our aim is this:We want to find, gather, give voice to, affirm and empower that significant portion of the ELCA which is currently constrained from living out our convictions regarding Biblical interpretation, our convictions regarding God’s gospel and justice in Christ, and our convictions regarding God’s mission for the sake of the church and world. By our actions and words, we - lgbt couples, individuals, their families, and a significant assembly of ELCA straight allies - dissent from ELCA policy. We are compelled by conscience held captive to the living word of God, and by our being grasped by God’s gospel and justice in Christ, to do so now.

WHEREAS, this church holds that “marriage is a lifelong covenant of faithfulness between a man and a woman” (Message on Sexuality: Some Common Convictions-1996); and

WHEREAS, the Conference of Bishops in October 1993 stated, “We, as the Conference of Bishops of the ELCA, recognize that there is basis neither in Scripture nor tradition for the establishment of an official ceremony by this church for the blessing of a homosexual relationship. We, therefore, do not approve such a ceremony as an official action of this church’s ministry. Nevertheless, we express trust in and will continue dialogue with those pastors and congregations who are in ministry with gay and lesbian persons, and affirm their desire to explore the best ways to provide pastoral care for all who them minister.” (CB93.10.25); therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America continue to respect the guidance of the 1993 statement of the Conference of Bishops; and be it further

RESOLVED, that this church welcome gay and lesbian persons into its life (as stated in Churchwide Assembly resolutions from 1991, 1995, and 1999), and trust pastors and congregations to discern ways to provide faithful pastoral care for all to whom they minister.

“Ordained and commissioned ministers who are homosexual in their self-understanding are expected to abstain from homosexual sexual relationships”.

Resolved, that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – it’s members, congregations, synod, church-wide organizations and agencies and institutions – be urged to concentrate on finding ways to live together faithfully in the midst of disagreements, recognizing the God-given mission and communion that we share as members of the body of Christ.