Friday, May 29, 2009

Well, Not So "Careful"

Following up on Wednesday's entry about the election of Eva Brunne as the next Bishop of Stockholm, the following article from the Church of Sweden website (one of 4 stories currently linking from the church's front page is dated Tuesday:

Med blick för de maktlösa

Eva Brunne är skånskan som alltid sett tro och samhällsengagemang gå hand i hand. I valet av henne har Svenska kyrkan för första gången valt en biskop som lever i partnerskap.

Som homosexuell har Eva Brunne ibland känt sig utsatt och det har gett henne ett engagemang för andra.

- Jag vet vad det är att bli ifrågasatt. Jag är i den lyckliga situationen att jag har makt och jag kan använda den till gagn för dem som ingen makt har, säger Eva Brunne, i dag stiftsprost i Stockholm....
With the help of Google Translate, a translation would be something like this:

With eyes for the powerless

Eva Brunne is a Scanian who always believed faith and citizenship go hand in hand. In selecting her, the Church of Sweden for the first time elected a bishop living in partnership.

As a homosexual Eva Brunne has sometimes felt exposed and it has given her a commitment to others.

"I know what it is to be questioned. I am in the lucky situation that I have power and I can use it for the benefit of those who have no power," says Eva Brunne, now a diocesan dean in Stockholm....
(Apologies to my Swedish speaking friends.)

A sidebar describes the Bishop-elect's marital status as "Lever i ett registrerat och välsignat partnerskap" (Living in a registered and blessed partnership). The Church of Sweden began offering the blessing of gay civil unions in 2007.

Interestingly, a list of related news articles includes the headline, "50 år för prästvigda kvinnor" (50 years for the ordination of women priests). The ordination of women was approved by the Church of Sweden in 1958, with the first ordination in 1960.

In an article headlined Church of Sweden elects lesbian bishop the Religion News Service reports:
The newly-elected Lutheran bishop of Stockholm says that being a lesbian means she wants to stand alongside people who feel powerless.

"I know what it is to be called into question," the Rev. Eva Brunne said in an article on the Web site of the Church of Sweden after her Tuesday (May 26) election. "I am in the lucky situation that I have power and I can use it for the benefit of those who have no power."

Brunne, who is currently the dean of the Stockholm diocese, is the first Church of Sweden bishop to live in a registered homosexual partnership, the Uppsala-headquartered church said, and she is believed to be the first openly lesbian bishop in the world.

Brunne, 55, lives with priest Gunilla Linden in a partnership that has received a church blessing. They have a three-year-old son.

"Once you have been baptized, no one can say you cannot be part of the Church because you are homo-, bi-, or transsexual," the Web site of the French periodical Ttu quoted Brunne as saying.

She clinched the post by 413 votes against 365 votes for Hans Ulfvebrand; she will succeed Bishop Caroline Krook, who is to retire in November....

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Lesbian Elected Bishop of Stockholm

The Diocese of Stockholm in the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden has elected Eva Brunne as its next Bishop to replace the retiring Caroline Krook. The Swedish church newspaper Kyrkans Tidning reports that the 55-year-old parish priest at the Flemingsberg and Sundbyberg churches lives in a registered partnership and has a 3-year-old son. Sweden's gay news site QX reports that she is the world's first openly lesbian woman elected bishop and that her partner, Gunilla Lindén, is also a Swedish priest.

The Swedish newspaper Dagen, when reporting
Brunne's election on Tuesday
that that she is in a registered partnership, reported Wednesday in a follow up that the Swedish Church "has been careful to give no comment" while gay organizations have been rejoicing over her election.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Church's Bible

Robert Louis Wilken, author of one of my favorite books, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought, is the General Editor of The Church's Bible, a new series of Bible commentaries that I was turned on to last month by R. R. Reno's article on First Things' On the Square.

Three volumes have been released thus far: The Song of Songs, 1 Corinthians, and Isaiah. Prof. Wilken's "Series Preface" helps us understand why this new series is so important for the Church today:
The volumes in The Church's Bible are designed to present the Holy scriptures as understood and interpreted during the first millennium of Christian history. The Christian Church has a long tradition of commentary on the Bible. In the early church all discussion of theological topics, of moral issues, and of Christian practice took the biblical text as the starting point. The recitation of the psalms and meditation on books of the Bible, particularly in the context of the liturgy or of private prayer, nurtured the spiritual life. For most of the Church's history theology and scriptural interpretation were one. Theology was called sacra pagina (the sacred page), and the task of interpreting the Bible was a spiritual enterprise.

During the first two centuries interpretation of the Bible took the form of exposition of select passages on particular issues. For example, Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, discussed many passages from the Old and New Testaments in his defense of the apostolic faith against the Gnostics. By the beginning of the third century Christian bishops and scholars had begun to preach regular series of sermons that followed the biblical books verse by verse. Some wrote more scholarly commentaries that examined in greater detail grammatical, literary, and historical questions as well as theological ideas and spiritual teachings found in the texts. From Origen of Alexandria, the first great biblical commentator in the Church's history, we have, among others, a large verse-by-verse commentary on the Gospel of John, a series of homilies on Genesis and Exodus, and a large part of his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. In the course of the first eight hundred years of Christian history Christian teachers produced a library of biblical commentaries and homilies on the Bible.

Today this ancient tradition of biblical interpretation is known only in bits and pieces, and even where it still shapes our understanding of the Bible, for example, in the selection of readings for Christian worship (e.g., Isaiah 7 and Isaiah 9 read at Christmas), or the interpretation of the Psalms in daily prayer, the spiritual world that gave it birth remains shadowy and indistinct. It is the purpose of this series to make available the richness of the Church's classical traditional of interpretation for clergy, Sunday school and Bible class teachers, men and women living in religious communities, and serious readers of the Bible.

Anyone who reads the ancient commentaries realizes at once that they are deeply spiritual, insightful, edifying, and, shall we say, "biblical." early Christian thinkers moved in the world of the Bible, understood its idiom, loved its teaching, and were filled with awe before its mysteries. The believed in the maxim, "Scripture interprets Scripture." They knew something that has largely been forgotten by biblical scholars, and their commentaries are an untapped resource for understanding the Bible as a book about Christ.

The distinctive mark of The Church's Bible is that it draws extensively on the ancient commentaries, not only on random comments drawn from theological treatises, sermons, or devotional works. Its volumes will, in the main, offer fairly lengthy excerpts from the ancient commentaries and from series of sermons on specific books. For example, in the first volume on the Song of Songs, there are long passages from Origen of Alexandria's Commentary on the Song of Songs, from Gregory of Nyssa's Homilies on the Song, and from Bernard of Clairvaux's sermons of the Song. Some passages willa be as brief as a paragraph, but many will be seeral pages in length, and some longer. We believe that it is only through a deeper immersion in the ancient sources that contemporary readers can enter into the inexhaustible spiritual and theological world of the early Church and hence of the Bible.

It is also hoped that longer passages will be suitable for private devotional reading and for spiritual reading in religious communities, in Bible study groups, and in prayer circles.
Using this sort of commentary fits completely in line with what Dr. Gold taught me about biblical exegesis my first semester of seminary. Curiously, it doesn't fit the practice of the exegetes published most often in today's ELCA for the use of parish pastors, which focusses almost exclusively on the historical-critical method through a progressive/liberationist perspective — the main reason why I've stopped using the "latest" ELCA exegetical resources in recent years.

The volume on the Song was first published in 2003, 1 Corinthians (a 2006 Touchstone review had intrigued me to the series), with the third volume (Isaiah) published in 2007. Hopefully, Eerdmanns will be publishing upcoming volumes more quickly.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Lutheran Theologians and Church Leaders Affirm Biblical Teaching on Sexuality

A press release from Lutheran CORE regarding today's open letter:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Chavez (717) 898-0801
info@lutherancore.org


Prominent Lutheran theologians and church leaders affirm biblical teaching on sexuality and call for defeat of ELCA sexuality proposals

May 19, 2009 — Prominent Lutheran theologians and church leaders have written an Open Letter to the Voting Members of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) asking them to affirm biblical teaching on sexuality and to reject proposals to change church teaching and policy regarding marriage and same-sex sexual behavior. The open letter was released Tuesday, May 19.

The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly (Aug. 17-23 in Minneapolis) will consider a proposed social statement which would change ELCA teaching on human sexuality and a proposal which would change church standards to allow ELCA pastors to be in same-sex sexual relationships. The open letter will be mailed to the 1,045 voting members of the 4.7-million-member denomination’s Churchwide Assembly.

“The proposals are in fact no compromise. They clearly imply that same-sex blessings and the ordination and rostering of homosexual persons in committed relationships are acceptable within the ELCA. The teaching of the church will be changed. We should not make such an important decision without clear biblical and theological support. The Task Force did not provide such support, nor has it been provided in statements from some of our colleagues in ELCA institutions,” the open letter states.

The letter offers five reasons why the proposals must be rejected:

1. “If the assembly adopts the proposed rules of procedure, a simple majority of one Churchwide Assembly will alter the moral teaching on sexuality we have shared with the vast majority of the church past and present. We are concerned that such a procedure shows an indifference to the common mind of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church throughout the ages and across cultures.”

2. “The church is founded on the whole Word of God, both law and gospel. The Task Force texts seem to permit variation on all ethical questions, no matter how fundamental. How Christians behave sexually is not a matter of indifference to our life in Christ.”

3. “If the ELCA were to approve the public recognition of same-sex unions or the rostering of persons in such relationships, it would damage our ecumenical relationships.”

4. “Our unity in the office of ministry will be fractured.”

5. “Conscience can err. The Word of God, not conscience, is the final court of appeal in the church.”

“We feel we are called to support and advocate the biblical teaching on human sexuality and urge you to defeat all the proposals from the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality that the Church Council has forwarded to you. We pledge to you our prayers and we invite you to work with us for the renewal of our church under the Word of God,” the open letter concludes.

Lutheran CORE brought together some prominent theologians and church leaders April 29 in Phoenix to draft the letter. Other scholars and church leaders were then asked to add their names to the open letter. Nearly 60 scholars and church leaders have signed the letter. Other ELCA pastors and lay members may add their names to a list of people endorsing the letter online at www.lutherancore.org.

“We wanted a clear statement from Lutheran theologians and church leaders who uphold biblical teaching on sexuality as it has been believed and taught by the Christian Church for nearly 2,000 years,” said the Rev. Paull Spring of State College, Pa., chair of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee.

“We are grateful for the scholars and church leaders who have been willing to stand with us and with the vast majority of Christians worldwide and throughout time,” said Spring, the retired bishop of the Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod.

The open letter is available online at www.lutherancore.org.

* * * * *

Open Letter to Churchwide Assembly Voters

The following Open Letter to the Voting Members of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly from a group of about 60 ELCA theologians and other leaders assembled by Lutheran CORE appeared briefly last week on ALPB Forum Online (and on this blog) but was then withheld in order to honor an official release today. I'm also appending below a cover letter from Prof. Bob Benne from last week which says a bit more about its background.

An Open Letter to the Voting Members of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly

We are grateful that the church has called you to serve as a voting member for the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. Your role at the assembly will be a difficult one. We are writing this open letter as Lutheran theologians and church leaders concerned about the fidelity and future of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
 
The proposals are in fact no compromise
 
The teaching of the church will be changed
The proposals to be considered by the Churchwide Assembly this summer from the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality are perceived by some as compromises that will permit the ELCA to live faithfully with internal diversity on controversial ethical questions. The proposals are in fact no compromise. They clearly imply that same-sex blessings and the ordination and rostering of homosexual persons in committed relationships are acceptable within the ELCA. The teaching of the church will be changed. We should not make such an important decision without clear biblical and theological support. The Task Force did not provide such support, nor has it been provided in statements from some of our colleagues in ELCA institutions.

Indifference to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church1. If the assembly adopts the proposed rules of procedure, a simple majority of one Churchwide Assembly will alter the moral teaching on sexuality we have shared with the vast majority of the church past and present. We are concerned that such a procedure shows an indifference to the common mind of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church throughout the ages and across cultures. At the least, a two-thirds majority should be required, if indeed the assembly should be voting on these matters at all.
 
The church is founded on the whole Word of God, both law and gospel 2. The proposals claim that the ELCA can live with profound differences on sexual questions because our unity is centered exclusively on the gospel and the sacraments. This claim separates law and gospel in a way contrary to both Scripture and the Confessions. The church is founded on the whole Word of God, both law and gospel. The Task Force texts seem to permit variation on all ethical questions, no matter how fundamental. How Christians behave sexually is not a matter of indifference to our life in Christ.
 
It would damage our ecumenical relationships

3. If the ELCA were to approve the public recognition of same-sex unions or the rostering of persons in such relationships, it would damage our ecumenical relationships with the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and Evangelical churches, all of which affirm the clear teaching of Scripture that homosexual activity departs from God’s design for marriage and sexuality. Furthermore, it would put the ELCA at odds with many of our sister Lutheran churches, especially in Asia and Africa. The United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA) have also recently upheld scriptural teaching on this matter. These bodies have officially recognized that the biblical prohibitions against homosexual activity remain applicable today to consensual sexual relationships between persons of the same sex.
 
Our unity will be fractured
 

4. With regard to calling rostered leaders, the statement proposes “structured flexibility,” which we believe will lead inevitably to “local option.” If adopted, this proposal will mean that the relationship among bishops, candidacy committees, and congregations will become confused and conflicted. Practically speaking, there will be two lists of candidates for rostered leadership in the church. The result will be that not all pastors and congregations will be in full fellowship with each other, nor with many of the pastors and congregations of those denominations with whom we are in full communion. Further, laity seeking a congregation to join would need to ask about which option a congregation has chosen in calling its leaders. Our unity in the office of ministry will be fractured.

Conscience can err5. The social statement calls for opponents in the current controversy to respect each other’s “bound conscience,” referring to Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms. Luther, however, was not merely claiming that he was sincere about the convictions he held; he asserted rather that his conscience was bound to the Word of God. Conscience can err. The Word of God, not conscience, is the final court of appeal in the church.

We are deeply sensitive to the need of the church to provide pastoral care for all people. We are aware that there are some in the church who will disagree with this letter. Nevertheless, we feel we are called to support and advocate the biblical teaching on human sexuality. We pledge to you our prayers and we invite you to work with us for the renewal of our church under the Word of God.

Rev. Richard Bansemer, Salem, VA, former Bishop, Virginia Synod


Dr. Robert D. Benne, Director of the Center for Religion and Society, Roanoke College, VA


Rev. John C. Beem, Miltona, MN, former Bishop, East-Central Synod of Wisconsin


Rev. Dr. Paul S. Berge, Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN


Rev. Dr. Dennis D. Bielfeldt, Professor of Religion, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD


Rev. Dr. Carl E. Braaten,  Professor Emeritus, Systematic Theology, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago


Rev. Mark C. Chavez, Landisville, PA, Director of Lutheran CORE


Rev. Dr. James R. Crumley, Jr, Chapin, SC, Former Bishop, Lutheran Church in America


Rev. Jaynan Clark Egland, Nine Mile Falls, WA, President, WordAlone Network


Rev. Dr. C. Jack Eichhorst, President emeritus, Trinity Lutheran College, WA


Dr. Rebecca Frey, New Haven, CT, Lutheran Forum Editorial Staff


Rev. Gregory P. Fryer, Immanuel Lutheran Church, New York, MY


Gracia M. Grindal, Professor of Rhetoric, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN


Mr. David J. Hardy, Esq., Chicago, IL, Former General Counsel of the ELCA


Rev. Dr. Roy A. Harrisville, Jr., Professor Emeritus, New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN


Rev. Dr. Roy A. Harrisville, III, Menomonie, WI


Rev. Dr. Mary Havens, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Prof. of Church History, Columbia, SC


Rev. Carol S. Hendrix, former bishop, Lower Susquehanna Synod, PA


Dr. Hans J. Hillerbrand, Professor of Religion, Duke University, NC


Rev. Dr. Paul R. Hinlicky, Professor of Religion, Roanoke College, VA


Rev. Dr. Stephen J. Hultgren, Assistant Professor of Religion, Fordham University, Bronx, NY


Rev. Dr. Robert W. Jenson, Princeton, NJ


Ben Arlen Johnson, Th.D., Professor emeritus, Lutheran Bible Institute in California


Rev. Dr. Richard O. Johnson, Grass Valley, CA, Editor of Forum Letter

Rev. Corinne R. Johnson, Crystal Falls, MI


Rev. Ralph A. Kempski, Aiken, SC, Bishop Emeritus, Indiana-Kentucky Synod


Rev. Dr. Jack Dean Kingsbury, Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology, Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA


Rev. Gerard H. Knoche, Bishop, Delaware-Maryland Synod


Rev. Dr. Marc Kolden, Professor Emeritus, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN


Rev. Dr. David W. Lotz, Washburn Professor Emeritus of Church History, Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY


Rev. Dr. Lamontte Luker, Professor of Hebrew Scriptures, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC


Rev. Dr. Paul V. Martinson, Professor Emeritus of Missions, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN


Rev. Dr. Mark C. Mattes, Professor of Religion, Grand View College, Des Moines, IA


Rev. George P. Mocko, Bishop Emeritus, Delaware-Maryland Synod


Rev. Dr. James A. Nestingen, Professor Emeritus of Church History, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN


Rev. Richard J. Niebanck III, Delhi, NY


Rev. Dr. Oliver K. Olson, Minneapolis, MN


Rev. Dr. Steven D. Paulson, Professor of Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN


Rev. Dr. David W. Preus, Minneapolis, MN, Former Bishop, American Lutheran Church


Dr. Michael Root, Dean, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC


Rev. Dr. Paul E. Rorem, Professor of Church History, Princeton Theological Seminary, NJ 


Rev. Russell E. Saltzman, Ruskin Heights Lutheran Church, Kansas City, MO


Rev. Kenneth H. Sauer, Columbus, OH, Former Chair of Conference of Bishops


Rev. Dr. James A. Scherer, Professor Emeritus, Missions and Church History, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago


Rev. Dr. Amy Schifrin, Hershey, PA


Rev. Paul A. Schreck, Round Lake Beach, IL, former Executive Assistant to the Secretary, ELCA


Rev. Henry Schulte Jr, Boerne, TX, former Bishop, Southwestern Texas Synod


Rev. Frederick J. Schumacher, Manchester Township, NJ, Executive Director, American Lutheran Publicity Bureau


Rev. Dr. Hans Schwarz, Professor of Systematic Theology and Contemporary Theological Issues, University of Regensburg, Germany


Rev. Dr. Frank Senn, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Evanston, IL


Rev. Dr. Franklin Sherman, Schnecksville, PA


Rev. Dr. Trygve R. Skarsten, Pickerington, OH, President Emeritus of Trinity Lutheran College, Everett, WA


Rev. Paull E. Spring, State College, PA, Former Bishop, Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod


Rev. Dr. John R. Stumme, Chicago, IL, former Director of the Department for Studies in the Church in Society unit of the ELCA


Rev. Dr. Anders Tune, Campus Minister, Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH


Rev. Paul M. Werger, Iowa City, IA, Former Chair of Conference of Bishops


Rev. Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, Associate Research Professor, Institute for Ecumenical Research, Strasbourg, France


Dr. David S. Yeago, Professor of Systematic Theology, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC


Rev. Dr. J. Larry Yoder, Professor and Director, Center for Theology, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Hickory, NC

You can find other signators here and add your own signature, too. Meanwhile, here's a copy of last week's cover letter from Prof. Benne, which reads...
Dear friends,

Two weeks ago a group of theologians and church leaders convened by the Lutheran Coalition for Reform (CORE) met in Arizona to develop a letter to voting members of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly of 2009. It is a letter appealing to the voting members to reject the Social Statement on Sexuality and the accompanying four recommendations. I have attached that letter. That letter is in the process of being sent out. At the same time it is being released to many persons and agencies within and outside the church. Soon it will be posted in a number of places for more people to sign on. (Check the CORE website or the WordAlone website if you wish to sign on.) Around 50 theologians and church leaders have already signed it and we expect many more supporters to sign on. We think the letter is persuasive and that the key theologians of the ELCA have affirmed it. We hope it is persuasive to you.

Sincerely,
Bob Benne

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Peoria Area Lutherans Celebrate Ascension Day

Peoria area Lutherans will celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord with candlelight Vespers and Holy Communion on Thursday, May 21, 2009, at 7:00 pm, at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1534 S. Easton Avenue, Peoria. The Rev. Steven P. Tibbetts, STS, pastor at Zion, will be preacher and celebrant. All are welcome to participate in this festive worship service.

Ascension Day is the Christian holy day commemorating the ascending of the resurrected Jesus to the right hand of God the Father. It is celebrated on the 40th day of Easter in accordance with the New Testament account found in the Acts of the Apostles. The Thursday evening worship service marks the tenth consecutive year that Zion has hosted an Ascension Day celebration for area Christians on the actual festival day. A time of fellowship and refreshment will follow the service.

An offering will be received for Zion’s Prison Mission, which provides chaplaincy services at the Women’s Work Camp in Pekin and sponsors Project Return of Peoria. Led by Karen Wong, AIM, Project Return assists incarcerated mothers reintegrate into the Peoria community by matching each returning mother with a team of trained and supported volunteers.

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church is located at 1534 S. Easton Avenue, one block west of the intersection of Jefferson and Western on the South Side of Peoria. For more information call 637-9150 or view Zion’s web site at www.zionpeoria.org. A congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Zion has been proclaiming the Gospel from the South Side of Peoria since 1894.

Star Trek: A Review

Note: This review was written May 16, 2009 via Movies on Facebook, the date that appears on this post. But was actually not posted to Pastor Zip's Blog until May 30, 2012, shortly after I viewed the (first) sequel.

Star Trek (2009)

4 stars of 5

Okay. Star Trek is really a low-budget TV show, while the re-boot is high-budget for the Big Screen. So in this film one can expect an exchange of quality story for splashy FX. As an sf film and as a franchise re-boot, it's a really good show and I'm looking forward to sequels.

It should have been better. The score is straight out of Star Wars, not Star Trek. Nero's ship looks too much like a darkened Vorlon craft from Babylon 5. The adventures of our heroes and the violations of known physics are, quite frankly, well over the top. Especially egregious is the "orbital skydive" into Vulcan's atmosphere, which should have burned Kirk, Sulu, and Olson to a crisp long before they reached the mid-sky drilling platform.

But for all the whiz bang, Star Trek is not only about the promise and hope of the New Frontier, vicariously taking us where we should already be going in 2009 (40 years after landing on the Moon). It's about characters we've grown to care about -- and this film is about re-introducing them for the 21st century.

Kirk, Spock, Uhuru, Sulu, Bones, Scotty, and Chekov have a lot of growing to do as the Star Trek franchise grows in a new direction. This film sets us all off in the right direction. And so we endure, maybe even overlook, flaws that would be fatal to any other film.

The best Star Trek film yet? Not a chance. But it leaves me wanting more. And that's good cinema.