ELCA church in Chigaco ordains priest

Stole this from Madpriest's site.

By Azam Ahmed and Manya A. Brachear | Tribune staff reporters
November 18, 2007


Sitting in sight of her father and grandfather, both Lutheran ministers, Jen Rude on Saturday became the first ordained lesbian pastor since the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America urged bishops to not penalize congregations who violate the celibacy requirement for gay clergy.

Several of the more than 100 congregants present wept as the 27-year-old stood before them, a beaming smile drawn across her face.

Under church policy, homosexual ministers are required to make a vow of celibacy before they can be ordained. But heterosexual ministers are not, and Rude, who is not in a relationship, refused to make that vow because she considers the policy discriminatory.

"We all realized that sexual orientation has nothing to do with how well a person can minister a congregation," said Kathy Young, a member of the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Lakeview, where the ordination was held.

Young was absolute about the decision to violate church policy by ordaining Rude: "This is who we are and this is what we do."

At a national assembly in August, members passed a resolution that allowed bishops some breathing room about the vow of celibacy issue until a church task force releases a comprehensive statement on sexuality in 2009. But it did not change the church's policy of requiring gay clergy to remain celibate.

Rude, who will be installed at the church Sunday, said she is grateful to the Lakeview congregation for making her call to ministry complete.

"It's meaningful to me in the sense that my call is being affirmed not only by God but the people of God," she said.

Chicago's bishop, Wayne Miller, who took office in September, said he met with the congregation in October to discuss potential consequences should the national church choose to enforce the policy in the future. The congregation could be expelled from the denomination for calling Rude to serve.

"This does not imply any bitterness or any hostility. It's simply where we are right now," Miller said in an interview last week. "My goal is to keep people in the conversation, and I do not see this as an issue that should be dividing the church. I think it's one of the many places where difference of opinion can make the church stronger and healthier, as long as people stay at the table and keep talking."

Miller did not stand in the way of the ordination but also did not attend the ceremony. He said he believes the celibacy rule should be lifted, but also believes bishops should follow the rule of the church.

"I have happily come to the place of following the wise counsel of the church in being restrained," he said. "It takes away the problem of having to pit matters of personal opinion against the official boundaries of my office at this point in time. Of course that's a more pleasant situation to be in for me."

Miller's predecessor, Rev. Paul Landahl, attended Saturday's ordination. Under Landahl's leadership, gay clergy in relationships were allowed to serve in Chicago, as long as they were in consultation with the bishop. Landahl, who serves as acting director of candidacy for Chicago's Lutheran School of Theology, said the seminary's board recently approved an unprecedented welcoming statement affirming inclusion.

Rude's ordination allows her to offer sacraments during Holy Communion, which she will do for the first time Sunday. But she still won't be on the official rolls of ELCA clergy. Instead, her name will be added to the list of gay clergy ordained by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, an independent group that supports gay Lutheran clergy and the congregations that call them.

The 4.8 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, based in Chicago, is the nation's largest Lutheran denomination. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod are separate denominations that accept a literal interpretation of the Bible and do not ordain women or gays.

The Chicago Metropolitan Synod includes 116,000 ELCA members in Cook, Lake, DuPage and Kane Counties.