Can Lutherans learn from the past as they plan for 2017?
How do you share the grace of God in Christ with someone whose days are filled with messages that they do not measure up and who feel excluded rather than welcomed? How shall we talk about faith in a culture of mistrust and deception? In a world steeped in violence, how do we talk about the cross of Christ as the place that reveals both the depth of God’s love incarnate and where Jesus’ life for others is offered fully?
Bishop Hanson wrote this as part of a message in the recent issue of The Lutheran Magazine. He was looking ahead to the 500th Anniversary of Luther’s brave, death-defying actions, which spurred the Reformation of the Church and laid the groundwork for changes in society that we enjoy today.
Don’t expect such actions from Luther’s heirs.
A recent visit to China sparked Bishop Hanson’s comments. He doesn’t need to travel far to find a culture of mistrust and deception.
We, at Redeemer, who have experienced little but abuse within the ELCA, wonder if Bishop Hanson recognizes that his own people feel unwelcome, unvalued, violated, and deceived. We have learned to distrust the church he leads.
We know we are not alone. There has been a mass departure from the ELCA under Bishop Hanson’s watch.
Similar land grabs continue. Synodical bishops act with the certainty that Bishop Hanson will not require them to honor the intent of the ELCA’s founding documents or constitutions. Dodge’s sheriff has gone fishing (and not for people)!
The Redeemer travesty has featured personal attacks on lay people with no way within the ELCA to object or defend.
Bishop Hanson, Lutherans are weary of empty words.
We point out once again the decision of the Pa appeal court. It may add up to a win in the short run, but this could come back to bite hard.
The appeal court’s minority opinion determined that if the law were applied, Redeemer’s arguments have merit and deserve to be heard. The majority opinion cited Separation of Church and State, relying on the Church to police its own rules. There is NO mechanism within the ELCA for this. The result: a weak church where everyone can legitimately fear injustice within their own body. Safer perhaps to criticize other cultures!
Redeemer wrote to you for help in 2008, Bishop Hanson. After about ten letters over the course of a year, we gave up. You blew us off, expressing regard for a colleague over concern for a congregation.
You advised both us and Bishop Burkat to talk it out. Today, nearly five years later, there has been no talk, just law suits.
Bishop Hanson, we want peace. We want to work things out within the Church. This is a mandate of scripture (1 Corinthian 6). It’s not going to happen if Church leaders don’t believe the scriptures they preach.
Your sheep need their shepherd. Your bishops need their shepherd.
Help us find answers to the questions you pose. Lead us in our ongoing birthright — the Reformation!