ELCA NEWS SERVICE May 26, 2009 Faculty of an ELCA Seminary Support Task Force Documents 09-122-MRC CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A majority of the 23 faculty at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) is in support of two documents released by the Task Force for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Studies on Sexuality. LSTC is one of eight ELCA seminaries. The task force released Feb. 19 a proposed social statement for the church, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust," and a report and recommendation for a process to consider changes to ministry policies that could make it possible for Lutherans who are in "publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gendered relationships" to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and ordained ministers. The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly -- the highest legislative authority of the 4.7-million member church -- will consider both documents Aug. 17-23 in Minneapolis. In an April 2 letter LSTC students, predominantly members of the senior class, "invited and implored" the seminary's faculty to respond to the documents, according to Dr. Klaus-Peter Adam, associate professor of Old Testament at LSTC. In response, Adam and three other faculty members issued a statement May 22 offering support for the approval of the documents. In addition to the four drafters of the statement, 18 faculty members plus one professor emeritus signed the statement. The statement is not an official declaration of LSTC; it is a statement of the faculty. "The crucial question before the church is not whether the current recommendation on ministry policies challenges long- standing scriptural interpretations and ecclesiastical practices," the statement said. "It obviously does. Rather, the ultimate question is whether the recommendation on ministry policies proclaims Christ . and his message of grace more faithfully than older interpretations and practices," it said. "We, the faculty of LSTC, are convinced that it does and, therefore, support the approval of the recommendation." The statement said that Lutherans insist Christ and the gospel are the "hermeneutical key" for interpreting both Scripture and tradition. "The gospel, which always points us to Christ, is, therefore, the interpretative lens in light of which the biblical and theological heritage of the church must be understood, evaluated and affirmed." "In our time, Christ and his message of grace empower the community of faith to understand specific scriptural passages differently than in the past, to change traditional ecclesiastical policies and practices, and to affirm sisters and brothers who share a common baptismal identity, who confess the same faith in Christ and whose call to ministry is an expression of the Holy Spirit's presence in their lives," the statement said. "In recent times, the church has repented of interpretations of Scripture that justified slavery, silenced women, oppressed people of color, and maligned the Jewish people." LSTC faculty members said they acknowledge research from biology, neuroscience, anthropology, sociology, psychology, literary studies and other disciplines that engage in gender and sexuality studies. "As scholars, this faculty is and must be aware of this research which cautions us to be wary of the universality of binary sexual and gender classifications. Among many other things, that is why we must question many of the assumptions that are made in some of the circulated responses to the ELCA (documents), 'Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust' and the 'Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies' -- responses which depend on these problematic classifications of human experience and behavior," the statement said. "Here at LSTC, we have been blessed by lively and faithful conversations with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and pastors in our midst about matters of sexuality, gender identity, and committed relationships to human partners and God," the statement said. "We see firsthand the hope, the pain, and the joy in these conversations. While we do not always agree with each other, we discover Christ's spirit in this fellowship." "Deeply committed to our unity in Christ, we once were emboldened to ordain free and former slaves, whites together with people of color, women and men alike, to serve as pastors of the church. We must now broaden that circle to include a yet more full company of God's children who confess the gospel and the lordship of Christ Jesus." - - - The faculty statement is available at http://www.lstc.edu/faculty_response_may2009.html on LSTC's Web site. The task force's "Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies" and "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" are 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 ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog