It was a blessing to attend the 2016 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in New Orleans last week, representing the Lutheran CORE Board. Lutheran CORE exists to provide A Voice and Network for Confessional Renewal.
To the peripatetic Pastor Austin: Thank you for your good wishes to Lutheran CORE, but please do not marvel excessively about not running into the Lutheran CORE members and affiliates from coast-to-coast (among the 1,500+ present) during the week in NOLA . Indeed, we were present, "all over the assembly venue every day" after your own manner. Our approach-- deemed invisible or a failure by you-- was not a saturation strategy or a preoccupation with legislative action, but one which was focused on intentional conversations about our varied ministry initiatives, "the faith once and for all delivered to the saints," traditional / orthodox theology and practice, sharing of printed materials and, as noted above, a hospitality event hosted Thursday evening in the highly visible Lagniappe Reception area directly above the Sheraton's main lobby / restaurant / bar. (In the Crescent City, Lagniappe means "a little something extra"
To all here on the LF Your Turn: As noted by our moderator, the Lutheran CORE NOLA Reception was publicized not once but twice by the ELCA's Secretary Boerger during "Announcements, Announcements, Announcements...!" (The lighthearted camp ditty led by Bp. Eaton!) A triple toot of our horn would have been welcomed, but, as it was, we were delighted to have the CORE gathering noted on two consecutive days for all assembled and for all on line. This is called high visibility. This act was and is a validation of Lutheran CORE's CWA presence. It clearly accords the organization with more than a modicum of respect. The sense conveyed to CORE members (uncounted affiliates / fellow travellers) in NOLA was "we, too, belong here." Perhaps the message to those embracing deeply revisionist narratives for the denomination's identity was, "Hmmm, maybe this church is more diverse than we thought..."
It surely would have been helpful to our efforts to have had the benefit of a display table, but our request for such a space was not approved by the CWA registration officials, citing limited display space, and the guideline to promote only those ministries with direct / official ELCA ties. (In reality, the VAST amount of empty floor space in the display / dining hall seemed to beg for more vendors / featured ministries!) It is notable that someone at the ELCA Multicultural Ministries table, which had to cede its space to another ELCA ministry theme midway through the week, cheerfully accepted our request to place the CORE sponsored, Lutheran Latino Ministry "Encuentro" invitations on their table. (The "Encounter" will be hosted in Chicago by a Lutheran CORE-affiliated inner city ELCA parishes, Sept. 13-15, 2016). Consistent with Presiding Bishop Eaton's accent on the Small Catechism, complimentary bilingual (Spanish / English) copies of Luther's gem, published by Augsburg Fortress, were distributed to the thirty-plus guests at the Thursday night reception. Our host team certainly hoped for more persons during that 90 minute "convivio," but we realized that our event was up against strong competition: Thursday evening was a popular "dinner night out" among the synodical voting member groups. We were pleased to have ten synods represented at our event that evening. Some expressed solidarity, others were happy to learn of CORE for the first time, all enjoyed -- in good Lutheran fashion -- the tabletalk, coffee and dessert.
