My congregation voted successfully to leave the ELCA in 2023. Reflecting on the past three years, here are three things I would encourage you to keep in mind if you…
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Back in the fall of 2009, shortly after the ELCA national assembly actions created so much controversy, my congregational members were already leaning toward disaffiliation. In fact, my co-pastor and…
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There were three linchpins that were integral to my departure from the ELCA. The first linchpin, the so-called “Bound Conscience” statements, kept me from leaving the ELCA for over 15…
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Once the endless meetings, insulting slurs, character attacks, hurt feelings, and procedural difficulties involved in leaving one ecclesial community and entering another are over, the remaining congregation members are often…
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Six years. That was the length of time St. John’s Lutheran Church of Nanticoke, PA, went without a called pastor. For six years, this incredibly close-knit group of strong lay…
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Editor's Note: The author is writing about the outlandishness of the 1994 draft. It promoted same sex relationships and masturbation. And it was released to the press before it was…
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The events that put me at the front line of leading our church out of the ELCA began with an unexpected phone call from our founding pastor. Unbeknownst to him,…
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It started with Holy Communion. When people ask me to share my experience with leaving the ELCA, the story begins where questions of church fellowship must always begin: the altar.…
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Editor's Note: Dan Hetherington is the pastor at St. John Lutheran Church, Columbia, MD. We have heard many stories from around the country about the problems some have faced in…
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Editor’s Note: Lutheran CORE is collecting and possibly publishing stories from our readers and congregations about the process they followed when they tried to exit the ELCA — successfully or…
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