{"id":296,"date":"2010-10-15T15:21:06","date_gmt":"2010-10-15T19:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stlydias.org\/blog\/?p=296"},"modified":"2010-11-23T16:19:50","modified_gmt":"2010-11-23T21:19:50","slug":"why-the-elca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stlydiasliturgy.org\/blog\/2010\/10\/why-the-elca\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the ELCA?"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the month of October, the congregation at St. Lydia\u2019s has been taking part in a conversation<\/a> discerning how we might be in relationship with the wider Church.\u00a0 We are already in relationship with Trinity Lower East Side<\/a>, our host congregation, and through them, to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America<\/a> (ELCA).\u00a0 But what would it mean for us to formalize our relationship with a denomination, specifically the ELCA?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had some wonderful discussion about why denominations matter, and talked about\u00a0 the church as one body, a body of which we are a member.\u00a0 You can\u2019t be a Christian alone; begin a Christian is about being in relationship with others.\u00a0 But why the ELCA in particular?<\/p>\n

St. Lydia\u2019s has a very particular identity.\u00a0 We worship in a way that\u2019s modeled after the practices of the early church, and draw people together from diverse traditions.\u00a0 Therefore, I think that what we\u2019re looking for in a denominational home is a tradition that resonates <\/em>with us.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be a bit of an oddity wherever we land.\u00a0 What we\u2019re looking for is place that can be in relationship enough, find enough points of resonance, and nurture us as we grow.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where I see places of resonance<\/em> between St. Lydia\u2019s and the ELCA:<\/p>\n

Eucharistic Theology:<\/strong> both the ELCA and St. Lydia\u2019s place the table at the center of their worship. \u00a0God’s presence in known in the meal that we share. \u00a0This is different from other traditions that celebrate communion once a month or once a quarter, and place preaching at the center of their worship practices.<\/p>\n

Earthy Sacramentality:<\/strong> St. Lydia\u2019s celebrates God\u2019s presence in the ordinary bread and cup we bless together, and in the ordinary people gathered around the table.\u00a0 For Lutherans, God is also known through ordinary things and ordinary people.<\/p>\n

The Bible as Living Word:<\/strong> At St. Lydia\u2019s, we explore the place where scripture meets our experience as we read the Bible together.\u00a0 Lutherans often talk about the \u201cliving word\u201d which breaks into our lives.\u00a0 Luther compares the bible to the manger that held Christ.\u00a0 The manger and the bible are made by human hands, yet both hold God.<\/p>\n

Liturgical Freedom:<\/strong> the ELCA invites its congregations to use the book of worship as a resource, and to experiment with different forms.\u00a0 This is different from other traditions where congregations ask permission to depart from the denominational prayer book.<\/p>\n

Ecumenical context:<\/strong> St. Lydia\u2019s is home to people from a number of denominational backgrounds, and welcomes presiders from different denominations.\u00a0 The ELCA has worked tirelessly to create ecumenical relationships<\/a> with a number of other denominations.\u00a0 They are in full communion with six other mainline denominations, which means that in the future, St. Lydia\u2019s could call a pastor from one of those traditions.<\/p>\n

Welcoming Congregations: <\/strong>St. Lydia\u2019s is a congregation that welcomes and affirms GLBT people.\u00a0 In 2009, the ELCA adopted a social statement called \u201cHuman Sexuality: Gift and Trust<\/a>,\u201d which sees bodies and sexuality as good, and means that openly gay and lesbian persons are now being ordained as clergy.<\/p>\n

I invite you to reflect on what I’ve written here, explore the various links, and if you feel moved, participate in the online conversation<\/a>!<\/p>\n

-Emily M D Scott, pastoral minister<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the month of October, the congregation at St. Lydia\u2019s has been taking part in a conversation discerning how we might be in relationship with the wider Church.\u00a0 We are already in relationship with Trinity Lower East Side, our host congregation, and through them, to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).\u00a0 But what would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[27],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlydiasliturgy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlydiasliturgy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlydiasliturgy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlydiasliturgy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlydiasliturgy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/stlydiasliturgy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":426,"href":"https:\/\/stlydiasliturgy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions\/426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlydiasliturgy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlydiasliturgy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlydiasliturgy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}