Presiding Bishop's Pastoral Letter on Abortion
Our Presiding Bishop, Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, has issued a pastoral message on the recent ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States which overturns Roe vs. Wade, and removes federal constitutional protection for safe and legal abortion and leaving decisions about abortion law largely to the states. Her message reminds us that
despite this new legal landscape, we continue to depend on our social teaching for guidance. Our social statement provides the moral framework for our church's communal discernment and ministry, holding in tension both the strong Christian presumption to preserve and protect all life as well as the complex moral situations in which pregnancy sometimes occurs. Our social teaching is complex and does not hew to clear categories or labels such as "pro-abortion" or "anti-abortion."
You can read the ELCA Statement on Abortion, adopted in 1991 by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly by a more than two-thirds vote, HERE. I encourage you to read both Bishop Eaton's message, and the above linked social statement. It is important to note that the statement emphasizes that with regard to abortion, there are no "absolutes:" "A developing life in the womb does not have an absolute right to be born, nor does a pregnant woman have an absolute right to terminate a pregnancy." The statement has five sections, as follows:
- Our Unity and Diversity in Christ
- Convictions of Our Faith
- The Church as a Community Supportive of Life
- Guidance in Making Decisions Regarding Unintended Pregnancies
- Public Policy Issues Related to Abortion
With regard to public policy, it is important to note the ELCA statement declares that
the position of this church is that, in cases where the life of the mother is threatened, where pregnancy results from rape or incest, or where the embryo or fetus has lethal abnormalities incompatible with life, abortion prior to viability should not be prohibited by law or by lack of public funding of abortions for low income women. On the other hand, this church supports legislation that prohibits abortions that are performed after the fetus is determined to be viable, except when the mother’s life is threatened or when lethal abnormalities indicate the prospective newborn will die very soon. Beyond these situations, this church neither supports nor opposes laws prohibiting abortion.
Latest post from Lanny's Sister
In previous issues of Grace Notes I have linked to posts by Diane Baima, the sister of an interim ministry colleague, Rev. Lanny Westphal, who has lived and worked in Ukraine since 2014 as a school teacher. She is married to a Ukrainian man, and lives on a farm outside of Kiev. Pastor Lanny posted the latest report from his sister, in which she describes the challenge of getting gas for her car in Ukraine. You can read Diane's post HERE.
Roots of Our Faith Class Continues
This Sunday at 9:00 am is the second of five sessions of a course I'm calling Roots of Our Faith. It is designed to be a class to prepare prospective members of Grace to be received as confirmed and voting members of the congregation. This week's session will focus on a panoramic view of the Old and New Testaments. People often read bits and pieces of the Bible, but seldom have time to put the whole story together and see the "big picture." We will be viewing a 40 minute video by Dr. Harry Wendt, author of the Crossways series of Bible Studies. In this video, Dr. Wendt leads us on a journey through the entire sweep of the biblical narrative, relating it to both history and our lives today. Would you like to get a helpful and informative overview of the message of scripture? Join us in the Dining Room on Sunday at 9:00 am.
Confirmation Leaders Plan for '22-'23
On Wednesday, I met with Heather and Pastor Paul (Pastor Matt was planning to attend, but was not available) to discuss our plans for confirmation ministry for the 2022-2023 program year. The program will be a bit different this year in that there will no youth from St. Mark participating. However, Pastor Paul will still be involved as a leader, as our confirmation program is considered an important element of our LIFT ministry. The challenge for doing confirmation ministry jointly is exponentially more challenging when the schedules of two congregations, four leaders, and a dozen or more participating youth and their families somehow need to come together. We will continue our planning at our next meeting on Tuesday, July 19, at 2:00 pm at Grace.
Osterholm Update
Dr. Michael Osterholm, founder and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, continues to deliver solid scientific analysis of the Covid-19 pandemic in his weekly podcasts. With cases declining, the podcast has scaled back to posting an episode every other week. The latest episode, posted on Thursday, June 23, is entitled "A BA.4 and BA.5 World." In this episode, Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss the state of the pandemic in the U.S. and around the world, the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, and the recent approval of vaccines for children under 5. Dr. Osterholm also provides an update on monkeypox and shares a Celebration of Life from one of their listeners.. You can listen to or download this episode HERE.
VBS Planning Meeting
The VBS Team met for the final planning meeting this past Tuesday afternoon. Pastor Paul had his guitar and led us in singing and learning the songs that will be a part of Bible School this year. Youth were present and helped to prepare art projects, promotional posters, and decorations. Our VBS is scheduled for Monday, July 11, 2022 to Thursday, July 14, 2022, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM at St. John's. You can register for VBS online HERE. Share this link with anyone who may be interested in registering a child or grandchild for VBS.
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