April 19, 2008 BC SYNOD CONVENTION REPORT

To the congregation of Grace Lutheran Church
Kelowna, BC
By Lay Delegate Karen Emmond

Dear Church Family,

I have to confess that I was totally amazed when my hand shot up at our annual general meeting, to volunteer to go as a delegate to the BC Synod convention. It was rather embarrassing as, after the illuminating experience in October at the Interior Conference, I felt no desire to participate in another ELCIC convention...
Through God’s grace, I believe I was there to hear and witness the events not only as a regular member of our congregation, but also as a mother.
My report, therefore, is presented with the perspective of being a mother.
Like so many Christian mothers, my prayer is for my children to not only treat our Holy Bible as a precious gift from God, but to experience the Bible as God’s LIVING Word. I pray that they will experience and appreciate the TRANSFORMATIVE power of Jesus’ love for them. I pray that they too will experience the exhilaration of the Holy Spirit moving within them, and rely on that Spirit to guide their actions and thoughts, enabling them to do and say what they would not be able to achieve on their own power. Most of all, I pray that my children serve as channels for God’s peace.
There were some hopes expressed at the BC SYNOD Convention that, as a mother, I appreciate: the sincere concern expressed by many lay delegates for finding a way to express Jesus’ love to disadvantaged people - particularly homosexual, lesbian and trans-gendered people. Delivered with passion, and sometimes tears and shaking legs, youth and adult lay delegates shared stories about friends, relatives and neighbours who had experienced often heart wrenching alienation from their church families because of who they were. A number of Pastors spoke as well: although most spoke in favor of the motion, a handful did speak against it. The in-favor reasoning varied, though most indirectly echoed one pastor from Vancouver who said: “I feel God calls ALL who walk through the door of my church.” Another lay person stated, “All are equal at the foot of the cross.” I also heard a delegate reiterate that, “Jesus died for all of us, no one sin is greater than another.” Another lay delegate from Vancouver reminded us all that Jesus transforms us. Although this was the ONLY time I heard the word or suggestion of transformation, these comments are all Christian statements and beliefs that I would want my children to hear and experience in their church.
 I believe that a large number of the lay delegates truly believed that all they were voting on was what should naturally be the mandate of any Christ-led church – to welcome all people, regardless of who they are, even though the interpretation of “welcoming” was never clarified by the Synod. Some pastors reiterated the Bishop’s earlier claim that the welcoming motion had nothing to do with blessing same-sex unions, or the ordination of homosexuals and lesbians in active sexual relationships, reminding us that, “As Christians AND Canadians, how can we NOT welcome everyone?” 
Sadly, the overwhelming tone of the convention was one of division and guardedness. More disturbing were comments made during debates on the Welcoming Motion, the Reconciling in Christ motion, and the Reviewing Communion requirement of Baptism, that, as a mother, I would prayerfully SHIELD my children from.
Those include:
“I believe in Jesus, NOT the Bible.” (Stated by a Vancouver pastor, in retaliation to our Pastor Ed’s comment that he believes in the Holy Bible)
“All are welcome at Jesus’ table – it has never made any sense to me why Baptism is a requirement.”
“God made homosexuals, lesbians, and transgendered people – he made them that way, so sexual orientation is not a sin.”
“Church should be a safe place for all people – if people of different sexual orientations do not feel welcome, then church is not a safe place.”
“When I give the elements, I always refer to it as ‘the Bread of Life’ rather than the Body of Christ.” (This from a pastor speaking on the Communion requirements motion – we understood from his speech that he did this particularly to avoid offending younger people)
The debate and voting procedures were also quite disturbing.  As a mother with a son interested in pursuing law as a career, I would not have wanted him to see how the BC SNYOD conducted the voting on these divisive motions. Votes on motions were taken by VOICE – ayes, or nays. A questionable method at best, and quite dependent upon the vocal effort expounded by those wanting to sway a vote one way or another – possibly this ‘relaxed’ manner of voting would be acceptable for a relatively minor, assuredly agreeable motion – certainly not for significant, divisive and contentious motions. In addition, during the LONG motions session, if you were not paying 100% attention, 100% of the time, it would have been easy to miss expressing your ‘voice’ – this happened with the vote on the welcoming motion. After Bishop Preibisch granted voice to two visitors from Lutherans Concerned (a large organization promoting the total acceptance of gays, lesbians and trans-gendered peoples into the full life of the Lutheran church), who spoke over their three allotted minutes, Preibisch called the vote so quickly that it took a few minutes to register in the minds of all the delegates that the vote had, indeed, been made. (No equal opportunity for a forum debate was given to any representative from Solid Ground, nor a response allowed to the presentations of the two visitors).  Two people asked for a retake of the vote or at least a show of hands and were denied: one was a man, who declared he would have voted in favor, expressed frustration at not being counted in; the other was Pastor Giannellia of Christ Lutheran, who asked for the vote to be retaken with a show of hands instead, so that she would be able to satisfy her congregation later on. (I feel ballots would have been the most accurate and fair way of recording the exact voting numbers on ‘hot topic’ motions.) After a short recess, the motion on studying to become Reconciling in Christ congregations, and the two motions concerning the provincial minimum wage were voted on by a show of hands – and several of us heard that the Bishop had been advised to change his method. However, Preibisch returned to the voice vote for the Communion/Baptism motion. The Bishop was also corrected and challenged several times on proper procedure through the debating, speaking, and voting, and on more than one occasion, overruled the challengers. At one point, he conceded a change to a motion, noting it to be a ‘friendly amendment’, which really expressed the feeling of the entire convention – a split group of ‘you’re for’ delegates versus ‘you’re against’ delegates.

As a mother, though, the Convention session I would most want to protect my children from was keynote speaker Christian Eberhart and his speech. This man is a professor at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon – the same school our Pastor attended. Following are some of the comments made during his hour long speech, complete with power point presentation, on Deciphering the Eucharist. It is my most fervent prayer that I have relayed Eberhart’s comments to you as truthfully and completely as I can. The comments are taken from my notes:
“There are many untruths in the Bible.”
“The Eucharist is a symbolic, ritual action that needs explanation.”
“The action ‘bless, break and share’, is perceived to be ‘holy’ by the members of the church. There is no wrong interpretation to this kind of ritual. What does it mean to you? Jesus presents His own interpretation of Holy Communion.”
“Does the wine and bread REALLY turn into the blood and body of Christ? Of course not.”
“However, since Christ is in everything on earth because He created it – I guess you could say He is in the bread and the wine – the same way He is in my computer or my pen or the desk!  HE’s been recycled!”
Eberhart went on to discussing the ‘Blood of the Covenant’, looking at the historical context of the Old Testament and the blood sacrifices that occurred:
‘Animal sacrifices were used for the purpose of sprinkling blood at the curtain (in the old Temple the altar was separated from the people by a curtain) or at the horns of the altar for purification (Leviticus 16).”
“All cultures and religion regard blood as the principal source of vitality and life.”
“Blood makes atonement not through death, but through life.”
“Consecration means making someone or something holy. We are called holy people because our communion allows us to be in the presence of God. Christians have been purified by this ritual, that’s what atonement is all about.”
“We assume that the sprinkling of holy water has some effect. What does it do? Because we are a holy people, we can see God after sprinkling water.”
“You can only see God if you die.”
Then Eberhart tackled the ‘Book of the Covenant’ which is the Old Testament. Although he quoted scripture and some of his comments we hold true, you can see the direction they were designed to take the delegates in, as they were presented in such a way as to remove any restriction a Christian Lutheran might feel for moving forward in re-interpreting scripture:
“The Book of the Covenant, which called for obedience to God, was replaced by the New Covenant – the Cup and the Bread (our sanctification ritual).”
 “We die to the law through the body of Christ, so the law no longer applies for Christians.”
“There were 3 Uses of Biblical Law: it governed and prohibited sins, it revealed human sin, and it taught the rules of the law and of the temple. Paul only accepted the first two uses. The third use was promoted by John Calvin, a lawyer, and Luther was also reluctant to apply the 3rd use.”
“So, since we die to the law through the body of Christ, and the law no longer applies for Christians, does Lutheran have anything to do with the New Covenant? The new law, Romans 8:2 “you are set free from the law of sin and death” means that we no longer experience a slave relationship, it is now a father/child relationship.”
“Martin Luther was baptized Martin Luder – a name that doesn’t mean anything. Martin Luder changed his name in 1517 to Martin Luther. Luther means ‘free man’.”
Eberhart then went on to talk about civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., who, along with his father, changed his name to Martin Luther in reference to the definition of free man. Eberhart concluded his speech with:
“So Lutherans are “free people” – the law no longer applies to us – we are free to follow Christ.”
As a listening delegate, the overwhelming message I received from Eberhart was that the definition of Lutheran is “free to pave the way, to be bold.” Eberhart’s speech was BEFORE we began the debate on the Welcoming Motion, Reconciling in Christ Motion, and Communion Motion. During Eberhart’s speech, no mention was ever made of Jesus’ resurrection, just the purification we obtain from his blood sacrifice on the cross. No mention was made of the transformative power of Jesus, and, interestingly no mention was EVER made, by ANY speaker or delegate-speaking-to-a-motion at this convention, of the Holy Spirit, or the Trinity – both traditionally considered an integral part of the act of Holy Communion AND the Blood Covenant. Eberhart described the act of Holy Communion as simply a ritual that could be interpreted any way we choose to. I received the message through Eberhart’s speech that the Bible was a book not to be trusted, as along with some truths, there are a lot of untruths and it is up to us intelligent people to decipher what is true and what isn’t.  Eberhart reiterated that the Bible is just a TOOL to point us to Christ but not Holy or sacred in anyway and warned us against ‘worshiping’ the Bible the way Muslims, for example, revere the Koran.
Eberhart also made many jokes about recycling along with the earlier one about Jesus Himself being recycled, such as “God recycled right in the beginning when He made man from clay,” and “the Covenant is also a recycled word”, which I understood to mean that we are recycling the idea of using blood as atonement.

I have written this report just a few days after attending the convention Saturday April 19th, reflecting long and deeply, praying for insight, on what I experienced at the convention. I know in my heart that most of my Lutheran brothers and sisters at the convention were well-intentioned, wanting to reflect Jesus’ love, but I believe many do not really understand the complete meaning of that love, and I fear that many good people, believing they are in Christian Mission for Others, are misinformed and used by others with a hidden agenda – that of major reinterpretation and understanding of who Jesus is, of how the miracles are really just examples used by writers of another time to demonstrate a point, and of the logical rationale of God’s Word in the Bible, as applied by the scientific, historical, and human psychological foresight, knowledge and wisdom that we enjoy today.  
I am very concerned about the education and theological direction our seminary students and Lutheran clergy are being taught and told. Another motion passed by voice was the creation of an office of Theologian in Residence for the conventions of the church that would engage the services of one or more theologians drawn from the seminaries of the ELCIC to speak to conventions and to serve as theological consultants for the business of conventions. Perhaps the BC SYNOD has Eberhart in mind – who did, by the way, receive a long, standing ovation after his speech by all except our little group.
Strong concern was also expressed by at least two committees for the declining attendance of youth at ELCIC youth events and confirmation camps and we were all urged by Bishop Preibisch to send our children to confirmation camps and ELCIC/SYNOD youth events and to encourage other youth to participate.
Aside from the unnerving concern about what is being taught to our aspiring Lutheran clergy-students at the Synod sponsored LTS in Saskatoon, as well as the direction and general behavior of the BC SYNOD and some of its committees, I feel that the actions on motions taken at the Convention do raise two questions in particular, that our church family should think about, talk about, and come to a decision on. Fundamental questions that our TRIUNE GOD, not the BC SYNOD, Lutherans Concerned, passionate youth and lay delegates, or any other lobby group, calls us to answer:
#1: “If we are to witness our belief that Jesus welcomes all sinners, how welcome do we make people feel?”
#2: “If we are to witness our belief that Jesus wants us to truly love one another as He loves us, and that we are a Church for Christ, how can we show love and welcoming to homosexuals, lesbians, transgendered people, alcoholics, homeless people, physically and mentally challenged people, and so on, while upholding our Christian belief in sin, transformation, and forgiveness?”

I also believe that, through the Convention, we are all personally challenged by God to answer how we feel about Holy Communion, the Living Word, and Jesus’ promise to us all. The primary difference I had with many of my Lutheran brothers and sisters at this BC SYNOD Convention is that I believe we are all sinful beings making us equal to each other at the foot of the cross, and that the Bible clearly tells us what sin is. As Jesus says, "If you love me, you will obey what I command.”[John 14:15]  I believe that each of us has our own inner battle to overcome through this life, and that Jesus died so that we could, through Him, be transformed in this life and the next. And I believe that the Bible is an amazing, immeasurably profound, living Word that is God’s guide for us in this life, here and now. To those who feel that the Bible is an outdated collection of books written by long-dead men with who-knows-what motivation, recollecting events that may or may not have occurred as written, all I can say is that I feel great sorrow for you, that you have not experienced the uplifting, inspiring meanings and messages waiting just for you in God’s living Word. I pray that He will grant you insight, according to His Will, so that you too will come to understand and feel empowered by His splendid Word, and we can share our joy in Christ together.
To Bishop Preibisch, I would like to say that I believe we are called to be a people in Mission for Christ, not others: Christ-power, not people power.
And to Professor Eberhart, I would like to say I believe in upholding Christ and His Church, not Luther, the Lutheran church, or those who have an “honors degree in Theological Historical Criticism”. We should pray for Professor Eberhart, Bishop Preibisch, and all of us ‘sinners’, especially myself, that God open our eyes and ears so that we can really know Jesus and His complete and perfect message.
Most of all, I fervently uphold our Christian belief that Jesus’ suffering on the cross is, in God’s glory and wisdom, sufficient to forgive and redeem all of us -heterosexual, homosexual, transgendered, lesbian, alcoholic, adulterer, murderer, all the vast multitude of sins in our mortal hearts, minds and bodies – if we long for His forgiveness and mercy, and for Jesus’ help in turning away from our sins to truly live. I pray that God will direct our future path as a church family, and help our congregation of Grace Lutheran become in every way, a Church for Christ.
May God bless and keep you all.

FOR LAY DELEGATE BILL LOGAN'S REPORT, CLICK HERE.

© Grace Lutheran Church Kelowna 2006
Grace Lutheran Church is a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada