Lutherans within the ELCA synod

who are concerned about the direction are saying"

"ELCA churches and members are turning to authorities other than the authority of God’s Word, revealed in his risen Son, Jesus Christ, and in his inspired Word in the Holy Scriptures. The other authorities – human experience, wisdom and tradition – are used to turn aside the authority of God’s Word. The weaknesses within the ELCA – ecumenical agreements that compromise on significant biblical and confessional truths, the teaching and preaching of universalism, a decline in the proper mission of the church (global missions and new mission starts) and the push for approval of sexual relationships outside of marriage to name just a few – are symptoms of the deeper problem within the ELCA, the crisis over the authority of God’s Word." Word Alone

"In the past 16 years the ELCA lost approximately 466,000 baptized members from the 5,240,739 members reported in 1990, Almen said. More than two-thirds of the decline occurred between 2002 and 2006, (97,559 members from 1988 - 1995, 90,612 from 1996-2001, and 325,674 members from 2002 - 2007) . . ." [The ELCA committed to the Sexuality study in 2001 under the leadership of Bishop Hanson] Fred Seling (member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Smithville, Ohio)

"After careful and prayerful consideration, the members of Lutheran CORE have concluded that those seeking changes in the Church’s understanding of human sexuality have not met, and almost certainly cannot meet, their burden of showing that those changes are consistent with the foundational tenets of the Christian faith." Lutheran Core

"I don't know what our congregation (UALC) is waiting for--it took this sexuality task force seven years to write a mish-mash and hodge podge and submit it to the people of God as a serious work. Every paragraph looks like the sentences were drawn from a hat of former reports and pasted to a page. It is an insult to our common sense and a travesty of our faith. It's time to go. It really is. These people will not back down; they'll just wear us out." Norma