Part Three: Lutherans Talk about Human Sexuality
Since the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly mandated that this church engage in a study on homosexuality and a study on sexuality, we have been on a six-year journey together. Two studies under the banner of “Journey Together Faithfully” have been developed to help us engage in conversations on these matters within the context of this church’s faith and life. Your faithful conversations and your feedback continue to help form the recommendations that will come to the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.
We have discussed and debated important matters together already, but as we draw closer to the development of a comprehensive social statement on human sexuality, more conversation is needed. To help us continue the conversation, this third study, Free in Christ to Serve the Neighbor: Lutherans Talk about Human Sexuality, has been developed under the guidance of the Task Force for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality.
I believe you will find this study to be both comprehensive and engaging. I appreciate that it uses Paul’s letter to the Galatians and Luther’s “The Freedom of the Christian” to provide the biblical and theological grounding for our conversations. I encourage its use in a variety of settings—in congregations, rostered leaders’ conferences, campus ministries, homes, and classrooms. Discussing matters related to human sexuality can be challenging and even difficult, but this resource helps us approach these matters in a way that is respectful, honest, and faithful.
From the first session comes this statement:
“On complicated matters, Christians can and will in good conscience disagree about interpreting the will of God. ...We do not disagree that we are saved by grace through faith. We do not disagree that we are called to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. So then, as God’s own people called to freedom in the gospel, we ask, ‘How then shall we live?’ Discovering this ‘how’ is not a simple matter. It will likely produce some struggle, but because we are bound together in the gospel we can deliberate without fear and without threat of division.”
It is with this hope and with confidence in the leading of the Holy Spirit that we continue our journey together. May God strengthen and bless you as you participate in these studies.
Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop
Download
Free in Christ to Serve the Neighbor: Lutherans Talk about Human Sexuality 