Papers on the Issues that led to the ELCA 2009 Churchwide Assembly

This table has links to various papers and documents relating to the decisions of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly and the events over the past several years leading up to the assembly. The papers include commentary on ELCA decisions and documents and may be helpful for getting a historical perspective on the ELCA's drift from its confession of faith. The table is sort-able. Simply click in the column heading of which you would like the table sorted.

DATE	AUTHOR	SUBJECT
August 2009	Mark Chavez	Lutheran CORE to defend traditional marriage and uphold biblical teaching on sexuality - News Release
August 2009	Archbishop Wilton Gregory	Statement to the Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA
August 2009	Carl E. Braaten	An Open Letter to Bishop Herbert W. Chilstrom
August 2009	Ryan Schwarz	An address was given to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly by Ryan Schwarz as a part of the election process for Vice President of the ELCA on August 22, 2009.
June 2009	Carl E. Braaten	Three Talks (First Talk) at Calvary Lutheran Church Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
June 2009	Carl E. Braaten	Second Talk - What Dragons Are We Confronting Today? Or, Challenges We Face as Confessional Lutherans
June 2009	Carl E. Braaten	Third Talk, In Statu Confessionis? Or, Is It Time To Declare A State Of Confessional Protest?
May 2009	Mark Chavez	News Release - Prominent Lutheran theologians and church leaders affirm biblical teaching on sexuality and call for defeat of ELCA sexuality proposals
April 2009	Robert Benne	The Statement and Recommendations of the Sexuality Task Force have been released, and they are as disappointing as I expected them to be, though the statement itself is much improved in some ways. It moves closer to the Lutheran way of doing Christian ethics as well as to the church’s rich understanding of the centrality of marriage. . . More
March 2009	Mark C. Chavez	ELCA Church Council rejects pleas for 2/3 majority - In spite of requests from 15 ELCA synods and a significant majority of ELCA bishops asking for a two-thirds majority vote, the ELCA Church Council voted to stick with its November decision to . . . More
March 2009	Lutheran CORE Steering Committee	A letter to ELCA leadership outlining Lutheran CORE's vision and plans for the future
February 2009	Mark Chavez	News Release - Lutheran task force proposals affirming same-sex relationships reject Bible’s teaching and views of majority of members
October 2008	Carl E. Braaten	A presentation to a Lutheran CORE meeting in the Grand Canyon Synod, Theological Issues Challenging the ELCA.
August 2008	Paull Spring	A year from now the churchwide assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will meet in Minneapolis. At this assembly our church will take action on a social statement on sexuality, as well as consider yet again recommendations on the ordination of actively gay and lesbian persons. . . More.
July 2008	LCORE Steering Committee, et al	An Open Letter to the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality and the ELCA Church Council and Conference of Bishops
June 2008	The Rev. J. Jeffrey Zetto, Th. D., Pastor	Personal Reflections on and Recommendations Regarding "Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality."
May 2008	Carl E. Braaten	A Critique of the “Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality” Prepared by the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality, Church in Society Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
March 2008	Lutheran CORE	Recent Actions by Other Protestant Denominations
March 2008	Mark Chavez	News Release - Lutheran CORE leaders respond to release of draft ELCA sexuality statement
July 2007	Bishop Emeritus George Paul Mocko	Open Letter to Bishop Hanson - All my life I have been proud to call myself a Lutheran. Given my Hussite roots, I have quipped that I was a Lutheran a hundred years before Luther. That pride is not what it was, as I feel it breaking down before feelings of betrayal and alienation.
July 2007	Paull Spring	Open Letter to Bishop Hanson from Former Bishop Paull Spring Re: Bishop Payne's presiding at Communion Service in Chicago
April 2007	Lutheran CORE Steering Committee	A Lutheran Statement on the Authority and Interpretation of Scripture In the Church
Unknown	Pastor Gary Jepsen	A Layman’s Guide to Quantum Physics the Use of Reason: Insights into what Luther Saw as the Proper Role for Reason in Christian Deliberation
Unknown	Carl E. Braaten	“Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust” A proposed social statement from the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality
Unknown	Lutheran CORE	Keeping Faith - From its earliest days, in reliance on the clear teaching of Scripture, the Christian Church has taught that human sexuality is a precious gift to be enjoyed exclusively within the marriage bond.
Unknown	Lutheran CORE	Some Questions and Answers about the ELCA Sexuality Discussions
Unknown	Lutheran CORE	An Open Letter on Synodical Option to the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality and the ELCA Church Council and Conference of Bishops