pretty good lutherans

Pastor Del Olivier

At least 27 ELCA ministers living in Iowa are among the nearly 14 dozen religious leaders who signed a letter in support of same-sex marriage in the state.

The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa spearheaded the effort to counter faith groups using the Bible to denounce gay and lesbian couples. The letter was given to Iowa lawmakers this week.

Iowa legalized same-sex marriage in April 2009. Some state lawmakers

The Rev. Ramona Bouzard

hope to overturn the law.

Some of the clergy said they signed the letters as an “individual statement of faith” and were not representing the institutions where they worked.

The signers included at least four faculty members from Wartburg College, an ELCA school in Waverly, Iowa. Only two of the faculty members, the Revs. Peter Nash and Kathryn A. Kleinhans, identified their place of work.

Dr. Sean Burke, an Episcopal priest who teaches at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, was also among the signers. He teaches in the ELCA school’s religion department.

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Carthage College (Wis.)
Religion faculty
14 men; 5 women

Luther College (Iowa)
Department of Religion
11 men; 4 women

St. Olaf College (Minn.)
Religion faculty
14 men, 7 women

Wartburg College (Iowa)
Religion and Philosophy Department
8 men; 3 women
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© Pretty Good Lutherans

On the Martin Luther King holiday, sound  bites from the “I Have a Dream” speech delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 are shown repeatedly on television.

But the writing of King that seems most relevant to issues within the ELCA is the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In the letter King identifies one of the biggest hurdles to equality.

The white moderate.

People who say they support equality, but are not willing to say so publicly.

People who publicly say they support equality, then use their positions to reinforce the status quo.

People who allow and justify oppression in the name of unity, social cohesiveness or historical timing.

Are King’s insights relevant today?

The ELCA sets diversity goals that it never meets.

Women are ordained, but sexual harassment and inequalities continue despite policies pledging otherwise.

Individuals in same-gender relationships are too often treated in ways that look nothing like “do unto others … ”

What do you think?

Here’s an excerpt from the letter:

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Commentary

©Pretty Good Lutherans

UPDATE: Late this afternoon, the ELCA News Service issued a press release that quoted a lay female  employee from the denomination’s main offices in Chicago.

It’s been 10 days since a female was mentioned in a press release issued by the ELCA News Service.

Studies of mainstream news coverage show that women remain largely invisible in stories despite a higher profile in society than ever before.

But what about news coverage in the religious media?

An evaluation of one month’s press releases issued by the ELCA News Service shows that women are less likely to be mentioned or quoted in stories than men.

References and quotes by clergymen — almost always depicted as the voices of authority on church matters — dominated the News Service’s coverage. For instance, an Oct. 13 story on mission funding referenced four pastors and one bishop — none of them women.

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