Pastor Hahn writes:
How is it that the ELCA can presume to dictate to another Lutheran body the conditions upon which a congregation is received into its fellowship?
I ask:
Where, in the paragraph you cited, does the ELCA do this?
"conclusively presumed" seems to do it, in my opinion.
"presumed" means that this one factor, i.e., failing to attain a 2/3 vote to join another Lutheran body, implies that the congregation remains independent of any Lutheran body.
"conclusively" means that this one factor is sufficient in reaching that conclusion, i.e., there are no extenuating or additional factors to consider, for example, what the policies of the other Lutheran body or of the congregation itself might be.
The presumption is that
unless there is a 2/3 vote to join another Lutheran body the congregation has not done so. And in the eyes of the ELCA this is
conclusively the case - even if the other Lutheran body has a policy of requiring a simple majority vote for a congregation to affiliate with it. This is to dictate to this other Lutheran body that the congregation has NOT joined with it despite fulfilling all of the conditions that other Lutheran body spells out for doing so.
If this is not the case, then it should be expressed differently. And if this is not the case, then what is the point of this proposal?
Marshall Hahn