Lutheran Church's Trans Bishop Resigns Amid Racism Allegations

[Carolyn Marie]

https://nypost.com/2022/06/12/lutheran-churchs-first-openly-transgender-bishop-resigns-after-racism-allegations/

 

Carolyn Marie

[VickySGV]

I had heard this one coming and it saddens me greatly but the whole thing I have heard from my ELCA friends is a confused mess.  The resignation was almost inevitable once it got out of hand.  Even though the ELCA is Trans Affirming, it has units within it that are touchier on the subject and this was a gasoline can in a brush fire.

[Marcie Jensen]

Her are just a few thoughts based on the article. This is not judgmental; rather just a few impressions from what I read.

 

This is an---interesting?...development, as well as a sad commentary on the state of the church today. In the early 2000s, while at seminary, my professor of Reformation Theology was ELCA and gay. Back then, he had to remain celebate in order to retain his ordination. It was a matter of church discipline that he accepted. Times have certainly changed, both for the ELCA and my denomination the PCUSA.

 

I don't know what the rules of the ELCA are in regard to disciplining pastors, but it seems to me that there ought to have been other forms of discipline for pastor Gonzalez than removing him from the pulpit; unless there are circumstances that are not public knowledge. Regardless, when he took his ordination vows, pastor Gonzalez had to agree to abide by the rules of his denomination, which would include church discipline; as do the members of his particular congregation.

 

That said, the fact that bishop Rohrer was called racist for exercising her ecclesiastical duties within the ELCA is puzzling. And the fact that she has had to wear a bulletproof vest in the pulpit is frightening on a number of levels. As is her decision to resign. I am aware that in the ELCA, bishops are elected within a particular synod, as opposed to the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican traditions, wherein bishops are appointed for life. (Again, I'm Presbyterian and we are not an episcopacy, so we have no bishops. Thus, I don't know exactly what the requirements are in the ELCA.) I am also left with the question that all it took was the accusation of racism, which is a heinous belief, for bishop Rohrer to be censured. 

 

Sadly, it seems as if politics has penetrated even church leadership nowadays. Clearly there was a disconnect between the bishop and the particular congregation, evidenced by Rohrer's letter of resignation. That is not only sad, but it interferes with the church's overall mission as well as Jesus' admonition to His disciples to love each other as brothers. Clearly, one can't exercise this agape type of love when this sort of situation arises.