One more time.
Deaconess Schave, I have the highest regard for your story, your faith and your witness. It is, as I have said several times now, instructive and inspiring.
I will say it again. It is instructive and inspiring. It is special. Your are obviously a woman of faith who knows how to act on her faith.
Deaconess Schave writes (to me):
If this is ELCA pastoral care, I sure hope others will step up on here to make up for your approach.
I comment:
I am not your pastor. I am not pastor to anyone in this discussion. And you are not my parishioner. We are supposedly colleagues of equal standing in a theological discussion. This is not a place for pastoral care, except in rare, limited ways.
The deaconess writes:
You make me so thankful that God brought me out of your church body when He did if this is what parishioners can expect from their pastor.
I comment:
See above. See also my earlier reference to Luke 18:9-14.
Ironically, people on this forum (not you) have mocked and derided the faith stories of others, especially gays, who have struggled their way through immense difficulties and come out stronger in faith and with a desire to serve Jesus Christ. They (not you) have said that when such people speak at Assemblies, we should turn away.
I only suggest here - with no insult, derision, or "un-pastoral" attitude - that other women who have taken a different course than yours, women who might not agree with your stance on abortion, are also women of faith with stories that can be inspiring and instructive.
That's all. I do not know how else I can counter the hostility to my remarks.