From the earliest days of the church, believers have met together in order to address the questions and concerns of the day. One of the earliest such meetings occurs in Acts 15, where some of the disciples are sent to Jerusalem in order to meet with the apostles and the elders.

In those days, the question was this: Do Gentile believers need to be circumcised and to follow the Law of Moses in order to be part of the church? Some were teaching that the Gentiles needed to do these things in order to have salvation. Others believed that, since salvation is a gift of grace, these rules were unnecessary and even contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Given the severity of the disagreement, the leaders of the church met together in Jerusalem in order to resolve this question. At this meeting, they looked at what the Scriptures had to say about the inclusion of the Gentiles. They also spoke and heard about what the Holy Spirit had been doing among the Gentile believers. At the same time, they confirmed their belief that all of them, whether Jew or Gentile, would be saved "through the grace of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 15:11).

As a result of their discussion and their prayer together, the apostles and the elders of the church agreed that the Gentile converts do not need to become Jews in order to be saved. They agreed on some essentials for what is acceptable conduct among believers (Acts 15:28-29), and then they passed the word along to the believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.

Today, when our own church meets in convention, we follow much the same pattern as those earliest Christians did. We worship, pray and break bread together. We discuss the issues at hand based on what the Holy Spirit has been doing and on what the Scriptures have to say. We make decisions based on what seems "good to the Holy Spirit and to us," and the word is passed along to the rest of the church. The only thing that has changed are the topics that are being discussed.

Most Christians today aren't particularly concerned about eating food that's been offered to idols or whether Gentiles need to be circumcised or not. However, many Christians are very concerned about how homosexual persons are to be treated by individual Christians and by the church as a whole. It is a topic on which there is still much disagreement throughout our church.

This summer, the topic will once again be on the agenda as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) meets in convention at the University of Manitoba. However, this time the motion that is being brought before the convention advocates allowing each synod to make their own decisions about whether to allow the blessing of same-sex couples or not. The reasoning that is given is that this is actually a question of mission strategy, and since synods are responsible for mission development on their territory in Canada, they should also be responsible for decisions re: same-sex blessings.

This time around, St. Luke's Zion was elected to send a clergy delegate, and so I am registered for the convention. I am not in support of the motion that is being brought forward, and I invite any of you into conversation with me about this. This summer's convention will also elect a new National Bishop, as Bishop Schultz is retiring this year.

Please continue to pray for our church and its leaders in these trying times.

In Christ,

Pastor Lynne H. Moore