ELCA NEWS SERVICE March 23, 2004 ELCA Studies on Sexuality Considers Options, Reparative Therapy 04-047-FI CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The task force coordinating studies in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) regarding issues of human sexuality met here March 19-21 to consider the range of possible recommendations it could provide the church in 2005. It also heard a presentation on reparative therapy -- a counseling approach to assist those who want to change their sexual orientation. Dr. Warren E. Throckmorton, professor of psychology, Grove City College, Grove City, Pa., told the task force that reparative therapy is one method of reorientation counseling that hopes to repair a person's relationship with his or her same-sex parent. The therapy is based on a theory that homosexual relationships grow from needs for affirmation and emotional intimacy that are lacking in the parent-child relationship, he said. Throckmorton said "personal choice is absolutely required" and reparative therapy is not confrontational. "I don't see the counseling hour as the place for coercion," he said. Instead, he described his counseling method as one of listening and of providing a safe place for a person to work toward reorientation. "Sexuality is a lot more fluid than many people give it credit to be," Throckmorton said. Homosexuality is not "genetically hard-wired" into a person, he said. Noe Gutierrez Jr. told the task force that spiritual growth and not therapy helped him deal with "conflicts" that convinced him he was a gay teen-ager. He attributes a stronger relationship with God for his change in orientation from homosexual to heterosexual at age 24. In conversation with the task force, both Gutierrez and Throckmorton argued against the possibility of the ELCA blessing same-gender relationships from the position that it may discourage some who are struggling with their sexuality from seeking help. Reparative therapy is "a very wide and varied discipline," said the Rev. Margaret G. Payne, chair of the 14-member task force and bishop of the ELCA New England Synod, Worcester, Mass. "I learned a lot more about it," she said, "when it's done well and what are some of the problems around it and what are some of the myths." "It takes time to process what we've learned," Payne said. "This is a cumulative process. I find our accumulated wisdom and trust is growing, so no one thing makes a difference but rather it all contributes to our 'faithful journey together,'" she said. "Journey Together Faithfully" is the title the task force has given much of its work for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality. It compiled the 49-page study guide "Journey Together Faithfully, Part Two: The Church and Homosexuality" to facilitate study in congregations across the United States and Caribbean. The ELCA's chief legislative body is the churchwide assembly, which meets every other year; the next assembly will be Aug. 8-14, 2005, in Orlando, Fla. The 2001 assembly mandated a study in preparation for decisions the 2005 assembly is to make regarding the blessing of committed same-gender relationships and the ministries of people in such relationships. In addition, the study is to develop a proposed social statement on human sexuality for the assembly to consider in 2007. Current ELCA policy expects ministers to refrain from all sexual relations outside marriage. The church has no official policy on blessing same-gender relationships. The ELCA Conference of Bishops, an advisory body of the church, stated it does not approve of such ceremonies. At this particular task force meeting, "we really turned a corner and began to think about the recommendations that we are called to present for the churchwide assembly in 2005. We began that discussion and began to think about options and how they will be shaped and how we will go about that task," Payne said. She said some of the options were presented in the study guide -- including variations between "neither bless same-sex unions nor ordain, commission or consecrate people in such relationships" and "bless same-sex unions and ordain, commission and consecrate people in such unions." Some of the options mentioned during the task force meeting included "exceptions on an individual basis," various forms of "local option" and possible rewording of ELCA governing documents. At two points in the meeting, the task force went into "background" sessions that excused visitors from their deliberations. On one occasion, "we were looking at a first analysis of early responses to the study materials," said the Rev. James M. Childs Jr., director for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality. "The danger of having those results cited is that people might want to discern a pattern, and it's too early to discern a pattern," Childs said. "We need to be able to discuss how the material is being presented and how we are to understand and interpret it. These things are easily misconstrued outside the conversation among task force members," he said. Childs said the early responses represent a diversity of views. "We are beginning to learn how to get the most out of the response data that will be coming in much larger volume" as the Nov. 1 deadline for responses approaches, he said. The other background session was for task force members to discuss their experiences while participating in studies that involved the study guide. "Rather than have specific opinions attributed to individual task force members at this point in the discussion, we have to recognize that their responses are a first step in a dialogue that will keep going," Childs said. Topics the task force discussed in that closed session included: a "third way" rather than "both sides" of the issues, ambiguity, biblical material, Christian unity, church history, commonalities, constants, essentials of the Christian faith, family ideals, God's calling, good order in the church, health risks, idolatry, inclusivity, inconclusive science, individual responsibilities, love, Luther's catechisms, marriage, new options (pros and cons), personal observations, spiritual discernment, tradition and treatment of "neighbors." Members of the task force will be involved in hearings across the church this year "to give opportunity for the people of the ELCA to hear one another and for representatives of the task force to hear what people are saying," Payne said. "This whole process is very much an interactive process with people throughout the ELCA. I cannot overestimate the importance of people being willing to step forward and contribute their opinion and know that it will be heard," she said. The task force plans to hold its next meeting here Oct. 1-3. -- -- -- Information about the Studies on Sexuality is at http://www.elca.org/faithfuljourney/ on the ELCA Web site. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news