July 31, 2007

Bishop Margaret Payne will preside at the goodsoil Eucharistic celebration to be held in Chicago

Bishop Margaret Payne will preside at the goodsoil Eucharistic celebration being held on Wednesday evening, August 8, 8:00 pm, in Hyatt Grand Ballroom E&F, East Tower, Hyatt Regency Hotel, 151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, during the 2007 Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA.

You are invited to come to this worship service. It is open to ALL who wish to attend.

Bishop Payne wrote a letter to her colleagues in the Conference of Bishops about her decision to preside. That letter is reproduced below.

July 15, 2007

In the past few months, our church has been involved in conversations and decisions that continue to reveal the differing viewpoints among us about the role of gay and lesbian persons in the ELCA. However, we still seek to live together faithfully despite our disagreements and to work prayerfully to discern God's will for our church.

We are called to obey the policies of the ELCA, yet we are also called to consider possibilities for change. Within this difficult tension, we are committed to respect one another's faith-bound beliefs while we disagree about policy related to the ways in which our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters are included in the life of our church.

Over the last few months, I have spent time in prayer and discernment that have led me to choose to be more openly supportive of gay and lesbian persons who seek fuller inclusion in the life of the ELCA. I have accepted an invitation from the worship planners of [goodsoil] Lutherans Concerned / North America to preside at a Eucharist that will take place on Wednesday, August 8, 2007, during the Churchwide Assembly. To me, this liturgy represents the commitment to continue support for consideration of change in the policy of the ELCA in a way that depends not on political maneuvering but on the flow of gifts that comes to all of us in the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

When I sought ordination as a woman in the Lutheran Church, and encountered hateful resistance, I was profoundly appreciative of men who were allies and stood openly by my side with support and encouragement. I want to provide that same kind of support and encouragement for gay and lesbian people who are deeply faithful brothers and sisters already sharing their gifts among us.

The time may or may not be right in God's plan for change in our church, but I pray and continue to trust that there will be open and ongoing dialogue that moves us beyond our present stalemate. As together we depend on Word and Sacrament to be our center of faith and decision-making, I am certain that we will be drawn more and more deeply into the profound unity that we share in the New Covenant of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bishop Margaret G Payne
New England Synod of the ELCA