ELCA Churchwide Elections

[JMOtterman]

Wally Taylor is a nice guy,,,,,,, does he really deserve the PBship?  I've known Wally for years first as a prof and outside the classroom,,,,,, truly one of a kind.
He would be a shoo in if he showed up at the assembly with his little red wagon in tow.  No one could vote against a man who carries all his worldly goods around in a little red wagon.

Janielou13,

No one deserves to be a pastor, or a Presiding Bishop.  But if I take your point he doesn't deserve that kind of pain but in leading this church he would be one to listen to all sides while helping to recenter the church in the Lutheran Confessions, and Biblical Authority.  You are correct if he showed up at the assembly with his little red wagon in tow he would win.

PJ 

[JMOtterman]

Her name is Jaynan Clark-Egland.
 So does she go by Jane or Jaynan?  Is she high church or low church, is it Rev. Jaynan, Pastor Jaynan, or Rev. Clark-Egland?  Not that we will be on a first or last name basis  but I just wanted to know.

My good friend goes by Jaynan.  She will answer to everything from "hey you" to Rev. Clark Egland.
She is of German-Irish descent, born and raised in Iowa.  Her husband, Steve, was born and raised in MN; they met at Luther Sem.  They have 4 children and two big dogs (a great dane and a Brazilian mastiff).  Steve was a Navy chaplain for a time and the couple served as missionaries in Tanzania for 7 years (I believe); they currently serve as pastors of Prince of Peace in NW Spokane (she is part time).

Definitely low church.  For a meeting with the leadership at Concordia Seminary at St. Louis, Jaynan wore cowboy boots (her favorite footwear) and a black leather skirt.  Some sort of shirt, but definitely no collar.

Jaynan has a very close relationship with Jim Nestingen, and I believe Steve Paulson was a classmate of hers while at Luther.

She's fun, but can be tiring to be around because of all of her energy.  When you become a friend, be prepared for bruises (literally) 'cause she's always punching you in the arm to make a point.  )
What you see is what you get; definitely no pretenses, false or otherwise, with the Eglands.

Debbie and I have enjoyed the Eglands hospitality several times; we live 120 miles apart out here in the PNW, and they were the ones who granted us sanctuary in their congregation when we were booted from our local ELCA congregation.

Lou Hesse

Lou,

Jaynan sounds like a force to deal with would she be willing to come and speak to the folks at St. James Lutheran in Belle Fourche, SD?  Is Jaynan coming to the CWA as a voting delegate or just an observor?  Lou, you can email me.

PJ

[Dave_Poedel]

Perhaps we could get the spelling of her name right (I have trouble myself) it is the Rev. Jaynan Clark Egland.

Listen, here is a link to a conference held by the Canadian group, Soild Ground, and you can listen to two of her talks and several by Dr. Jim Nestingen (I mispell his, too). http://www.solid-ground.ca/a-conferencereport2.htm

WHOA!  I am not in the ELCA, but this is my kind of leader!  Maybe because I wore cowboy boots for 30 years and was in the quarter horse business (blown out back meant getting rid of my cutting horses and getting out of the business), but to phrase it in a decidedly non PC way "this is my kind of gal". I plan to listen to both of her talks, but the recording of the first talk was pretty broken up--and I have a high speed connection.  Thanks for the links.  I know Jim Nestigen from STS.

[Mike Bennett]

Debbie and I have enjoyed the Eglands hospitality several times; we live 120 miles apart out here in the PNW, and they were the ones who granted us sanctuary in their congregation when we were booted from our local ELCA congregation.

Lou Hesse

You were what?  Is there a brief summary account for those who've not heard it before?

Mike Bennett

[Deb_H.]

Jaynan sounds like a force to deal with would she be willing to come and speak to the folks at St. James Lutheran in Belle Fourche, SD?  Is Jaynan coming to the CWA as a voting delegate or just an observor?  Lou, you can email me.

Jaynan attends ELCA churchwide assemblies as part of her work as president of the WordAlone Network.  She could never be elected as a voting member from the E.WA-Idaho synod.
Contact information for Jaynan can be found on the WordAlone website.  Generally speaking, she's willing to go anywhere to talk about WordAlone, but she is a busy lady, pastor, wife, and mother.

[Deb_H.]

You were what?  Is there a brief summary account for those who've not heard it before?

In Luther’s explanation of the 8th commandment in the Large Catechism, we are admonished to put the best construction on everything for the sake of our neighbor’s reputation, until we are questioned by the established authorities about our neighbor’s wrongdoing.  For us to “give our spin” on what happened leading up to our exodus, without the other side having an opportunity to also state their views, would be improper. 

Until such time as the proper authorities, either congregational or synodical, request testimony from us regarding the specifics of our “complaints,”  we intend to respect the process, even though we believe the process thusfar has failed us and the congregation.  We needed to have access to word and sacrament, an opportunity for confession, study, and fellowship; therefore we sought sanctuary and were granted same by our friends. 

The temptation is to say much more, but at this point, the temptation needs to be resisted.  That is our cross in this situation.

Lou & Debbie Hesse

[Vern]

JMOtterman,
If Jaynan does come to speak you might be in for a surprise.  Don't get me wrong, she is a wonderful speaker. At the WordAlone convention last year she got up on the stage and read a Dr Seuss book about cutting down trees. I thought  this is dumb. You may note, i have not forgotten it. The final sentence after all the trees had been cut down was "I have a seed".

Vern

[navyman]

As a Member of the ELCA, pew type, I believe Hanson will be reelected without question.

He is an outstanding Liberal, and one who supports the gay agenda and gay ordination.  With 17 Synods, thus far in favor of it,
it looks like gay ordination is a possibility.  More so this time around then in the 2005 CWA.

Peace!

Don

[mchristi]

Given that the secretary's position is mostly a widget counter (can you call pastors and church members widgets?) and constitution interpreter

and the most useless and uneccessary elected position in the ELCA.  The tasks are clerical, for the most part, and can be taken care of entirely by office staff members, as they generally are anyway.  Supervision for those who report to the Secretary can be placed under the presiding bishop, one of the program unit directors, or some other operations/administration director.  The constitution intepretation function, the only non-clerical function of the Secretary, should be placed in a constitutional review panel.

Mark C.

[bmj]

Is past record considered during the election of the ELCA PB?  By what metrics can/should an existing PB be measured?  The latest membership numbers are out for the ELCA.  During every year of leadership under the current PB the ELCA has seen a membership decline significantly higher -- about double or more -- that any year prior to Bishop Hanson's election (see column 3 in the table - elected in 2001).

  http://www.elca.org/news/table.html
  http://www.elca.org/news/Releases.asp?a=3641

I realize that the usefulness of membership number trends as an indicator of denominational health is limited and has been discussed here many times.  However, they are an indication and they are real data.  The trend under PB Hanson seems to be clear.  Is he not ultimately responsible for the stewardship of the souls in the ELCA?  In all honesty, how has he performed?  Are there other strongly positive metrics one should consider during Bishop Hanson's term?