January 13, 2005

(Below please find and edited version of the report and recommendations. For the entire document you may go to the ELCA website or in the fellowship hall there is a copy posted.)

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

The members of this task force are joined by our love of Jesus Christ and our determination to hold fast to the authority of Scripture. We have been humbled by the assignment from the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to serve as stewards of the controversial task of offering recommendations to this church related to blessing committed same-sex relationships and ordaining, consecrating, or commissioning people in such committed relationships. We have undertaken this assignment in the conviction that gay, lesbian, and heterosexual Christians all belong to Christ's church through baptism. We also affirm the welcome of this church to gay and lesbian people as stated in
the Churchwide Assembly resolutions of 1991, 1995, and 1999. ….
We offer this report to the church with a deep awareness that it will affect our partners in ministry across the country and around the world. We invite the prayers, responses, and admonitions of all our partners. We ask this because we know that we can discern God's will for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America only in the fullness and accountability of the global community of Christ. We give thanks to God for the members of this church who have supported us with prayer during this time of study and deliberation. That prayerful support has been a sign to us of the unity that we truly share, for it has been offered by people representing a variety of views and goals. We pray that this unity will continue to grow without sacrificing the conscience-bound commitment of those who find themselves in opposition to one another. In honor of our work, and in faithfulness to the law and spirit revealed to us by Jesus Christ, we request that all members of the ELCA refrain from activities that contribute to divisiveness and commit themselves to persistent respectful listening and
unceasing prayer as we continue this journey together. It has been an honor to provide leadership for the remarkable group of people who are serving the church as members of this task force. Their commitment and integrity have transformed a nearly impossible assignment into a powerful experience of community that truly reflects God's power to transcend barriers through the love of Jesus Christ. ….But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. --Ephesians 2:13,14

In Christ's peace,
The Rev. Margaret G. Payne
Bishop of the ELCA New England Synod
Chair, Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality
The Rev. Dr. James Childs
Director, ELCA Studies on Sexuality

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