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Faith divided: Moline church vote brings dual affiliations
Originally Posted Online: Nov. 02, 2009, 8:16 pm
Last Updated: Nov. 02, 2009, 9:21 pm
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By Leon Lagerstam, leon@qconline.com
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MOLINE -- Voting at Faith Lutheran Church Sunday left dual affiliations for a dueling congregation. In a 195-104 vote, members chose to stop paying benevolence money to the Evangelical Church in America. They also voted 190-109 to join the Lutheran Congregations In Missions for Christ, said church task force leader Bruce Dalfonso, but a 182-118 vote to leave the ELCA fell 18 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed. That means the church will be dual-rostered, but no longer supporting the ELCA. Mr. Dalfonso said 100 percent of the benevolence through LCMC goes directly to mission work. ELCA uses 37 percent of benevolence for administrative costs, he said. Faith's constitution, he said, lets church leaders direct its money as they see fit. Faith member John Norton, however, claims two chapters in the constitution -- calling for the church to motivate and pledge support to the ELCA and acknowledge its relationship with the ELCA -- contradicts the vote. "So they are in conflict with their own constitution,'' Mr. Norton said. Faith's constitution was revised five years ago, said Mr. Dalfonso, adding he was confident the church is following "it to the letter, and that we're in full compliance.'' The number of members choosing the LCMC, he said, showed that, ''through bound conscience, we believe Jesus Christ is our savior and that we believe in heaven and hell." Language on the ELCA Web site -- www.elca.org -- fueled the division at Faith, he said, saying the site states, "'Everybody is saved whether they are 'religious or irreligious.'" ''So, the ELCA now accepts that if you deny Jesus you are still saved," he said. "Even if you are a Satan worshipper, you are still saved." He said he could not "in good conscience"accept or support that, adding he believed the item was something the ELCA ''slipped past everyone'' during a separate statement permitting congregations to appoint gay pastors. Information on the Web site, however, predates that statement by more than 20 years, said the Rev. Larry Conway of Trinity Lutheran Church in Moline. Statements such as whether people being saved are ''religious or irreligious," were written by conservative Lutheran theologian Carl Braaten in the 1980s. he said, adding that Mr. Braaten is among another group opposed to the ELCA's sexuality stance. Site information also was geared toward ''people who have no church,'' said ELCA assembly delegate Kai Swanson. ''Its focus is on sharing the good news to those who have not heard it,'' he said. Neither he nor Rev. Conway chose to comment about Faith's vote, saying it's a matter for church members only. Mr. Swanson, however, said the vote gives other churches an opportunity ''to sit back and think about what the ELCA really says and how that jibes with what they're doing." Rev. Conway did that Sunday in a group discussion about a Saturday article previewing Faith's vote. ''We found it helpful to discuss how our unity in Christ is more important than the issues that may divide us,'' he said. ''Unity, not separation, is what we are praying for,'' said Mr. Norton, a 43-year member of Faith and a noted Lutheran historian. ''Our next step is to secure some kind of reconciliation or resolution, with a reconciliation as our first choice.'' Mr. Norton is part of a 20-member ''Saving Faith'' group that led efforts to stay affiliated with the ELCA. "I'm happy membership with the ELCA was retained. It says some of the calmer heads prevailed," he said. "But I was deeply saddened by the inability of both sides to reach a middle ground and sad that it has come this far and that it may lead to an eventual split of some form.'' It leaves former church member Jennifer Ohman-Rodriguez wondering each side's goals. ''Is it to divide the congregation or keep it together?'' she said. ''Certainly, either way, there are a lot of people losing, and I'm saddened by all the anger and divisiveness." She celebrates the 46th anniversary of her baptism at Faith this month; her mother, Gail Ohman, is still a member of the church, she said. "I may worship and belong to another church, but Faith is still a faith home to me," she said. ''The results of the voting speak for how divided they are," she said, saying the unease, which led her to leave the church, began before recent events. ''It's been brewing for a while." Mr. Norton, who expects another vote will be taken, said he's looking for another church although no decisions has been made yet. Mr. Dalfonso said he wouldn't be surprised if the church sees some kind of retaliaton by ELCA. "But we have no idea of what form it may take. We're going to focus on going forward rather than on differences, and we will continue to focus on what Christ teaches us in Scripture,'' Mr. Dalfonso said. ''Regardless of what Braaten said, or what the ELCA site says, the only thing that matters is that we care what Jesus, Peter, Paul and John said. Those are the authors that God commissioned to speak to us through the Holy Spirit.'' 
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