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The Rev. Ann Tiemeyer, an ELCA pastor, is helping to spearhead an inclusive language initiative by the National Council of Churches. She's the NCC's program director for women's ministry. (Courtesy photo)

Update (8/18): The NCC just posted a press release on the Chicago event that mirrors the story below.

(Note to readers: The following is a story that I wrote for the United Methodist New Service. The story, published today, is a follow-up to an earlier article I wrote for Pretty Good Lutherans about the National Council of Churches forthcoming inclusive/expansive language initiative. Details about the initiative are expected to be announced by the NCC this week. The Rev. Ann Tiemeyer, an ELCA pastor, helped to spearhead the Chicago gathering. She’s the NCC’s program director for women’s ministry.)

By Susan Hogan*
A UMNS Report

CHICAGO – Can Christians discuss the language of faith without it becoming a battle over political correctness or theological orthodoxy?

The National Council of Churches hopes so.

To begin the conversation, its Justice for Women Working Group brought 28 people to Chicago in August for a three-day symposium, “Language Matters.”

S. Kim Coffing, the lone United Methodist participant, did not know what to expect.

“The issue of how we talk about God and faith stirs up pain for many people,” said Coffing, an executive with the denomination’s Commission on the Status and Role of Women.

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Pastor Anita Hill

Update (8/16): ELM has released more details about the time and place of the event. According to ELM, Bishop Rogness will preside, and the Rev. Barbara Lundblad will preach. ELM press release

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The following an excerpt from a message issued today by Bishop Peter Rogness of the St. Paul Area Synod:

“Anita Hill has served St. Paul-Reformation since 1983, initially in a lay capacity, and then, following her call and ordination in 2000, as one of two pastors. Because of being in a committed same-gender relationship, she was precluded from the ELCA roster, though she has served as dean of the conference, participated in First Call Theological Education, and participated regularly in the life of the wider church.

“On September 18, following review and approval by our synod’s candidacy committee, we will gather for a Rite of Reception that will formally bring her on to the roster of this synod and church. Similar services have been held recently in other places, including reception of seven of these 17 in the Sierra Pacific Synod.

“The service will likely also include the reception of two other pastors similarly called and ordained, but not recognized on our roster — Pastors Ruth Frost and Phyllis Zillhart. (I say “likely” only because as I write this, the process with our candidacy committee is a few days away from completion. The panels have approved them, and all materials and endorsements have been submitted.)

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During the next few weeks and months, Pretty Good Lutherans will focus occasionally on congregations that vote to stay or leave the ELCA. Today’s focus is on Central Lutheran Church in Elk River, Minn.

Shortly after last year’s ELCA national assembly in Minneapolis, Pastor Jeff Krostad wrote the following letter to men in  the congregation he serves. Three months ago, that congregation voted for the second time to leave the ELCA. The congregation is now affiliated with  Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ. Members that wanted to stay with the ELCA are meeting elsewhere.

Jeff Krogstad is associate pastor of Central Lutheran Church in Elk River, Minn.

Dear Men of Central:

On January 1, 1988 the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) was formed through a merger of three other church bodies. That weekend I was at a gathering of Lutheran college students in Houston, Texas. We celebrated the formation of this new church, anticipating what great things we might see in the next decades.

One of the debates at that gathering in Houston had to do with homosexuality. Even at the time, I remember being impressed with the way the leaders had planned the gathering, making sure that the speakers were carefully selected and choreographed. One speaker that made a big impression on me was a young man — he could easily have worked as a model — who stood up on the stage in front of two or three hundred of us.

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UPDATE: By a vote of 98 to 42, church members voted to stay in the ELCA. (147 members attended the vote; 140 voted, the congregation’s pastor reported on Twitter.)

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Members of a northwestern Minnesota Lutheran congregation are meeting at 10 a.m. Sunday to vote on whether to leave the ELCA.

Grace Lutheran Church in Detroit Lakes counts 391 people as members and draws an average of 131 of them to Sunday worship.

Bishop Larry Wohlrabe of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod recently met with the congregation. A few weeks, the congregation’s pastor, Eric Lemonholm, wrote in detail why he supports the ELCA.

“I believe that it would be a serious mistake for Grace to leave the ELCA, and I urge you to prayerfully consider voting “No” on December 20,” Lemonholm wrote. “Let me tell you why.”

Lemonholm’s appeal is now being used by other ELCA congregations around the country also discerning denominational affiliation. Here’s the letter:

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