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ELCA Theologian's Reflections on Recent Churchwide Assembly
In a 2-hour radio interview, Dr. James Nestingen, Professor of Church History at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, provided his reflections on the recent ELCA Churchwide Assembly and where the ELCA is heading. Audio files of the Nestingen interview are available at the web site for KFUO, a broadcast service of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). Scroll down to the Sunday, August 14th program of "Issues, Etc.".

Cost of excluding gays and lesbians will be 'much higher'
Writing in the Anglican Journal, Rev. Peter Mikelic, a member of the ELCIC's National Church Council, hints that the defeat of the resolution at the ELCIC National Convention, which would have allowed a “local option” for same-sex blessings, will be "challenged by pastors who are willing to risk disciplinary action by performing blessings of committed same-gendered couples in their congregations, akin to what had transpired in the Anglican Church of Canada’s New Westminster diocese".

Report on ELCA Churchwide Assembly
A succinct summary of what transpired at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly with respect to the recommendations related to homosexuality is provided in a news release issued by the WordAlone Network.

A Statement of Concern
In response to the ELCIC National Church Council's "Resolution on Same Sex Blessings", several concerned ELCIC Lutherans in Alberta have drafted "A Statement of Concern". The statement concludes that the Resolution on Same Sex Blessings, "Rather than being a bold step into the future…is divisive and wrong" and that "It should be defeated". Those feeling the same are invited to attach their names to the statement.

Audio Files from "What's At Stake" Conference Now Available
Recordings of presentations made at the What's at Stake Conference held this January in Edmonton are now available at the What's at Stake site. (High speed internet connection required.)

ELCA Church Council Drafts, Forwards Three Resolutions on Homosexuality
April 11, 2005. The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) developed and forwarded three resolutions to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly to be held in August. The resolutions address whether or not the church will bless same-sex relationships and whether or not the ELCA will allow people in such relationships to serve the church as professional lay and ordained ministers. For a report in The Christian Post, follow link.

Lutherans Address Same-Sex Unions
March 12, 2005. The upcoming ELCIC National Convention appears to be starting to receive increasing media attention. This opinion piece, appearing in the March 12 issue of the Toronto Star, is written by Peter Mikelic, who pastors at Epiphany Lutheran church, Toronto and also is a member of the ELCIC's National Church Council. The following excerpt gives one a sense of the thrust of his article: "The intensity of the debate over these and related questions not only reflects an enduring homophobia, but an appalling disdain for the church as a human institution with all its frailties." Also, see the Anglican Church of Canada's news release and the news release from the Episcopal (anglican) church in the U.S.

Lutheran Church Braces for Same-Sex Storm
March 2005. Although the Anglican church has been getting a lot of press recently related to tensions created over issues related to homosexuality, a report in the Edmonton Journal indicates that the ELCIC, as well, "braces for same-sex storm". An ELCIC pastor in Edmonton is reported to have conducted a same-sex blessing in 1999.

Anglicans Headed for Rift Over Homosexuality
February-March 2005. Leaders of the Anglican church world-wide have asked the Anglican Church of Canada and the U.S. Episcopal church to withdraw temporarily from a key body of the global Anglican Communion under pressure from conservative church leaders, marking the first formal split in the communion over the explosive issues of sexuality and biblical authority.

Study Guide for Essays on Same-Sex Blessings
February 28, 2005. The ELCIC's National Church Council has recently released a Study Guide related to the invited essays intended to inform its work in developing a response to the Eastern Synod's petition to initiate a study of the implications of authorizing a parish based local option to perform same-sex blessings.

Declaration of Selective Fellowship
February 22, 2005. An ELCIC pastor has developed "A Declaration of Selective Fellowship" which Lutherans are invited to sign as part of a movement to publicly declare that they "will not take the current of the age".

Eastern Synod Council Declines to Take Decisive Action on RIC Status
February 16, 2005. When invited to make a written request to Lutherans Concerned asking that organization to remove the Eastern Synod from its roster of RIC synods, a step that organization took unilaterally on the basis of the welcome statement adopted at the synod's June 2004 convention, the Eastern Synod Council declined to take such decisive action.

DVDs from What's At Stake Conference Available
February 16, 2005. DVDs containing presentations made at the What's At Stake Conference, an ecumenical conference on human sexuality and marriage, held in Edmonton, January 14-15, 2005, are currently available

ELCA Task Force Recommendations Released
February 3, 2005. The Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality released its "Report and Recommendations" on sexuality issues to come before the church's biennial assembly later this year.

Association of Confessing Lutheran Congregations Being Created in the U.S.
The WordAlone Network, a Lutheran grassroots network of congregations and individuals in the U.S. committed to building an evangelical, confessional Lutheran future in America, has recently announced its intention to establish an association of confessing churches which would provide a place for local churches to hang their confessional hats and say, "It is here that we stand and stay, alongside these neighbors in the faith. We confess the same beliefs and want to get on with doing what Jesus has called us to do."

Essays on Same-Sex Blessings Now Available
December 6, 2004. Invited essays to inform the work of the National Church Council (NCC) in response to the Eastern Synod's synod petition to the NCC to initiate a study of the implications of authorizing a parish based local option to perform same-sex blessings and bring appropriate recommendations to the 2005 ELCIC National Convention.