Pope to visit Sweden Pope Francis’ outreach to the Protestant world will hit new heights this fall when he makes a two-day trip to Sweden to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The Oct. 31-Nov. 1 trip to Lund and Malmö is being structured around the themes of “thanksgiving, repentance and commitment to common witness,” according to the Vatican’s Pontifi- cal Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Lutheran World Federation. Two-thirds of Swedes are members of the Lutheran Church of Sweden (6.2 million), although participation is low. Organizers say the celebration’s aim “is to express the gifts of the Reformation and ask for forgiveness for division perpetuated by Christians from the two traditions.”
School’s policy under investigation St. John Lutheran School, Baraboo, Wis., is under investigation for distributing a student handbook that includes disciplinary policies for gay and transgender students. Because the institution receives federal funding—and Title IX prohibits disciplining students for their sexual orientation or gender identity—the U.S. Department of Agriculture has opened an investigation, The Oregonian newspaper reported. St. John is affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
Lighting the darkness As the month of Ramadan began June 5 for Muslims, ELCA members and churches showed their support by placing signs in their yards or on church property wishing their Muslim neighbors a blessed Ramadan. In Redmond, Wash., Faith Lutheran Church’s sign (below) became the subject of a Redmond Reporter essay by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, who noticed it as she drove through the neighborhood: “I am amazed at how much joy this brought to my heart. … Maybe [it’s because of] the intensity of this election year, and the variety of hatreds it has unearthed.… Thank you to the community of Faith Lutheran for this thoughtful and unexpected gift, and this particular year, for lighting the darkness.”
Methodists postpone gay rights decision
Amid protest, song and fears of a denominational breakup, United Methodists at their quadrennial General Conference in May decided to put a debate on human sexuality on hold. The General Conference is the denomination’s top policy-making body.
Delegates from the U.S. and abroad, however, voted 428-405 on May 18 to allow the church’s Council of Bishops to appoint a commission to discuss whether to accept same-sex marriage or ordain lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clergy. The bishops said they want the commission to “develop a complete examination and possible revision of every paragraph in our Book of Discipline regarding human sexuality.”
In other action, delegates voted 425- 268 for two of its bodies to disassociate from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. The decision instructed the General Board of Church and Society and the United Methodist Women to withdraw immediate membership in the coalition, a pro- choice organization the UMC board helped establish in 1973.
Beth Ann Cook, a pastor in the Indiana Conference, said “the time has come to withdraw” because the UMC’s positions on abortion differ from some of the coalition’s policies.
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