Lutheran

Lutheran

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) is committed to the full participation of persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life and ministry of the Lutheran church.

Welcome

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries credentials and rosters qualified candidates of all sexual orientations and gender identities for ministry; supports these pastors by connecting them with congregations who are committed to the full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in Lutheran life and ministry; provides mission grants to support the ministry of its rostered members; and provides a network of support to congregations and pastors.

What is goodsoil.org all about?

goodsoil.org is the official website of the collaboration to overcome the policy and practice of discrimination within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) against lgbt clergy, same-sex marriages and covenanted relationships.

It's About Transformation: Throughout all of goodsoil's efforts before and during the 2005 Churchwide Assembly, our primary concern is the transformation of all who participate. We are children of God, loved as we are, committed to justice in the name of Christ. We act with integrity and authenticity, proclaiming our message of freedom in Christ with boldness, experiencing the power within that will manifest itself wherever we are through whatever we do, the power graciously given us by the God who loves us unconditionally.

It's About Evangelism and Revival: Our goodsoil work is one that proclaims our wholeness and develops power for the work of justice. Our outreach is to all, inviting the coming together and sharing of our lives as children of a loving God.

-- We invite glbt clergy held captive by their fear to leave the dark of their closets. We commit ourselves to active support of these sisters and brothers and to all who step out of their closets.

-- We proactively give witness at ELCA meetings at synodical and churchwide levels and develop personal contacts with voting members and church-wide leadership.

-- We intentionally align ourselves with the justice-seeking efforts of youth, young adults and persons of color in the ELCA and invite them to become actively involved in our work and leadership.

It's About Shining a Light on Injustice: As we carry out our witness and proclamation we boldly expose the untruths and lack of integrity demonstrated by ELCA leaders and imbedded in ecclesiastical structures and procedures. We do not ignore or deny the injustice implicit in the ELCA's carrying on of business as usual. We encourage our g/l/b/t/ colleagues to step away from participating in the activities that implicitly perpetuate the spiritual violence done to their g/l/b/t sisters and brothers.

It's About Pastoral Care: We recognize the spiritual violence done to g/l/b/t persons and the pain experienced by many who work for justice in the ELCA. We also acknowledge the distress of many who struggle to hold on to the beliefs that hold them captive. We provide places and opportunities for healing at all CWA meetings. We invite the ECP roster to take leadership in this work.

Mission Statement
Empowered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the mission of the Lutheran Human Relations Association is to bring people together to do justice by:
Breaking down hostilities and fears between peoples; Bridging the racial, cultural, gender, age, ability, class and other separations in our society; and Building up the human community.
LHRA is committed to bringing people together to change hearts and build up the body of Christ in the midst of a divided world. We especially help people examine the personal and cultural mindsets that we are locked into which keep us from analyzing and working to change our institutions. LHRA is national and beyond in scope, pan-Lutheran, ecumenical and seeking interfaith acceptance and understanding for all.
The staff and board members include women and men, clergy and lay, gay and straight, youthful and mature from God’s colorful array of diverse human creation.

The Naming Project

The Naming Project is a faith-based youth group serving youth of all sexual and gender identities. The primary focus is to provide a place for youth who are gay/lesbian/bisexual/ transgender/ queer/questioning to learn, grow, and share their experiences. In this way The Naming Project is a space in which youth can comfortably discuss faith and who they understand themselves to be--whether gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender...or straight.

The Naming Project is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a mission and outreach of Bethany Lutheran Church in the Seward neighborhood. However, The Naming Project reaches out to youth across the United States through its programs.

The Lutheran Network
for
Inclusive Vision

Our Purpose:

The NETWORK provides a public roster of church leaders committed to witness to the inclusive Gospel of Jesus Christ by fostering the full inclusion of sexual minorities (i.e. persons who are lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or trans-gendered) in the congregational life and ordained ministry of the ELCA.

Who Are We?

As with most organizations, The NETWORK began as a small group of individuals who were committed to the ideal expressed in our Purpose Statement. Since that original group of ten persons, The NETWORK has grown to over 1200 rostered members.

NETWORK members are church members, bishops, lay professionals, seminarians, diaconal ministers, deaconesses, AIMS, professors, and pastors - fathers and mothers, spouses and siblings - who believe it is time publicly to register their opposition to the continual expulsions and forced resignations of ELCA pastors who are openly gay or lesbian. Names of NETWORK members are listed on a public roster, which is shared with ELCA officials and displayed on banners at services of worship and special functions.

We come together as ELCA church leaders who want to move from quiet questioning of our church's policies on sexuality to public advocacy for change.

We publicly challenge the ELCA:

To promote an environment open to honest and faithful discussion as together we seek greater clarity under God concerning issues surrounding sexuality;
To affirm committed and faithful same-sex relationships with appropriate ecclesial liturgies and provide pastoral care for gay and lesbian people as for all other members of the ELCA;
To change the current guidelines in "Vision and Expectations" and "Definitions and Guidelines for Discipline" which discriminate against gay and lesbian clergy, AIMs and seminarians;
To accept qualified women and men - regardless of sexual orientation - as pastors and professionals of this church and as candidates for ministry within it;
To seek justice for victims of sexual orientation discrimination within the church and to support those who provide care for these victims and advocate on their behalf.

The story of a woman, a congregation and an issue that has divided a nation. It follows the Rev. Anita C. Hill and her congregation at St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church from their decision to commit "ecclesiastical disobedience" by ordaining Anita, through the decisions made at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly. From the personal stories of those involved to high-stakes political maneuvering of a denomination, THIS obedience provides insight into an historic series of events that rocked the third largest Christian denomination in the United States.