Defrocked Pastor
Becomes Unlikely Hero
By GREG BLUESTEIN, AP
from ajc.com on the Web, June 24, 2007
ATLANTA — The tattered cloth
scraps started arriving at St. John's Lutheran Church shortly after the Rev.
Bradley Schmeling took his stand against the church hierarchy, each with an
embroidered or drawn message of support.
"God is with you. Make fire in Atlanta," reads one of the hundreds of
prayer cloths. "All love is holy," says another.
Schmeling's refusal last year to resign after telling a church bishop he was in
a gay relationship has earned him quite a following.
More than 1,000 supporters joined an online prayer vigil to back Schmeling while
a disciplinary committee was making its decision to defrock him and order him to
vacate his pulpit by Aug. 15. He's appealing the order.
Since the panel's ruling, his congregation's membership has spiked and he came
in fourth in the election for the region's next Lutheran bishop. He was
even chosen grand marshal for Sunday's annual gay pride parade in Atlanta, one
of the nation's largest gay pride festivals.
"I'm a little embarrassed by all the attention," he said Saturday. "But I
feel like it's a chance for me to witness for a church that's open, accepting
and loving to everyone. So many churches have only harsh and negative
words for gay and lesbian people."
He said that when he became pastor of St. John's seven years ago his gay
lifestyle was no secret to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He
was single then, and he said he told Bishop Ronald Warren he'd come forward if
his situation changed.
The change came in March 2006, when Schmeling decided his relationship with his
boyfriend had become a lifelong partnership. He told Warren and the bishop
promptly asked him to resign.
Warren called a disciplinary hearing, and the 12-member committee decided that
church rules left them no choice but to defrock Schmeling and order him out of
the pulpit. The denomination's policy excludes gay, bisexual and
transgender persons in relationships from the ordained ministry.
However, the committee also angered Warren by suggesting that the church
consider reinstating gay clergy forced to step down because of their
relationships. It said that, aside from his relationship, Schmeling has
proved he is worthy of his title.
The ELCA could consider making such a change at its churchwide assembly starting
Aug. 6 in Chicago. Church leaders will meet this week to sort through 119
proposals, and roughly half are related to gay and lesbian matters, said John
Brooks, an ELCA spokesman.
"I know of proposals that have come forth arguing the church should change its
policy, others saying they don't want a change in policy and others saying we
shouldn't deal with this at all," he said. "The church is certainly not of
one mind on this."
Schmeling won't predict what will happen.
"We're still praying that the church will do the right thing and change the
policy. If not, we haven't wanted to speculate," Schmeling said.
"That's what this process is teaching us: How to live in the moment."
His congregation has stood by him during the dispute.
"From the beginning, the congregation has been very supportive of him — and
wanting the church to be inclusive of all people," said Barbara Arne, a 25-year
member of the congregation who led the committee that selected Schmeling seven
years ago.
"Just based on our own congregation, it's quite clear to me that there's a great
need for Schmeling's message," she said. "We've had a lot of members that
have been very badly hurt by the church, and you'd like to think the church is a
place you can turn to for support, no matter who you are."
At a meeting of southeastern Lutheran leaders in Atlanta this month, Schmeling
joined about 60 colleagues in an election to replace the bishop, who is
retiring.
"I told them I yearn for a church that's accepting to everyone," Schmeling
recalls. "And I hope for a church that could be a model for remaining
united even in the face of deep disagreement."
After his surprising fourth-place finish in that election, he said he's now more
confident than he was a few months ago.
"I pray the change in policy will come this summer," he says. "But if it
doesn't, I know it will come one day."
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