St. John's, Waterloo Adopts "Statement of Belief"
in Response to Synod Convention Motions

Concerns raised by several members of Council and the congregation at St. John's after Synod Assembly's adoption of three motions related to homosexuality, prompted the Council to gather input from its parishioners on these matters. Council did this in two ways - through a questionnaire, which identified three options (including leaving the ELCIC), and through a series of four town-hall meetings.

A review of the feedback received, revealed that, although most members of St. John's did not wish to hold a vote to leave the ELCIC at this time, about three-quarters of responses expressed opposition to the Synod's motions on homosexuality. Based upon the input received from the congregation, Council developed a "Statement of Belief" (see below) which was adopted by the congregation at a Special Congregational Meeting held November 21, 2004. For more details about the consultation process and the congregational vote, respectively, see the November (pages 1-3) and December (page 2) issues of St. John's newsletter, The Messenger.

At the 2004 Eastern Synod Convention the delegates approved by a sizeable margin of about 3:1 a motion calling for a "study" of the possibility of employing a parish-based "local option" approach to conducting same-sex blessings. St. John's "Statement of Belief", which basically is a statement in opposition to the same-sex blessings motion, was approved by about a 2:1 margin. Are the people of St. John's unique in their point of view? Indeed, if St. John's response is not atypical, then this raises serious questions about the ability of the convention process to be representative of and responsive to the true will of the people.

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St. John's, Waterloo "Statement of Belief"

• As stated in the Constitutions of the ELCIC and St. John's, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God through which God still speaks to us, and are the only source of the church's doctrine and the authoritative standard for the faith and life of the church.
• Sexual relations between persons of the same sex are declared clearly, without exception, as sinful by Scripture. We continue to view homosexual practice as sinful. We do not accept same-sex blessing/marriage or practising homosexuals in ordained or consecrated ministry.
• We welcome all sinners to a new life of joy, peace, and wholeness through the grace and transformational power of God through Jesus Christ.

"All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:3-5

We will apply these principles to our daily lives as an anchor/basis to our beliefs and as a guide for communicating, decision-making and ministry.