Affiliation issue is more complex

Affiliation issue is more complex

I am a former interim pastor at Greenford Lutheran Church, and I am responding to your Nov. 20 article “New Affiliation.”

The decision-making process for Greenford was much more complex than the article suggests. Had Greenford Lutheran chosen to participate in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America process — which is democratic participation in the adoption of church policy — they would have had greater influence in the outcome of the decision prior to August 2009. The congregation simply never bothered to show up at voting opportunities before the August 2009 decision when their input was needed most.

The ELCA believes first and foremost in the words of Jesus Christ on the cross: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” In addition, in any disagreement among members, the ELCA follows the guidance of Matthew 18 with an eye toward persistent opportunities to repair and reconcile relationships. Our call as Christians is to reconcile breaches in the relationships among us, not to run away when decisions don’t go our way. Lutherans do not tolerate or allow abusive relationships within our communities. However, we in the ELCA do not cut ourselves off from people with whom we simply disagree.

The word “reconcile” is an important one within the Christian community. Its biblical meaning is to bring back together into fellowship those who disagree. With this, the Bible tells us that God “has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body — through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it” (Ephesians 2:15-16).

We live today in a country that desperately needs examples of reconciliation. As we approach the season where many of us will sing “God and sinners reconciled,” I am saddened that the Lutheran community cannot provide that example.

Rev. Robert A. Johnson, Boardman