{"id":5404,"date":"2018-08-23T19:24:18","date_gmt":"2018-08-23T19:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.brethren.org\/news\/?p=5404"},"modified":"2018-10-01T19:30:29","modified_gmt":"2018-10-01T19:30:29","slug":"elizabethtown-request","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2018\/elizabethtown-request\/","title":{"rendered":"Elizabethtown requests Atlantic Northeast District withdraw “Same-Gender Marriage” proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Church of the Brethren Newsline
\nAugust\u00a023,\u00a02018<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Courtesy of Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0Elizabethtown (Pa.) Church of the Brethren<\/a>\u00a0board has responded to the passage of \u201cPolicy on Same-Gender Marriage\u201d by the Atlantic Northeast District board, \u201crespectfully requesting\u201d the board to withdraw the item from consideration at this year\u2019s district conference. Elizabethtown states in the response, dated Aug. 13, that it is \u201ca congregation that has reached decidedly differing conclusions on the issues of human sexuality and pastoral care to all persons.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The\u00a0proposed district policy<\/a>\u00a0acknowledges \u201cthe Church of the Brethren is not of one mind on a number of issues, including that of homosexuality and same-gender marriage,\u201d and emphasizes the importance of relationships. Citing past denominational and district actions, however, it goes on to outline a \u201cResponse Process for a Minister Who Performs a Same-Gender Marriage.\u201d That process includes a report to the district executive, documentation of the details of the report, and conversations with the minister involved, the District Ministry Commission, and the minister\u2019s congregation.<\/p>\n

If the congregation supports the minister\u2019s actions, then a letter of reprimand and a one-year probation would be given for a \u201cfirst offense.\u201d Further steps could be taken following conversation at the end of the one-year period. For a documented \u201csecond offense,\u201d a recommendation would be made to the district board for \u201cimmediate termination\u201d of ministry credentials. If the minister did not have congregational support, then it would be reported \u201cas a potential Ministerial Ethics Violation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Elizabethtown response<\/a>\u00a0to this proposed statement notes \u201cthe realities of congregational life together with numerous members of (the) LGBTQ community and their participation,\u201d provides background on the congregation\u2019s \u201caffirmation of being \u2018open to all,\u2019\u201d reviews the process used to reach the decision, and explores the possible \u201cdilemma\u201d Elizabethtown would face should district conference pass the statement.<\/p>\n

Should the paper be adopted, Elizabethtown says, \u201cour congregation will be caught between the district mandate and our understanding of the call of Christ. While yearning to remain in full fellowship with the district simultaneously we are determined to be faithful. We prefer to act in loving mutual discernment rather than forced compliance.\u201d The congregation, it says, is open to ongoing dialogue but would \u201cnot comply with these arbitrary mandates\u201d out of \u201ca spirit of obedience to the call Christ has placed upon us.\u201d Elizabethtown pastor Greg Davidson Laszakovits said that he was \u201cproud of my congregation\u201d for its supportive stance.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Atlantic Northeast District\u00a0<\/a>conference is scheduled for Oct. 5-6 at Elizabethtown College\u2019s Leffler Chapel with Mindy Wintsch, associate pastor of Mechanic Grove Church of the Brethren, serving as moderator. Several \u201csectional meetings\u201d to discuss upcoming business at district conference had already been scheduled for September.<\/p>\n

Go to\u00a0www.brethren.org\/Newsline<\/a>\u00a0to subscribe to the Church of the Brethren Newsline free e-mail news service and receive church news every week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Elizabethtown (Pa.) Church of the Brethren board has responded to the passage of \u201cPolicy on Same-Gender Marriage\u201d by the Atlantic Northeast District board, \u201crespectfully requesting\u201d the board to withdraw the item from consideration at this year\u2019s district conference. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1258,1263],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-5404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-annual-conference","tag-peace"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5404"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5407,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5404\/revisions\/5407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5404"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=5404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}