c. 2007 Religion News Service
Chicago Lutheran church tests gay policy
(RNS) A Chicago congregation is testing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s new policy on gay clergy by ordaining a lesbian who did not take a vow of celibacy.
Resurrection Lutheran Church ordained the Rev. Jennette Lynn Rude, 27, on Saturday (Nov. 17) despite church requirements that gay clergy be celibate. Rude told reporters the policy is discriminatory since heterosexual ministers take no such vow.
The ceremony was an “extraordinary ordination,” according to a Lutheran group for gay clergy, because it was “performed outside the ordinary guidelines for Lutheran ordinations.”
Rude received all the training and schooling for Lutheran ministry but has not been approved for Chicago’s roster of eligible clergy, said Jeff Drake, a synod spokesman. She is credentialed by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, an independent group for gay clergy.
Rude’s ordination and installation are believed to be the first test of the 4.8 million-member ELCA’s new policy on gay clergy.
At the ELCA’s national assembly in August, delegates left the celibacy requirement in place but called on bishops to refrain from defrocking any gay ministers.
Bishop Wayne Miller of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod did not attend the ordination; neither did he prohibit it. Drake said Miller was unavailable for comment Monday but provided a statement from the synod dated Nov. 2.
“Bishop Miller has had an honest and constructive conversation with the members of Resurrection Lutheran Church. He will continue to provide pastoral care and leadership to this congregation,” the statement reads.
Rude could not be reached for comment.
In a letter posted on Resurrection’s Web site, the Rev. Brian Hiortdahl said the church’s nine-member council voted unanimously to call Rude to ministry.
“Extending a call to her to serve as pastor in our community sends strong witness to our wider ELCA about our belief that its ongoing policy prohibiting non-heterosexual clergy in committed relationships is unacceptable and must be reformed,” Hiortdahl wrote.
_ Daniel Burke
Jesuits tentatively approve $50 million settlement
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) An Oregon-based Jesuit province has tentatively agreed to pay a record $50 million to settle 110 claims of child sexual abuse in remote Alaska Native villages, attorneys for the accusers said Sunday (Nov. 18).
The settlement is the largest ever involving a Catholic religious order, according to a statement issued by plaintiffs attorneys.
The Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus includes in its territory Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. It is separate from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, which earlier this year agreed to pay clergy accusers up to $75 million to emerge from bankruptcy.
The Rev. John D. Whitney, the Jesuit provincial superior, on Sunday said he was surprised and disappointed by what he called a premature announcement.
“While the Jesuits have been dedicated to finding a just and timely solution to these cases, it is my understanding that there are still many issues that need to be finalized before it is appropriate to make an official announcement about a settlement,” Whitney said in a statement.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs provided a copy of an e-mail in which a Portland attorney for the Jesuits confirmed the agreement on the $50 million settlement, but said it probably would take another month to work out the details.
It is unclear how the Northwest Jesuits will cover the settlement. Two years ago, Whitney said that the organization had settled cases up to that point with insurance money, savings and by asking priestly communities to reduce expenses.
He said none of the money had come or could come from prominent Jesuit-affiliated schools such as Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., or Jesuit High School in Portland because they are independent organizations.
The Jesuits, with 20,000 members the largest Catholic religious order in the world, are known for education and missionary work and report directly to superiors outside the Vatican in Rome.
The child sex abuse incidents at the core of the settlement derive from work in Alaska villages, most of them Eskimo, dating to the 1960s.
“In some villages, it is difficult to find an adult who was not sexually violated by men who used religion and power to rape, shame and then silence hundreds of Alaska Native children,” said Ken Roosa, an Anchorage attorney for the plaintiffs.
Whitney said in his statement Sunday that the Jesuits are trying to make amends with abuse victims.
“The Society of Jesus is laboring to find just settlements in Alaska and elsewhere for the sake of the survivors of abuse and the many men and women who have had their faith and their lives shaken by the crisis of the last few years,” he said. “We proceed carefully in announcing such settlements so as to be respectful of these people and accurate in what we say.”
_ Ashbel S. Green
Third Canadian diocese approves same-sex blessings
TORONTO (RNS) A third Anglican diocese in Canada has voted to approve conducting same-sex marriages.
Clergy and lay delegates attending the annual synod of the southern Ontario diocese of Niagara voted 239-53 on Saturday (Nov. 17) to allow clergy “whose conscience permits” to bless gay marriages.
Niagara Bishop Ralph Spence said he will allow same-sex blessings in the diocese once a protocol has been worked out.
“Much consultation will take place,” Spence told the Anglican Journal. “When and how this will be implemented will be dealt with in the days that lie ahead. We are aware of the vote’s ramifications.”
Three years ago, the diocese voted in favor of same-sex blessings, but Spence withheld his required endorsement for the measure to take effect.
He changed his stance this time “because the ground shifted underneath us” after Anglicans in Ottawa and Montreal voted to approve the blessing of same-sex marriages, as long as the priest and parish approve and at least one party is baptized.
The Vancouver-based diocese of New Westminster has offered blessings since 2002.
The Niagara vote followed news that a retired bishop and head of a conservative Anglican faction has broken all ties with the Anglican Church of Canada over the same-sex issue.
“I knew … that I could not stay within the Anglican Church of Canada because the rift was getting too wide and the direction it was starting to go was moving way too fast,” Donald Harvey, the former bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, told the National Post. “I’m certainly hoping I will not be by myself.”
Harvey, moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada, cited the “unabated theological decay” in the Canadian church, and said he will affiliate with the conservative Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, which encompasses much of South America.
_ Ron Csillag
Quote of the Day: Pop star Michael Jackson
(RNS) “The key to being a wonderful writer is not to write. You just get out of the way. Leave room for God to walk in the room. And when I write something that I know is right, I get on my knees and say thank you. Thank you, Jehovah!”
_ Pop star Michael Jackson, speaking in an interview with Ebony magazine, about the creative process involved in his songwriting, including the “Thriller” album, which debuted 25 years ago.
KRE/PH END RNS
