Dennis,
There is no doubt there are many, many more congregations than the ones you have listed below that are facing these issues. In some, the pastor or pastors are revisionists, in others, more traditional . In some the laity support leaving by a large margin, in others, a larger majority wants to stay.
Any way you look at it, it is a mess. I have been saying since returning from Mn and CWA that the real losses in the ELCA will not be in congregations leaving, but in congregations fragmenting, closing, having to merge, losing money and members. I had hoped I was wrong, but this seems to be playing out across the country as a slow motion train wreck.
Dissenter points out correctly that had the ELCA leadership noted the number of laity opposed to this, and really cared about what they thought, rather than pushing an agenda, we would not be here.
But that is all history now. As Dr. Pearson points out in another post, the analogy of Tiger Woods is instructive .Who is to blame for the marital issues? Some say it is his bride, who got angry and most likely went after him the night of the wreck. Others point to his alleged serial sexual addiction. If she responds in anger (noting some anger is appropriate, some not) , is she wrong? Who is at fault?
In the same way, who is at fault here? Leadership of the ELCA? The CWA? Luheran Goodsoil, Lutherans Concerned, CORE? The church council for allowing a simple majority ? The reactions of bishops, pastors, parishes, laity?
People need to own this decision. They wanted it, so now the revisionists need to own it. Until they do, it will not be a good situation. I would be surprised, and greatly encouraged, if our Presiding Bishop was just honest and said "Folks ,this decision was not wise, it was rushed, it was not the broad consensus of this church, and as such, I am going to address the real pain in our churches and people by traveling across the ELCA in 2010 and trying to repair the damage done". It wouldn't change the results, but would ackowledge the pain this has caused, and the problems in many places.
Instead, we get press spin, and pr about how wonderful things are , while cutting budgets and staff left and right.
Do I think all pastors or laypeople on both sides of this have made mistakes? Certainly .Have some forced or manipulated things? Absolutely.
However, I can speak to may experience, and that is having nasty things said to me by some who supported the changes, in MN and elsewhere. And i know others had it worse, including a young pastor from Texas whose name and photo got bandied about websites as a hater simply because he disagreed.
I would hope pastors and laity would use common sense. All should be listened to.
One reason we waited five months until any further discussion of these issues after an open forum in September at our parish was the fact that emotions after a crisis usually lead to bad decisions. It does seem that congregations where leadership is taking their time with these issues, regardless of size, leadership, or position on the issues, are faring better than those who rushed into things.
The situation at Faith Church, Moline, is tragic as it is when any congregation is divided. Is anyone actually interested in knowing why a third of the congregation does not want to leave the ELCA and the grief they may have experienced? According to the media, over 100 members of Faith signed a peitition to the synod to ask for a synodical consultation team. Why?
St. John's in Roanoke, according to the newspaper, has also experienced the trauma of congregational division, broken friendships, and members feeling severed from their pastors and church. Has anyone asked the dissenters there why they feel so strongly about not leaving the ELCA?
Yes, there are many congregations solidly behind their pastors and leadership leading them out of the ELCA, no doubt about that. But there are others where there is no strong 2/3 majority, no desire to follow the pastors and leadership, and a real grief about what is happening to beloved congregations. No matter how one feels about the decisions made in Minneapolis, this is a terrible time for many congregations in the ELCA. There also seems to be a forgetting that there are faithful, Biible-believing, dedicated Christians and church members on BOTH sides of the issue.
In congregations where there is a strong minority of dissenters from the position of the pastors, leadership and majoirty of members, what is the solution? What kind of care should those dissenters receive from their pastors and council members?
