Lutheran CORE calls for new church body
The Layman, February 23, 2010
Leaders of the renewal group Lutheran CORE released a proposal on Feb. 18 to support its community of confessing Lutherans and form a new Lutheran church body called the North American Lutheran Church (NALC).
The proposal is a follow-up to the organization’s 2009 national convocation in which began the process of reconfiguring North American Lutheranism, in light of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s August 2009 actions to affirm same-sex sexual relationships and to allow pastors and leaders to be in those relationships. Many Lutherans and ELCA congregations are reconsidering their affiliation to the 4.6-million member ELCA, due to their judgment that the denomination has drifted from Biblical teachings and traditional Christianity.
CORE is now asking its members to provide input on the proposal in advance of its 2010 Convocation, scheduled for Aug. 26-27 in Columbus, Ohio.
“We are committed to maintaining the unity of as many faithful Lutherans in North America as possible,” said Ryan Schwarz of Washington, D.C., who chaired the Vision and Planning Working Group that created the proposal. “These proposals are a way for those who uphold traditional Christian teaching – both those who are leaving the ELCA to join the NALC or another body, and those who will remain in the ELCA – to work together.”
According to a Lutheran CORE news release announcing the proposal, the NALC would be formed for those members and friends of Lutheran CORE who prefer to completely withdraw from the ELCA or Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC).
“They are looking for a new Lutheran church body which stands in the tradition of the Church, is denominationally structured for leadership, oversight and accountability, enhances representative governance by congregations and affirms and supports ministry and mission at the congregational level,” the news release states.
The NALC and Lutheran CORE would function cooperatively in shared ministry and mission, including domestic and global evangelism, theological education and human service.
Much like the efforts of New Wineskins Association of Churches in the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Lutheran CORE aims to help both those who want to remain in the original denomination or move to another.
“Lutheran CORE will serve those in the ELCA, those in the NALC, and hopefully those in other Lutheran church bodies such as LCMC (Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ) who share a commitment to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions,” said the Rev. Paull Spring, the retired bishop of the ELCA’s Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod. “The NALC will provide a church body for those who choose to leave the ELCA.”
The four key attributes for both Lutheran CORE and the NALC, outlined in the proposal, are: Christ-centered, mission-driven, traditionally-grounded and congregationally-focused. The proposal was drafted by an 8-member working group. Members of the Vision and Planning Task Force are two lay people: Schwarz and Carolyn Nestingen of Dallas, Ore.; four ELCA pastors: the Revs. Cathi Braasch of Smithfield, Neb.; Dan Selbo of San Jose, Calif.; David Glesne of Fridley, Minn.; and Mike Tavella of Abington, Pa.; and two retired ELCA bishops: Spring and the Rev. Ronald Warren, Grove City, Ohio, former bishop of the ELCA’s Southeastern Synod.
Within a few hours of Lutheran CORE’s announcement, the ELCA released its reaction.
“As the ELCA carries out the directives of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, we continue to encourage congregations, synods and the churchwide organization to remain in conversation about these matters,” a news release statement said, adding that the ELCA regrets the decisions “of a few congregations” to leave.
According to an ELCA news release, as of Feb. 4 the ELCA Office of the Secretary reported that 220 congregations out of the denomination’s 10,239 had taken initial votes to terminate their relationship with the ELCA. Sixty-four of those congregations failed to achieve the required two-thirds vote to continue in the process. Through Feb. 4, 28 congregations had taken a second vote. So far, according to the news release, seven congregations have officially left.