ELCA prepares sex statement - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Christian Century, Nov 3, 1993

PROPOSED statement on human sexuality by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America says that "binding commitment, not the license or ceremony... lies at the heart of biblical understandings of marriage." The first draft statement, "The Church and Human Sexuality: A Lutheran Perspective," represents an effort to examine sexuality in the light of Christian faith. The 21-page document, in the works for the past four years, will be circulated throughout the church for response during the first half of the coming year. A final draft is expected to be presented to the denominations 1995 Churchwide Assembly.

"A lifelong, enduring, loving commitment is at the core of a Christian understanding of what marriage is," said Karen Bloomquist, director of the ELCAs Department of Studies. "Prior to such a commitment, we as a church affirm and encourage abstinence for the sake of the person, the relationship and the wider community." The proposed statement contends that if single persons were tempted to be sexually active, "serious questions need to be asked as to whether this is a relationship leading to marriage, and if not, why not."

Bloomquist said the draft seeks "to provide a theological framework within which members of our church can approach, think about and talk about these issues--especially what it means for them to live out their faith in the area of sexuality." In a cover letter distributed with the first draft, the 17member Task Force on Human Sexuality said the statement's aim is "to provide guidance for people as they live out their sexuality. It cannot control sexual practice, bind the individual conscience or presume to provide definitive judgment on all moral questions in dispute."

One of the major moral questions in contemporary understandings of sexuality is homosexuality, and the Lutherans, like other faith bodies, have been wrestling with that issue in both ecclesiastical and secular terms. The proposed ELCA statement does not address the issue of the ordination of homosexuals to the ministry--an issue that has caused a sharp division within the denomination and led to the suspension and potential ouster of two San Francisco-area congregations. But it does examine biblical passages related to homosexuality and common responses to the issue among church members.

Concerning biblical teaching on homosexuality the document concludes that "because of questions regarding the specific kind of same-sex behavior to which the [cited] biblical passages refer... it is inappropriate to use these passages by themselves as the basis for opposing all committed, just, loving homosexual relationships today." In looking at responses to homosexuality, the statement raises three possibilities. The first of these is that "the church should be loving and accepting of persons who are homosexual, welcoming them as members, but clearly opposing their being sexually active." That response, the statement says, "needs to be questioned on biblical and theological grounds, indeed challenged because of its harmful effect on gay and lesbian people and their families."

Other responses, the draft states, are "strongly supported by responsible biblical interpretation." One of these calls on people "to tolerate, perhaps even support mutually loving, committed gay and lesbian relationships," and another says that "to love our neighbor means open affirmation of gay and lesbian persons and their mutually loving, just, committed relationships of fidelity."

In addition to affirming marriage and abstinence before marriage, the document singles out elements of human sexuality it calls "wrong" or "morally unacceptable." These indude "whatever violates, harms or demeans persons and relationships," disowning a relative or friend because of their sexual orientation, sexual activity that is not consensual, sexual practices that result in physical harm, exposing partners to sexually transmitted disease, all forms of verbal or physical harassment, prostitution, manipulating sexuality for economic gain, and pornography. Finally, the statement maintains that "education regarding responsible sexual behavior, monogamy and abstinence, and preventive practices such as the use of condores are moral imperatives."