News
By the staff of The Lutheran, ELCA News Service and Religion News Service RICK NELSON
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire gets ready to discuss “Sunday Faith Meets Monday Work” with Bishop Robert D. Hofstad at the Southwestern Washing- ton Synod Assembly May 18 in Van- couver, Wash.
Washington governor: ‘
Service first, leadership second’
H
er remarks resembled a con- fession. In a conversation with Bishop Robert D. Hofstad in front of 300 participants at the Southwestern Washington Synod Assembly, Wash- ington Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Roman Catholic, shared that at times she has struggled to reconcile her faith and public leadership. One of those occurred when she
allowed the death penalty to proceed against a convicted murderer, a deci- sion Gregoire said she will struggle with the rest of her life.
More known for her resolve to
steer the state through the deepest recession since the 1930s, she was forced to make billions in cuts to
balance the budget. That struggle, Gregoire said, involved making decisions she knew would dimin- ish the lives of the state’s poorest residents. Gregoire also said she wrestled with extending to all people the civil right to marry. In February, she signed a marriage equality bill, making Washington the seventh state to do so. “It has been a journey for me,” Gregoire said. But she felt “a weight lifted” after concluding that it’s the responsibility of a faith- based public leader “to respect everybody,” she added. Assembly participants, some in agreement and some not, listened attentively during a gathering with the theme “Sunday Worship Meets Monday Work.” Attendees later passed a resolu- tion allowing synod members and leaders to welcome, care for and support same-gender couples, if consistent with their conscience- bound beliefs (page 36). That action followed vigorous debate from those wanting to welcome all to their congregations and others who felt the church no longer had room for the “orthodox view” of marriage. The governor, baptized as an adult, said her reliance on God grew throughout her career. She concluded with a challenge to her listeners to serve in public office: “It’s service first, leadership sec- ond. We need folks like you.”
Rachel Pritchett
Pritchett is the communicator for the South- western Washington Synod and a newspaper reporter in Bremerton, Wash.
ELCA Malaria Campaign
By the end of May, ELCA members had raised more than $3 million in cash, plus $500,000 in future com- mitments for the ELCA Malaria Campaign (
www.elca.org/malaria), coordinator Jessica Nipp said. “We need to raise an additional $12 mil- lion by June 2015,” she added. Nipp sees the campaign generating excite- ment on every level: individual, con- gregational and synodical. A special appeal during the week after World Malaria Day (April 25) brought in more than $250,000—topping the $200,000 goal, she said.
UMC stance unchanged United Methodists concluded their General Conference in May without voting on gay clergy or same-sex marriage. The nearly 1,000 delegates gathered in Tampa, Fla., soundly rejected two motions that would have amended the United Methodist Church’s book of doctrine and rules, which calls the practice of homosex- uality “incompatible with Christian teaching.” After those votes, pro- testers flooded the convention floor, briefly shutting down the conference. The conservative Institute on Reli- gion & Democracy credited African delegates for upholding the UMC’s stance. “Delegates from Africa, com- prising about 30 percent of the total, were decisive in votes …,” IRD said in a statement.
Statement has faculty fleeing More than two dozen faculty mem- bers resigned from Shorter Univer- sity, a Baptist school in Rome, Ga., after it required them to sign a “per- sonal lifestyle statement” that con- demns homosexuality, premarital
Quote It was all about the good of Mother Church. They cared about money, they cared about the business of the church, not the flock and not the parishioners. Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington, who is prosecuting a senior Roman Catholic official for failing to prevent the sexual abuse of children. He was quoted by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
8 The Lutheran •
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