Representing the CORE faith and principles of Lutheranism in North America
Lutheran CORE is a coalition of pastors, lay people, congregations and reforming groups. We seek to preserve within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) the authority of God's Word according to the Lutheran confessions. Our intention is to remain within our church and to work with congregations, individuals, and other reform-minded groups for the reform of our church.
- make an online donation to Lutheran CORE.
Open letter from Lutheran CORE calls for major revisions to Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality.
Read the Open Letter and add your name to the
list of signers.
Read Paull Spring's
August 2008 pastoral letter to Lutheran CORE members and supporters.
"The Diminution of God as Father (And his Holy Pronouns)" by Richard Bansemer,
Bishop Emeritus of the Virginia Synod
Download Lutheran CORE's summary response to Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality
Dr. Stephen Hultgren, an ELCA pastor and Assistant Professor of Theology at Fordham University has written an open letter to the sexuality task force and the ELCA bishops about the draft social statement on human sexuality and provided a resource on the Use of Scripture in the Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality
Read Carl Braaten's A Critique of the "Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality." Robert Benne also has a response on First Things' blog - A Sexual Ethic for Teletubbies, or Lutherans Embrace a Formless World.
Mr. James Gale, Washington, D.C., Pastor David Baer, Whitewood, SD, and Pastor Russell Saltzman, Kansas City, MO, have prepared a second resource for Lutheran CORE, "Keeping Faith," to help ELCA members understand why we believe, along with most Christian churches in the world, that the biblical norms for sexuality should be upheld. Their first resource, "Some Questions and Answers about the ELCA Sexuality Discussions," will help people participate in the process leading to an ELCA social statement on human sexuality and to enable them to better understand some of the questions on human sexuality that will be considered at the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. We encourage you to read both documents and to make them available to others. We also strongly encourage you to take time to read the ELCA Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality and to submit a response to the task force by Nov. 1 with your suggestions for its improvement.
Former bishops Kenneth Sauer and Paull Spring offer their initial comments on the ELCA draft social statement on human sexuality in "A Response from Lutheran CORE to the Draft Statement on Human Sexuality. This paper is printable but if preferred, it can be downloaded as a PDF file."
The acronyms and jargon used in the ELCA and among our reform groups can be very confusing. See this Glossary for a guide to clear up some of the confusion.
The Lutheran CORE Steering Committee is thankful for the ELCA leaders that are serving on the new Advisory Council, which includes former bishops John Beem, James Crumley, George Mocko and Ken Sauer; and other leaders like Robert Benne, Carl Braaten, James Nestingen and more. Read this news and look for regional meetings in your area.
Download a black and white or color brochure that describes Lutheran CORE's mission.