The Bible and Homosexual Practice

I would guess that most of us are as tired of talking about homosexual practice issues as I am. However, they are not going to go away. And, their root issue, Biblical authority, is the NEXT BIG THING coming down the road with the ELCA's Bible initiative. For that reason, I'm sharing with you today's email from Robert Gagnon.

Evangelical Diversity

Today's New York Times electronic edition has an interesting article (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/us/22church.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin) focusing on congregation in Georgia that has adapted to the demographic transformation of the area it serves. It includes the following observation:

"The transformation of what was long known as the Clarkston Baptist Church speaks to a broader change among other American churches. Many evangelical Christians who have long believed in spreading their religion in faraway lands have found that immigrants offer an opportunity for church work within one’s own community. And many immigrants and refugees are drawn by the warm welcome they get from the parishioners, which can stand in stark contrast to the more competitive and alienating nature of workaday America.

Indeed, evangelical churches have begun to stand out as rare centers of ethnic mixing in a country that researchers say has become more culturally fragmented, in part because of immigration.

A recent study by the Harvard political scientist Robert D. Putnam underscored the practical complications of diversity. In interviews with 30,000 Americans, the study found that residents of more diverse communities “tend to withdraw from collective life,” voting less and volunteering less than those in more homogeneous communities.

The study noted a conspicuous exception.

“In many large evangelical congregations,” the researchers wrote, “the participants constituted the largest thoroughly integrated gatherings we have ever witnessed.” "

Our truly pathetic attempts to become an ethnically and racially diverse denomination over the decades seem to me an indication that we, for whatever reason, don't really have our heart in diversity. We are rushing headlong into defining ourselves as a liberal protestant mainline denomination. As a result, we talk a lot about diversity. What would reclaiming our evangelical protestant theological heritage do to setting us on a path that would make the ELCA look more like heaven, "a place for people of all nations"?

"Book of Faith" Initiative

The 2007 churchwide assembly endorsed the ELCA's "Book of Faith: Lutherans Read the Bible" initiative. Discuss it here.

ELCA 2007 Churchwide Assembly August 6-11

   "The 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly is now under way at Chicago's Navy Pier.  The assembly is Aug. 6-11, and the theme is "Living in God's Amazing Grace: Thanks be to God!"
  So begins the first press release from the ELCA.  You can check in with the latest news from the ELCA in the RSS feed below, and with Lutheran CORE on their web site listed below under "Other Useful Links". 
  Post your commentary on what is happening here.  

Recommendations re Resolutions at Churchwide Assembly

Check out the link to today's ELCA press release at http://www.elca.org/news/Releases.asp?a=3644
It looks like the Memorials Committee is recommending that all the synod memorials having to do with homosexual conduct will be sent to groups outside the assembly for consideration and/or action. What do you think this means? Is it a positive development? A sign that we're getting tired of the issue? A sign that we seek to avoid controversy? A sign that we are ready to move on to other issues?

ELCA Membership Drops 1.6 Percent to 4.8 Million in 2006

Today's ELCA press release of the same title as above, which you can link to at http://www.elca.org/news/Releases.asp?a=3641 focuses on membership statistics. I generally measure the size of congregation by how many people actually show up at the regular weekly worship services. I wonder of those statistics are available? When do you think these statistics will translate into actual evangelism? Discussions in our conference, and what I hear at synod gatherings indicate a shift toward a belief that no one, or almost no one, will be lost. Do we think evangelism just doesn't matter, ultimately? Why do you think we consistently present evangelism as among the most important tasks of the Church but spent our time and energy on social engineering (see the rest of the ELCA's press releases over the past several years), ecumenical agreements that have little to do with a grace-given relationship with Jesus Christ, settled issues like homosexual conduct, and a headlong rush to be included in the ecumenical landscape among "Liberal Protestants"?

Christianity Rebounds in A Secular Europe

Check out this article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118434936941966055.html?mod=home_we_banner_left in today's Wall Street Journal about the signs of hope for the renewal of Christianity in Europe. The major examples in this article come from Lutheran Sweden.
Is the decline of European Christianity at least partly explained in the "take it or leave it" option provided it by a state church dominated religious environment? Is the vitality of American Christianity at least partly explained by a "take it or go to some other church, or start your own church" religious environment?
What does this say about contemporary ecumenism? Should we be concerned with visible unity, or celebrate our diversity in the Kingdom of God?