ELCA presiding bishop encourages the support of refugee resettlement

[cigaretteman]

Good for them. I'm sure that many other Christian denominations will be doing the same:

In response to the terrorism around the world and people displaced from their homes and seeking refuge, the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), issued a statement Nov. 18 to the 3.7 million member church. The full text of her statement follows:

"We are shocked and dismayed by the terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut, Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East, but also in Nigeria, Kenya, Bangladesh and the Philippines. Senseless acts of terror will maim and forever have an impact on innocent victims and their families. Our hearts and prayers go out to all whose lives have been shattered and are grieving the loss of loved ones. We know all too well the frightening memories of terrorist attacks in the U.S. and the uncertainties of possible future attacks.

"Yet, we Christians and all others of good will cannot let fear rule the day. Fear paralyzes, divides people, fosters distrust and clouds judgments. We also stand shoulder to shoulder with people of faith who are firmly opposed to vengeful reprisals and prejudice. In particular, we are concerned for and committed to standing with our Muslim neighbors who are facing threats and acts of discrimination and hate by those who conflate Islam with terrorism.

"Even in the face of evil, we remain confident that the good news of Jesus Christ liberates us and gives us the freedom and courage to discover and boldly participate in what God is up to in this world. 'The Gospel also frees us from fear to see others as brothers and sisters for whom Christ died and lives' (ELCA Social Message on Terrorism, 2004).

"We are not naive about possible new threats of terrorism, but denying refuge to thousands of desperate people is not who we are as Christians, nor will it guarantee our security. The United States is a welcoming country with a religiously diverse society, and our refugee resettlement program should continue to reflect this. We must redouble our efforts to work for a more secure world – one with less hate and more understanding. Doing less than that only feeds into the terrorist propaganda.

"The thousands of courageous Syrian refugees fleeing their homeland go through a rigorous security screening involving the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Department of Defense and multiple intelligence agencies. Refugees are the most scrutinized and screened individuals to enter the U.S. Intensive security screening by the government of all refugees prior to admission to the U.S. is and should continue to be a detailed and thorough process.

"Lutherans have a long history in this country of settling refugees, including those fleeing from dangerous situations like the war in Syria. We draw on both biblical witness as well as the best of our nation's traditions as a refuge and haven for the persecuted and destitute. We support 'a generous policy of welcome for refugees and immigrants' and 'will advocate for just immigration policies, in visa regulations and in admitting and protecting refugees. We will work for policies that cause neither undue repercussions within immigrant communities nor bias against them' (ELCA Social Message on Immigration, 1997).

"Currently, more than 25 governors are opposed to allowing Syrian refugees into their states. While the states do not have the legal authority to prevent resettlement, it is distressing that these governments could make refugee resettlement for Syrians and those from other war-torn areas more difficult. Of the Syrian refugees being referred by the U.N. for settlement, more than half are children and a majority are women or elderly men.

"I urge the members of our church to call upon our elected officials to be leaders in speaking up for refugees already persecuted and traumatized and ensuring that our country continues to reflect the principles and values of a nation committed to freedom. The legacy of our welcome to refugees is that our economy, social fabric, communities and nation as a whole are stronger. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) has developed many resources on this topic for your congregations. You can also contact your elected officials through the ELCA Advocacy action alert: http://support.elca.org/site/R?i=TYxDvJpE0jLnKipA6XST1w.

"Let us recommit ourselves to sharing encouragement to those persecuted as we seek to be a disturbing, reconciling, serving and deliberating presence in God's world. This will demand difficult, courageous work from each of us. 'As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace' (Ephesians 6:15)."

The text of statement is available at http://www.elca.org/en/Resources/Presiding-Bishop-Messages.

 

[rocketclone]

Do some checking. The ELCA is more of a PAC than it is a church. They are losing members and churches.

 

[LuteHawk]

As a political arm of the Democrats, the ELCA has lost
2 million members in the past decade. When they decided
to ordain gay clergy and allow them to be "married", the
exodus began.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

While I agree with them on this particular issue but I was a confirmed member of an ELCA congregation and I left that church. My wife was also a confirmed member of an ELCA congregation and she and her family also left that church. (My nuclear family never joined a church) I've known pastors in their 50's who have left the church and in so doing surrendered their retirement accounts to that church.

It is quite frankly too tied up in liberal politics. As political as some conservative churches are the ELCA national office has been just as political for liberal causes. Way more political then the LCMS has been.

What is worse is they have lied, cheated, and stolen in order to keep individual parishes in the fold.

While gay marriage was a reason that I left, another big reason that I left was my own synodical bishop came to our church and told purposeful half truths about good pastors who had left the church.

A question was asked about ELCA pastors who had set up a separate Lutheran church and he stated that these pastors where de-rostered from the ELCA for conduct unbecoming of a pastor. Now when one hears conduct unbecoming, that makes a person think that they got in trouble for doing something really bad like cheating on a spouse or committing a crime.

So I was curious about this so I looked it up. The conduct unbecoming that he was referring to was setting up and pastoring a church outside of the ELCA.

When other churches have decided to leave there has to be 2 super majority votes in order to leave the ELCA. When the first one is passed the ELCA sends a representative to the 2nd one. At the 2nd vote the ELCA representative generally tells the congregation that if the congregation leaves they will have to pay the ELCA a large sum of money, usually a number that is completely outside of the congregation's reach in order to leave. With newer churches there is sometimes a seed money that is given by the ELCA to get property and get a church started. However that seed money is more then paid back by the money that the congregation has over it's 20 or 30 year history been sending to the national office.

What's worse is that older congregations where built and paid for entirely by the people in the congregations throughout the entire history of the congregation which goes back to well before the ELCA or even it's predecessor bodies where even founded. (ELCA was founded through a series of mergers essentially) These congregations where never given any seed money they where often a group of immigrants (usually from Norway or Sweden) who wanted to set up a church, put together the money, bought the property, built a church and called a pastor and paid his salary and have been doing that without external help from the national or regional offices since before the civil war. On top of that these older congregations have been faithfully giving a percentage of their contributions to the national office of whichever body they where under for their entire history. And they have the gaul to walk into congregations that are 150 years old, in buildings that where often bought and paid for by immigrants who then after setting up a church sent some of their money to national offices a practice which had continued right up to that point and demand a large some of money from that congregation in order to de-affiliate themselves.

I have no respect for that church body.

 

[towndog1]

The ELCA came into existence when the ALC and the LCA ( as well as a couple of other Lutheran denominations) merged. One big difference between the ALC and the LCA was the ownership of property. The ALC held that the church building, grounds and furnishings were owned by the members of the local congregation. The LCA held that the church building, grounds and furnishings were the property of the corporate church. The LCA faction won the day on that issue. Accordingly, the ELCA Corporate Church owns the building and grounds--not the local congregation(s).

As a disclaimer, my Lutheran progression has been from the old Norwegian Synod, to the ALC and now ELCA. However, we attend a LCMS church in Arizona in the winter and I would agree that the LCMS is less political than the ELCA, at least in our experience. I would also agree that the openly strong tilt toward the political left is making it harder and harder to be a member of the ELCA...

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

The ELCA came into existence when the ALC and the LCA ( as well as a couple of other Lutheran denominations) merged. One big difference between the ALC and the LCA was the ownership of property. The ALC held that the church building, grounds and furnishings were owned by the members of the local congregation. The LCA held that the church building, grounds and furnishings were the property of the corporate church. The LCA faction won the day on that issue. Accordingly, the ELCA Corporate Church owns the building and grounds--not the local congregation(s).

As a disclaimer, my Lutheran progression has been from the old Norwegian Synod, to the ALC and now ELCA. However, we attend a LCMS church in Arizona in the winter and I would agree that the LCMS is less political than the ELCA, at least in our experience. I would also agree that the openly strong tilt toward the political left is making it harder and harder to be a member of the ELCA...

One obviously can't own the congregation as that is a group of people. However the building and the grounds is something the ELCA is holding them hostage on. The dumb thing is that the individual congregation's money is what usually goes into buying the building and the grounds and any expansions that take place. If the church takes out a loan to do this then the local congregation pays it all off. I remember at my old church they bought an old parking lot and playground of an old school from the city. (The land the school was on was sold to Habitat for Humanity) The ELCA never sent us a dime of money to help our congregation buy that parking lot and playground, but apparently the ELCA owns all of that, plus the church and grounds, plus the parsonage, plus the chapel and cemetery that the church owned.

Can't stand the leadership. There are a lot of good pastors and laity in the ELCA, some of whom have a scriptural view on christian morality. But the leadership has tilted so far to the political left it leaves one wondering if they are trying to run a church or a PAC.

I'm glad in the LCMS that the congregation owns the church building and grounds.

 

[towndog1]

Hoosier,
I come from a long line of Lutheran pastors ( grandfather, father, uncles and aunts who married pastors). In the ALC there existed a healthy suspicion of power centralized in the corporate Church. Lots of the old ALC churches were started by immigrants of Northern Europe and they wanted nothing to do with a state run church or a powerful centralized church. There were many discussions around the dinner table about the change from congregations owning the property to the church at large owning the local property. All Uncles, Aunts, parents were decidedly against the change and were not shy about voicing their opinions on the matter. Turns out they were right...

Interesting discussion

 

[LuteHawk]

The 2.3 million member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
provides that all of the local parishes own their property
and it never becomes transferred to the LCMS. The actual
constitution of every LCMS parish maintains property rights.
The complete opposite of the ELCA.